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ESL Jobs Forum

added: Wed, 28th September 2005 | 2202 views | 0x in favourites
feed url: http://feeds.feedburner.com/EslJobsForum-allposts

Where ESL / EFL Professionals Come To Network...Share. Listen. Learn

Latest feed entries:

ESL in C. Asia, Far East & Australia... :: Teaching in Indonesia - advice please

Author: Alison
Subject: Teaching in Indonesia - advice please
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:25 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Does anyone have any experience of teaching in Java/Sumatra? I have been looking at English First jobs in the area and would like to hear feedback from anyone who has: a. worked in the area and b. worked for English First - I am new to ESOL and could use some advice!!

ESL in Western Europe :: **Part-time Income**

Author: franksolutionz
Subject: **Part-time Income**
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:06 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Post removed - advertising is not allowed on the forum UJ

ESL in the Baltic States, C. & E. Europe... :: **English Speaking Opportunity**

Author: franksolutionz
Subject: **English Speaking Opportunity**
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:04 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Repeated post removed UJ

Getting the ESL Job... :: travel with children

Author: eslcurious
Subject: travel with children
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:46 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

I am looking to travel to Ecuador with my 13 year old in tow. Have been to Asia with her working summer camps but this will be a year contract. Any advice. Never been to South America and would welcome any advice; fellow expatriates, ideas on cost of living, where to find others etc.
Thanks

Recommended ESL Books... :: RE: Books on the National Eligibility Test

Author: profrksingh
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:20 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

Hi, Rich: the other two books on this forum -- dealing with ESP and ELT-- are written and/or edited by me. The reviews are done by my colleague in the dept.
Hope this convinces you about their genuineness.
All I wanted was to share with members about what a non-native speaker like me, from the Indian subcontinent, has been doing in the field of ELT. My list of publications can be accessed from my blogs.

http://eslblogs.englishclub.com/rksingh

Professor R K Singh

Recommended ESL Books... :: RE: Books on the National Eligibility Test

Author: profrksingh
Subject: not spam
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 12:12 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

NOT SPAM

I have simply reviewed these two books. I have not authored these books; review copies of which came to me from the publishers.

Professor R.K.SINGH

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Jamaicans Teaching in Singapore,Japan or South Korea?

Author: eleruen
Subject: Hello again
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 11:54 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

Hello again,

I think even if a South Korean employer wants to hire you, they are not legally allowed to do so, because of your nationality. Rolling Eyes You should try checking the immigration office website.

http://www.immigration.go.kr/HP/IMM80/index.do

If you are really not sure you can try contacting them, their English is quite good.

Again, I can only speak for Korea.

I think if you apply for jobs in Europe you will find them far more open-minded and realistic. Very Happy If you do decide to change your mind and head for Europe I think that you should check the immigration policies in those countries too, to see who they are able to give teaching visas to. Oh and you should check who China and Japan offer teaching visas to, before your hopes are completely dashed!

Always go down the legal route, even if you are only staying for a few months. Any employer who hires you without a visa is seedy and should ring alarm bells if you come across one.

It's really not fair and it disgusts me, and I am sure that it is even more upsetting for you, especially as you seem like the perfect candidate.

I agree that it is ridiculous that you only need to be a native speaker from the popular 7 countries (which doesn't include Jamaica), white, have a bachelor's degree, and a pulse in order to become an English teacher. Confused However don't be disheartened because in Europe they have higher standards and most places will demand more suitable qualifications. Also if you get a job offer in Asia you may be able to demand a higher salary because you do have TEFL and you are female (the perception is that females are better teachers than men, especially as you are less likely to be a paedophile).

I think the standards are lower in Asia because it is more difficult for them to get teachers and they are more obsessed with learning English compared with Europe-demand far exceeds supply.

Good luck in your search and let me know how you get on, Louise ( a 27 year old whitey).

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Jamaicans Teaching in Singapore,Japan or South Korea?

Author: July27
Subject: Discrimination Issues in ESL...Non-white english speaker
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 10:03 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

As for China, Chinese people are more racist than Koreans. If you get the opportunity to work there, be prepared to suffer (assuming that you are from a non-white ethnic background).

OMG! I've been applying for TEFL jobs in China and your statement makes me wonder if I'll ever get a job...anywhere!

I'm a 27 year old black South African and have just finished a hectic 3-month long TEFL course. I've been noticing the adverts looking for "native speakers", which I feel I cannot apply for because, although I come from SA and have 1st language speaker proficiency, I am black and brown-eyed.

I must admit, before registering for the TEFL course I didn't do my research as well as I should have. I assumed that the TEFL/ESL employment environment would work just like any other corporate recruitment environment!

I was wrong!

I have a Diploma in Marketing, a 3-year qualification, which I completed with the University of Johannesburg. A Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Commerce degree with the same institution also takes 3 year to complete.
The difference is that Diplomas are less theory based and actually require that you get about 3 months work experience before your graduate.
I am currently studying for a BA Communication Science degree part-time.
I have been working in the financial services/investments industry doing PR/Marketing/Corporate Affairs since I was 20 years old, with some of the most reputable institutions in SA. When I was 19 I tutored first year students
for 6 months in Business Communication English.

I thought my track record would count for something but it counts for nothing!! Again I blame my lack of research.

When I started appyling for TEFL jobs I got the shock of my life when I realised that my diploma, current studies, work experience and the TELF certificate mean nothing. I was even more shocked to realise that most jobs don't even require any form of TEFL training - you qualify just for being a "native speaker" (and in most cases white) and for having a piece of paper that says "degree"... in any discipline.

I decided to go the TEFL route because I need a break from the corporate world and also because I want to do a bit of travelling. The fact that I'll be taking a huge pay-cut (earn about a third of what I currently earn in the corporate world) doesn't bother me. My student loans are long paid off!
All I want is to experience new things/cultures, be challenged and see the world. TEFL is the obvious means of doing this because I actually enjoyed the 6 months of tutoring that I did many years ago.

These forums have surely opened my eyes to the world of ESL/TEFL. I'm a bit disappointed but I'm sure I'll find something.

I'd appreciate feedback from other black/African/African American/non-white people who have ESL/TEFL experience.
Of course I'd also appreciate feedback from the native speakers/white people:-)

Tee

Recommended ESL Books... :: RE: Books on the National Eligibility Test

Author: rphillips
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:33 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

I meant to sign that last post...

"Richie Rich"

Pittsburgh Pete, I got you to thank for that avatar

Recommended ESL Books... :: RE: Books on the National Eligibility Test

Author: rphillips
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 6:32 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

thanks for these reviews, so we can determine if this is spam or not, are you the author of these books or just critiquing? That's a lot of reviews you submitted.

Please respond to avoid removal.

Rich

Links to Your Website... :: R.K.SINGH, links

Author: profrksingh
Subject: R.K.SINGH, links
Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 5:27 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Post deleted because there was no reciprocal link back to eslemployment.com
UJ

Recommended ESL Books... :: Books on the National Eligibility Test

Author: profrksingh
Subject: Books on the National Eligibility Test
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 12:28 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

BOOK REVIEW : DR. R. K. SINGH


1. Manoj Kumar . A Textbook for Objective Questions in English
Literature. Bareilly : Prakash Book Depot , 2008 , Price :
Rs. 150/- , Pages 142.

