Sample Interview Question (TAIWAN)
1. Tell me about yourself?
Before I start, I would like to express my gratitude that I am able to reach this level
of application.
Hello everyone, good morning/afternoon. My name is Kiela Joy Carpentero Silva, 28
years of age a license professional teacher from the Philippines. I graduated with a
degree of Bachelor of Technical Teachers Education major in food Technology and
Service Management at Occidental Mindoro State College in year 2017. In terms of
experience, I’ve been in the field of teaching for almost six years. I am currently
residing in Thailand working as a Foreign English Teacher for almost 3 years.
2. Why did you choose Taiwan?
As I’ve stated in my statement of purpose, setting aside that Taiwan’s offer a great
deal and wanna help my family financially. I choose Taiwan because I want to explore,
learn more about the culture and traditions of this country and also, I want to
contribute to the success of Bilingual 2030 Policy.
3. What do you know about Taiwan?
I’ve heard a lot about Taiwan from my friends who has been also working there and also
from social medias, how amazing this country is, from its diversity, the tourist
destination and culture.
4. How do you handle naughty and disruptive students?
Handling a disruptive and naughty student is common scenario for us as an educator. I
also experienced it when I’m teaching students in my own country even here in Thailand.
It is inevitable to encounter students having a naughty and disruptive behavior. I make
sure that my lesson activities are suitable for their learning style. Example scenario I
had experienced. I have this one student in my class where I’m working who is very
naughty and disruptive. For me to put him at ease I always disguise my lesson in a form
of game for me to make everyone participate and also to handle that naughty student
of mine. But there are times that I cannot get his attention, that’s the time that I will
going to seek for help to my co- teacher.
5. What is the most important rule in your classroom?
The most important rule in my classroom is to respect your teacher and your
classmates.
6. How will you encourage shy students to speak English?
We all known that we do have these students who are very shy in our class and rarely
spoke or participate. To encourage those students. I disguised my learning into a fun,
engaging and collaborative game. So that, shy students would never notice that they
are already participating and engaging into the class activity. This method I used
proven and tested because I always used it in my class and I observed whenever I used
this method those shy students are actively participating without noticing that they
are interacting with their peers.
7. How do you co- teach with your assistant teacher?
Honestly, I don’t experience having an assistant teacher. Well to answer this question,
I know every educator are familiar with the lesson plan or lesson designing. Before I
introduce my lesson to the class. I will discuss it first to my assistant teacher so that
she/ he can assist me out in teaching the students.
8. How do you apply differentiation in your lesson?
To apply differentiation in my lesson, I designed my lessons based on the students
learning style and needs. I believe that if you plan and design your lesson according to
the needs and learning style of your students the learning will be effective and it will
help students to grow.
9. Tell more about you teaching methods and experience in Thailand.
In my 3 years working in Thailand where English is not their second language of course
at I found it challenging because there is a language barrier. At first, I struggle a lot
on how to make them learn and engage in learning English until I found a way to make
them learn while having fun in my class. I always disguise learning in a form of
interactive activities, fun, engaging and collaborative games. Example of games I used
are word relay, jump and tell.
10. How do you describe your personality in three words?
Well, I would describe myself as a well-rounded person, open-minded and patient.
11. Please tell us three characteristics you think a good language teacher should have.
I think a good language teacher should have these characteristics; is patient,
encourages students to participate and show passion for what they are teaching.
12. What makes you qualified as an English teacher?
I am a good fit because I have an experience working with students from different
ages, personality, grade level, and nationality where English is not their second
language.
13. Why do you consider teaching in Taiwan instead of your own country?
I love my country. But as a person who wants or aiming for a bigger opportunity my
country is not good enough to achieve what I want to achieve. To be honest with you, in
terms of compensation there is a big difference that’s why I choose to work overseas
and experience life abroad. I want to grow personally and go out of my comfort zone.
That’s why now I choose Taiwan rather than my own country.
14. What else can you provide to the school other than teaching English to the students?
Aside from teaching I can engage myself in any extracurricular activities, helping with
curriculum development and organizing events. For example, when I’m still teaching in
the Philippine me and my co-teachers are responsible for organizing a school banquet
which part of our duty as one of the coordinators of Technology and Livelihood
Department. As for my experience here in Thailand every Monday I organized a short
program called “Vocabulary Day” where I present some vocabulary involving my
students from different year level and having conversation out of it. Then asking
question to those who are listening in the crowd.
15. How do you usually motivate your students?
Giving rewards, praising their efforts and achievements and using variety of teaching
methods is my way of motivating my students to engage and participate in class.
16. What is your teaching style or technique?
My teaching style depends on the learning style of my students but most of the time it
falls into a facilitator or activity teaching style, because I found it more effective.
17. How would you teach a class with students at different levels? What would you do for
students who are in lower level and that in higher level?
Teaching a class with different levels can be challenging, but it’s possible with the right
strategies. Here are some strategies I used to teach students who are in different
levels. I used flexible grouping, encourage peer support and I continuously assess and
adjust my teaching strategies based on students learning style, progress and needs.
