As part of the application process, you have to complete a couple of written pre-interview tasks. In the past, some applicants have told us that this was a bit off-putting because they thought their knowledge of English grammar was quite minimal. But don’t worry. I, for one, only knew a little about grammar from my school days. And that mostly came from studying French.
So, the first thing to remember is that you are a fluent speaker and there is no reason in the world why you should know the grammar rules for your own first language. You have had no need to know these rules up to now. The point of speaking and writing is to convey meaning and if you can do that without understanding the rules that describe such things as the word order or choice of tenses, then all the better.
But we tend to learn a second language at a later stage in life and in a different way from our first language. And we tend to need at least some understanding of the rules in order to piece together the right words in the right order. Certainly our learners at Atlas expect to deepen their knowledge of the layers of grammar in order to improve their accuracy.
So, yes, while it’s absolutely not necessary or expected that you will know all the grammar before you start the TEFL course, an aim of the course is to start developing that knowledge quickly. A starting point is to get to grips with some grammar terminology, that is, the words you will need to teach language and grammar. Learners are taught this terminology from beginners, which allows them to understand and make sense of more complex grammar structures as the progress. For example, if a learner whose native language is Spanish asks you why saying “I have a car big” is wrong, what can you say? As a teacher you can explain that in English an adjective (big) must come before the noun (car) it describes.
On the course you will get to study and understand the grammar of the piece of language you are planning to teach. This is part of the lesson planning process. Over time, the more lessons you plan and teach, the more knowledge of grammar you acquire as a teacher. As a starting point, to help make sure everyone starts with the same basic understanding of grammar we send trainees a pre-course task upon acceptance on our course. You’ll soon be up to speed and feel more confident about grammar before you start.
But let’s concentrate on the interview task now…
The following questions are similar to the types of language questions we ask on the application and interview tasks. See how much you already know and perhaps get some tips for the tasks. Just select the answers you think are right and click on the button at the end. Type in your name and your email address and click on the ‘Finish quiz’ button. You will then be able to view the questions and your answers and get some explanations for the correct answers.
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The following questions are similar to the types of language questions we ask on the application and interview tasks. See how much you already know and perhaps get some tips for the CELT tasks. Just select the answers you think are right, type in your email address and click on the button at the end. We will then send you your results and the explanations for the correct answers.
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English language teaching is a great job to have and can be a great career. There’s a lot to it, but you get to work closely with other people and get to see students develop and enjoy their learning. If you want to take the next step and get a recognised qualification why not enrol on our CELT course. We have 4-week full-time and 10-week part-time options.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have.
Good luck.
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Question 1 of 24
1. Question
Question 1
Word Classes: Match the following classes of word with their definitions.
Sort elements
- noun
- pronoun
- adverb
- verb
- adjective
- preposition
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(1) A person, object, or thing (including abstract concepts like 'thought')
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(2) A word used instead of a noun (it refers to a person, object, or thing)
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(3) Adds information about when, where, how, how long, how often, etc.
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(4) An action (e.g., eat, walk, take) or state (e.g., be, have, exist).
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(5) Describes people, objects, things, etc.
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(6) Used as a link to information about position, direction, place in time, etc.
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 2 of 24
2. Question
Question 2
Word Classes: Which word is the odd one out?
Correct
Toast is the odd one out.
Toast is a noun. All the other words are adjectives.Nouns are a class of words that refer to people, animals, plants, things, places, feeling, emotions, and abstract entities. Put simply, a noun is the name of the thing.
Adjectives are a class of word that describe or give more information about someone or something. They can go both before a noun, and after a linking verb (such as the verbs to be, to feel, to seem). Examples: a wonderful meal, a cold hand, you are wrong, I feel happy, she seems angry.
Incorrect
Toast is the odd one out.
Toast is a noun. All the other words are adjectives.Nouns are a class of words that refer to people, animals, plants, things, places, feeling, emotions, and abstract entities. Put simply, a noun is the name of the thing.
Adjectives are a class of word that describe or give more information about someone or something. They can go both before a noun, and after a linking verb (such as the verbs to be, to feel, to seem). Examples: a wonderful meal, a cold hand, you are wrong, I feel happy, she seems angry.
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Question 3 of 24
3. Question
Word Classes: Which word is the odd one out?
Correct
Slowly is the odd one out.
Slowly is an adverb. All the other words are verbs.An adverb is a class of word that tells you more about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs have many functions and it is often best to categorise them by their function, the most common being, adverbs of manner, as in the example above, or adverbs of degree, such as; very, extremely, utterly, etc. The easiest adverbs to recognise are those formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -ly, like slowly and dangerously, and which describe the manner in which the action happened, for example, He drove dangerously.