2. Sudhir K. Arora. A Key to Literary Forms and Terms. Bareilly:
Prakash Book Depot, 2008. Price : 40/-, Pages 100.

The UGC conducts National Eligibility Test ( NET ) in various subjects of Humanities, including English , and Social Sciences , for the award of Junior Research Fellowship ( as well as Lectureship ) for pursuing Ph. D. level research. The test comprises three session papers. The first paper is of general nature, intended to assess the research ( or teaching ) aptitude, without excluding reasoning ability , comprehension, and general awareness of the candidates. The second paper consists of short-answer questions based on the subject opted by the candidates.

The third paper contains only descriptive questions. It has four sections. Section I requires candidates to write a critique of a given passage. The questions in section II are definitional or seek particular information in short answer form. Section III relates to analytical or evaluative questions on the candidate’s major specialization / elective , as preferred. Section IV is based on essay types questions on general themes and contemporary , theoretical , or of disciplinary relevance to test the candidates ’ ability to expound critically a subject with discrimination.

Seen in this light, the two books under review seek to help aspiring candidates prepare for answering objective- type questions in English literature. Manoj Kumar’s book is composed to serve as a practice book for the UGC’ s NET and postgraduate students in English, providing “subjective material as well as objective questions” necessary for good preparation ( Preface ).

The author has divided the ‘textbook’ into ten units, providing the basic information about British literature from the Age of Chaucer to the Contemporary period , American Literature, Indian English literature, Literatures in translation, Literary theory and Criticism, and Rhetoric and Prosody.

Each unit begins with a brief mention of the author’s names and major works that make them notable, followed by objective-type questions ( with four options ). There is no subjective elaboration, nor is there a uniform pattern in the number of items (which vary between 101 to 138 from Unit I to IX) or their contents. It is at best haphazard. In Unit I , for example, Geoffrey Chaucer’s name (in bold type), does not show his years of birth and death, but the entry on William Langland shows this. The years of birth and death are not l shown for John Gower, John Barbour, Sir John Mandeville, John Wycliff, Sir Thomas Malory and James I on page 1. Similarly, the publication date for some books are given but for others, it is missing. A uniform pattern should have been followed for each author, from the beginning to the end.

One also expects to find a short write-up on the general traits or characteristics about each of the ages/ periods alongside the major contributors that form the bulk of the objective-type questions. There should have been a proper ‘match’ between what Manoj Kumar calls “subjective knowledge ” of literature and objective questions for adequate practice from Unit I to VII.

However, he does write a readable introductory commentary in Unit VIII ( on American Literature and Indian English writers) and Unit IX ( an Literary Theory and Criticism ). The last Unit ( on Rhetoric and Prosody ), which has only 52 objective items for practising 31 terms is not as well developed as the two preceding units.

The list of Booker ( from 1969 to 2007 ) and Nobel ( from 1901 to 2007 ) Prize winners at the end is informative but Manoj Kumar should have also provided the names of the prize-winning books in the last three pages.

The second book , A Key to Literary Forms and Terms, should make up for the short falls in Unit X of Manoj Kumar’s textbook . In fact, Sudhir K. Arora claims to have included most of the important literary forms and terms “in capsule form” and provided plenty of multiple-choice practice exercises that should help aspiring candidates perform better in the competitive exams for fellowship and / or Lectureship in English literature.

In the first 29 pages, Arora has alphabetically arranged 117 literary forms and terms with useful references, but no examples. In the section on ‘Figures of Speech ’, Arora has abandoned this arrangement and included terms of rhetoric and prosody in the order it is generally available in most books. The examples, however, are helpful.

In both the books the authors have provided a key to all the objective items to self-help candidates in their preparation. However, Manoj Kumar has also added some 250 ‘Unsolved’ items to ensure that serious candidates really prepare well.

Given the present state of English Literature teaching in the country, books like A Textbook for Objective Questions in English Literature and A Key to Literary Forms and Terms are helpful to aspiring candidates in developing awareness though it is doubtful these help in developing any critical sense and research or reasoning ability.

__________________________________________________________
Professor (Dr) R.K.SINGH, Head Dept of Humanities & Social Sciences,.
Indian School of Mines University, DHANBAD 826004, Jharkhand.

Recommended ESL Books... :: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Author: profrksingh
Subject: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:48 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Teaching English for Specific Purposes: An Evolving Experience by R.K.Singh, Book Enclave, Jaipur, 2005, pp. xii +289, Rs. 725/-.ISBN 81-8152-118-8

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a needs based concept to determine which language skills should be profitably developed for academic and professional success of students. It takes into account certain basic questions like: “who the learners are, what their linguistic background or level of competence is, what their view to language learning is, what their purpose and expectations are, what particular skill they will be needing in their actual, on- the- job situation etc.”

English as a medium of instruction is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners, enabling them to use the English they know to learn even more English for all sorts of transactions. It is assumed that the ESP learners already have the basics of the English language and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job- related functions.

Thus the ESP approach provides opportunities to the learners to acquire English naturally, by working with language in a context that they comprehend and find interesting.

Teaching English for Specific Purposes: An Evolving Experience by R.K.Singh is a useful resource material for aspirant scholars, teachers and especially for any beginner of ESP practices, particularly in technical institutions where English is both ‘a reading language’ and ‘teaching language’. The book is a compilation of the author’s 18 Research Essays followed by 22 Review Essays that have been already published in reputed national and international journals during 1970s-1990s.These essays unravel several facets of ESP from 1970s to 1990s in India and abroad.
The first section that comprises Research essays is a blending of theory and practice that should help the readers to understand the role of ESP in India and its future prospects in the ever-changing socio- linguistic scenario whereas the second and the final section of the book should help in taking the readers to the larger domain of language learning, in particular ESL, EFL and ESP. The ease with which the author links the two sections makes this book a convenient first book for aspirant scholars who have little or no background in ESP or EST.

The Research Essays are the outcome of the classroom experiences of the author as a teacher featuring the ESP approach at ISM, the role and the responsibilities of the ESP teachers and effectiveness of ESP programmes in techno-savvy modern society. The first two essays throw ample light on the role of English in the educational system of India. The third essay raises a pertinent question ‘Whether teaching of English should be for communicative competence, or for performance?’ The notion of re-viewing the conventional pedagogy is also elaborated in this article. The author advocates ‘Communication’ as the aim of English teaching and asserts that communicative competence and performance can’t be viewed separately. Both are indispensable part of any language teaching and the ultimate criterion of language mastery. Singh also feels that now the time has come for the teachers to adopt unconventional teaching techniques and seek ways and resources of making the contents of their textbooks relevant, meaningful and of interest to the students.

In the two essays “Exploring Possibilities: Why Technical English?” and “Exploring Possibilities: Why not General English?” the author sounds self contradicting given his performance for EST. Perhaps the author intends to show that like most teachers of English with literature background, he too had reluctance for content- based Technical English teaching. But it is also true that he views his ‘retrospection’ as part of a teacher’s evolution as an ESPist.

