Page 40 - ELG2009 Sep Issue 472

RESOURCES . REVIEWS & RESOURCES

Practical tips for engaging PIXABAY PIXABAY

young learners online

Ross Thorburn talks to the Gazette about

his popular podcast and online teaching

TEFL Training Institute

Ross Thorburn started up the TEFL Training Institute website with hopes of
building teacher training programs, but it has found its identity as a podcast/blog.
The podcasts aim to take useful ideas about language teaching, training and
management and present them in way that is fast, easy to understand and free.
In each 15-minute episode, Ross discusses practical, thought-provoking or
controversial topics with friends, and with some of the biggest names in language
teaching. From motivation to materials, training to teenagers, approaches to
assessment.

Can you tell us a bit more about the education more relevant. What could be
team you work with and what TEFL more practical than studying a subject area Online learning can offer opportunities to make referential questions, like, “What is
Training Institute can offer to you encounter every day at work? the weather like?” more meaningful
teachers?
The podcast is all about spreading useful Are there particular challenges for become ‘new’ and meaningful in the online ‘desk’. These allow students to talk about the
ideas about language teaching, training and teaching young learners online? setting. classroom environment in English. Teachers
management. Much of the literature about There are three main factors that make Another example relates to and students in online classes also need to be
language teaching is too long, too difficult to teaching kids online challenging. Firstly, the communicative activities. Communicative able to talk about their classroom
understand and too expensive for teachers to environment can be very static. Without tasks are important in all contexts, but can be environment.
access. The podcast aims to be the opposite. movement, it’s easy for students to get bored more challenging in online lessons. There are The vocabulary they need to do this is
The team is just me and the guests that come and listless. Movement is usually easy to three reasons for this: completely different to offline. We need to
on the podcast. Some of the guests have integrate into offline young learner classes. Online learning presents its own, Teachers teaching online tend to use teach our learners ‘Can you hear me?’ ‘Move
included David Nunan, Patsy Lightbown, Incorporating movement in online lessons unique challenges materials linearly; most lesson sequences put your webcam’, ‘click’ and ‘circle’. These and
Penny Ur and Stephen Krashen. takes more thought. communicative activities at the end of lesson other phrases can help us solve tech problems
The second reason relates to the materials. understand their students’ environment and these in English. This is infinitely more (e.g. ‘activate’ in ESA or ‘production’ in while helping our learners communicate
When did you first start teaching Publishers have been making communicative culture, the easier they can do that. I’ve lived meaningful than naming generic foods from a PPP); and online lessons typically are much meaningfully in English.
English and where has this taken you coursebooks for offline classes for decades. in China for a long time now, so I understand coursebook. shorter than face-to-face lessons.
in the world? Teachers can supplement their face-to-face what my students are trying to say when they Add these together and you have a perfect What is your vision or expectation for
My first teaching job was in 2006 in Hefei, lessons with activities from resource books. talk about food they like or cartoons they Can you offer anything new for storm. Communicative activities get the future of online learning
China. Since then I’ve worked as a teacher, watch. This would be close to impossible if I teachers who are already very familiar squeezed into the final few minutes of class generally?
trainer, manager and materials designer, but still lived in a small town in Scotland and my with the online environment, but time. My advice to teachers and online Whatever happens in the future it will be
haven’t left China. Asking students lived in downtown Shanghai. maybe not with young learners? materials writers is to move communicative driven by technology rather than by teachers.
I think good online teaching needs to be a activities to the beginning of your lessons. Education usually isn’t the first industry to
When did you get involved with the questions that you What tips would you offer to teachers mixture of the ‘new’ and the ‘old’. The ‘old’ is This means the most important activities get take advantage of new technologies. If we
TEFL Training Institute, and what who are adapting to this new the principles behind effective teaching. The the time and attention they deserve. look at gaming, virtual reality is a big area of
prompted you to go down this don’t know the environment, possibly for the first ‘new’ is how to make these happen online. Communicative activities are an ‘old’ idea, growth. VR could let us visit the arctic with
professional route? answer to tends to time? Let me share a couple of examples. but to make them happen online we need a our students instead of looking at a photo of
The initial motivation for the podcast was Take advantage of the new environment. All teachers should ask students genuine ‘new’ strategy. a polar bear on a computer screen or take our
related to teacher training. I liked the idea of prompt more Online teaching opens the door to many (referential) questions at least as often as class on a tour of the Taj Mahal instead of
the flipped classroom and wanted to try practices which are impossible offline. In they ask display questions. Asking questions How do you overcome technology just reading about it. I suspect this is several
‘flipped training’. Sending a podcast to meaningful face-to-face classes with beginner-level young that you don’t know the answer to tends to issues with young learners? years and technological breakthroughs away.
trainees before a training session freed up interactions. learners it can be difficult to personalise prompt more meaningful interactions, makes No one wants to have a bad connection or
more time for discussion and reflection face- language. Often the only possessions students learners more invested in their responses and only be able to see the top of their student’s
to-face. bring to class are a few pieces of stationary, resembles interactions that happen in the head from their webcam. But the process of Ross Thorburn has
But our industry is far less experienced at their coursebook and schoolbag. Online ‘real world’. solving these problems can be hugely been a teacher,
I understand that you’ve recently developing content for online language classes are the opposite. Young learners The online classroom is a great setting for beneficial for language learning. manager, teacher
finished your MA. Was this an online classes. Online materials are often either usually take online classes in their own referential questions because participants To sort out tech issues teachers and trainer and materials
course? adapted from offline or created for online by bedrooms. They are surrounded by their know much less about each other’s students need to use language to achieve a writer since 2006.
It was the NILE MA for Professional inexperienced writers. Teachers get hit with a clothes, toys, books, parents and pets. These surroundings. For example, asking “What’s goal. This is the same as any effective He lives and works
Development in Language Education, which double whammy: a new context and sub- can be used as realia in class, replacing the weather like?” in a face-to-face class isn’t language learning task. What makes this in China, and runs
was online and part-time. I wrote my standard materials they need to adapt. flashcards or pictures in the coursebooks. genuine. Everyone can look out the window challenging is the language involved. the TEFL Training
dissertation on encouraging meaningful Finally, online teaching can pose cultural If you’re teaching a unit on clothes, and see the weather for themselves. Asking Young learners don’t usually have the Institute website in
communication in online classes with young challenges if teachers live far away from their students can show and describe their favorite the same question online is more genuine, necessary vocabulary to talk about his spare time. If you’d like to contact Ross,
learners while working in a school that students. Good English teaching often outfits to you or the class. If you’re teaching because I can’t see and probably don’t know connections or webcams. Beginner level send him an email at
taught young learners online. I love that part- involves helping learners talk about the food, students can bring their favorite snacks what the weather is like outside your window. coursebooks usually include classroom ross.thorburn@yahoo.com
time online courses are making teacher world around them. The better teachers from the kitchen and learn how to describe An ‘old’ and meaningless question can vocabulary like ‘book’, ‘pen’, ‘chair’ and

40 September 2020 editorial@elgazette.com 41