1. Name cards

I have found name cards to be absolutely essential when teaching classes bigger than five or six students.

You can either create the name cards yourself, which helps you to familiarize yourself with your students’ names at the beginning of term, or get students to create their own, or, even better, create each others. The latter option can be made into a nice first-lesson information gap activity.

I also use name cards as one of my classroom management techniques. After the name cards have been created, in every subsequent class, I place the name cards randomly on the students’ tables before the lesson starts. The students are then required to sit at the table with their name card. This prevents friends from always sitting together, and keeps the group dynamic fresh from week to week.

2. Name card holders

I’ve tried many different kinds of name card holders. I’ve found these to work the best. They’re cheap, and come in a variety of fun colors! Name card holders are necessary if you want to see each student’s name from the front of the class, and pick out individual students to answer questions.

3. Color stickers

I have found that the students in my teaching contexts (Japanese universities) are very reluctant to speak out in front of their classmates, answer questions, or volunteer for activities when called upon by the teacher to do so.

Stickers work very well as incentives to students who volunteer to do any of the above things (answer questions, volunteer for activities, etc) without being asked individually by the teacher.

In my classes, every time a student volunteers for an activity, or answers a question, or generally participates actively in the class, they receive a sticker. The stickers are attached to the students’ name cards. At the end of the semester, the number of stickers each student has helps me to decide what their ‘participation’ grade should be, and whether, if they are a borderline “B/C” student, for example, they should go up to a “B” or down to a “C”.

The students know that the stickers will have an effect on their final grade in this respect, so they really do work as incentives for classroom participation.

4. A toy bomb

This is the toy bomb from Gibson Games’ “Pass the Bomb”. The way I use it is:

1. Students all stand up in a big circle
2. The teacher nominates a lexical set such as countries, animals, colors, etc
3. The teacher names the first item, e.g. “France”, “Dog”, “Red”, etc, and starts the timer on the bomb
4. The teacher passes the bomb to the first student, who names another item from the set
5. The student passes the bomb to the next student, who also names an item
6. This continues until the bomb explodes!

Students love this activity, and it’s a great way to get them thinking quickly, and to review key words or word groups relating to the topic of the lesson. I also use it to practice ordinals, months, days of the week, etc.

5. Conversation cards

I made a large set of conversation cards, each of which has a topic printed on the front (e.g. “School”, “Pets”, “Travel”, “Baseball”, etc) and ten questions on the back relating to the topic. The students use the cards to practice quick-fire question and answer in pairs. It’s a useful filler for the beginning or end of each lesson.

6. Spare whiteboard marker

You can guarantee that when you really need one, all the whiteboard markers will have disappeared or run dry!

7. Stock photos

Stock photos are useful for many different topics and activities, but especially describing appearance or personality characteristics. Having high-quality glossy color photos beats dingy black and white copies any day of the week! Google Images is a good place to find stock photos for free. There’s also iStockPhoto, if you don’t mind digital watermarks.

8. Classical music compilation CD

Music is a great teaching tool, but it can also be used indirectly as background music when students are focused on other tasks, particularly writing activities. Having a little music in the background helps to break the deafening silence you might experience in classes comprised of extremely shy students. It can also be used to help time activities, so instead of saying to students “You have five minutes”, you can say “You have one song!”.

I’ve found classical music is the most unobtrusive kind, but sometimes also use other kinds of instrumental music. Classical music has the added benefit of allowing you to tell students that listening could be making them smarter and more productive!

9. Magnets

Magnets are great to have for pinning worksheets, photos, etc, to the whiteboard. They can also be used as counters for games.

10. Not pictured: patience and a sense of humor

I’ve also found that a lot patience and a good sense of humor are indispensable attributes for EFL teachers!

What’s in your TEFL box of tricks? Let me know in the comment section below!

Why did you choose to teach English in Japan?

Originally, I wanted to come to Japan, because I have always had a fascination with Japanese culture, music and food. A friend of mine, who was working at the company where I now work, decided to move to Tokyo. She emailed me and said her job was available if I was interested. I decided to go for it. I never considered other countries. There wasn’t a particular reason, but in retrospect I’m glad I came to Japan. It’s beautiful, safe (in terms of crime), interesting, and clean.