The next article “Reading Development: Some Questions”, deals with the significance of reading. In second / foreign language teaching and learning situations for academic purposes or other programmes that make extensive use of academic materials written in English, reading is paramount. But there are certain issues- Machine words reading vs. printed words reading; printed text vs. video text, computer reading skills vs. traditional reading skills; effects of new technology on spoken/ written language etc., which are still relevant.

In the seventh article Singh shares with the readers his experiences at ISM to suggest that a language teacher along with his literary sensibility and nuances of technical and scientific writing should develop skill-oriented syllabus to cater to the needs of his students.

The tenth and the eleventh articles “ESP: Communication Constraints” and “ESP: A Sociolinguistic Consideration” expose the problems of ESP teaching in Indian technical institutions where the students are from varied socio- linguistic backgrounds. The articles focus on the problems encountered by the learners and ESP practitioners and the ways to combat those challenges. The author traces out the constraints of ESP that are unfulfilling in Indian situation and pronounces that although an ESP course can only follow on from a thorough grounding in basic English, the teacher should not “close his eyes to the classroom actualities.” He should be sensitive and sympathetic to the actual/ changing needs of his students. The author shows his concern on the failure of Indian students in communicating effectively in English in social, cross- cultural, interdisciplinary encounters and in mutual communication with proper linguistic etiquette. The author points out that now there is a need for identifying the socio linguistic needs of the ESP learner and “ to restructure the needs- based ESP curriculum, accommodating socio-linguistic instructions which will develop his ability to function linguistically in society beyond the technical institution.”

The article, “Some Reflections on Terminology” stresses on the need to tackle with the terminological difficulties, which is the by-product of rapid advancement in varied academic disciplines. The author’s thrust is on the growth of research in Terminology, which can be possible, when the scientists and technologists, and the linguists work together.

The next article “ESP in India: Developments in 1984-1985” carries a profound investigation into the development of ESP in India in a single year. The year can be called an experimental phase of ESP in India as General English cause had to face open criticism from several quarters. However, despite an awareness of the students’ specific needs language teachers could attach only peripheral importance to ESP. But even in this state of upheaval the ESPists carried out different projects across the country. Some of the note worthy projects of that period were The Communication Teaching Project, Bangalore, The TITI Project, Calcutta and The ISM Project Dhanbad. The projects helped in establishing the ESP approach in India to a great extent.

In fact, as the essay on “Communicative Teaching in Technical Institutions: A Needs Assessment” indicates, Indian School of Mines is possibly the first institution to have gone in the ESP approach to English language teaching. The essay on “Interactional Process Approach to Teaching Writing” is R.K. Singh’s major contribution to ELT/EST practices in the world.

The first section of the book is kaleidoscopic in nature as it mirrors the emergence of the author from an EGP practitioner to an ESPist.

The second section of the book Review Essays provides readers with the alchemy of English and its different aspects. The essays of this section that concentrate on the tools of language, communication skills, intercultural and intracultural communication, teaching translation and translation and power will help teachers and researchers to become aware of what is new in language and literature practices. The author has been conscious in selecting his material for this section. Most of the essays are intended for classroom teachers to guide them and help them apply their mind in their actual teaching situations.

Teaching English for Specific purposes: An Evolving Experience, is the author’s journey through his career as well as his academic research from EGP to ELT and finally to ESP. The book is a store of experiences and even an ordinary reader can correlate himself with the practicing teacher’s evolutionary phase. The readers will find themselves with the author questing, analyzing, establishing and re-establishing his ideas on language teaching and finally firmly grounding his belief in ESP.

The experiences of R.K.Singh as an EST practitioner have opened up new vistas of academic possibilities for language teaching in the immediate future. The articles in the volume are reflective, analytical, informative and coherently organized. The book is written in a clear, lucid language making it a user-friendly reference material and a historical document.

A must read for a better understanding of the history of ESP and EST in India.

Reviewed by: Dr Rajni Singh, Asst Prof of English, Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad 826004, India

Say Anything... :: PROFILE: Professor R.K.SINGH, India

Author: profrksingh
Subject: PROFILE: Professor R.K.SINGH, India
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:44 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

RAM KRISHNA SINGH

Ram Krishna Singh is a university professor whose main fields of interest consist of Indian English writing, especially poetry, and English for Specific Purposes, especially for science and technology. He was born on 31 December 1950 in Varanasi, India. Apart from a BA earned in 1970, he gained his MA in English Literature from Banaras Hindu University in 1972 and Ph D from Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi, in 1981. He also obtained a Diploma in Russian in 1972. Dr Singh started his career in journalism, as a Compilation Officer in the District Gazetteers Department, Lucknow, 1973, and a Journalist with the Press Trust of India, New Delhi, 1973-74. Changing to teaching he became a Lecturer at the Royal Bhutan Polytechnic, Deothang, Bhutan, 1974-76. Joining the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad as a Lecturer from 1976-83, he then rose to Assistant Professor in 1983. He has now been Professor of English and Head of the Institute’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences since 1993.

A reviewer, critic and contemporary poet who writes in Indian English, Dr. Singh is the author of more than 145 research articles and 160 book reviews. He has published 32 books, including : Savitri : A Spiritual Epic (Criticism, 1984); My Silence (poems, 1985); Sound and Silence (edited articles on Krishna Srinivas, 1986); Indian English Writing : 1981-1985 : Experiments with Expression (ed., 1987, rept. 1991); Using English in Science and Technology (textbook, 1988, rev. and rept, 2000); Recent Indian English Poets : Expressions and Beliefs (ed. 1992); Two Poets: R.K. Singh (I DO NOT QUESTION) Ujjal Singh Bahri (THE GRAMMAR OF MY LIFE) (poems, 1994); General English Practice (textbook, 1995); Writing Your Thesis and Research Papers (1996); Anger in Action : Explorations of Anger in Indian Writing in English (ed.,1997); My Silence and Other Selected Poems : 1974-1994 (poems, 1996); Above the Earth’s Green (poems, 1997); Psychic Knot : Search for Tolerance in Indian English Fiction (ed., 1998); New Zealand Literature : Some Recent Trends (ed.,1998); Every Stone Drop Pebble (haiku, 1999); Multiple-Choice General English for UPSC Competitive Exams (textbook, 2001); Cover to Cover (poems, 2002). Pacem in Terris ( haiku, English and Italian, 2003), Communication : Grammar and Composition ( textbook, 2003), Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri : Essays on Love, Life and Death ( Critical articles, 2005), Teaching English for Specific Purposes : An Evolving Experience ( Research articles and review essays, 2005), Voices of the Present: Critical Essays on Some Indian English Poets (2006), The River Returns (tanka and haiku collection, 2006), English as a Second Language: Experience into Essays (ed. research articles, 2007), and English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected (ed. research articles, 2008). His works have been anthologized in about 150 publications, while his editorial activities extend to include guest-editing of Language Forum, 1986, 1995, and Creative Forum, 1991, 1997, 1998, besides being co-editor of the latter publication from 1987-90, General Editor of Creative Forum New Poets Series, and service on the editorial boards of Canopy, Indian Book Chronicle, Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Reflections, Titiksha, International Journal of Translation, Poetcrit, and SlugFest. He has also edited the ISM Newsletter for about five years.


His poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Romanian, Chinese, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Japanese, Bulgarian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Esperanto, Kannada, Tamil, and Bangla. Forty two full-length articles on his poetry have been published from 1988-2005. A book, on his poetry, New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice: R.K.Singh (ed: I.K. Sharma, 2004), is a comprehensive presentation of his creativity since the 1970s. His works have been explored in one M.Phil and five Ph.D. theses of various universities.

In recognition of his achievements Professor Singh has received several awards and honours, among them an Honorary LittD from the World Academy of Arts and Culture, Taiwan, 1984, Fellowship of the International Poets Academy, Madras, 1987, Fellowship of the International Writers and Artists Association, USA, the Michael Madhusudan Award, Calcutta, 1994, Poet of the Year Award, 1995 from the Canadian Alumni of the World University, Ontario, Ritsumeikan University Peace Museum Award, Kyoto, 1999, and Certificate of Honour and Prize in Kumamoto International Kusamamoto Haiku Competition, Japan, 2000. He has also been a Universal Peace Ambassador (appointed by the Universal Peace Embassy, Geneva) from 19 June 2006.

Professor Singh is a member of the following organizations: UNESCO ALSED-LSP Network; All-India PEN; English Language Teachers’ Association of India; World Cultural Council Circle of Friends, International Writers and Artists Association; World Poetry Intercontinental; and Society for International Development. The Honorary Secretary of Dhanbad Development Forum from 1992-2004, he was also its Honorary Treasurer from 1983-92, and Honorary Secretary of ISM Teachers Association, Dhanbad, 1977-79. From April 1990-March 1991 he served as elected Representative of Teachers on the General Council and Executive Board of ISM. Prof Singh’s biography appears in some 35 publications in the UK, USA, India and elsewhere.

Other ESL Resources... :: ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: EXPERIENCE INTO ESSAYS

Author: profrksingh
Subject: ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: EXPERIENCE INTO ESSAYS
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:29 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: EXPERIENCE INTO ESSAYS ed. R.K.SINGH. Jaipur: Book Enclave, 2007, pp. 308, Price: Rs 895/-. ISBN 978-91-8152-197-2


PREFATORY NOTE

Higher education from Socrates and Plato to our time has sought to develop the full potential of the mind, though in different forms in different places. In the last half century or so, universities have tended to grow too big grasping every opportunity for new courses or activities, often in a topsy-turvy process of ad hoc development. As a result, fragmentation has become more prominent. While the faculties appear to have become ghettoized, less interactive and far removed from the synergistic community of scholars in Plato’s Academy, students in our institutions have become isolated within their subject areas and cross-disciplinary contacts have become difficult. In most professional institutions in the country, undergraduate teaching has become a subordinate activity, with high-flying professors and researchers becoming more removed from contact with students and even with peers, and from real involvement in teaching and the vital ongoing task of reassessing the undergraduate curriculum. There is no longer a shared vision of goals of undergraduate education or of the means to achieve them, and in that vacuum of principle we have been witness to a proliferation of degree courses of uneven quality and uncertain purpose, or a laissez-faire approach to curriculum that has led to career courses based on faddism or an incoherent jumble of electives.

The situation in the area of English Language Teaching is more disappointing in that the ELT profession has generally lacked historical perspective, as Christopher Brumfit too pointed out more than 25 years ago. The mental skills of speech and communication, reasoning and analysis, creativity and imagination, intellectual stimulation and challenge, and critical and independent perception have not been advanced: students seem to know more and more about less and less, and cannot communicate with each other. I need not emphasize that the arts of communication or the arts of using the mind are basic to learning, for they are the arts of reading, writing, speaking, listening, figuring. They have a timeless quality, as they are the arts of fostering the critical abilities of students, of their qualities of mind and spirit that will carry them to their lives.

Nevertheless, the changes over the last few years have been so rapid that “it makes a completely different linguistic world to live in,” to quote David Crystal. The internet has already altered all our previous concepts to do with language. In fact, there is also a lingering doubt in view of the realities of IT-dominated developments in the last ten years. Many of us find ourselves, or what we have been doing all these years, irrelevant. I suspect the fast growth of electronic publications, including books, journals, newspapers and magazines, and voice-recognition software, may soon make some of our arts, for example, writing, an ancient art form. While the printed word is facing a grave challenge as a medium of expression, voice chips may soon become indispensable for understanding and responding to verbal instructions and communication. The fast-moving images may replace text as the main form of communication: Books are already being played and viewed and information is visually and verbally communicated. These trends will not stop. As a result, 50 years hence few people would want to read, and fewer still would know how to write, as communication, both factual and expressive, would be through sound and pictures.

To most of us this may appear elitist, but this elitist reality coexists with the sad fact that a larger section of our population is functionally illiterate. A much larger percentage of our educated youths, high school and college graduates, despite their diplomas and degrees, cannot even fill out a simple application form, or write a formal letter. Smart ones among them who have access to computer and laptop increasingly depend on the latest version of Microsoft’s Word programme for checking spelling, syntax, grammar, and even paragraph structure. Yet they fail to write well or express themselves appropriately. Why? Because not only sensitivity for the language is missing, it is also frequently taught "as no man's subject, or as an everyman's subject, or an extra hand's subject."

When people love language, they will use it well, express their convictions, feelings and thoughts exactly and truly. To quote Charles Haines, “If users of English loved it, loved the feel and the sound of a well-turned phrase, loved fine speech in the mouth as they love the consistency of a good steak;…loved English and took care of it as some people love and care for their cars, ward-robes, coin collections, their health, the problem would not be hard to solve. The thing to do is to induce love. Language use, it must be taught from elementary school to Ph.D. exams, is more a matter of pleasure and beauty than it is of rules and strictures.”

It is with this sensibility for English language and its teaching in various contexts that I have tried to re-view it, keeping in mind that it is already a global lingua franca. It’s spread is both a consequence of and contributor to globalization, even as the rise of other regional languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, Swahili etc following the economic, political, and technological power or alliances of their speakers may make English less important.

According to an estimate, there are about 1400 million native speakers of Chinese, 600 million of Hindi and Urdu, and 508 million of English, which is almost the same as Spanish and Arabic native speakers. It is also predicted that the proportion of native English speakers in the world population will shrink from more than 8 to less than 5 per cent by 2050. The dominance of English may wane as more and more regional languages become globalized and more and more non-native English speakers, with or without their own varieties of English , including pidgins, creoles, and diverse dialects, go online.

Yet, the ground reality for us would remain unchanged, that is, poor literacy skills, fluency, and even comprehension. We would continue to witness poor communication ability, with limited experiences in writing, speaking and listening, unless, of course, teaching of English as an additional language improves from school level and need for a supporting classroom climate and positive student attitudes towards learning at post-secondary level is recognized. Also, both teachers and students need to be aware of what to do, how to do it, and when and why to do it as part of practicing self-regulation strategies.

The ELT community as also the other stake holders in the country should, therefore, revise and reformulate appropriate strategies and policies, with tolerance and multilingualism at the core, to remain relevant in the coming decades. The objective of looking back, of recollecting some significant views about English language teaching, is to move forward with a reasoned perspective for taking measures to develop communication abilities and higher discourse competence, with a broadened inter- and cross-disciplinary bases, for learning to understand (rather than memorize) and apply in ones own contexts.

