TEFL/TESOL
Certification Course
Paris, France
Summer 2013
Christina Lantero
University
• Located in the 5th
Arrondissement, next to the Church
de Val du Grace and a few blocks
from the Luxembourg Gardens
• Classes held at The American
University of Paris five days a week
from 9am-5pm
• United TEFL rented out the
classrooms during the summer
months
Housing
• Independent housing: 3 students
•Recommended Housing by
program
Course Work
Info:
TESOL/TEFL
: Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages or Teaching English as a Foreign
Language
• 120 hour TEFL/TESOL certification
through TEFL International Paris,
France
• Planned curriculum, chapters, and
lessons
•Prepared extra-activity material
•Taught interactive communicative
EFL classes to adults and teens
•Evaluated peer/experienced teacher
performance
•Selected course books
•Studied methodology and English
grammar
Teaching
Experience
•EFL Instructor at TEFL
International Paris, France
•Taught EFL classes to adults and
teens: in person and online
•Prepared comprehensive and Level
appropriate lesson plans for single,
double and group lessons
Course Schedule
• 4 week course
• Week 1: mainly observation;
grammar review; learning
lesson formats (ESA); learning
techniques, textbook review;
language simulation
•Week 2-4: Observation,
teaching, continuation of
instruction on how to teach
EFL learners
Class Make-up
• Three female university students from
Ireland
• One 28 yr. old male from UK; previous
occupation: restaurant manager
• One 30 yr. old female from UK; Previous
occupation: nurse
• One 50+ yr. old female from Australia
(resident of France) previous occupation:
unknown
• One female university student from U.S.A.
• One 24 yr. old female from U.S.A.;
occupation: middle school band/music
teacher
•Instructor: 50+ yr. old Female from
Ukraine; spoke 5 languages total
Teaching
TESOL/TEFL
Students
• Using lots of gestures
• Conscious of personal regional
accent and dialect differences
• Awareness of cultural differences
• Be flexible with all lesson plans
and over plan all lesson
• Engage, Study and Activate
•Build off of prior/background
knowledge
Teaching
Beginning
Students
• Thought this would be the hardest!
• Struggles: differences in cultural
backgrounds, not knowing whether
information was completely new or
student was still processing, many
exceptions to the rule
• Strengths: using gestures, speaking
slowly and clearly, incorporating
creativity into the lessons
**Keep in mind the types of
students you have (motivation levels)
Lessons for beginning students:
 Present Simple Tense for:
“work”, “live” and “have”
(75min lesson)
 Regular Past Simple Tense
(45-60 min)
 Materials:

Video clips

Posters

White boards

Agendas

Stories

News articles

Workbook pages
Teaching
Intermediate
Students
• Hardest in reality for me!
• Struggles: range in learning levels,
accommodating all students,
knowing all of the gaps in student
learning prior to lessons
• Strengths: flexibility, creativity,
supplemental materials
Lessons for Intermediates
 Types of Questions: who,
what, where when, how

Video clips

Articles

Graphic Organizers
Present: simple (perfect or
passive), continuous

Workbook pages
Past: simple (perfect,
continuous (perfect or
passive)

Song lyrics

Whiteboard

Audio tapes
 Different types of verb
tenses:


 Materials
 Debates/Controversial
Issues
Teaching
Advanced
Students
• Struggles: creating lesson plans
that still challenge, building
academic vocabulary, accent and
pronunciation differences
•Strengths: creativity with lesson
plans, pacing, gestures, diversity of
materials, flexibility of class sizes,
tailoring materials to students’
interests
Lessons for Advanced
 Grammar and accent
identification and correction
 Materials:
 Newspaper articles
 Study on strong adjectives
 Video clips
 Academic writing styles
 Jeopardy game
 Current Issues in Media:
self-esteem
 Magazines
 Lots of discussion and
critical thinking!
 Poster supplies
Teaching Online
Students
Strengths: adapting lesson
plans, patience, pacing, and
creativity
Struggles: technology, ability
to use and provide materials,
student use of online
translators, moving around
the classroom and allowing
partner/group work
What I learned
about English
during the course...
• phonemic alphabet/symbols
• reviewed all grammatical rules
• more about intonation and stress
• Differences in regional and
standard English (between U.S. UK,
Ireland, and Australia!)
•Spoken and Written!
• Manner/Place of Articulation
What I learned
about teaching
during the course:
• ESA model of lesson planning
• Flexibility
• How to differentiate to
accommodate all learner
• Online teaching strategies
• Importance of wait time
• Time management skills
• Creativity, prep, and positive
feedback go a long way!
• The many roles of a teacher
• TTT vs. STT
• How to combine textbooks and
workbooks
• How to supplement materials along
with the textbook and workbook
curriculum
• How to create unit plans for multiple
lessons
What I learned
about diversity
and culture:
• Respect
• Sensitivity to all students
backgrounds and learning styles
• Feelings of being completely
immersed in a new culture and
language
• Blog entries and observations
written about living in a different
culture
Future
Implementation:
• English and grammatical
• Creative planning with
Supplementary materials
• Sensitivity to all students backgrounds
• Differentiation
•ESA lesson formatting
• Multi-cultural education
•Professionalism in the work place
and ELL students
•Flexibility and Time management!
Questions or Comments?
Thank-you for listening!