While abroad, write your final FAD on an area studied abroad and of relevance to TEFL UNLESS you incorporate your academic and practical experiences in your professional development article.
Background
What professional area have you focused on (e.g. vocabulary, variation in teaching methods, receptive skills, kinaesthetic learners, using English as a classroom language, goal-oriented teaching and learning, teaching film, teaching culture)? Why are you interested in this area from a professional TEFL viewpoint?
All questions from reflection sessions, all notes and documents from your log and portfolios will help you decide on an area and its relevance. In some cases you do not have a free choice but have been asked to focus on theme areas that have been taught in class
Research question
What exact question are you writing about? Remember it has to do with TEFL, no matter what.
Examples:
· How can kinaesthetic learners be accommodated when teaching reading in the English classroom?
· Why is writing so difficult but also so important when teaching EFL?
· Vocabulary is essential when learning a foreign language – how should vocabulary training be included in all English lessons?
· How can pictures be a core method for teaching writing?
· How and why should authentic communication become part of every English lesson?
· What are essential principles for teaching culture in the EFL classroom?
· Why is film as a text type particularly suited for integrating teaching of the four skills?
Theory
This section is about what thinking tools to use when reflecting and working on this particular area. What have you read about this in class? What points have you got on your mind maps? What more can you find on your own? What are the relevant theoretical points, models and core terminology? Again, remember this is TEFL, so general theory on e.g. learning is relevant but insufficient without specific TEFL theory.
Theory is essential to support your practical choices and decisions in the classroom. The more theory you know and can use activily, the more sound decisions you will be able to make in planning, executing and evaluating EFL teaching.
Discussion
This is where you get into depth with your area. What are essential elements of the theory and why? Remember to use theory and terminology when giving your arguments. You might want to move from theory to principles in order to get to practical examples below. Use some of your own literature as reference points, e.g. Hadfield & Hadfield, Lindsay & Knight, Lynne Cameron. How do they get from theory to the suggestions for practical actitivities?
Practical examples
This section might include lesson plans based on templates, other plans, samples of content and materials to be used by pupils, possible procedures and activities, games you have produced, recordings of pupils addressing the areas, extracts of good books for teachers on this area....or....?
Practical examples have to linked to the theory and discussion above, since they are your exemplication of the theory and your proof that you can plan and evaluate good TEFL based on theory.
List of references
Use APA standards.
Mind map
Sum up all the information on a mind map. Write down as much as possible to enable you to write a full 5-page report for the exam if this area is selected.