I don’t notice it really. There are many women teachers around me in my conversation school and other local schools. It might not be the same in other education facilities, such as universities.

I love teaching English and I don’t feel there is any difference between being a female teacher. I suppose, one thing is that maybe female Japanese teachers may feel more comfortable with a female ‘native’ English teacher.

And the worst thing?

Being female has its challenges, just as being a male teacher does. Discipline and proper conduct can be tough if you don’t set ground rules from the beginning of class, but that can happen just as easily for male teachers.

Yes, but it was with a male native English teacher at my company. I used to work in downtown Vancouver and would walk through rougher areas everyday before I moved to Japan, so I feel pretty confident in being able to handle uncomfortable situations.

Well, I may not be the best person to ask this question, because my husband is Japanese! I think one obstacle would be that Japanese men have heavy obligations to work long hours, which prevents time for a relationship as most may be used to in other countries.

Also, there are still many expectations that women will stay home and raise the kids, which many non-Japanese women will not accept. There is also the expectation that even if women work outside the home, that they will still cook, clean, shop and take care of the household finances. However, this is not my experience in my relationship. We have a very equal relationship, I’m very lucky – even by Canadian standards!

For sure! It’s deeply ingrained in the society and the language. Things are changing to allow women more freedom of choice, and guilt-free choice, but these kind of changes are very slow. There is also great respect given to elders and that includes women. Almost everyone I have met in Japan adores their ‘obaachan’ (grandmother).

Buying women’s clothes for long legs and a short body. My body type is the opposite of how clothes are manufactured for the Japanese market.

Meeting new people, sharing stories with my students, and doing something I love.

Understand that there are very solid traditions working here. Students, especially in rural areas, may not have the experience dealing with or even discussing women in different contexts. However, I have had many great conversations by explaining my feelings as my own and qualifying them by explaining that I grew up with a very independent mother and the societal values around me in Canada were fairly positive and supportive of women as well as women and children. The way I think is not ‘right’ and I make it clear that there are many viewpoints. Many of my adult women students really appreciate having male-focused English language pointed out and explained. It helps that I notice and pay attention to pronouns and language excluding minority groups. An example of this is that some older learners may have used old textbooks that use inappropriate terms in today’s world. I correct them, explaining that language changes and we should use language to respect everyone.

Japan is a great place to live, work and play. Be open, understanding and patient. There are horror stories of women who have been taken advantage of or hurt here in Japan, but the same can be said for any country. Be aware of yourself just as you would in any other place.

After teaching English in Japan for 7 years, Beth is making the move back to Canada to continue teaching after finishing a Masters degree in TEFL/TESL. Using music for language acquisition, teacher-researcher development, and online learning are among her many interests.

English: The World Language. ©Paul Raine 2012

English is spoken as a second or foreign language by an estimated 950 million people worldwide¹. This is in addition to the 427 million native speakers of English². But how did the English language reach the stage where it is used and understood, to a greater or lesser extent, by more than 1 in 7 of the world’s population?

The first stage of the global spread of the English language was the result of the empire building of Britain, otherwise known as imperialism. The second stage was the result of the cultural, political and economic preeminence of the USA, otherwise known as neo-imperialism.

The British Empire

At its height in 1922, the British Empire was the largest in history, covering a quarter of the Earth’s land area, with a population of over 450 million people.

The British Empire, circa 1922 (image courtesy of WikiMedia)

The primary aim of education in the colonies became the acquisition of the English language, and the future academic and financial success of those living in colonized countries came to depend mainly on their English language ability³.

After World War II, when the colonized countries started to gain independence, the English language maintained its influence by being selected as an official or national language by “leaders who were themselves the products of colonial education”⁴.

These factors contributed to English becoming either the sole dominant language, or an official language, in over 75 territories with a combined population of over 2.2 billion people ⁵.

The American Empire

On July 4th, 1776, thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard declared independence and founded the United States of America. The U.S. economy has since become the largest in the world, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world’s sole superpower.

