Heidi Vande Voort Nam holds an MA TESL/TEFL from the University of Birmingham. She currently teaches in the Department of English Education at Chongshin University, where she prepares English education majors for student teaching and for the national English teachers’ exam. Heidi also teaches beginner-level general English courses, including special courses for North Korean and Chinese students. Within KOTESOL, Heidi serves as a presenter for Korea Teacher Trainers (KTT) and facilitates KOTESOL’s Christian Teachers Special Interest Group (CT SIG), a group that hosts meetings and online discussions for Christian English teachers. Heidi lives in Seoul with her husband TaekHyeon Nam, who is a public high school English teacher, and their children, Joseph and Miriam.
Strategies for Teaching English Through English
Teaching English through English (TETE) can have many benefits: it increases comprehensible input and multiples the amount of authentic communication in the target language. In recognition of these benefits, the Ministry of Education has recommended TETE; however, many teachers find TETE difficult to implement in their own classes. Successful introduction of TETE requires not only familiarity with key teaching expressions, but also teaching techniques that help students comprehend the classroom instructions. This workshop will demonstrate five techniques for increasing student comprehension of classroom English: using simple language, using manageable chunks, modifying delivery, using body language, and monitoring comprehension. Workshop participants will practice translating complex classroom instructions into student-friendly expressions and generating effective comprehension questions.
The art of checking comprehension
No lesson is successful unless the students “get it.” To find out whether students are "getting" the material, teachers need to monitor their students’ comprehension. Unfortunately, questions like "Do you understand?" rarely reveal how much students have understood. This workshop will address common pitfalls in checking comprehension and demonstrate six comprehension checking techniques: eliciting back translation, requiring a physical response, grading the difficulty of comprehension questions, monitoring written work, using pairwork, and cold call. Workshop participants will practice generating and evaluating comprehension checks.