I am aware that there is no universal teaching method or ideal teaching material suited to many contexts of language teaching. Whatever didactic techniques one knows without excluding the behaviouristic drills, and practice and use of mother tongue, where appropriate, are all valid at different points in the teaching process. I stand for an eclectic approach as different methods for different students have always worked and there has not been one best method any time. With our freedom to choose and adopt any notion that serves our teaching ends, with a reasonable degree of historical sense, flexibility and adaptability that allows us to select among a variety of approaches, methods and techniques, we can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. I see teaching communicatively essentially consisting of an eclectic methodology which incorporates what is valuable in any system or method of teaching and refuses to recognize bad teaching or defective learning. In any educational setting, sensitive and sensible application of continuing evaluation of the chosen practices should be inbuilt.

English has been practised in a social, economic, political, educational and philosophical “hot-house”, to use Peter Strevens’ expression, and the hot-house in India differs in quality from state to state. It is necessary to create an enabling environment – managerial, administrative, institutional, academic, and curricular—to promote not only quality education and effective learning with exposure to lots of natural, meaningful and understandable language but also genuine communication. This means learners should read and listen to live language; they should speak and write it in ways that can be understood by educated speakers everywhere. Moreover, they should eventually be able to produce and comprehend culturally appropriate natural discourse.

The articles in the volume are vignettes of various aspects of ELT from a not too distant past to apprehend and reflect on what new, which is relevant to both learners and teachers in terms of syllabus and methodology, could be tried. Addressed to teachers and researchers, not exposed to professional training in methods of language teaching and/or knowledge of its underlying principles, these articles are not high-brow or specialist but helpful to take stock of what we are doing and what needs to be done in the next few years of a very complex, different 21st century. Too many are the dangers inherent in the situation, but failures can be met with courage and style. ....
......

R.K.SINGH

Open ESL Expert Discussion... :: Address to teachers of English language skills

Author: profrksingh
Subject: Address to teachers of English language skills
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:18 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

ONE-DAY WORKSHOP ON ‘RELEVANT COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING’
May 6, 2008, E D C, ISMU


Friends,

We are not high-brow or stark ELT specialists whose discourse goes overhead. We are practicing teachers, interested to take stock of what we have been doing and what needs to be done in the next few years of a very complex, different 21st century. As I look back, and critically view the developments in English teaching profession, I regret to note that the mental skills of speech and communication, reasoning and analysis, creativity and imagination, intellectual stimulation and challenge, and critical and independent perception have not been advanced: students seem to know more and more about less and less, and cannot communicate with each other. I need not emphasize that the arts of communication or the arts of using the mind are basic to learning, for they are the arts of reading, writing, speaking, listening, figuring. They have a timeless quality, as they are the arts of fostering the critical abilities of students, of their qualities of mind and spirit that will carry them to their lives.

Nevertheless, the changes over the last few years have been so rapid that “it makes a completely different linguistic world to live in,” to quote David Crystal. The internet has already altered all our previous concepts to do with language. In fact, there is also a lingering doubt in view of the realities of IT-dominated developments in the last ten years. Many of us find ourselves, or what we have been doing all these years, irrelevant. I suspect the fast growth of electronic publications, including books, journals, newspapers and magazines, and voice-recognition software, may soon make some of our arts, for example, writing, an ancient art form. While the printed word is facing a grave challenge as a medium of expression, voice chips may soon become indispensable for understanding and responding to verbal instructions and communication. The fast-moving images may replace text as the main form of communication: Books are already being played and viewed and information is visually and verbally communicated. These trends will not stop. As a result, 50 years hence few people would want to read, and fewer still would know how to write, as communication, both factual and expressive, would be through sound and pictures.

To most of us this may appear elitist, but this elitist reality coexists with the sad fact that a larger section of our population is functionally illiterate. English is almost not used in the rural areas just as a large percentage of our educated youths, high school and college graduates, despite their diplomas and degrees, cannot even fill out a simple application form, or write a formal letter. Smart ones among them who have access to computer and laptop increasingly depend on the latest version of Microsoft’s Word programme for checking spelling, syntax, grammar, and even paragraph structure. Yet they fail to write well or express themselves appropriately. Why? I suspect excepting a very small section of the population, the large majority learn English the wrong way. Many of you know well how English is also being taught as a no man’s subject, or as an every man’s subject, or an extra hand’s subject. This is not a positive or happy situation. I am also concerned, as I have always maintained, English learning has to be strengthened at the school level without which there can’t be improvement at college level. Moreover, sensitivity for the language needs to be developed.

When people love language, they will use it well, express their convictions, feelings and thoughts exactly and truly. To quote Charles Haines, “If users of English loved it, loved the feel and the sound of a well-turned phrase, loved fine speech in the mouth as they love the consistency of a good steak;…loved English and took care of it as some people love and care for their cars, ward-robes, coin collections, their health, the problem would not be hard to solve. The thing to do is to induce love. Language use, it must be taught from elementary school to Ph.D. exams, is more a matter of pleasure and beauty than it is of rules and strictures.”

It is with this sensibility for English language and its teaching in various contexts that I thought of a Workshop, or rather, a get-together, with you, pre-secondary and secondary level teachers, to share your actual classroom experiences of teaching English, to pool opinions, and seek remedies within the constraints of your teaching situations.

While I say this, I also keep in mind the ground reality: that is, poor literacy skills, fluency, and even comprehension. We may continue to witness poor communication ability, with limited experiences in writing, speaking and listening, unless, of course, teaching of English as an additional language improves from school level and need for a supporting classroom climate and positive student attitudes towards learning at post-secondary level is recognized. Also, both teachers and students need to be aware of what to do, how to do it, and when and why to do it as part of practicing self-regulation strategies.

The ELT community as also the other stake holders in the country should, therefore, revise and reformulate appropriate strategies and policies, with tolerance and multilingualism at the core, to remain relevant in the coming decades. The objective of looking back is to move forward with a reasoned perspective for taking measures to develop communication abilities and higher discourse competence, with a broadened inter- and cross-disciplinary bases, for learning to understand (rather than memorize) and apply in ones own contexts.

I am aware that there is no universal teaching method or ideal teaching material suited to many contexts of language teaching. Whatever didactic techniques one knows without excluding the behaviouristic drills, and practice and use of mother tongue, where appropriate, are all valid at different points in the teaching process. I stand for an eclectic approach as different methods for different students have always worked and there has not been one best method any time. With our freedom to choose and adopt any notion that serves our teaching ends, with a reasonable degree of historical sense, flexibility and adaptability that allows us to select among a variety of approaches, methods and techniques, we can meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. I see teaching communicatively essentially consisting of an eclectic methodology which incorporates what is valuable in any system or method of teaching and refuses to recognize bad teaching or defective learning. In any educational setting, sensitive and sensible application of continuing evaluation of the chosen practices should be inbuilt.

English has been practised in a social, economic, political, educational and philosophical “hot-house”, to use Peter Strevens’ expression, and the hot-house in India differs in quality from state to state. It is necessary to create an enabling environment – managerial, administrative, institutional, academic, and curricular—to promote not only quality education and effective learning with exposure to lots of natural, meaningful and understandable language but also genuine communication. This means learners should read and listen to live language; they should speak and write it in ways that can be understood by educated speakers everywhere. Moreover, they should eventually be able to produce and comprehend culturally appropriate natural discourse.

