English as a second language

Question

Module 1

 (The Basic Principles of TEFL/TESOL)

Task 1

Choose the correct answer or answers in the following:

1. Which approach does this course recommend?

a)notional

b)grammar-translation

c)communicative

d)structural

2. Which of the following is least important in your teaching?

a)fluency in your student's own language

b)planning lessons

c)knowing more about English grammar than your students do

d)making your students relax

3. Which of the following activities should all ESL teachers be able to use effectively?

a)pair work

b)translation

C)role play

d)eliciting students opinions

4. Which of the following will keep the students interested?

a)varying your activities

b)using a listening activity in every lesson

C)getting the students talking

d)involving the students

5. Which of the following is correct?

a)you should always mark with a red pen

b)you should always acknowledge effort

C)you should correct all mistakes

d)you should explain your correction code to your students

6. Which of the following is most important in communicative language teaching?

a)knowledge of the theory behind TEFL-TESOL

b)students knowing the grammatical terminology

C)facilitating communication

d)knowledge of all grammar before you start teaching

7. Which of the following is an essential requirement of the Communicative Approach to language teaching?

a)knowing your students language

b)use of authentic English

C)knowledge of grammatical terminology

d)a good textbook

8. Which of the following are advantages for one to one students?

a)communication is authentic

b)the student sets the pace

C)the individual learning style is immaterial

d)materials can be tailor-made

Answer 1

Hi Maria,

It looks like you are taking a CELTA or general TESOL certification class. I am sure all these topics are covered in your course material. And since one would have to know the course material to answer the questions, since such questions are often very course specific, you will not find someone who can give you the correct answer for sure. As a CELTA certified language professional with decades of experience, I can give it a good guess, but that is not a guarantee for selecting the answers your course creators had in mind. I remember taking the CELTA many years ago, and I would often argue with the course organizers and trainers. We did not always see eye to eye on these topics. Therefore, I highly recommend that you pick the answers your course material suggests.

But here are a few thoughts:

1. I am pretty sure the course would recommend a communicative approach, since this approach is now considered a lot more appropriate than the traditional grammar-translation approach that is actually still used in most K-12 schools, but it shouldn't be used anymore according to research.
2. Consequently, as the grammar-translation method isn't used anymore, fluency in your students' own language is not considered necessary for teaching English.
3. As a result of that, translation is obviously not an ESL activity that teachers should engage in. However, the other activities seem equally relevant. Yet, eliciting students' opinions doesn't seem so necessary, because we elicit existing vocabulary before teaching new vocabulary, and not opinions. Personally, I value role-playing highly in my work, but I have a feeling that the course materials want to put a special emphasis on pair work.
4. Even though everything suggested to keep students interested sounds fine at first, there are some pitfalls here. While listening activities are great, you shouldn't do anything in EVERY lesson. Of course, involvement is great, but I would say that any TESOL course tries to instill in teachers that varying their activities is key, so I'd probably go for that.
5. Personally, I am big on acknowledging effort, but I have a feeling that explaining your correction code is what the next question is aiming at, because making feedback relevant and comprehensible is vey important.
6. The communicative approach is all about facilitating communication, so that one is easy.
7. Consequently, the use of authentic English is essential to facilitate communication.
8. And finally, the last one is tricky, because one-on-one lessons hold many advantages, however, the most significant advantage probably is that the content of the lesson can be tailored to the student's needs. So, I'd probably go for that.

Good luck!

Renata