18. If you have 30 students in your class, how do you give all the students a chance to listen and
speak in English?
Since I had experienced this scenario where I handled more than 30 students in 1 class
the strategy, I used to give everyone to speak and listen in English is through an
activity like word relay where they can practice their speaking and their listening at
the same time.
19. What will you do if the students are noisy and don’t participate in your class?
Having a noisy students and students don’t want to cooperate or participate in the class is a
common scenario inside the classroom to avoid this scenari o I make sure that my lesson is fun,
engaging, interactive and collaborative.
20. Do you have any strategy to engage or invite new students to join group discussions or blend
into the class?
In my experienced, I easily get my old students and new student engage or blend into
the class by using the activity or coach style of teaching where I as their facilitator
and demonstrator in the class. I often use activity in my class discussion.
21. What would you do for students with disabilities in your class?
I have this teaching philosophy were should be no students left behind. If I do have
students with disabilities in my class. I won’t make them feel that they are different
from others. In terms of strategies, I will going to find an activity that they can easily
blend in without having a problem.
22. Can you provide an example of a small group project you would assign to elementary school
students for them to learn about cooperation?
For students who begins in learning English the simple group project that I can provide
is solving a jigsaw puzzle. Solving a puzzle also requires each group members
cooperation. As the grade level increases the level of group project is also increasing.
23. How would you create class rules or guidelines? What would the rules or guidelines be?
In creating class rules or guidelines we make sure that we involve the students in
creating so that everyone is aware of it. As for me the rules that I want in my class are
Respect your Teacher, Be kind to each other, Pay Attention and Be cooperative.
24. If students got into fights during class, what would you do?
If ever it may happen in the class first, I would calmly separate the students involved
to ensure everyone’s safety. Then, I would address the situation by talking to each
student’s individually to understand what happened. Since there is a language barrier, if
I can’t fix the situation with my own capability, I will ask help to my assistant teacher
or the homeroom teacher to address the situation since they can fully understand each
other, to ensure the situation is handled appropriately.
Just what I did, here in Thailand since there is a language barrier if I can’t address
the situation well, I always seek help to my co-teacher regarding to the matter to
ensure that the situation is handled appropriately.
25. What do you think is the biggest change in your teaching experience when looking back to the
first class you taught?
Looking back, the biggest change in my teaching experience is likely the improvement in
classroom management and ability to differentiate instruction effectively. Over time,
I’ve become more adept at creating a structured yet flexible learning environment that
accommodates the diverse needs of my students. This includes developing better
strategies for engaging students, managing behavior, and using assessments to inform
and adapt my teaching practices.
26. If you have to pick one area in your teaching method that could still improve, what would that
be?
I would focus on differentiated instruction. This method involves tailoring, teaching
approaches to accommodate the diverse learning styles, abilities, and interest of
students.
27. How will you conduct class 40-50 minutes incorporating the 4 basics skills: reading, writing,
speaking and listening?
Since most of my classes is ranging 50 minutes per grade level, after introducing the
lesson and vocabularies, I incorporate those four in one activity for example the word
relay, in this activity the students are able to read the sentence or word that needed
to be pass to the next person, speak, through passing the word to the next person,
listen, for them to get the correct sentence or word. Lastly, say and write the word or
sentence that the first person relayed.
28. How would you react if parents complained about your teaching method?
Well, sometimes we cannot avoid that scenario that there are parents complaining to
the teacher about their teaching method. If this may happen to me, I will calmly accept
the criticisms and complain open-mindedly with regards to my teaching method, then I,
personally assess myself if my methods are not beneficial to my students, if it may
happens not, I will going to change my method that will cater the needs of my students.
29. How would you group students with different levels?
Teaching a class with different levels can be challenging, but it’s possible with the right
strategies. Here are some strategies I used to teach students who are in different
levels. I used flexible grouping, encourage peer support and I continuously assess and
adjust my teaching strategies based on students learning style, progress and needs.
30. What is the difference between EFL and ESL?
EFL stands for English is a Foreign Language and is taught to students in non- English
Speaking Country while ESL stands for English as a Second Language and its usually
taught to students in an English- speaking country.
31. How will you promote multicultural learning?
To promote multicultural learning, I would recognize and celebrate cultural holidays,
festivals and traditions from around the world. Foster respect and open-mindedness.
Lastly, encourage language learning in that way we or I can promote multicultural
learning.
32. How will you socialize with your co-teacher?
To socialize with my co-teacher, I would participate in school events like workshop and
social gatherings. Provide mutual support, share resources, collaborate on projects such
as lesson planning to strengthen our professional relationship and casual conversation
during breaks or before/after school to build personal connection.
33. Why did you choose Thailand over Taiwan?
34. How do you connect your lesson to the real world?
35. Why did you decide to become a teacher?
36. One area of teaching method you want to improve, what would it be?