Amy could not believe it as she stepped
off of the plane into the hot, humid Korean air. She actually was
accepted as an English teacher at an English academy for adults! This
was her dream career, and only needed a Bachelor's Degree in English
and a hefty background check to become an English teacher. The
government would even pay for half of her expenses.
On her first day of teaching, Amy
arrived at the academy, which was a building connected to the City
Hall. Her heart thudded as she walked into her classroom where her
students were already sitting, ready for class.
Eventually, the class started, and Amy
began her lesson. The focus for the class was preparing the
students for the TESOL Test [2. Regulated Standard], a test
that international English language learners have to take in order to
get jobs where English speaking is a needed skill.
After class, and after all of her
students have left, Amy noticed that a visitor came to her class. It
was Lee Suk Ja, the ESL professor who hired her.
“Well done,” Professor Lee complimented her in
English. “Your teaching skills are up to par with the actual
professionals. Where did you learn your teaching abilities?”
“I took courses on teaching skills in
college, and I came up with some of my own,” Amy told her.
“Well,” Professor Lee started with
a satisfied smile, “I would love to hear some of them, and present
them at the TESOL International Association Regional Conference [3.
Influential Event] that I will be attending in a few weeks in
Singapore. The conference is run by the TESOL International Association [1. Authoritative Organization],
whose aim it is to ensure excellence in English language teaching to people who want to learn English.”
A
flash of memory whizzed by in Amy's head. “Oh, yes, I read about
that conference on a blog that is run by the TESOL International
Association [4. Authoritative Publication].
I would be happy to present you with some of my teaching techniques.”
“Great!”
Professor Lee chimed. “Let's sit down and talk about it. The
President of the association will take those ideas and will discuss
them with his committee, and see how they can incorporate them into
the teaching curriculum” [5. Challenging
Authority/Changing Standards].
Amy
found herself really thankful that she took those extra teaching
courses.
I thought you did a great job effortlessly incorporating the five criteria into your narrative. I know you didn't have to include this, but I think it would be interesting to know what types of jobs does the Tesol test allow foreigners to get and how difficult it is.
ReplyDeleteI remember many students in Hong Kong had to take a similar test (IELTS) in order to study in America. There was constant debate among them of whether or not having a foreigner evaluate your English speaking abilities or a local Chinese teacher would increase the difficulty in obtaining high marks.
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