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TESOL and Speech Impairment Bath
Dear Prof. Cohen,
My name is Nastassja Riemermann, and I have recently become interested in purusing TESOL, particularly TEFL, as a career. However, I was born with a cleft lip and palate, and because of this have somewhat impaired speech. I have received speech therapy in the past, and am planning to receive some more now that my final surgery is complete, but I am sure my speech will still be somewhat affected. My question is this: how much of a hinderance does impaired speech have in both the ability of a native speaker of English to teach the language, and how serious of a difficulty would it pose in actually being hired for such jobs? (I will note that my particular interests in terms of countries to teach in are Germany (as a dual German-U.S. citizen, I hold an E.U. passport) and Japan.) My thought was that perhaps I would want to avoid teaching beginning classes, but that if I were to teach higher levels most of the students will have already developed the pronounciation which that they will, and that they would have enough experience with the language that they wouldn't have too much trouble understanding me. Thank you very much for your time in replying to my inquiries.
Sincerely,
Nastassja Riemermann
Prof. Cohen's reply:
Interesting query, Nastassja. If you have a speech impediment, then it is most likely going to make it more challenging for nonnatives to understand you. On the other hand, that's part of life too! Not everyone they interact with will be easy for them to understand. They will be interacting with lots of nonnatives who don't speak so clearly. And yes, perhaps teaching more advanced learners would make it less "important" that your pronunciation be clear, since they presumably will have mastered the basics of English comprehension.
I can't tell you how this would affect your marketability. I just don't know. I've never been involved in hiring ESL/EFL teachers. I work in an MA program for teacher development for ESL/EFL. We don't actually teach English in our program. You would need to pose that question to those folks who are directly involved in the hiring of ESL/EFL teachers.
Good luck to you in your upcoming surgery and in your career plans. If you really want to teach EFL, go for it!
All best wishes,
Andrew Cohen
Well, I suppose the U hires ESL teachers... I could talk to whoever's responsible for hiring them.
And now, a quiz:
Your Score: Loner - ISFP
20% Extraversion, 40% Intuition, 20% Thinking, 26% Judging
Ahh...the sweet serenity. The utter perfection of all creation. The wondrous beauty of nature. The sweet sparrow singing along in the great orchestra we call life...
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? You're the type of person people always love to mock because they don't believe there's anyone ACTUALLY like you.
Do realise that you ostracise people with your behaviour or is it all subconscious? You're so quiet and reserved it's almost impossible to get to know you well, and when someone finally does, all you want to talk about is grace and beauty and harmony!
Ugh. Sure, you "genuinely care for others" and all that rubbish, but when it boils right down to the basics you take life far too seriously.
Throughout the entire test, I bet you were searching for "further clarification and hidden meaning" so that you might improve your pitiful life. And woe and behold if it betrayed your intense values system!
You need to STOP smelling the daisies. Believe it or not, logic does have a place in this world...imbecile.
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If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check out this.
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The other personality types are as follows...
Pushover - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging
Criminal - Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving
Borefest - Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging
Almost Perfect - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
Freak - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
Loser - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving
Crackpot - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging
Clown - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving
Sap - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging
Commander - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving
Do Gooder - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging
Scumbag - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
Busybody - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
Prick - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving
Dictator - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging
| Link: The Brutally Honest Personality Test written by UltimateMaster on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test |
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