First TESOL TEST PROGRAMS Cambridge Academy of Translation UK

First TESOL TEST

First TESOL Test（FTT）is designed for beginner English teachers or those preparing for a TESOL career. It is practice-oriented, guiding the learners step-by-step through the process and procedure of English language teaching. FTT is a test on the basic knowledge of language teaching methods and is an important member of UK TESOL family.

First TESOL Test training & test content is based largely on Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching by Diane Larsen-Freeman, Oxford University Press. To prepare for FTT test, A new teacher needs to study the book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching and sit for the the test on technique and theory.

Core TESOL Methodology involved with FTT:

The Grammar-Translation Method

the Direct Method

The Audio-Lingual Method

The Silent Way

Desuggestopedia

Community Language Learning Method

Total Physical Response

Communicative Language

Content-based, Task-based, and Participatory Approaches

Learning Strategy Training, Cooperative Learning, and Multiple Intelligences

Learning Goals of Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching

1. One of the goals of this book is for you to learn about many different language teaching methods. I will use the term 'language teaching method' to mean a coherent set of links between actions and thoughts in language teaching. The actions are the techniques and the thoughts are the principles in the title of this book: Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.

2. A second goal is to help you uncover the thoughts that guide your own actions as a teacher. They may not be ones of which you are aware. Seeking to determine which principles of the methods you read about here are most harmonious with your own thinking will help you to uncover some of your implicit thoughts and beliefs about reaching.

3. A third goal is to introduce you to a variety of techniques, some of which will be new. Although certain techniques may require further training, others can be immediately implemented. Feel free to experiment and adapt those techniques to your teaching context.

Language Teaching Methods & Teacher Education

A study of methods is in valuable in teacher education in at least five ways:

Methods serve as a foil for reflection that can aid teachers in bringing to conscious awareness the thinking that underlies their actions. We know that teachers come to teacher training with ideas about the teaching/learning process formed from the years they have spent as students themselves (Lortie 1975). A major purpose of teacher education is to help teachers make the tacit explicit (Shulman 1987; Freeman 1991). When teachers are exposed to methods and asked to reflect on their principles and actively engage with their techniques, they can become clearer about why they do what they do. They become aware of their own fundamental assumptions, values, and beliefs.

By becoming clear on where they stand, teachers can choose to teach differently from the way they were taught. They are able to see why they are attracted to certain methods and repelled by others. They are able to make choices that are informed, not conditioned. They may be able to resist, or at least argue against, the imposition of a particular method by authorities. In other situations, where a method is not imposed, methods offer teachers alternatives to what they currently think and do. It does not necessarily follow that teachers will choose to modify their current practice. The point is that they will have the understanding to do so, if they are able to and want to.

A knowledge of methods is part of the knowledge base of teaching. With it, teachers join a community of practice (Freeman 1992). Being a community member entails learning the professional discourse that community members use so that professional dialog can take place. Being part of a discourse community confers a professional identity and connects teachers with others so they are not so isolated in their practice.

A professional discourse community may also challenge teachers' conceptions of how teaching leads to learning. Interacting with others' conceptions of practice helps keep teachers' teaching alive-helps prevent it from becoming stale and overly routinized (Prabhu 1990).

A knowledge of methods helps expand a teacher's repertoire of techniques. This in itself provides an additional avenue for professional growth, as some teachers find their way to new philosophical positions, not by first entertaining new principles, but rather by trying out new techniques. Moreover, effective teachers who are more experienced and expert have a large, diverse repertoire of best practices (Arends 1998), which presumably helps them deal more effectively, with the unique qualities and idiosyncrasies of their students.