The global reach of America’s cultural, political and economic influence has contributed significantly to bolstering the dominant position of the English language in the 20th and 21st centuries.

America has spawned a significant number of global musical influences, including Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Eminem, Madonna, and Bob Dylan. On a global stage, the economic and cultural dominance of Hollywood is unrivaled.

In the information age of the 21st century, a reported 45% of web-pages⁶ are written in English, a situation not hindered by the fact that 9 of the top 10 most visited websites in the world are based in America.

The future?

In the 21st century, China is positioning itself to challenge America for the position of the number one economic power in the world, but whether this will translate to linguistic dominance remains to be seen.

Neither political, economic, cultural, technological nor military might alone can give one language international prominence. It takes a sustained combination of all these powers to achieve that. As a case in point, Japanese did not become a dominant language internationally (although it did increase in popularity), despite Japan’s incredible economic success from the 1960s to 1990s.

Having said this, linguistic world orders do change. English was preceded by Latin as the world’s dominant language, which was put in place by the Roman Empire and perpetuated by education and religion. But the days of Latin were cut short by the rise of the British and American empires described above.

There are few theoretical reasons why English itself will not at some future time be succeeded by another language, promulgated by the economic, political and cultural might of its native speakers.

English belongs to everyone

I say “few” reasons because there is at least one reason I will suggest that might result in English maintaining its place as the global lingua franca, despite the likely future preeminence of a non-English speaking nation.

The reason is that the English language is now argued to belong to everyone who speaks it. Native speakers are said to have forfeited their right to exclusive ownership of English in a global context. Indeed, native speakers of English are outnumbered more than 2-to-1 by non-native speakers of the language.

It seems that now and in the future, English will continue to belong to “everyone or to no-one”⁷ and therefore perhaps maintain its position as the global dominant language throughout the 21st century and beyond.

References

¹Saville-Troike, Muriel. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP, 2006.
²Ibid.
³Phillipson, Robert. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 1992.
⁴Phillipson, Robert. Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, England: Oxford UP, 1992, p.182
⁵Crystal, David. English as a Global Language. Cambridge [England: Cambridge UP, 1997.
⁶UNESCO report. (Accessed January 2012).
⁷Wardhaugh, Ronald. Languages in Competition: Dominance, Diversity, and Decline. Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell, 1987

I taught English in Belarus!

TEFL qualified Gemma Toovey found struggles and triumphs when she opted to teach English in Belarus, a  lesser frequented part of the former Soviet Union. I asked her more…

1)      What are your first impressions of teaching English in Belarus? What is the first thing you noticed? What’s the part you have found most challenging?

Like lots of cultures, Belarus takes a much more ‘relaxed’ approach to work, especially where there are foreigners and therefore visas concerned. My pay arrangements were slightly…improvised. I didn’t really have any idea what I was going to until I arrived and met up with the director of the school. Nothing dangerous but just a little unnerving for a Brit who quite likes to know what’s going on…

There wasn’t really much support or training offered as to how or what I taught;  no resources, colleagues or on the job training.

Having said this, there is something great about being the only native English speaker these students had ever met. I clearly did things in a different way from what their education system had taught them to expect from such a course, and their appreciation of that was clear to see. A really nice rapport developed over the course of the semester and there wasn’t one student I wasn’t sad to leave when the time came.

2)      Was it hard to find and fix up a job?

The way things are done is very much still word of mouth and someone who knows someone…and most of my work emerged that way once I was in the country. The initial contract which enabled me to get a visa was arranged through an existing contact I had. International organisations like International House would probably be the best bet for securing a visa and getting into the country.

3) Can you give me an idea of a typical working day?

My week consisted of two lessons in a primary school teaching 7 year olds from scratch, two lessons at an IT company doing advanced conversation practice with businessmen and women, two evening classes each with two groups of young adults at intermediate and advanced level, and one free conversation class for any of the language school students who wanted to come. It was a bit of an odd working day, but left me lots of time to plan lessons and also meet up with friends. I definitely didn’t feel overworked, but could’ve taken on private students or probably other classes if I had needed the money.

