FROM: teacher@amanda.dorsai.org NEWSGROUPS: misc.education.language.english, bit.listserv.tesl-l, misc.answers,news.answers,bit.listserv.slart-l SUBJECT: ESL/EFL/ESOL RESOURCE GUIDE, TABLE OF CONTENTS FOLLOW-UP TO: misc.education.language.english SUMMARY: This posting describes the newsgroup misc.education.language.english, including where to find more information. It should be read by anyone who wishes to post to misc.education.language.english. It also contains information of interest to ESL/EFL/ESOL teachers and students world-wide. EXPIRES: ? SUPERSEDES: 1995/03/25 ARCHIVE-NAME: esl/resource-guide POSTING-FREQUENCY: monthly LAST MODIFIED: 1996/03/25 VERSION: 4.0 THE INTERNATIONAL ESL/EFL/ESOL RESOURCE GUIDE TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: INTRODUCTION AND TABLE OF CONTENTS (misc.education.language.english faq) Copyright 1996, Meg Gam The International ESL/EFL/ESOL FAQ is also available on WWW: http://math.unr.edu/linguistics/mele.faq.html by anonymous ftp: math.unr.edu in directory users/kristina/mele-faq.txt Many thanks to Mark Israel for his advice, help and support, as well as his permission to use information from his extremely informative FAQ for the newsgroup alt.usage.english. 9/15 CHANGES This edition has been substantially revised. Substantial modifications have been made in that the FAQ has now been divided into five categorical parts and that some of the information sections have been moved to accomodate the new format. If you have a copy dated before 3/25, you will find this edition to contain changes too numerous to list. The changes between this edition and the 3/25/96 edition are primarily in format, although the new Parts Three and Four do contain quite a few new additions. To help you decide whether or not you need a new FAQ, the "Changes" listed have been grouped by *part* of the FAQ in which they appear. Introduction What is the International ESL/EFL/ESOL Resource Guide to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)? Welcome to misc.education.language.english! Related newsgroups The International ESL/EFL/ESOL Resource Guide to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Table of Contents Part One * What is the TOEIC? Universities Part Two Where Can One Find Out About EFL Teaching Jobs in Other Countries Part Three Internet Resources Part Four Books for Teaching ESL/EFL/ESOL ********************************************* WHAT IS THE INTERNATIONAL ESL/EFL/ESOL RESOURCE GUIDE TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)? ********************************************* This Frequently Asked Questions file (FAQ) has grown from about 20 questions/answers which kept popping up on the Usenet newsgroup,misc.education.language.english (m.e.l.e.). I've added questions I've kept answering on some other newsgroups and mailing lists, so that, while the original intent was, and still is, to produce a FAQ for m.e.l.e., the FAQ is now applicable to many ESL/EFL/ESOL interest groups, including individuals with no access to the Internet. *************************************************** WELCOME TO MISC.EDUCATION.LANGUAGE ENGLISH: A NEWSGROUP FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES *************************************************** misc.language.education.english (m.e.l.e.) is a newsgroup where we can discuss topics of interest to teachers of English to speakers of other languages. We discuss different situations that come up and how to deal with them, teaching techniques for various topics/issues/subjects, classroom projects,games, and activities . Things you might want to consider not posting on m.e.l.e. 1 - Questions that can be answered by simple reference to a dictionary. 2 - Generalities. If you make a statement like: "American English speakers ALWAYS say/do 'X thing'",, or "ALL British English speakers say/do 'Y thing'", or if you make country or culture-specific generalizations regarding TESL/EFL/ESOL, there's a strong likelihood that someone will come back at you with a counter-example. 3 - Assertions that one variety of English is "true English", or that one variety of what is commonly considered "native English" is better than any other.. 