At the end of the workshop, having shared with each other what some of you have done and how, we will emerge more enlightened and aware about what more we need to do to succeed in the days ahead. Interaction with colleagues like you should help us envision a possible policy framework required to support Teaching for economically valuable language skills at tertiary and/or professional level.

Thank you.

Profesoor R.K.SINGH

Recommended ESL Books... :: English Language Teaching: A Review

Author: profrksingh
Subject: English Language Teaching: A Review
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:12 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected edited. R.K.Singh ,Jaipur: Book Enclave , 2008, pp.viii+238, Price Rs.695/-, ISBN; 978-81-8152-198-9.



The author of the book under review is a distinguished and renowned scholar, who has given us many other valuable studies as an ELT and EST practitioner. His latest book, English Language Teaching: Some Aspects Recollected is a compilation of 18 well- researched essays on ELT and ESP rooted in actual classroom experiences and earlier appeared in different professional journals during 1980s and 1990s. The need for assembling these stimulating articles was their non-accessibility (as most of the journals do not exist today) to the Indian practitioners of English language teaching.

As the author states his intention in the prefatory note, “I have collected some such essays which are not only historically significant in their differing background and perspectives but also helpful in our pursuit for eclectically developing relevant ELT for general, professional, academic or specific purposes in India.”(p. vii)

With the boom of multinationals in India and the shrinking of the world into a global village, there are enough people lured by the hype of speaking fluent English. There is no area today, where effective communication is not needed. Even to run one’s own business, one has to have specific language skills related to that area in order to interact with the stakeholders effectively. In this time of functional specialisation in particular areas, specific communication skills are a must for every individual to meet the objectives of the organization (national/international/or multinational) that one works for.

Against such a perspective, the significance of the English classrooms in India needs no emphasis. But the mushroom growth of English coaching centers, be it a metropolis or a small town, seems to have added to the crisis. The students who get trained from such centers are no better than the untrained ones.

The first and foremost thing that needs to be realized in a language classroom is to understand the needs of language learners, to be sensitive to their problems and expectations, to the realities of their situation and above all, the market demand. It is through purpose-oriented language teaching with an ESP approach that the teacher can help develop the required language skills of the learners to enable them to meet their job demands. As the essays remind, it is high time for the teachers of English to take initiatives and adequate measures to move the language teaching- learning process in the right direction, in the right way.

Having to use a non- native language in contexts where one would like to have full command of the medium is sometimes intellectually frustrating, and is indeed a Herculean task. However, all challenges should appear small before the larger goals. Whatever is the constraint, classroom activities must result in developing and honing the learner’s skills.

The practitioners of English language need to hark back to the past researches in order to benefit from them. Research of the type conducted in late 1970s or 1980s or even later, by the contributing teacher- researchers needs to be carried out by teachers today. The 18 research essays in the book provide an insight into the essential constituents of ESP and ELT. Some essays are designed to develop broad, general proficiency in English while others are associated with teaching of English associated with performance of certain job- specific functions and ESP programmes. Krista Varantola in her scholarly essay remarks: “To be able to train competent communication specialists we need to know more about the various connections between language use and successful communication; about the continuum of LSP texts and their historical development, about the potential and restrictions of an international language, and the selective informative needs in present day society”(p.12).

The articles on vocabulary and collocation focus on the significance of the two in language learning. Rebecca Oxford and David Crookall are of the view that vocabulary is “not explicitly taught in most language classes, and students are expected to “pick-up” vocabulary on their own without any guidance.”(p.199) The same is the case with collocations. S. Alavi and M.H. Taharirian aver, “In teaching vocabulary, one important but less emphasized dimension is the teaching of collocations.”(p.26) It is a fact that less attention is given to vocabulary and collocation teaching, which are an integral part of language learning. The essays suggest innovative ways of teaching the two areas to the learners to help them get attuned to “content-in-context”.

The essays “Errors in the Usage of Conjunctions by Advanced Learners” and “The Teaching of Idiomatic English” lay stress on the significance of proper conjunctions and idioms in language learning. Again, they are the language items that are less taken care of by the language teachers. The essay “Scientific English: Qualitative Factors Via Modern Rhetoric” focuses on the necessity of understanding the technical vocabulary and structures in relation to their context. This is explained through various examples and one such example is “cold fusion”. The oxymoron here refers to a nuclear reaction whose steps can be visualized, quantified and tested through a given mathematical formula but if it is interpreted as ‘The fusion is cold’, it will give an absurd explanation of the compounding.

The next five essays deal with scientific discourse and scientific writing that lay special stress on ‘specialist-to-specialist communication’, ‘technical communication’ and teaching vocabulary and structures in relation to their context. The essay “On Some Conjuncts Signalling Dissonance in Written Expository English” talks about the logical progression of ideas in a text that can be achieved through conjuncts.

Apparently, the essays seem to be randomly selected. Some essays are on ESP approach and EAP, some deal with the syntactical aspect of language, while a couple of essays are on abstract writing. A major portion of the book comprises of Scientific English (to put it in a broader term) that focuses on scientific discourse and scientific and technical writing. But these essays that appear divergent in nature, when read carefully, reveal the concerns and experiences of ELT teachers and experts from different countries such as Iran, Nigeria, India, Canada, the U.K. and a couple of European countries. These experiences might suit the local situations of any other country as well, where English is taught as a second / or foreign language.

An informative mix of the varied aspects of General English and English for specific purposes, the book is an important resource material for practitioners of EST, ESL and ELT. It is particularly relevant in the Indian context where empirical research in ELT and ESP is not readily available but is badly needed. The essays also prove to be a source of encouragement to the Indian practitioners of English language to come forward to share their own practical situations/ or classroom experiences in a similar fashion. It also alarms the reader to understand that it is high time to change the mindset that premier research happens only in the West.

On the negative side, the typographical errors are quite jarring and even the price of the book makes it another Anglophilic book on language, keeping off the common readers from their reach. However, these pitfalls cannot minimize the value / worth of the book, which seeks to motivate teachers to develop realistic courses for their students.



Reviewed by: Dr Rajni Singh, Asst Prof of English, Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad 826004 India

Getting the ESL Job... :: Working in Italy

Author: kellyjo5
Subject: Working in Italy
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 3:37 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

I've been applying for teaching jobs in Italy, but have not had any luck thus far because of my status as an American citizen- everyone wants to hire people that already have EU working papers. However, as far as I know, you can't get working papers without being hired by an Italian employer. Does anyone out there have any ideas for how to find legal work in Italy?

ESL in Korea [Only]... :: RE: Teaching In South Korea...your thoughts please!

Author: eleruen
Subject: Living in South Korea
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 1:12 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

Hi

1) I haven't been following the news recently so can't comment on this one- I got caught up with wedding plans. But I can say that on a day to day basis I don't feel any kind of threat from N.Korea. However South Korea does still have a conscripted army.

