TESOL REFLECTIONS

General English language teaching (GELT) is the context in which I have honed, and to a large extent am still honing, my teaching skills. Like English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts, GELT comes with its own unique set of challenges and rewards. In this post, I look at some of the differences between these two contexts through the prism of my experience. Therefore, the reader should be aware of the anecdotal nature of my commentary. Alexander, Argent, and Spencer (2018, pp. 11-13) outline differences along three categories, namely context, people, and teaching and learning content. I will now briefly explore each of these and their sub-categories. Context What drives the syllabus? In GELT contexts, the syllabus is level driven. These are typically labelled Beginner, Elementary, Pre-intermediate, etc. Some schools and institutions might also refer to these levels as A1, A2, B1, etc [based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)]. New students ar...

  The following is an analysis of a research abstract in terms of rhetorical moves and language features. It is a response to a task set on a course (2021) with the University of Glasgow. The source for this analysis is: Basturkmen, H., Loewen, S., & Ellis, R. (2004). Teachers' stated beliefs about incidental focus on form and their classroom practices. Applied Linguistics , 25 (2), 243-272. Rhetorical situation The authors are considered experts in Applied Linguistics and Language Studies. They have (individually) published articles, papers and books on topics in ESP, EAP, second language acquisition, and TBL, to outline just some of their output. Two work at universities in an Australian and New Zealand context (Curtin University, Perth, and the University of Auckland), and one in an American context (Michigan State University).  Applied Linguistics is a journal that aims to make connections between language research and real-world issues. It is aimed at the ‘wider Appl...

  I was recently asked to outline my approach to teaching academic writing. I am sure that with more experience, both practical and theoretical, this current outline will grow and adapt. However, this is where I am now and this piece will serve as a record upon which future me could reflect. Current approach Keeping in mind that ‘EAP classes cannot produce fully developed academic writers,’ my main aim is to raise students’ awareness of what is involved in academic writing and help them see how they might continue to develop as academic writers beyond the EAP course (Alexander, Argent, & Spencer, 2018, p. 200). Generally, students might share certain concerns about academic writing, which can help us to plan a scheme of work. Some of these concerns relate to language structures, academic style, and collating, summarising and paraphrasing other writers’ ideas to build arguments. On the other hand, teachers might be concerned about subject-specific technical terms that might be u...

  What differentiation is and isn’t Tomlinson (2001, p. 1) explains that differentiation ‘provides different avenues to acquiring content , to processing or making sense of ideas , and to developing products so that each student can learn effectively.’ [emphasis added]. Content refers to the input or what we expect students to learn, process comprises multiple sense-making approaches deployed by students, and product is the output or how learning is demonstrated. The common thread running through these approaches is that they are designed with the purpose of significant student development in mind (Tomlinson, 2001). Tomlinson goes on to clarify that differentiation is not to be confused with individualized instruction as it was practised in the 1970s, where the aim was to come up with something different for each of the more than 30 students often found in a class. She emphasises that it includes ‘whole-class, group, and individual instruction’ (2001, p. 5).  The task I wa...

  Whenever my motivation for teaching is running low, or worse, when I feel I’m heading for burnout, my go-to YouTube video for some inspiration is Rita Pierson’s Every kid needs a champion . Even though her context is different from mine, I believe there are underlying principles of the teaching/learning dynamic that are universal.  Relationships Rita tells us that teaching and learning is about human connections. No matter how much thought we’ve put into our curriculum and courses, or how great our materials and tasks are, if we cannot build that all-important rapport with our students, it’s likely that not much learning will take place. To me, this relationship between the teacher and students is more than just about being liked, although that is a good base to establish. It’s also about building trust and showing empathy. This is especially important with those students who seem most resistant to us. Rita reminds us to seek first to understand rather than to be understood....

  All students at English-medium universities encounter a variety of challenges. However, non-native speakers of English, in particular, will be presented with a unique set of challenges largely due to a lack of linguistic competence and possible educational and cultural differences. In this post, I highlight just a few of these challenges and suggest ways in which lecturers might help students overcome them.  Key graduate attributes Many of these challenges might be directly linked to the key graduate attributes of scholarship as outlined by Alexander, Argent & Spencer, 2018 (Fig. 1). Each of these comes with its own set of conventions and demands that might be new and alien to students from a different educational and cultural background. For example, the concept of autonomy, which is complex and perhaps not always clearly defined, might give rise to conflicting ideas and even resistance in some students. That said, students do need to be exposed to carefully designed ch...