The best resources to get ready for TKT

Greetings to everyone

We have already written about Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) in one of our previous newsletters. It is an exam for English teachers that aims to test their knowledge in specific areas of English language teaching. It also increase teachers' confidence and enhance job prospects. It is also a good foundation for those who would like to do a CELTA course or obtain Cambridge Delta later. In our today’s newsletter, we have prepared a selection of useful resources for you to get ready for the TKT.

The best resources to get ready for TKT

TKT focuses on the core teaching knowledge needed by teachers of primary, secondary or adult learners, anywhere in the world. If you have decided to take this exam, you will need to have a clear understanding of the format, revise all topic areas from the syllabus, e.g. phonology, listening skills, motivation, lesson planning, the functions of classroom language, correction techniques, and do some sample tasks for practice. Do learn all the terms in the glossary even though you may only be preparing for one module. Here is the selection of top resources for your preparation.

www.TKTcambridge.com is the world’s first website for  English teachers and teacher trainees who intend to take the exam with free lessons for all the three core modules of Cambridge Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT). Each module includes several lessons with theory and TKT practice tasks. There are tests to check your knowledge and a TKT blog where you can find and read the articles on a variety of teaching topics. 

TKT Cambridge is a Facebook fan page of the website. It is hosted and managed by Noel Perera, an English teacher and the author of the lessons. Here you can: 

• follow the lessons of the entire three core Modules 
• test your knowledge on TKT lessons and TKT terms 
• share teaching tips, ask questions and suggest learning resources 
• interact with more than 4,000 teachers who took TKT all over the world.

One Stop English offers materials that are designed to help trainees prepare for the three modules of the exam with a brief overview, describing the aims, modules and task types. TKT materials cover the language skills aspect of the ‘Describing language and language skills’ section, the ‘Background to language learning’ section, focuses on the role of error in the language learning process, the assessment aspect of the ‘Planning and preparing a lesson or sequence of lessons’ section, the ‘Selection and use of resources’ section, the lesson aims aspect, the learner characteristics aspect, ‘Classroom management’ section, etc. You can print and complete the worksheets. It’s a good idea for trainees to look again at the worksheets a few days after you have ‘finished’, as you will probably find you have further ideas. 

TKT Tips is a series of tips by Jim Scrivener offering help for teachers who are preparing for the TKT. In each article, Jim focuses on one question from the exam and provides all the information you need to answer it. These tips are written to an intermediate language level and are aimed at TKT candidates or teacher trainers. The articles cover such topics as lesson planning, learning strategies, teaching subskills, teacher roles etc.

TKT Sample Tests will show you what a full test paper looks like and the types of questions that will appear. You can download the sample papers for Modules 1, 2, 3 and specialist modules resources: CLIL and YL. All the papers have the keys, so that you could check yourself. The real TKT has 80 multiple-choice questions. 

ELT Concourse is a free resource for English Language teachers, teachers in training, teacher trainers and learners of English. It offers a free Teaching Knowledge Test course. It has a guide that explains what is in the TKT, how it is marked and how to prepare for the examination. There is a short handbook to help you prepare for and take the TKT examination. You will find a list of terms and concepts useful for TKT.  Download it before you start and refer to it as you go along. There are links to take you to a series of crossword puzzles to test yourself on the key words you need for TKT. It offers a pre-course quiz, a short course in Language Analysis, a pre-TKT training course for those who have no experience at all, fundamentals of phonemic transcription, etc. Most important are the TKT courses for each Module, Practice Tests and revision, other indexes, guides and links that you will need during your preparation. 

Foreign Language Teaching Methods focuses on 12 different aspects of language teaching, each taught by a different expert instructor. The site contains video footage from an actual methods course held at the University of Texas at Austin. This flexible resource is designed to be used by foreign language teachers as a component of a classroom methods course or as a stand-alone course for independent learners. It focuses on teaching the four skills, vocabulary, grammar, the ways in which pragmatics can be used in the classroom, and culture. It explores the effective language teaching through understanding students and the feelings they bring with them into the classroom. It also talks about classroom management and technology, overviews and explains language assessment from the perspective of teachers and students. 

Quizlet is a useful tool for both teachers and learners. It has many sets of TKT terms. You can use the existing sets or create your own while preparing for the exam. It has flashcards, study and game modes that will turn your preparation into fun.

From Grade Education