4) How did you find your students? What is the biggest challenge in your teaching and where have you already seen success?

My students were great – they were the real plus of being there. One group especially really adopted me and in the classic Belarusian way, went out of their way to make me feel welcome in their country. They worked hard, but once we had built up a good rapport, I think they really enjoyed the lessons too, and made them enjoyable for me. The kids were the only challenge as far as teaching was concerned – it was my first experience with children and my first experience with low levels, and I still look back and slightly wonder why I ever said yes!

5) If there is one piece of advice you could give to someone coming to Belarus to teach, what would it be?

You have to be thick-skinned to cope with the initial frustrations and the fact that nothing seems straightforward. But it is so worth it; once you get to know them, the people are the most generous and open I have ever met.

Find out more about Belarus.

Why not share your experiences, struggles and joys about teaching English in a largely forgotten location below?

There is no doubt that the demand for native-speaker teachers of English in Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world is high. In many cases, the only requirement for getting an English teaching job is to be a native speaker. The native-speaker teacher, however, is not necessarily the best role-model for the second language learner.

Aiming for native-speaker competence can be counter-productive

Native speakers speak, by definition, a native variety of their first language. It can be counter-productive for learners of the language to attempt to precisely replicate the native speaker’s version of the language. This is true not only for pronunciation (a ‘good’ accent is often the last thing a learner of a second language masters), but also vocabulary and grammatical constructions. Instead, a learner of a second language should aim to be a competent speaker of that language as someone who has learned it as a second language rather than someone who has acquired it as a first language.

Competent non-native speaker models

As English teachers in Japan, then, I believe we should be exposing our students to competent non-native speaker models of English. Furthermore, I think that we should be encouraging them to aim to be competent non-native speakers of English as their ultimate goal. A ‘competent non-native speaker’ is by no means meant as a condescending or patronizing term. On the contrary, it is to be viewed as a considerable achievement, and one which I will be trying to obtain for many years to come in relation to my Japanese ability.

Examples of competent non-native speakers

By way of example of what I consider to be a speaker approaching this level, I offer this video. Here we have a young Japanese male who obviously possesses expertise in his specialist area as well as competence in English as a second language. This is what most learners of English in Japan are aiming for, and I think we should appreciate what a considerable achievement it is, and refer to model English speakers such as this in preference to the generic and ubiquitous American or British English speaker featured in so many English learning resources.

For my own part, there have been several non-native speakers of Japanese over the last five years of learning the language who have inspired me to study harder and improve further. One among them is Patrick Harlan, AKA “pakkun”, who came to Japan in 1993 and over the next 15 or so years acquired a very high level of competence in both spoken and written Japanese.

Becoming a competent non-native speaker is a lifetime challenge

Now, while I may be intimidated by his level of Japanese (and possibly also his intellect, having graduated, as he did, from Harvard University), I still consider his level of Japanese a realistic and obtainable target for my own. However, the same cannot be said of the Japanese of any of the 130 million native inhabitants of Japan. A native-speaker level of Japanese is not my target. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on becoming a competent speaker of Japanese – it means I want to become a competent non-native speaker of the language; something which I regard as a considerable and lifetime challenge.

Finally, I just want to note that I am not intending to suggest that the native-speaker teacher has nothing to offer the language learner. In fact, native-speaker teachers have a lot to offer the language learner. I simply mean to suggest that perhaps they are not always the best role-models for language production, and needn’t be regarded as such.

Second language ability of English teachers

When a language teacher first arrives in their host country, they probably don’t have much choice about the matter. Unless they have studied the host country’s language extensively before arriving, they will not possess the requisite language skills to to order an orange juice, let alone explain the present continuous in their students’ native tongue.

Likewise for those teachers who teach multi-lingual groups of students. There is no place for L1 instruction in this scenario, because there is no single L1 that all the students possess.

But where the teacher has lived in the host country long enough to acquire at least an intermediate level of the native language, and teaches groups of students all of whom possess the same first language – should he or she use the language?

