Vincent, China
‘Greetings! My name is Vincent Sdrigotti. I am what they call a non-native’ EFL teacher; however, since I grew up as a ‘third culture’ kid, English is my first language despite having a French passport. My parents were language teachers, so I grew up in an EFL environment. Due to past experiences of teaching, I felt the urge to return to teaching EFL after finishing my Master’s in International Business Law. After graduation, I moved to Shanghai in 2010 and began working with young learners in 2011. After a few years of teaching in various kindergartens and primary schools, I moved to my current kindergarten, where I have worked since 2014. In 2019, I passed the CELTA and began working on an MA in Professional Development in Language Education with the University of Chichester, through NILE.
I enjoy teaching young learners. Mainly because you can see their progress in English quite clearly and they are such enthusiastic learners. I also believe the best way to learn a language is to be exposed to it as early as possible. Some issues arise that you don’t face with adult learners. For example, because children start learning English as an L2 so early in China, around two to three years old, they sometimes haven’t even started fluently speaking their L1 before learning English. Because of this, they sometimes even have problems understanding the definitions of the words and grasping language concepts. I think building up their understanding with the careful use of scaffolding has been the key to increasing their English language skills. Keeping classes entertaining and exciting but still educational has been one of the most significant challenges of working with young learners.
Over the past eight years working with young learners, I’ve learnt a lot and am now starting to move into teacher training and management.
Mercedes, Argentina
My name is Mercedes Elicegui and I teach English as a foreign language to fourth, fifth and sixth year students in a private institution in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, teachers and students have resorted to technology in order to deliver and attend classes. We cannot ignore that despite the multiple benefits of online working, the internet also hides a variety of dangers.
I decided to tackle this topic with my students. In doing so, we reflected on the time we spend on digital media, which platforms we use the most and how we build relationships by using social networks. We also watched TED Talks or YouTube videos on how to stay safe online and how technology affects our lives, and we discussed an article about the impact of technology on the kids of today and tomorrow. Finally, students gathered in groups and prepared slide presentations or videos which were shown during the Annual Health Fair held last November.
Even though students demonstrated being fully aware of some general issues regarding the use of social media, as we worked on the project they also learnt about the emotional and mental issues commonly associated with it.
Teofeloee, Angola
In June 2021, the Angolan English Language Teachers Association (ANELTA) and I decided to launch a free training programme entitled ‘English in the Community’ in Zaire (one of the provinces of Angola). It is a programme targeting both general English learners and non-trained teachers of English. The main aim is to teach English to local citizens and to conduct an intensive teacher training programme free of charge. Moreover, setting up English clubs in all the communities where our courses are run is one of our main goals.
The General English course was divided into three different levels: A1, A2 and B1 based on the Common European Framework of Reference for language learning, teaching and assessment. Each level was divided into three modules. A total of 90 hours was allotted to the course as a whole.
The course syllabus was designed to provide an opportunity for the students to be in constant contact with the language, and for that purpose students had extra tasks to be done at home. All the extra tasks would take approximately two hours a day after the in-class activities. The course participants had classes five days a week, three hours a day, plus a sixth day in a week when they had to take part in English club sessions.
We consider the creation of English clubs as being of extreme importance in the Angolan context, given the fact that English is taught as a foreign language (EFL as opposed to ESL).
The English clubs play a major role of exposing the students or club members to the target language in a stress-free environment for its members to practise the four language skills in a fun and enjoyable way. We would like to stress that the club sessions were always member centred because the members are the ones who needed to be nurtured, who needed frequent exposure to the target language and to communicate in the L2 as much as they can in order to develop their language skills.
What really motivated me to start supporting teachers locally to develop their language and methodological background is that having a great methodological insight and expertise is not enough for the EFL teachers, otherwise, teachers will be teaching the wrong stuff in the right way.
Ross, Japan
I have been teaching English courses at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) in Chiba, Japan since April 2017. It has been a fantastic experience for my career in TESOL. However, unfortunately due to my contract ending, my time at KUIS will sadly come to an end in March 2023 and I will move on (hopefully to another great opportunity!).
KUIS is a language university and it is great place to work for the following two reasons.
Firstly, The vast majority of students are very motivated to learn English, not only English but also a variety of other languages on offer here, and become global citizens. Because of this, these students are on the whole a pleasure to teach.
Secondly, KUIS is a very academically nurturing university. When I started at this university in 2017, it was my first university teaching position. I wanted to gain experience conducting research, writing, publishing and presenting. Fortunately, at KUIS I have been able to take advantage of these opportunities, thanks to an active academic community here!
I have many great memories at KUIS over the years. Memories such as presenting in Japan and four other countries, qualifying as a learning adviser, teaching my own CLIL course on geography, and being part of a research team who published a book. These were all firsts for me!
To wrap up, I feel lucky to have had the chance to work and grow at this institution in Japan and would definitely recommend it as a career progression for educators in the TESOL field!