2) Not really much of a gang culture on the streets. Gangs here don't usually have random victims. In terms of being mugged, stabbed or shot I feel safer here than in the UK. However in terms of my sexual safety I feel very uncomfortable here and safer in the UK. Here I have been almost raped in my own hotel room (the lock, as it turned out, was broken), my bum grabbed, asked for sex by older men (how much do you cost etc) upon several occassions on the subway train or on the street in a busy area, despite wearing jeans and a sweater, followed, and my body looked up and down in a perverse manner even while my husband was standing next to me. Staring is a natural thing in a country which is not used to foreigners, but staring up and down for extended periods of time, especially at my boobs and bum is perverse.

From talking to other foreign women here, if you are not overweight, you will suffer. The problem is so bad that my Korean husband is considering contacting the newspapers.

However if you are (a white) male, you will be fine.

3) Yes, unfortunately most employers treat their teachers badly here. I suggest you visit http://www.efl-law.com/ to find out your rights, and
http://www.geocities.com/hagwonblacklist/list.html to find out which are the nastiest schools. You can also visit www.eslcafe.com and browse the teaching in Korea forum so that you get an idea of the kind of problems that crop up.

Also in Korea recruiters are obligated by law to take care of the teacher during their first 3 months, but they rarely do. Moreover, it is difficult to resolve problems when they occur. On a postive note, there has been a foreign teacher's union recently formed and recognised, but how much clout they have here I do not know.

I hope this has been helpful.

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Jamaicans Teaching in Singapore,Japan or South Korea?

Author: eleruen
Subject: South Korea for Jamaicans
Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 12:37 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

Dear Smartie

I have been living and teaching in South Korea for 3 years but never taught in Singapore or Japan so I can only speak for South Korea.

Unfortunately an E-2 teaching visa is ONLY offered to nationals of USA, Canada, UK, Southern Ireland, South Africa, NZ and Canada. There is no other visa available for teaching. If you are teaching without this visa you are breaking the law.

South Korea is in many ways a narrow-minded country (due just coming out of a war and not being in the international community for long). They cannot imagine English coming from the mouth of anyone who is not white. Because Jamaicans are mostly black, they do not regard Jamaica being home to native English-speakers. Even if it was legally possible for you to get a visa, (I don't know your ethnic background but) not many employers will be willing to hire a person who isn't white. If the employer isn't racist, then the mother's of the children you would be teaching certainly will be.

Anyway because there isn't a market for Jamaican teachers (and perhaps because of false preconceptions of the Korean government???), an E-2 visa will be not be issued to people coming from Jamaica.

As for China, Chinese people are more racist than Koreans. If you get the opportunity to work there, be prepared to suffer (assuming that you are from a non-white ethnic background).

ESL Jobs From Home... :: RE: Online teaching

Author: babygurl
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 8:37 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 27

I would not work for TutorABC myself; I work for a great distance online education that is recognized worldwide; an institute that offers ESL classes, from which you can actually make a normal income.

ESL Jobs From Home... :: Is this legit..

Author: babygurl
Subject: Is this legit..
Posted: Fri May 02, 2008 6:55 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Employer does not want to be on here.. edited.


Thanks

Getting the ESL Job... :: RE: ESL Employment School Finder?

Author: Lee Hobbs
Subject: Conflict Resolution
Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 9:35 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

fareastender wrote:
This matter is now resolved. ...I have no complaints as I was supplied with a copy of the guide as a gesture of good will


"All's well that ends well" ~ Billy Shakespeare
_________________

Lee's Blog: www.english-blog.com

Getting the ESL Job... :: RE: ESL Employment School Finder?

Author: fareastender
Posted: Thu May 01, 2008 2:27 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

This matter is now resolved.

They have refunded my money (although I lost out due to the vagaries of exchange rates). However, I have no complaints as I was supplied with a copy of the guide as a gesture of good will.

By the way my "expletive deleted" was a very mild one, and was the subject of a court case involving The Sex Pistols in 1977 in the UK. Verdict - not obscene.

Ballcocks! Smile

New ESL Teachers... :: RE: pre-interview CELTA...need help :((please)

Author: Olyaaaa
Subject: answers
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 6:40 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 1

Hello Sezamek. I'll try to help you now. I hope I am not too late.

2) "What does your teacher look like?"
"He looks like tall".
'looks like' is a mistake. We say he 'is' tall. (no idea how to explain that)

Looks like is mostly used when we compare things, people. We can say, for example, He looks like Jane. Jane is tall, so he is tall too.

3) "What did you do last night?"
"Oh, I watched a very bored programme on television".
'bored' is a mistake. We say boring. We use the present participle (don't know again)
We use boring because in this case it is an adjective, it describes the word programme. Bored is used without a noun.

4) "Why didn't you answer the telephone?"
"Because I had a bath".
I 'was having' a bath...should be... because we say the reason?
Yes, it should be said 'I was having a bath.' Past Continouus Tense is used because an action in process (having a bath) was interrupted by another action 'answer the telephone'

I hope this will help. Sorry I could answer only some of them

Links to Your Website... :: Online English Conversation Teacher 英会

Author: Scarlett
Subject: Online English Conversation Teacher 英会
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:50 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

オンラインでアメリカ人の英会話パートナーと英語を話す。
I am a native English speaking partner.

私が少し日本語が話せ、日本の文化を知っていることが　私があなたを指導する上で役立つことと信じています。
I speak a little Japanese which will help us in our conversation.

“Skype” を使えます。
We can use Skype.
http://www.eikaiwanosensei.com


Reciprocal Link: http://www.susanbuck.net/afriendinamerica/link

New ESL Teachers... :: RE: How to get a first teaching Job in Japan (Non native)

Author: Scarlett
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:49 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 1

Dear Mukund,
I know it has been a while since you posted your question, but if you are still interested in a reply, I have a question for you. Are you planning on teaching Online or are you going to Japan to teach? If the answer is online, please feel free to respond because I am trying to find out the same answer and maybe we can put our heads together and help each other. If you are going to Japan--native speaker or not, they are always in need of English teachers.

Good luck!
Scarlett

Getting the ESL Job... :: RE: I apologize to those of you

Author: ICAL_Pete
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 1:13 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 4

Guy Courchesne wrote:
It's extraordinarily difficult to find an online course that can be more than just an online course. When you get down to it, the most valuable part of any such course is the practical experience you get out of it. If you're going to take a course, then do one with a practicum. Employers will not look at an online course at all without it.


Our experience is entirely different. We place our certified ESL teachers in English schools around the world and know for a fact that a teaching practicum is not an essential requirement for many positions.

More and more schools around the world recognize the value of online certificates issued by professional organizations and employers no longer discriminate between Certificates obtained through traditional institutes and those online.
_________________
Pete West
ICAL Admin Officer
ICAL www.icalweb.com
Quality Online TESL/TEFL Training

Getting the ESL Job... :: RE: ESL Employment School Finder?

Author: unionjack
Subject: Computer glitch
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 8:46 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

Hello Fareastender

First of all, we do not run scams on this site

I'm sorry for the problems you have been having and wonder if it could be due to a computer glitch; either yours or ours.

As a first post user on the forum, URLs are not permitted, in order to reduce the 'fly by night' advertisers. However, they are allowed in subsequent posts. Here is the URL, to which you refer:

http://www.eslemployment.com/cmd.php?ad=164083

To whom did you send your emails and for what reason were you barred from the forum?

If you would like to email me at kenneth@eslemployment.com with all the details, I will gladly resolve the problem, to your satisfaction.