CLT and the ‘no L1′ precept

The strict version of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the current dominant methodology in TEFL, suggests that learners acquire a language by using the language and being exposed to the language. In this sense, we might argue that the teacher should provide all possible opportunities to their students to be exposed to the language in use. As addressing students in their L1 also tends to procure responses in L1, a teacher who adopts the students’ L1 for grammar explanations and classroom management instructions arguably not only deprives their students of the chance to improve their receptive skills but also deprives them of the chance to improve their productive skills.

The exception to the rule

However, I would argue that there are situations where addressing students in the target language is actually counter-productive, and adopting the students’ L1 does not deprive them of the chance of acquisition in the way that CLT suggests. (I also argue that there is a place for grammar explanations and classroom management instructions, despite the impact of CLT in relation to the former, and the wisdom of the adage don’t explain, demonstrate in relation to the latter. These issues are, however, topics for another blog post).

These situations occur when:

• students are of an elementary or low-intermediate level of English
• the focus of the lesson is reading or writing, not speaking or listening

Where students are of an elementary or low-intermediate level of English, it is very likely that they will lack the requisite knowledge to understand meta-linguistic grammar explanations or complex classroom management instructions.

Yes, students probably should know words such as noun, adjective, verb, subject, present simple, etc. But some do not, and if the teacher has the ability to express these concepts in the students’ L1, he should not refrain from doing so on the basis of depriving them a chance of exposure to the target language.

After all, in elementary and low-intermediate lessons, what is the target language? It will most likely be language relating to self-introductions, expressing likes and dislikes, talking about hobbies and interests, and other building blocks of basic expression.

L1 as a direct route to understanding

Even if the teacher does insist on using the English words for grammatical concepts (noun, verb, adjective, etc), it is very likely that he or she will have to use the L1 translation of each word in order to teach its meaning, thereby confounding their efforts to use only English in any event.

Furthermore, it is a lengthy digression from topics such as self introductions and expressing likes and dislikes, to teaching English words for grammatical terms. And who needs to use such words anyway, other than English teachers themselves? Yes, we need to understand the concept of a noun, a verb and an adjective to learn a language effectively, but we don’t need to know the words for these concepts in the language we are trying to learn – or at least, its not a priority at the elementary to low intermediate level.

Finally, in relation to classroom management, as I previously stated, the old adage don’t explain, demonstrate is a reliable one – at least with demonstrable concepts. But to convey ideas such as: “Please go to the school office and hand in these questionnaires”, or “If you miss two more classes you will fail the course” or “These are the criteria for course assessment” to learners who have an elementary level of English, I would argue, requires, at the very least, an L1 gloss of the key words in each sentence.

What is fluency?

Fluency is the area of language ability which relates to the speed and ease with which a language learner performs in one of the four core language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Although the concept of fluency relates to all four language skills, it tends to be most closely associated with speaking.

What is speaking fluency?

Speaking fluency is ‘the ability to link units of speech together with facility and without strain or inappropriate slowness or undue hesitation’. (Hedge 2000) The speech of non-fluent English learners tends to be characterized by ‘frequent pauses, repetitions and self-corrections’ (Hedge 1993) Developing speaking fluency, therefore, entails developing the ability to speak without frequent pauses, repetitions and self-corrections.

How can language learners improve their speaking fluency?

1. Not worrying about making mistakes

Fluency is usually contrasted with accuracy, where the latter entails knowledge of ‘pronunciation, vocabulary, word formation, grammatical structure, sentence structure and linguistic semantics’ (Hedge 2000). Fluency and accuracy are often envisaged as lying on the two opposing plates of a weighing scale: as one side goes up, the other goes down.

Some learners of English are able to significantly increase their fluency by temporarily disregarding accuracy. As they pay less attention to the grammatical conformity of their utterances, and more attention to conveying meaning, the speed of their speech can increase, and hesitations and pauses can decrease. We should therefore encourage our students not to worry about making mistakes in situations where fluent speech is more important than perfectly grammatically accurate speech, such as informal conversations inside and outside of the classroom. As teachers, we should exhibit restraint in correcting students during language activities designed to promote fluency.

