International TESOL Certificate Course Syllabus

Instructor Shirin Peyman
Course Introduction
This 120-hour Certificate course is a serious, practical, and comprehensive introduction to the essential elements of teaching English as a foreign language. It has been designed using the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations guidelines, and is designed to meet the standards of their CELTA Certificate program. CELTA is the standard for all TESL/TEFL Certificate programs, and is recognized internationally. For more info, please visit http://www.cambridgeesol.org /teaching/celta.htm . Currently, this course is accredited by the California government's BPPVE. For more information about the BPPVE, please visit them on the web at http://www.bppve.ca.gov/.
At TESOL Training International, we believe that people learn best when they have an opportunity to apply what they have been taught. Learning how to teach is one thing, but actually teaching is a whole other thing. Everything in this course is designed to prepare you for the day when you will be teaching your very own ESL/EFL class. The first phase of this course is designed to give you the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively teach English as a foreign language. The second phase of this course is designed to allow you to apply your knowledge and skills to a real-life ESL/EFL classroom with real-life ESL/EFL students.

Course Objectives

1. For you to develop and demonstrate your theoretical and practical understanding of the theories of learning (especially second language acquisition), classroom dynamics, and teaching methodology.
2. For you to develop and demonstrate your understanding of the various aspects of the English language system; morphology, phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, semantics, and syntax.
3. For you to develop and demonstrate the skills necessary to teach the various English subject areas; grammar, listening, pronunciation, reading, speaking, and writing,
4. For you to develop and demonstrate your understanding of how to plan lessons and units, and how to use the various resources available to help you accomplish these tasks.
5. For you to develop and demonstrate your understanding of classroom management, and the skills necessary to effectively manage your classroom. This includes discipline policies and disciplining, attendance policies and attendance, grading, syllabus design, seating charts and arrangement, etc.
6. For you to develop and demonstrate your understanding of the methodology of teacher evaluations, and to be able to apply this knowledge to your teaching.
7. For you to demonstrate the ability to effectively apply the knowledge and skills learned throughout this course to a real-life ESL/EFL classroom with real-life ESL/EFL students.

Peer Observation/Evaluation/Feedback

By observing, evaluating, and providing feedback to teachers, you will learn to identify the traits of an effective teacher and lesson plan. You will learn to identify the characteristics of a welcoming classroom environment conducive to learning. Prior to your observation hours, you will be given a guide for evaluating teacher performance. You will be taught how to effectively evaluate teacher performance, and how to effectively provide feedback. This will provide a framework for discussing teacher performance, and creating ways to improve teacher performance. The goal for this part of the course is to take what you have learned about the evaluation process and apply it to your teaching.

You will observe, evaluate, and provide feedback on a lesson by each of your classmates once during the semester. This will take place during class time.

In addition to observing your classmates, you will observe/evaluate 5 of TTI's teachers. You will observe/evaluate them teaching two different subject areas. For example, one class might be Grammar, and the other class Speaking. This is done so you can see that the same teacher approaches classes differently depending on the subject area, the language proficiency level, age, classroom dynamics, etc. You will observe each of our 5 levels twice.

Practicum
This is the most important part of the course. As mentioned earlier, everything you do in this class is designed to prepare you to successfully complete your practicum.
The purpose of the practicum is to give you experience in a real-life ESL/EFL classroom setting, and to use this experience to help you improve your teaching performance. It is expected that your teaching performance will gradually improve throughout the practicum.
With guidance from your teacher, you will be designing lesson plans that you will implement in a real-life ESL/EFL classroom with actual ESL/EFL students. You will be teaching five 1-hour lessons for a total of five hours. You will teach 5 classes from the list below.

SUBJECT AREAS	PROFICIENCY LEVELS
Speaking, Listening, and Pronunciation	Beginner	High Beginner	Low Intermediate	High Intermediate	Advanced
Reading and Writing	Beginner	High Beginner	Low Intermediate	High Intermediate	Advanced
Grammar	Beginner	High Beginner	Low Intermediate	High Intermediate	Advanced


Each lesson you teach will be observed and evaluated. The purpose of these observations/evaluations is to highlight your areas of strength and areas needing improvement. The evaluation process will provide a framework for discussing how to improve your teaching performance. The first step to improving your teaching performance is knowing where you need to improve. Once this is known, you, with the help of your instructor, will be able to devise a way to improve your teaching performance. Then, you will immediately have an opportunity to test-out the solution. Finally, you and your instructor will be able to see whether or not the solution worked.
You will be observed and evaluated by a variety of different people in order to get different perspectives. These people will be your teacher, fellow classmates, or AOI teachers. After each lesson, you will receive an evaluation sheet from the person who observed your class. You will have time to review and reflect upon your evaluation. Afterwards, you will meet with your TESL/TEFL instructor to discuss the evaluation. Additionally, there will be times when you receive evaluations and feedback from the students you teach.

Textbook
TESOL Training International Fonutdation Manual (designed for International Students)

EVALUATION
50% Teaching Practicum
25% Observations/Evaluations /Feedback
15% 3 Short Essays (2 pages)
10% In-class Presentation

COURSE OVERVIEW
*Introduction to the World of ESL
* Cultural Sensitivity, Student and Country Profiles
* Classroom Management and Organization
* Learning/Second Language Acquisition Theories
* Visual Aides, Activities, Games, & CALL
* Teaching Vocabulary, Meaning, and Context

Teaching Speaking, Listening, and Pronunciation

Teaching Reading and Writing

Grammar Review and Teaching Grammar

Lesson Planning

* Assessments, Testing, and Evaluation
Professional Development, Employment, and ESL/EFL Resources

OPTIONAL INTERNSHIP
At the end of the course, you will have the option to do a 4-week internship at a local K-8 school. You will be in charge of your own ESL class with the supervision of a mentor. You will work full time, approximately 8-3. More details will be given when your certificate class begins.