4 - Sloppy writing (as distinct from simple slips like typing errors, or errors from someone whose native language is not English). Please keep in mind that the regulars on misc.education.language.english are probably less willing than the general population to suffer sloppy writers gladly; and that each article is written by one person, but read perhaps by thousands, so the convenience of the readers really ought to have priority over the convenience of the writer. Again, this is *not* to discourage non-native speakers from posting; readers will be able to detect that you're writing in a foreign language, and will make allowances for this. 6 - Expressions of exasperation. In the course of discussion, you may encounter positions based on premises radically different from yours and, perhaps, surprisingly novel to you. Saying things like "Oh,please", "That's absurd", or "Give me a break" is unlikely to win your opponent over. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED NEWSGROUPS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are other newsgroups which discuss the English language. Some of these might be more appropriate to your topic of discussion. bit.listserv.words-l (which is a redistribution of a BITNET mailing list -- not all machines on Usenet carry these) is billed as being for "English language discussion".. sci.lang targets professional linguists. Discussions tend to be about linguistic methodology (rather than about *particular* words and phrases), and prescription is severely frowned upon there. bit.listserv.slart-l is a list for SLA research and teaching alt.literacy.adult is a newsgroup for adults who are trying to to improve their reading and writing skills. Teachers and tutors are also welcome. Discussions often run to politics. alt.education.research is a newsgroup about studying about studying uk.education.misc. is a newsgroup of interest to those involved in education in the United Kingdom. aus.education this newsgroup addresses issues of interest to teachers in Australia. alt.flame.spelling is the place to criticize other people's spelling. We try to avoid doing that on m.e.l.e. (although some people do get annoyed if you spell language terms wrong. It's "consensus",not "concensus"; "diphthong", not "dipthong"; "grammar", not"grammer"; "guttural", not "gutteral"; and "pronunciation", not "pronounciation"). alt.usage.english is a newsgroup where discussion is about the English language (and also occasionally other languages). Discussions are about how particular words, phrases, and syntactic forms are used; how they originated; and where in the English-speaking world they're prevalent. (All this is called "description".) Discussions also touch on how participants think they *should* be used ("prescription"). alt.usage.english.neologism is described as being for "meaningless words coined by psychotics". Not many sites carry it, and it has had little traffic so far; the people who do post to it are more positive about neologisms than the quoted description would indicate. misc.education.adult is devoted to adult education issues. k12.lang.art is for K12 teachers of language arts K12.chat.teacher is for K12 teachers, in general. k12.ed.art Arts & crafts curriculum in K-12 education. k12.ed.business Business education curriculum in grades K-12. k12.ed.comp.literacy Teaching computer literacy in grades K-12. rec.puzzles is a better place than m.e.l.e. to ask questions like "What English words end in '-gry' or '-endous'?", "What words contain 'vv'?", "What words have 'e' pronounced as /I/?", "What Pig Latin words are also words?", or 'That that is is that that is not is not that that is not is not that that is is that it it is' to get comprehensible text?" But, before you post such a question there, make sure it's not answered in the rec.puzzles archive, available by anonymous ftp from rtfm.mit.edu; the relevant section is in the directory pub/usenet/news.answers/puzzles/archive/language . alt.anagrams Wordplay for its own sake (anagrams, palindromes, etc.) belongs in alt.anagrams. There are also long lists of things of this sort in the rec.puzzles archive. comp.edu.languages.natural is devoted to software for assisting language instruction. misc.writing is a newsgroup devoted to writing, and especially to the concerns of people trying to establish themselves as professional writers. alt.quotations is the place to ask about origins of quotations, although there is no firm dividing line between those and phrase origins (which belong here). You can access the 1901 edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations at: http://www.columbia.edu/~svl2/bartlett/ soc.culture.british Language features peculiar to the UK get discussed in soc.culture.british as well as here. Before posting to either newsgroup on this subject, you should look at Jeremy Smith's British-American dictionary available