A verb is a class of word that describes an action or a state: I walk to school, I love pizza. Verbs have different forms depending on the time (tense, past or present), person (they have, he has), aspect (whether the speaker perceives the action to be continuous or not, repeated or not, or whether it is completed or not).
Incorrect
Slowly is the odd one out.
Slowly is an adverb. All the other words are verbs.An adverb is a class of word that tells you more about a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs have many functions and it is often best to categorise them by their function, the most common being, adverbs of manner, as in the example above, or adverbs of degree, such as; very, extremely, utterly, etc. The easiest adverbs to recognise are those formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -ly, like slowly and dangerously, and which describe the manner in which the action happened, for example, He drove dangerously.
A verb is a class of word that describes an action or a state: I walk to school, I love pizza. Verbs have different forms depending on the time (tense, past or present), person (they have, he has), aspect (whether the speaker perceives the action to be continuous or not, repeated or not, or whether it is completed or not).
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Question 4 of 24
4. Question
Question 3
Vocabulary: Which of the four items in each list is the odd-one-out? Which one is different from the others in some way? The reason is something to do with the kind of word it is.
part-time tea-bag burglar alarm bookcase
Correct
part-time tea-bag burglar alarm bookcase
All four words are compounds – they are made up of more than one word. Tea-bag, burglar alarm and bookcase are compound nouns. But part-time is a compound adjective. As an adjective, it is used to describe a noun, e.g., a part-time job.
Incorrect
part-time tea-bag burglar alarm bookcase
All four words are compounds – they are made up of more than one word. Tea-bag, burglar alarm and bookcase are compound nouns. But part-time is a compound adjective. As an adjective, it is used to describe a noun, e.g., a part-time job.
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Question 5 of 24
5. Question
strong sunlight strong coffee strong rain strong cigarettes
Correct
strong sunlight strong coffee strong rain strong cigarettes
These are all examples of collocation – words which are frequently used together. But strong rain is different because it is not a collocation. We do not say strong rain. We say heavy rain.
These are adjective + noun collocations but it is also possible to have other combinations:
Noun + verb license expires
Verb + noun make the bed
Adverb and verb deeply regretIncorrect
strong sunlight strong coffee strong rain strong cigarettes
These are all examples of collocation – words which are frequently used together. But strong rain is different because it is not a collocation. We do not say strong rain. We say heavy rain.
These are adjective + noun collocations but it is also possible to have other combinations:
Noun + verb license expires
Verb + noun make the bed
Adverb and verb deeply regret -
Question 6 of 24
6. Question
four five there see
Correct
four five there see
Four sounds like for, there sounds like their, and see sounds like sea. Homophones are words that have different spelling but the same pronunciation. Five is not a homophone.
Incorrect
four five there see
Four sounds like for, there sounds like their, and see sounds like sea. Homophones are words that have different spelling but the same pronunciation. Five is not a homophone.
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Question 7 of 24
7. Question
wonderful dreadful marvellous fantastic
Correct
wonderful dreadful marvellous fantastic
Wonderful, marvellous and fantastic all have a very similar meaning (very good). They are therefore synonyms. Dreadful has the opposite meaning so it is different because it is an antonym.
Incorrect
wonderful dreadful marvellous fantastic
Wonderful, marvellous and fantastic all have a very similar meaning (very good). They are therefore synonyms. Dreadful has the opposite meaning so it is different because it is an antonym.
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Question 8 of 24
8. Question
over the moon in the red as good as gold in hospital
Correct
over the moon in the red as good as gold in hospital
If you understand the meaning of in and the meaning of hospital, you can understand the meaning of the phrase in hospital. This is not true for the other phrases, which are idioms. In an idiom the whole phrase forms a single piece with a single meaning or use that cannot be interpreted simply through understanding the separate words in the phrase.
- He is over the moon = He is feeling very happy.
- She is in the red = She has a negative bank balance.
- She’s as good as gold = She’s good, well-behaved.
Incorrect
over the moon in the red as good as gold in hospital
If you understand the meaning of in and the meaning of hospital, you can understand the meaning of the phrase in hospital. This is not true for the other phrases, which are idioms. In an idiom the whole phrase forms a single piece with a single meaning or use that cannot be interpreted simply through understanding the separate words in the phrase.
- He is over the moon = He is feeling very happy.
- She is in the red = She has a negative bank balance.
- She’s as good as gold = She’s good, well-behaved.
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Question 9 of 24
9. Question
Question 4
Tenses and Time: How many tenses are there in English?