2. Learning ‘pre-assembled chunks’ of language

Fluency also improves when language knowledge has become ‘automized’ (Thornbury 1999), i.e. when the learner is able to produce language without consciously thinking about it. One way students can aid the process of spoken language ability becoming automatic is to learn ‘pre-assembled chunks’ of language.

‘Chunks’ of language are idiomatic phrases such as ‘as it were’ and ‘on the other hand’ which tend to be produced as a whole rather than assembled grammatically piece by piece (Nattinger and DeCarrico 1992). Because such phrases are stored in a ‘pre-assembled’ form in the brain, they can be recalled relatively quickly and effortlessly, thus helping to eliminate pauses and hesitations and increase the overall speed of speech.

Chunks of language can also help learners to compensate for lack of linguistic knowledge. If a student lacks the vocabulary to describe something, phrases such as ‘it’s kind of like…’ can be of some avail. If they lose their way in making an argument, gambits such as ‘the point I’m trying to make is…’ can be of assistance. We should therefore provide opportunities to our students to learn and practice idiomatic, pre-assembled chunks of language.

3. Planning ahead

If a student knows that they are going to be talking about a certain topic in their next English lesson, or discussing a particular issue with their company’s counterpart in America in their next teleconference, then planning for that topic or discussion is an indispensable way for them to increase their oral fluency when speaking in that situation (Kellem 2009).

Planning involves making written notes, composing written answers to expected questions, and rehearsal. If the student is giving a speech or presentation in English, then it goes without saying that they need to practice the speech multiple times. This is something that we would do even if we were giving a speech in our native language, and it is even more important to do when preparing to give a speech in a second or foreign language. We should therefore provide opportunities to our students for the planning and rehearsal of speeches and discussions before they take place.

4. Studying abroad

Research suggests that fluency can be significantly increased by studying abroad. In Wood (2007), Japanese students who spent time studying on a full time intensive ESL course at a college in Canada were able to increase their rate of speech, and length of time speaking between pauses, as well as making gains in other areas of fluency. The financial cost of studying abroad may well be worth it, then, in terms of the increase in speaking fluency the learner can expect to obtain. We should encourage our students to take such opportunities if and when they are able to do so, to improve their language skills in general, and speaking fluency in particular.

Conclusion

Acquiring improved speaking fluency is a very common and highly ranked goal among learners of English. I have argued that, as English teachers, we should:

• encourage our students not to worry about making mistakes in activities designed to promote fluency and informal conversations;
• provide opportunities for our students to learn and practice pre-assembled chunks of language;
• provide opportunities for our students to practice and rehearse speeches and discussions before they take place;
• encourage our students to spend time studying abroad where they possess the means to do so.

In these ways, we can help our students to improve their speaking fluency, and take important steps toward becoming more communicatively competent speakers of English.

Bibliography

• Hedge, T. (1993). “Key concepts in ELT.” ELT Journal 47(3):275-277.
• Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
• Kellem, H. (2009). “Principles for developing oral fluency in the classroom.” JALT Journal 33(1): 9-11.
• Nattinger, J. R. and J. S. DeCarrico (1992). Lexical phrases and language teaching. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
• Thornbury, S. (1999). How to teach grammar. Harlow, Pearson Education.
• Wood, D. (2007). “Mastering the English formula: Fluency development of Japanese learners in a study abroad context.” JALT Journal 29(2): 209-230.

An employer’s time is short.  They are not likely to be HR or personnel professionals and they scan CVs rather than read every word. They don’t want to have to read between the lines, wade through pages of irrelevant experience or guess what type of learner you taught at XYZ language school.

So, if you organise your CV so it can be scanned quickly for the relevant information, you’ll be doing your prospective TEFL employer a huge favour   - and help your CV to stand out above the rest. Read on and also have a look at my Suggested CV template for fictional TEFL newbie Robert Passmore.

Get that job! Make your CV work

How to organise your CV for success

1)      Do you need to trim your CV?
Make your CV no longer than 2 pages – yes, it really does need cutting if it’s creeping onto 3 pages. Their time is short, remember.

