English as a second language training




Sunset

Our instructor Jessica McGovern and the head of the English Language Center and Dr. James Hartshorn


Cheryl teaching the ESL class




Cheryl teaching the ESL class
Cheryl and I in front of the English training building

Lee teaching the ESL class

For the past 4 days we traveled from the MTC to the English Language Center on the Provo campus to receive instructions on teaching English as a second language. We received individualized instruction from Jessica McGovern who is an instructor at the center. She has been there for several years and has several duties there including teaching and mentoring BYU students who want to become ESL instructors.  She also works on and direct special projects at the school.

 The most challenging part of the training was on day 3 when Cheryl and I had to teach two of the classes. The first class we taught without the session being recorded. The second class was recorded and then critiqued by the head of the department Drive. Hartshorn. We were of course very nervous and intimidated at this task.

It turned out a lot better than we expected. Cheryl was wonderful at it. She used a lot of the skills that she developed teaching the four year olds at primary. We team taught and traded places about every 10 minutes. The entire class lasted for 65 minutes. We were fortunate to have the lesson plan developed by the school so all we had to do was familiarize herself with it and then present it.

Some of the important parts of the instruction was organizing the class into Interactive Groups several times during the class and having them practice their language skills.  The class is designed to have a ratio of 30% talking by the instructor and 70% by the students. This is done by having them repeat often and answer questions about language phrases they are using.

There is a very friendly and outgoing atmosphere in the school. All of the students seem to be happy and easy for Cheryl and I to work with.

Once we had instructed the class he was much easier to comprehend and internalize all of the training we had received. We feel a degree of confidence heading off onto a mission to teach ESL classes. Overall it was a great experience. It was challenging. But Jessica and all of the staff there were very kind and were generally concerned that we obtain the skills needed for our mission.

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