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Strategies for Teaching English in IB PYP International Schools
As an international teacher, it is highly likely that you will be teaching English as a second or even third foreign language. In many international schools, we find ourselves with a beautiful broth of multiple languages and cultures within our classrooms. And, we deliver our inquiry-based framework to the children in English. For many others, we are teaching in a host country, to a class full of native speakers from our host country and, again, part of our repertoire is to teach those children to not only speak in English but also to learn in English.
Language therefore becomes more than simply a means of conversation. We are teaching a language,Ā about language and through language and we do all of this with that authentic, inquiry-based approach that we truly believe in.Ā In this article, I will be sharing a recent video from a conversation I had live on Facebook with grade 4 teacher, Maria Vidal. ( @bilingualising on Instagram) [caption id="attachment_2738" align="aligncenter" wi...
To TEFL or not to TEFL? A quick summary for the international teacher
As an international IB PYP teacher, I am often asked if I am TEFL certified and what benefits this certification may offer a qualified teacher.
The short answer is yes. I got my TEFL certificate three years into my career. I have since taken several courses that assist with teaching English asĀ foreign language. But before I go into the reasons why I chose to become TEFL certified,Ā let me give you a wee bit of background.
What is TEFL?
TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It refers to a course that you can take, eitherĀ online or in-personĀ to learn how to teach English to non-English speaking students/children who speak English as their second or even third language.
Within 2 years of graduating from university in Scotland, I applied for my first position as an international teacher. I was winging my way to Abu Dhabi with only 2 years of teaching experience under my belt and a whole lot of excitement; new culture, sunshine,Ā international students, travel and a...