UJ

Getting the ESL Job... :: ESL Employment School Finder?

Author: fareastender
Subject: ESL Employment School Finder?
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2008 4:19 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 3

Has any one received an email like this?

"Dear Colleague,

This is huge for anyone looking for a job RIGHT NOW. If
you're like me I'm sure you would prefer to save yourself
hours of surfing the net for your next job. That's why you
need to take a look at this.

*and would you believe - it I'm not allowed to post the url of the
ESLemployment scamsite*

Don't bother! You don't get what you paid for.

Foolishly I signed up for this. All got was a link to a corrupt file which would not download. They have received my money, a matter I have taken up with my VISA bank so expect to get my money back. However it has been a PITA!

"And remember, if after 90-days you don't feel you've gotten the
results you expected, we'll refund 100% of your money, no questions asked"

Expletive removed. UJ

No response from emails. I've had to re-register because they barred me from the forum

Say Anything... :: Guangzhou ( Name of school removed)

Author: scott23
Subject: Guangzhou ( Name of school removed)
Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:08 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

This post has been moderated. UJ

I would like to advise anyone coming to Guangzhou, China not to work for (name removed)

The company name has changed in the past so please look out for a lady called (name removed) It is her English name and she uses it to fraudulently to sign contracts that are not legitimate, as you will be made to work without a visa when you first arrive. I have many teacher friends who have been conned financially by this company and they have a bad reputation throughout Guangzhou.

They make you work illegally, long hours, the contract is misleading, they do not pay you for holidays when they should, they lie to you and hold your passport as to stop you from leaving, they do not pay you on time, the Chinese in the contract is not the same as the English, they have changed company names many times as to continue operating illegitimately.

These are to name but a few of the problems that the teachers went through during my time with (name removed)

I repeat. Think wisely before you enter into discussions with this company.

From a very unhappy teacher still living in Guangzhou hence why no email address

Please contact the writer for further details

ESL in the Central & South Americas... :: ESL jobs in Brazil

Author: Dan
Subject: ESL jobs in Brazil
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2008 9:49 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 0

Hi! I'm a new member (just joined today). I'm a semi-retired professor of modern foreign languages looking for ESL jobs (and/or Spanish, if anyone has any info) in Brazil. I've visited the country several time and I'm, in fact, returning next month.

Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, ideas, recommendations, information, etc., let me know. I have lots of teaching experience under my belt (36 years, to be exact) and would like to expand my horizons abroad.

Thanks!

Dan

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Non native English frustration

Author: Alann
Subject: discrimination
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:28 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 2

I fully agree on this native non-sense. How do accents differ within Britain? For a Chinese It is very hard to understand someone who speaks Cockney or to understand a native from Belfast.

Why don't they do interviews over the net so they could hear us talk? The Korean schools or Indonesian school who swear by native speakers from NZ, Australia, etc would soon find out you don't have to be a native to speak proper and 'accentless'? English.

Why don't we see Hindlish or Singlish as natives mentioned in those 'native speaker countries'? What about people like me who grew up in Belgium and have an English mum and a Flemish dad and grow up learning 6 languages. very shortsighted that is.

I was astounded to find out that natives in England do not necessarily study the grammar of their language and in most cases I know it better than they do, yet I won't get a job in Indonesia or Korea, just because I don't have an American or UK Passport.

Alann

New ESL Teachers... :: pre-interview CELTA...need help :((please)

Author: sezamek
Subject: pre-interview CELTA...need help :((please)
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 11:22 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 1

Hello. I need some help with the CELTA pre-interview task.

I know the mistakes. However, I have no idea how to explain them easily. I'm new to the teachers' world, so please help me Sad I've got some ideas for the answers but the biggest problem for me is to explain to students, so they understand.

Could anyone help me please:(Each of the exchanges below contains a mistake.

In each case:
a) indicate what the mistake is
b) write in the correct version in the box
c) write, in simple terms, an explanation that the student would understand

1) "I'd like some informations about your courses".
"Certainly, here's our brochure".
'informations' is a mistake. It is an uncountable noun and plural itself, so we don't add "s" to the plural form.

2) "What does your teacher look like?"
"He looks like tall".
'looks like' is a mistake. We say he 'is' tall. (no idea how to explain that)

3) "What did you do last night?"
"Oh, I watched a very bored programme on television".
'bored' is a mistake. We say boring. We use the present participle (don't know again)

4) "Why didn't you answer the telephone?"
"Because I had a bath".
I 'was having' a bath...should be... because we say the reason?

Imagine you are teaching a multilingual group of 12 adult learners at BEGINNER level.
a)What problems might your students have in (i) understanding,
(ii) pronouncing and (iii) using these items?

i) I've got a headache. ('have got'...possession?)
ii) comfortable (pronouncing 'table' (as an object in a classroom)
iii) What's the matter?(matter=issue?)

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Age - over 50

Author: Lee Hobbs
Subject: Where age can be an advantage
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:00 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 7

sigmoid wrote:
Opportunities also exist in 'international' and 'bilingual' pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities for teaching a wide variety of subjects.


Hi Sigmoid,

I agree. In Lisa's case (see above) with her master's degree in education and years of demonstrable experience, she would do well to investigate teaching abroad at the university level where age is less of an issue (good chance that most of the faculty are 40+), even revered in some cases.

Lee
_________________

Lee's Blog: www.english-blog.com

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Age - over 50

Author: sigmoid
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:14 am (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 7

Current demand for foreign teachers across Asia is HIGH.

Regardless of age, if you are presentable, healthy and educated, you should be able to find a position teaching. The important thing [and sometimes difficult thing] is to find a GOOD position. There are a lot of crap schools and institutions. In essence, you should have the attitude that you are interviewing the schools, not vice versa. Find out what they can do for you, not what their requirements are.

Also, remember that teaching English in a language center is just one type of teaching. Opportunities also exist in 'international' and 'bilingual' pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, colleges and universities for teaching a wide variety of subjects.

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Age - over 50

Author: Lee Hobbs
Subject: Re: Age - over 50
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:20 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 7

Anja wrote:
Any ideas how to overcome the problem of getting one's first EFL job when one is over 50? I am a qualified primary school teacher with a M Ed and Grad Cert in TESOL but seem to have troble getting anywhere when sending applications for overseas jobs. I have a very youthful outlook in life and love travelling and meeting new people. It is so disappointing to find that one's age can be such a hinderance. Rolling Eyes


Readers, this topic seems to spill over on to other threads. There is another discussion on age and hiring practices in the overseas ESL industry here:

http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?p=7296#7296

This is a real issue and the forum benefits from hearing ALL of your experiences.

Thanks,

Lee
_________________

Lee's Blog: www.english-blog.com

Discrimination Issues in ESL... :: RE: Age discrimination in hiring?

Author: Lee Hobbs
Subject: Is it worthwhile to get into TESL at 57?
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 2:45 pm (GMT 1)
Topic Replies: 14

ridgerunner6 wrote:
I am a highly experienced ESL pro and am having problems finding work due to age discrimination. What is the situation like in the ROK? Is there an unofficial age ceiling for teachers?
Thanks for any input.


Readers,

This is a question from "Lisa," who emailed me first, who has the same question. If anyone can help her out