2)      Prioritise relevant TEFL information
Ensure all TEFL related experience and qualifications are uppermost, most recent first.  Get them nodding and ticking ‘yes’ against their criteria as early as possible as they scan your CV.
I know this is hard to do if newly qualified but in this case, detail the key elements from your TEFL course. Include type of students and levels taught, course books used and even any particular elements of praise from a reference letter.

3)      Group your EFL experiences together
Unless all your experience is in teaching, resist the urge to list your various positions chronologically.  Instead, put your EFL experience first (begin with the most recent) under a ‘Teaching experience’ header and less relevant experience under an  ‘Other employment’ header. Ideally ‘teaching experience’ should be longer than your ‘other’ category. You can achieve this by including more detail about your teaching – see 2 above.  Why?  Well, this will encourage your prospective employer to see you as an EFL teacher first and foremost and it displays all your relevant experience at a glance.

4)      Include something of your personality – but keep it professional
A smiling headshot photo is a good start. Also,  why not comment under key parts of your CV  about your last teaching job, for example. Teaching is a people profession although do remember that employers tend to be quite conservative so don’t include anything too whacky.

Other things to remember

Include a great covering letter with your CV.
Opinions differ on whether you should include a 3 bullet point profile or summary at the top of your CV to give the employer a flavour of your personality and skills. Personally I favour these if not too banal since it can underline your CV message;  something like:

‘ Experienced and qualified EFL teacher with particular expertise with young learners’

might be one of your profile bullets, for example and can be adapted with a different emphasis  depending on the job.

Finally, do check your CV for errors as the best organised CV in the world may be discarded due to elementary spelling, grammar and punctuation inconsistencies.

Have a look at the sugested CV template (the first link near the top of the article) which is designed for a new teacher with minimal experience. As a former EFL employer, this is the kind of CV I would like to see – but do you agree with the organisation and information included here?

Do you believe that the critical period hypothesis is applicable to learning a second language? Would you support the proposition ‘the younger you start, the better’ when it comes to learning a second language?

I feel that the critical period hypothesis in regards to SLA has some interesting ideas about language acquisition but research has shown that older learners tend to be more successful in becoming fluent due to various factors such as learner motivation and language environment. That being said, I do believe that providing a child with and English rich environment will enable them to “code switch” between languages and thus further their proficiency in both English and Japanese. My school will only accept children who can use and understand Japanese because I believe children must have an understanding of how language works in order to make the study of a second language meaningful to them. Therefore, there is a limit to how young a child can be before starting to learn a second language. Also I feel that, when a child starts learning a foreign language while they are still acquiring their mother tongue, they seem to be more receptive to foreign sounds and intonations only because their mother tongue has not fossilized in their minds yet.

What is the best thing about living and working in Sendai?

I feel that Sendai is the best balance between the country side and the big city. The city is large enough to finds various kinds of entertainment without having the feeling of being too crowded. It also has great surfing, skiing and other outdoor sports that are accessible without the need of driving for hours to reach them.

Have you taken part in any volunteer relief work since the tsunami?

Sadly, no I have not. I opened my school four days after the earthquake and on the weekends I was quite busy cleaning my apartment and packing. By chance, I had already planned to move to another apartment a month before the earthquake struck so I was preparing for the move. Moreover, I was in the middle of writing a 4000 word paper on the Lexical Syllabus for my M.A.

Is the declining birth rate in Japan affecting your business? Do you expect it to do so in the future?

I have not had any trouble from this trend nor do I expect to have any in the future. I try to market my school as one where serious learning takes place and the parents are required to provide some learning support at home. It has been my experience that the children from families where the parents take an active role in their children’s education are the ones who achieve the best results. For this reason, I would rather cater to smaller families with highly motivated students than take on children from larger families where the parents are far too busy to review the lesson materials at home.

Is there anything else you would like to say about living and working in Japan/Sendai, or teaching very young learners of English?

I would like to say that working in Japan requires a certain amount of doggedness. On a day to day basis, there are always ups and downs however, on a long term basis there is a lot of subtle pressures and stress that can accumulate before one is aware of it. As for teaching children, this stress can be even more overwhelming so a positive attitude and a solid understanding of teaching methodology and child psychology are essential.

Thank you very much to Mario Passalacqua for the interview.