Work Experience:
Since January 2014: I have been teaching for Laureate Vocational in Jeddah, KSA. I am currently teaching large classes of elementary level learners at a Saudi Arabian technical college. During my year at Laureate I have started an MA course in TESOL at Sheffield Hallam university. I carried out an interesting research project into teacher motivation as a part of this course and received a high grade. Additionally, I am now a qualified PET / KET speaking examiner and have carried out numerous tests. As it is the aim of the college to prepare students for the KET exam, I have developed a deep understanding in this area and have designed a wealth of materials that can effectively assist the students. My next research project will be in the field of classroom management and student motivation which are crucial issues in KSA
November 2011-December 2013: I taught speaking-focused general English classes to adults and teenagers for Al Khaleej (Direct English) in Khamis Mushayt and Abha, Saudi Arabia for 2 years. The majority of the students have been low-level, either elementary or beginners and are mostly teenagers or young adults. For the entire 2 years I have been designing my own materials with a view to recycling the language and grammar the students have been exposed to in their coursebook (taught by a non-native speaker). My main aims have been to stimulate the fluency of the students, increase their oral confidence and also cover language items that will occur in their progress tests. I have prepared my own oral progress test for the students based on material covered during my lessons. Additionally, I have been preparing private students for the IELTS exam in my spare time.
November 2012 – August 2013: Undertook and passed the Trinity Diploma in TESOL (Level 7 Licentiate Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) with OxfordTEFL (www.oxfordtefl.com) in Barcelona. The DipTESOL is valued due to its high degree of practicality and is intended to improve experienced teachers actual classroom skills. The course covered diverse areas such as methodology, grammar, phonology, lexis, skills, syllabus design, EAP, ESP, EIL, assessment, technology and young learners. To attain the DipTESOL I had to pass 4 units:
Unit 1: A 3 hour exam including an English grammar section & essays on ‘Learning & Teaching’ & ‘Prof. Development’.
Unit 2: The creation of a ‘Portfolio’. Section 1: an Observation Instrument. I had to design a form that would allow me to observe other teachers in a specified way. The project was titled, ‘How Effective are a Teacher’s Instructions During Lessons?’ I observed 5 teachers over a period of 10 hours. Section 2 concerned written personal reflections on my own teaching (10 lessons, 10 hours). My project was entitled, ‘How Can Interaction Patterns Support Effective Learning in Low-Level Learner Classes?’ Sections 3 involved an ‘independent research project’. My project was entitled, ”What Factors Contribute to a Lack of Motivation Among Low-Level Learners in Saudi Arabia?’ I conducted this project by creating a questionnaire which was completed by both teachers and students.
Unit 3: The phonology interview. This included a presentation, phonemic script transcription and an interview.
Unit 4: Observed teaching which included 4 internally assessed 1-hour lessons and 1 externally assessed lesson (by Trinity College, London). This included presentation and discussion of the lesson plan, then analysis and review of the lesson.
Tutors on the OxfordTEFL diploma course included such well-known names in the world of EFL as Adrian Underhill (Sound Foundations), Lindsay Clandfield (‘Global’ coursebooks), Gerard Kelly (How to Teach Pronunciation) and Duncan Foord (The Developing Teacher) among others. I took the DipTESOL course in preference to an MA as I considered that its strong practical side would improve my teaching.
July 2012: I taught young learners at Concorde International summer school in Cambridge, UK. I conducted entry level assessment of the students, participated in outings and prepared lessons based on the syllabus of the school.
March 2012-July 2012: I taught general and business English to individual adults online for Englishgrad.ru. via Skype. Unfortunately I had to stop this due to on an unreliable internet connection.
2007-2009: I taught business and general English lessons to individual professionals on a one-to-one basis at their workplaces for InterLingua (http://www.reading.ru/) in Moscow. I tailored lessons to the needs of the students, predominantly in the area of legal English and real estate.
2004-2009: At my apartment I ran my own group at the weekend to prepare students for the Cambridge CAE exam. I prepared all my own teaching materials for the lessons and developed my own teaching style. The lessons ran for 3 hours and prepared students in each of the 4 skills required to pass the exam.
2000-2006: At various times I worked for the Center Albion Language School (http://www.center-albion.ru/ru), Khimki, Moscow Region. I taught groups of teenagers in the evenings / weekends as preparation for the Cambridge FCE exam.
2000: I taught for Language Link (www.languagelink.ru) in Moscow for 3 months. However, an individual student, the CEO of ASINEX Ltd (www.asinex.com) offered me a position in the marketing dept. of his company. I accepted, but continued to teach English in my spare time.
1999: Moved to Moscow, Russia and taught one-to-one private lessons on a full time basis for one year.
Other Professional Experience:
08.2000 – 06.2011: held a management position for ASINEX Ltd (www.asinex.com) and gained considerable sales / marketing / business development experience for a high-tech company with a global network of customers. I developed a network of sales contacts, visited companies to make presentations, maintained the company website and created marketing materials.
2000-2011: ad-hoc free-lance translation of texts from Russian-English, including a newsletter for www.redspot.ru (two years) and translation of subtitles for films (‘Brest Fortress’, ‘A Lifelong Night’, ‘Russia 88’).
Before 1999: earlier work experience includes mental health and learning difficulties support worker (3 years).
Education:
ongoing – MA TESOL at Sheffield Hallam University
BA degree 2:1 in Sociology and Third World Studies, Middlesex University, London, England.
Trinity College London Diploma in TESOL (2013)
INTESOL Certificate in TESOL (1999)
A-Levels in Art, English, Geography (Newmarket College, England), Sociology and Politics (Independent Study)
Fluent speaker of Russian (self-taught)
