I would love the opportunity to participate in the CELTA course at International House Izmir, thus I can enhance my skills and practical knowledge, while at the same time to expand my knowledge helping students with their English learning comprehension. By obtaining the world’s most prestigious English teaching qualification at IH Izmir, I will be equipped with skills and knowledge that is of a huge importance in order to create most effective lessons and planning for my future as well as current students by building on the foundation they already have. My future goal is to train to become an instructor at a high level and serve to my potential with precision and professionalism. For this, I believe it is absolutely crucial for me to improve my general knowledge of English grammar and teaching methods.
After having lived in the USA for seven years I finally decided to return to my home country, Azerbaijan, with the intentions of contributing to my developing country and the world as much as I can. My passion for teaching English as a second language started by renting out a small, yet cozy, classroom within an education center located in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, about five months following my arrival. So far, it has been nearly 10 months that I have been sharing that exact passion with individuals of wide age group. The reward for giving back by instructing a language which I love is utterly invaluable. I have thus far discovered that there are two general types of learners – motivated and unmotivated.
As far as I am aware while the age of 15 and above encompasses the motivated bunch, the unmotivated ones I believe fall beneath that particular age. But the pleasure of inspiring the youngsters to learn the language by motivating them through fun and interactive methods which I discovered gradually along the way is indescribable. And the demand for learning English at a young age in Azerbaijan is quite overwhelming as the country is developing at a speed that has never been seen before. I find teaching extremely fulfilling, especially when you see results from students that have initially struggled. Having struggled at school myself, and lived and studied in an English-speaking country for several years, I find it easy to empathize with students who have difficulty learning.
Knowing something is one thing, being able to pass that knowledge on in a way that is accessible to others is a skill that needs to be learnt. I strongly believe that the CELTA course will give me the tools to confidently stand in front of a class and teach. I would like to be shown how to consider teaching, from a student’s point of view. I have thus far utilized a series of different teaching materials, created study materials of my own, tailored all of my lessons in accordance with the students’ language comprehension levels. I even have a group of 6 adults that refuse to use any published study materials during the lessons. They merely want to learn the language through oratorical methods whilst being taught the grammar and structural principals.
They have been benefiting from my tutoring for almost 5 months and to be honest I am on the verge of running out of plans and techniques to quench their thirst for speaking English effortlessly. Teaching skills I would like be improved at are understanding the purpose and principles of planning for effective teaching, selecting and planning the kinds of lessons that are most appropriate for particular learners, evaluating lesson preparation and reflecting on this for planning future lessons, effectively organising the classroom, making appropriate use of a range of materials and resources, and involving learners of different ability levels, enabling them to feel a sense of progress By adding to my imagination, I wish to break through monotony and make students take lively participation in the class. Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. I strongly believe that teachers who are imaginative can teach any language skill interestingly and effectively. They can develop students’ creative self-expression.
