TEFL Course Techniques

The motivations behind English students can vary wildly – with some students very intrinsically motivated to be in class and to improve rapidly. However, this is not always the case, and within a classroom, student motivation can differ. This can create an atmosphere which, if not controlled with some form of classroom management by the teacher, can spiral out of control, allowing the less- motivated students to take over the class. You will learn how to deal with this on a TEFL course.

As teachers, we therefore need to have some ideas of ways in which we can control the class. An important time to consider this is when planning a class and paying attention to keeping the lesson plan balanced and with a variety of activities to suit all learning styles. This will mean that fewer students will feel left out of the plan, and you have more confidence in the lesson to be able to keep the students on track.

TEFL course lesson planning

Every TEFL course is based on planning lessons using the PPP model in order to have interesting, dynamic and interactive classes that keep students motivated and interested and so reduces time spent on classroom management. First the teacher presents a topic, then the students practice it and in the final section of the class, they independently produce the new language learnt. It is important to bear in mind the attention span of students, keeping the age and interests of the class at the forefront of your mind during a class. Younger students need lots of short activities, while older students need longer, interesting activities that keep them focused.

When beginning with a new group of students, in order for them to understand the way the class will be managed, a good plan is to come up with rules together for the class and what the consequences of breaking them will be. Make sure to keep these fun or awkward for the student, rather than embarrassing or cruel – for example, saying an English tongue twister in front of their peers. By including the class in the creation of these rules, you will get a buy-in that you can remind them when they break a rule. It´s actually their rule, not yours! This type of student generated class contract is one of the key classroom management techniques you will learn in a TEFL course.