by anonymous ftp from ftp.csos.orst.edu as pub/networking/bigfun/usuk_dictionary.txt . alt.peeves If you have a (language-related or other) peeve that you want to mention but don't particularly want to justify, you can try alt.peeves. ("What is your pet peeve?" is *not* a frequently asked question in alt.misc.language.english,, although some folks post unsolicited answers to it from time to time. The Jargon File, available by anonymous ftp from: prep.ai.mit.edu (18.71.0.38) under pub/gnu or on the WWW: http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon.html covers peculiarities of language as used by computer users. ********************************************* THE INTERNATIONAL ESL/EFL/ESOL RESOURCE GUIDE TO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) INTRODUCTION & TABLE OF CONTENTS ********************************************* TABLE OF CONTENTS ********************************************* INTRODUCTION & TABLE OF CONTENTS What is the International ESL/EFL/ESOL Resource Guide to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)? Welcome to misc.education.language.english! Related newsgroups Table of Contents of The International ESL/EFL/ESOL Resource Guide to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) PART ONE What is ESL? What is EFL? What is ESOL? Is there any difference between ESL and EFL? What is TEFL? What is TESL? What is TESOL? What does one need to do to be an ESL teacher? What is the RSA/CTEFLA? How does the RSA/CTEFLA compare with the MA-TESL? What are the advantages (if any) of having the RSA/Cambridge C-TEFLA? Where can one find out about C-TEFLA programs available in the U.S. and Abroad? What about other certificate programs? What about diploma programs? Where can one find out about MA-TESL programs? What RSA/Cambridge (UCLES) teaching qualifications are available to non-native speakers of English? Certificate for Overseas Teachers of English (COTE) Diploma for Overseas Teachers of English (DOTE) What is the TOEFL? What are the Cambridge Exams? How do they compare? ESL/EFL/ESOL-related professional organizations Some Universities Offering MA-TESL programs Universities and Training Centers Offering Distance MA-TESL and Post-Graduate Certificate and Diploma Courses ESL/EFL/ESOL Terms Glossary PART TWO Where can one find out about EFL teaching jobs in other countries? What about the Peace Corps? What is World University Service of Canada? What about other volunteer programs one can join to go abroad and teach English without experience? PART THREE What resources for ESL/EFL/ESOL teachers are available on the Internet? Accessing Internet by Email Newsgroups Search engines for newsgroups Mailing lists Search for your own mailing lists WebSites On-line dictionaries World Wide Web search engines Telnet sites MOOs Gopher Sites For students of ESL/EFL/ESOL Internet Education PART FOUR Books for teaching ESL/EFL/ESOL Grammar and TOEFL review All-purpose Books Communications/Conversation/Activities Books Vocabulary/Spelling Listening comprehension/Dictation Pronunciation Books Writing English for Academic Purposes Basic Texts/Survival English Culture Texts (US Culture) Multilevel classes Canadian Content K-12 ESP Learner Dictionaries Professional Development Teaching with the Internet British Council Information Sheets ESL/EFL/ESOL Publishers and Distributors US & International Publishers British Publishers PART FIVE Journals for ESL/EFL/ESOL Professionals Publications for Students Grant Funding Software for ESL/EFL/ESOL Phonetic (IPA) Fonts - Where to Get Them Structured Courses Edutainment Other Forms of Computer-Aided Language Learning Teacher Training Aids ASCII Representation of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA Useful Addresses for British TEFL Information PLEASE NOTE: RE: TELEPHONE/FAX LISTINGS There are a number of telephone/fax listings within this document. There appear to be some British conventions regarding telephone numbers, which are not familiar to citizens of other countries, most significantly, a "+" (plus) sign before telephone numbers. Because of the confusion which this may cause among readers not familiar with British telephone listings, these have been left out. So -- how to use the telephonelistings then? User your judgement -- check to see if the international country code has been included in the listing. If it has, you're in business. If it hasn't, look it up. Then, if the particular country you're in has any further dialing conventions for long distance/international calls, add them.