TKT Module 1 Seminar

Here's a quick report on the Teaching Knowledge Test seminar held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mexico City last Saturday. The event was organised by Cambridge ESOL Mexico in order to familiarise teachers with the first module of TKT and to give us some insight into how it works. It was sponsored by the three centres who offer the exam (the Anglo, International House and the British Council) and two publishers (Cambridge University Press and McGraw-Hill). About 300 people came to the event.

As this was the first time I'd attended a Cambridge ESOL seminar, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. However, the presentation was excellent. Liliana Sánchez, who gave the talk, showed us very clearly how the exam works. It's essentially a written test, which can be taken either on paper or by computer, and there is no coursework involved. My first impression was that this would make it easier for busy teachers to find room in their schedules for certification, as they wouldn't have to give up valuable time to take courses. This is assuming that we can be disciplined enough for self-access study!

The module we looked at on Saturday was Module 1, which has the rather cumbersome title of "Language and Background to Language Learning and Teaching". This basically means that it's all about methodology and use of language, and the workshop activities we carried out over the course of the seminar focussed chiefly on these areas. However, we received plenty of materials to chew over both during and after the event, so I'll give a more detailed overview at a later date.

Overall, I found the seminar very useful, both as a teacher and as a coordinator. If you're interested in learning more about this test, the Cambridge ESOL TKT site has a lot more information.