In this case study you will find out about the benefits of specialist teacher training for languages and get useful tips on teaching listening and speaking skills.

Qualifications for teaching languages in Adult Education
Both full and part-time teachers in the further education sector, which includes adult education, are required to gain a teaching qualification within five years if they don’t have a PGCE.

These qualifications are usually:

• Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTTLS)
• Diploma to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS)

These cover both taught and practical skills. Most PTTLS courses are general, not focused on individual subjects, and they are offered at most colleges.  

The training doesn’t have to be linked to languages, however you will see from these clips the advantages of finding a specialist PTTLS course, which helps you to teach languages.

The PTTLS/City & Guilds 7303 programme for language teachers at London’s City Lit has been especially devised so teachers can:

• integrate theory and practice
• reflect on their own previous and current levels of experience, practice and skills - and areas for development
• identify best practice in learning, teaching, assessment and evaluation
• develop communication and inter-personal skills,  and an awareness of their professional role

Interview video clips

Interview with Agnès Groleau, Head of languages at City Lit
In these clips Agnès talks about:

• What the trainee teachers gain
• Their greater employability
• The skills they learn
• The benefits of being in a group containing speakers of several languages
• How teaching this course – and team teaching – is fun!

Interview with the trainee teachers
In these clips they discuss:

• The benefits of the course they are on
• The benefits of micro-teaching (teaching a “mini lesson” to colleagues)

Lesson video clips

The classes are one day a week. The morning session on the day of filming was on speaking skills, the afternoon on listening.

Teaching speaking skills (Olga)

• The different stages of communicative teaching
• The learners discuss the characteristics of a successful teaching activity
• The teacher provides her summary of a successful teaching activity
• Modelling a speaking activity for learners – teacher-led, whole class activity using Cuisenaire rods  to practise prepositions
• The learners try out and reflect on 4 speaking activities
  

Teaching listening skills (Agnès)

• Starting the lesson: an Energiser – tongue twister
• Bad practice: what not to do!
• What to consider when setting a listening task
• Listening task
• Managing listening tasks
• Some rules for setting a listening task

Micro-teaching

• A trainee teaches her classmates a lesson in Czech
• The learners discuss the lesson

Materials

Download the materials used in these two lessons:

• Lesson plan for morning session (Speaking) and afternoon (Listening)
• Likes and Dislikes 1
• Likes and Dislikes 2
• PowerPoint on Speaking
• Power Point on Listening
• Information gap activity (prepositions)
• Nigella Lawson's pancake recipe from youtube
• Summary of what has been already covered