 |
Teaching English to Newcomers
Teaching English as a second language can be one of the more rewarding experiences of your career. There is a overwhelming need for these specialists and there are many ESL teacher jobs out in the market at the moment, but the career choice involves much more than the average person who is interested might think. There are several different areas where the students will need to be familiar with and one of them is an area that many of us don't think of. ESL students learning English need to understand the fundamentals of writing in English as well.Students learning English need to have specific writing skills developed. That means that it's not good enough for the teacher to tell the class to write about a county that you like, they need to get instruction about writing in a particular way. For their writing to improve it is suggested that they learn three areas-a postcard, a letter, and a discursive essay. Although these are the fundamentals of teaching English as a second language, not all ESL teacher jobs stress these items. There is another way of teaching this skill and that's getting the students to draft a letter of application since many of them will be applying to English universities and other schools.
Still, there are several general skills needed for writing. The most obvious of these is punctuation, spelling, and style of language. Often a student's native tongue will determine how that person writes in English and overcoming a particular idiom is one of the obstacles they must face. Still, to the basic lessons mentioned above there are others that need to be added so that all students get a proper appreciation of how to write in English. The ones that can be added are correct structure and layout as well as paragraphing and precise writing.
Once on to the letter of application there is a tested method that helps the students see the differences between styles of language and that's to show them both a formal and an informal example. As well it is also considered a good idea to have postcard examples that can be passed around the room that you might have amassed from other ESL teacher jobs you may have had. A simple exercise is also helpful here.
The teacher presents six postcard to the students in the classroom and then asks the students if they are able to determine which country the writer is in, who they are writing to, and if they seem happy or unhappy in that place. As well, the teacher can also hand out a copy of a letter and then ask the students to differentiate between the informal and formal styles.
There are many ESL teacher jobs available in countries all over the world today. These are rewarding careers that can be lucrative as well, but the best of these teachers will be able to come well prepared to their classrooms no matter which country they happen to be in.