Correct
How many tenses are there in English? 2
Teachers and learners are often familiar with tables like this one:
According to a table like this, English has twelve tenses. However, technically, there are only two. Only Present Simple and Past Simple are considered ‘true’ tenses because the verb changes its form to make the Present Simple and Past Simple. The other tenses are formed by adding another auxiliary verb.
According to this definition, the Future Simple is definitely not a tense. It is formed by using the auxiliary will. On top of that, there are many ways to refer to the future in English and will is only one of them. It is therefore better regarded as one of the future forms rather than as a tense.
Incorrect
How many tenses are there in English? 2
Teachers and learners are often familiar with tables like this one:
According to a table like this, English has twelve tenses. However, technically, there are only two. Only Present Simple and Past Simple are considered ‘true’ tenses because the verb changes its form to make the Present Simple and Past Simple. The other tenses are formed by adding another auxiliary verb.
According to this definition, the Future Simple is definitely not a tense. It is formed by using the auxiliary will. On top of that, there are many ways to refer to the future in English and will is only one of them. It is therefore better regarded as one of the future forms rather than as a tense.
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Question 10 of 24
10. Question
Question 5
Tenses and Time: The Present Simple tense can be used to refer to past, present and future time. Look at these examples of sentences in the Present Simple.
What is the time reference in each? Past, present, future, always?
Sort elements
- present
- Past
- future
- always
- past
- always
- always
- future or always
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(1) … and Messi passes the ball to Suarez…
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(2) Rudolf tells me you are going to be flying by helicopter this Christmas.
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(3) I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.
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(4) Stephen travels to school by bus.
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(5) So, I’m sitting in a pub when the past and present come up to me… it was tense.
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(6) The earth goes round the sun.
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(7) The Irish drink a lot of tea .
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(8) What time does the train leave?
Correct
(1) … and Messi passes the ball to Suarez… present
(2) Rudolf tells me you are going to be flying by helicopter this Christmas. past
In ‘Rudolf tells me…’ the ‘expected’ tense would be ‘told’ as Rudolf told the speaker in the past.
(3) I’ll call you as soon as I arrive. future
(4) Stephen travels to school by bus. always
(5) So, I’m sitting in a pub when the past and present come up to me… it was tense. past
In this bar incident, the use of the ‘dramatic present’ to talk about a past event has the effect of making the story sound more exciting.
(6) The earth goes round the sun. always
(7) The Irish drink a lot of tea. always
(8) What time does the train leave? future or alwaysIncorrect
(1) … and Messi passes the ball to Suarez… present
(2) Rudolf tells me you are going to be flying by helicopter this Christmas. past
In ‘Rudolf tells me…’ the ‘expected’ tense would be ‘told’ as Rudolf told the speaker in the past.
(3) I’ll call you as soon as I arrive. future
(4) Stephen travels to school by bus. always
(5) So, I’m sitting in a pub when the past and present come up to me… it was tense. past
In this bar incident, the use of the ‘dramatic present’ to talk about a past event has the effect of making the story sound more exciting.
(6) The earth goes round the sun. always
(7) The Irish drink a lot of tea. always
(8) What time does the train leave? future or always -
Question 11 of 24
11. Question
Question 6
Functions: A function is the communicative purpose – i.e., the reason why we say or write something. If students are studying in Ireland, they will need some functional language immediately, e.g., to make polite requests, to ask for directions, to ask for clarification.
For the expressions below, match the example sentences with the functions listed a to g.
Sort elements
- comparing
- describing
- wishing
- disagreeing
- speculating
- clarifying
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He's got longer hair than his girlfriend.
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It's a huge house with 5 bedrooms.
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I'd love to learn to ride a motorbike!
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I'm not sure that's a good idea.
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They may have a car, I'm not certain.
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What she's trying to say is...
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 12 of 24
12. Question
Question 7
Functions: The situation, or context, the speakers are in is very important for understanding what the speaker wants to say and for choosing the best expression to use. It is important to use language that is appropriate, that is, suitable for the person spoken to. The level of formality or informality will change, depending on the relationships between speakers and the situation they are in.
Decide if the expressions below are appropriate or inappropriate in the situation described:
Customer to waiter, “Would you be so kind as to give me a menu, please?”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 13 of 24
13. Question
Bus driver to passenger “Shut up, will you?”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 14 of 24
14. Question
Doctor to patients in the waiting room: “Hi guys!”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 15 of 24
15. Question
Friend to friend eating sweets on a train “Give me one!”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 16 of 24
16. Question
Shop assistant to customer “I’m afraid we don’t have it in your size.”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 17 of 24
17. Question
The ending of an e-mail from a student to a new tutor “Lots of love, Su”
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 18 of 24
18. Question
Question 8
Functional Language and Modal Verbs: Modal verbs (can, could, must, may, might, should) have many different functions. The modal ‘can’, for example, is used to express ability, make a request, ask for permission, express prohibition, and to express logical deduction.
Which of these functions are expressed in the sentences below.
Sort elements
- Making a request
- Asking for permission
- Expressing ability
- Expressing logical deduction
- Expressing prohibition
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Can you open the door, please?
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Can I have tomorrow off to go to the doctor?
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I can play the piano.
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It can’t be Elvis Presley, he’s dead.
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You can’t eat in this classroom.
Correct
Modal verbs, also known as modal auxiliary verbs, are different from main verbs such as walk or speak in that they don’t take a tense. They are always used with a main verb and simply modify the meaning of that main verb.
Because of their many different uses, modal verbs can cause problems for learners of English. You will generally teach them in groups associated with a particular function. For example, you might teach modal verbs to speak about ‘logical deduction’. This would include teaching ‘must be’ (100% certain it is), ‘may/might be’ (50/50), and ‘can’t be’ (100% certain it’s not).
Incorrect
Modal verbs, also known as modal auxiliary verbs, are different from main verbs such as walk or speak in that they don’t take a tense. They are always used with a main verb and simply modify the meaning of that main verb.
Because of their many different uses, modal verbs can cause problems for learners of English. You will generally teach them in groups associated with a particular function. For example, you might teach modal verbs to speak about ‘logical deduction’. This would include teaching ‘must be’ (100% certain it is), ‘may/might be’ (50/50), and ‘can’t be’ (100% certain it’s not).
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Question 19 of 24
19. Question
Question 9
Conveying the Meaning of Words: Conveying meaning is perhaps the most important skill of any foreign language teacher. As a general rule, the use of bi-lingual dictionaries or translators in an English language classroom is not encouraged. It is better for the learner to make a real connection with the English word, which will help them to remember it more easily. Have a look at the following words and think how you would explain them in a class clearly and concisely. Don’t just think about explaining the meaning with an explanation. More words often lead to more confusion. Try to think how you can use pictures, gesture, mime, or real life examples.
Match the description of the most effective way to quickly convey the meaning with the piece of vocabulary being described.
Sort elements
- escape from prison
- you and me
- a satellite dish
- pick up the rubbish
- a greyhound
- enormous
- a stapler
- hear a clink of coins
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Establish a situation - tell a story, possibly starting right at the beginning with the time of the crime!
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Gesture with your hands - your student(s) and yourself.
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If you're able to draw a circle, a straight line, and an outline of a house, you can do a quick drawing of this on the whiteboard or blackboard.
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Mime the action, or if you're (un)lucky you might even find some on the classroom floor!
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Take in a professional picture or a photo - are you good enough at drawing to distinguish between breeds?
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Use a cline - this adjective will be at one end.
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Use realia (a real life object) - if you don't have one in your pencil case, there should be one in the staff room or at reception.
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You probably have one or two of these in your pocket; use them to make a sound.
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 20 of 24
20. Question
Question 10
Pronunciation:
Throughout our CELT course you will hear reference to Meaning-Form-Pronunciation. For every piece of language you teach you will have to cover its exact meaning, its precise form, and the how to say it. We’ve looked at some aspects of form and meaning in the first few questions, so we’ll finish this introduction to language awareness with a question about pronunciation.
Words are made up of syllables. The word ‘information’ for example, has four syllables, in-for-ma-tion. You can work out the number of syllables by counting the vowel sounds in a word. While there are five letters in the English alphabet that represent vowel sounds (a,e,i,o,u), there are actually many more vowel sounds in spoken English. Again, the way that letters combine to make different long and short sounds is a major problem area for many learners of English.
In every word there is one syllable which is stressed. A stressed syllable is louder in volume and higher in pitch than the other syllables. The stress in information, for example, is on the third syllable – inforMAtion.
Identify the stressed syllable in the following word:
encourage
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 21 of 24
21. Question
completely
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 22 of 24
22. Question
Japanese
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 23 of 24
23. Question
native
Correct
Incorrect
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Question 24 of 24
24. Question
response
Correct
You have probably never had to work out the stress in a word before and it can take a while to get used to, so don’t be surprised if you got one or two wrong in the exercise above. A little technique I use to help me identify the stress in a word is to say the word and nod your head when the pitch changes.
Incorrect
You have probably never had to work out the stress in a word before and it can take a while to get used to, so don’t be surprised if you got one or two wrong in the exercise above. A little technique I use to help me identify the stress in a word is to say the word and nod your head when the pitch changes.
