I work remotely as an ESL teacher for a Chinese company teaching English as a Second Language to students aged six to thirteen in China. From my observations, the cultural expectations in China are highly focused on academics.
I’ve witnessed students attend class through a mobile device while eating dinner, in bed sick, or completing other homework while waiting for class to begin. It’s not unusual for students in China to have 12-hour school days, then come home to learn English.
Most of us are aware of the importance of the issues around digital accessibility through our own disabilities and supporting our students in virtual and blended classrooms. Some organizations offer accessibility training for educators and learners. Due to accessibility legislation and policies, software vendors build accessibility features into their wares. This opportunity allows us to make our documents more accessible. This post suggests some features available in the Microsoft Word app that instructors may leverage to make their digital documents more accessible. Please be aware that this is not a comprehensive accessibility resource, but an introduction for interested educators. Continue reading
Remember poetry? Do you ever find opportunities to use it in your English instruction? This April marks the 25th anniversary of national poetry month. We hope you enjoy this selection of previous blogs about poetry from TESL Ontario Blog.
“If you wanted a poem, you only had to look out of a window. There was material always, walking or running, fighting or screaming or singing.” Gwendolyn Brooks, African-American poet and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Annie Allen.
Lesson planning can be a time-consuming endeavor, especially for educators teaching students with lower levels of English proficiency. Adapting materials to meet the needs of these learners requires careful consideration and often entails significant effort. However, with the assistance of tools like ChatGPT, this process can be streamlined and made more efficient.
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Did you know that in order to maintain your certified status, OCELT (Ontario Certified English Language Teacher) certification must be renewed annually? This annual renewal process isn’t merely administrative; it’s serves as a gateway to a host of advantages that benefit teachers, employers, learners, and all stakeholders involved in language education. These benefits enable employers and funders to ensure the high quality of their language instruction services, motivating teachers to regularly upgrade their knowledge and skills, while also staying abreast of the latest developments in the field of TESL. OCELT is awarded to qualified English language teachers of adult learners by TESL Ontario, and is valid for twelve months. Like many professional certifications, OCELT requires renewal at the end of each certification cycle to ensure the association can verify the continued professional development of OCELT holders.
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“Two of my brothers were killed in the war in Ukraine.”
“My family’s houses were destroyed in Palestine”
“I have PTSD from a trauma in my homeland.”
“There is fighting in my street back home, and I can’t reach anyone.”
“My mother was sent to a re-education centre for being a Uyghur.”
“My husband and I and our two sons were put on a kill list, so we had to flee my country.”
“My sister is sick, and I cannot go back and see her before she dies.”
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I was taking the chairs down from the desks and putting them on the floor before the morning class, when a student came in and said:
“Teacher.”
She shook her head and pointed to herself.
“Me,” she said.
She motioned for me to sit. Since that day, the students have put themselves in charge of the chairs.
One of the frequent challenges for teachers, even ones with experience is how to manage time in the classroom. One may well ask, why time management is so important. Effective time management is crucial to provide quality education. In fact, teachers don’t really have enough time to teach considering the breaks, learner attention span (which is typically half an hour or less); moving between classrooms for various activities and downtime between lessons and activities (Mehta, 2019). Continue reading
During interactions over the past year with language instructors in various venues, I have observed a trend with educators’ generative chat usage. Instructors are aware of generative chat technologies such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Edge Copilot through mainstream media, social media, relatives, students, or their peers. However, few have gone beyond sampling these tools a few times with basic prompts out of personal curiosity or to commence using prompts for lesson preparation.
Attempts at generating resources with a generative chat tool do not always result in usable content because instructors often give up after a few prompts. They do not understand that creating suitable content is an iterative process that involves structure, a defined target, skill, and imagination. In this post, I offer guidance for language educators trying to create content for instructional purposes through prompting generative chat tools. Continue reading
At first glance, smartphones may seem like the ultimate language roadblock for ESL learners. The alluring prospect of effortlessly translating any text with a simple tap can lead to a habit of overreliance, hindering genuine language absorption. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. When approached with a strategic mindset, smartphones can indeed become “smart” tools in the ESL learning arsenal, especially for those who find themselves grappling with the complexities of English at a foundational level.
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