Greer

Rate $42
Response 1h
Students
Number of students Greer has accompanied since arriving at Superprof
2
Number of students Greer has accompanied since arriving at Superprof

$42/h

ESL teacher with 5 years of experience in the US and abroad

ESL
English speaking
English vocabulary
English reading
English listening
English writing

Lesson location

- online

About Greer

I've been teaching ESL (both as a straightforward subject and through "content-based" classes in literature, art history, and American culture) for about 5 years now. Before teaching and tutoring in Georgia State University's Intensive English Program I taught mostly at adult education non-profits geared towards immigrants and refugees, first in New York City and then in Atlanta. I've also taught a summer semester at the University of Lower Silesia in Wrocław, Poland.

But beyond all of these CV details (it's attached below, of course), you'll find that I'm always eager and enthusiastic when it comes to working with international, second-language students, and that my wide range of interests allows me to teach a course like American Popular Culture in an informed and precise way.

About the lesson

It’s easy to become stuck in a view of language as something like a massive file of information that students need to download into their brains. I find it more illuminating, not to mention more interesting, to see a language as a kind of activity, one always unfolding and in process. An activity with an huge range of forms and contexts, but always something one does (at whatever level of proficiency, and in whichever areas of interest or experience) and not as an object one has to “know.”.

My teaching philosophy is built on this view of language as activity, not static object. In my own teaching, I tend to ask my students questions and elicit information or discussion through visual, speaking, and reading exercises. These classroom dialogues are a way of making students, even at lower levels of proficiency, autonomous and responsive. Over-explanation and teacher monologues tend to get in the way of this, at least in a second language context. The aim here, of course, is practice: the students should speak for the majority of the class. Apprehension comes from direct experience: in this case, direct experience of speaking, reading, writing, and listening to a particular language.

The nuts-and-bolts of grammar, usage, and pronunciation should be taught both explicitly and implicitly, and sometimes the distinction between these two views is more abstract than real. I am, however, convinced that teaching grammar and usage inductively, through authentic materials, is likelier to lead to a deeper engagement with the language.

In my teaching I also try emphasize the different modes and registers of English speech and writing: conversational, professional (e.g. job interviews), and the more concentrated and idiosyncratic styles of literature. Another important (and underrated) aspect of teaching, I think, is physical movement: a teacher should try to walk around the room and speak from different positions. It holds the students’ interest, and movement like this hopefully mirrors the intellectual movement of the learning process.

The ancient Greek writer Plutarch wrote that “Education is not the filling of a vessel but the lighting of a fire.” This is a more concise statement of everything I consider important about teaching and learning. For one, it implies that students aren’t passive vessels for information, but take an active part in generating their own education. Plutarch’s aphorism also calls to mind the enthusiastic curiosity needed for any true learning to take place. I try to cultivate this enthusiasm and curiosity in my teaching, perhaps above all other things.

ESL teacher with 5 years of experience in the US and abroad

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About Greer

About the lesson

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online

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ESL teacher with 5 years of experience in the US and abroad

Lesson location

About Greer

About the lesson

Rates

Rate

Pack rates

online

Other tutors in ESL

Ethan

Poe

Beth

Delia (Del)

Paul

Ryan

Chelsea

Mark

Alaa

Lorraine

Josh

Dee

Issam

Kris

Dr Fara, PhD (Top Tutor)

HERE AND NOW

Derek

Pradip

Fleur

Hassan

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