More than surviving: EFL/ESL Books

Going further as an EFL teacher

Scott Thornbury – How to Teach Grammar
Jeremy Harmer – How to Teach Writing
Thornbury – How to Teach Speaking

- All of these books come from Pearson and Longman’s How To… series for teachers. All of the above are concise and practical for the classroom. Prior to Korea, I'd studied the teaching of grammar, writing, speaking, and writing; but that was in a native-language context. The above books focus on EFL contexts. I read them this year and found them good reviews of things I've learned on the job. Then again, all three books have plenty of lesson ideas and strategies for teaching.

Thornbury and Meddings – Teaching Unplugged
-          Full of zero-to-minimal prep lessons ideas for small conversation classes. The “unplugged” in the title has two meanings:
n        Minimizing dependence on technology/not using technology in the classroom. In the authors’ view, teaching has grown too dependent on PPTs and other flashy, distracting technologies. They advocate focusing on “the people in the room” and using paper, pencil, and whiteboards to supplement the conversations in class.
n        Moving away from “covering” material in lock-step. Lessons and conversations should run their course just as everyday conversations do. In this case, “plugged” means lessons and classes having definite “start” and “stop” points. In all truth, following this advice in an EPIK context might be impractical, but I’ve found the book good for “after school” or small-group classes.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment