I will write my Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne research summaries in a much more condensed fashion, as I am already in the last half of writing for my final paper.
– Kuala Lumpur’s center, EMS Languages, offered a diverse selection of courses for me to observe, from absolute beginners through fluent speakers. I enjoyed the class of absolute beginners in particular–what a fun group, and what an amazing teacher!
– I got a lot out of the audio materials that EMS Languages’ textbooks offered. Though audio practice is only a small part of the coursework for an ESL class, the kind of audio material (how many accents, how long, how many listens) matters.
– Unlike at other schools, the teachers had almost no warning in advance that I was going to be there to observe. I always have a question about how authentic the teaching, the class discipline, and the lesson plans are when the teacher and students expect an observer.
– In KL, I got experience with a school where I observed all “non-native” instructors of English. This difference makes the school have a good balance with Máximo Nivel, which employs all “native” instructors.
Cheers,
MEG