TEFL TEFL Certification

Can There Even Be An M.A. / DELTA Debate?

Following a TEFL Logue post on the Great MA / DELTA debate, in response to a similarly themed TEFLtastic post, metaTesol had an insightful post about the difficulty inherent in comparing these qualifications, specifically because MA programs vary so much. I think this is a fair enough point to make and I certainly do not presume to present a true comparison of the variety of MA programs and the DELTA in a 400 word post. I suppose I would argue that the DELTA is the most widely known higher qualification in EFL which is not an MA, and as such, it makes sense to make some comparison, albeit an imperfect one, and I don’t think the complexity of the topic means it shouldn’t be touched on.

Date: July 31st, 2007 | 8 comments

Three Reasons To Get Your TEFL Certification Right Now

There are three reasons to get your TEFL certificate now: CELTA, Trinity TESOL, TEFL International, SIT, take your pick, but make your choice soon.

As I mentioned in When To Do a TEFL Course, there are benefits to taking a course at any time of year; some schools, especially those with many business clients, hire year round. Don’t give up just because you can’t take your course in the next few months…but if you can, go for it. Here’s why:

More jobs
Lots of language schools and universities, at least in the northern hemisphere, do slow down or stop over the summer and hire people to start in the fall. Being qualified and ready to start in the fall will give you a larger range of schools to choose from.

A smoother transition
Given the greater number of jobs in most places, it makes sense to follow a course with a job, rather than waiting around a few months. You’ll be putting what you learned into practice immediately. Time to unwind after an intensive course is imperative, so try to ensure at least a short break…but more than a couple of weeks can leave you in limbo: are you traveling or working?

Less time to chicken out
It can be intimidating to move to a foreign country and start doing a job based on one month of training…but you can do it! And it can be great. Downtime between training and working may allow doubt to creep in and dissuade you. Don’t let it – get started right away.

Date: July 22nd, 2007 | No Comments

The Great DELTA / MA Debate

Pick up a chair of your choice to use as a weapon because TEFLtastic has a debate: DELTA or MA? I’m semi-kidding about the chair (that’s a Jerry Springer reference and chairs don’t work on the web) but discussions about qualifications can get heated.

I’ll clarify my own position first: I have a CELTA (which, on occasion, people seem to love to hate), and while people may make assumptions about my future plans based on my admission that I took the GRE…don’t jump to conclusions! Despite the vast amount of info I share here, I don’t make all my plans public.

In any case, aside from my support for the DELTA because, well, it rhymes real nice with CELTA, I recognize that without any qualification beyond the CELTA, I am not personally in the best position to speak authoritatively on the MA/DELTA debate. The TEFL Logue has featured an interview with a DELTA grad as well as guest posts from an MA holder.

Most people have experience with one or the other – but not both. So when you come across someone who does have experience of both…I’d say they are well worth listening to. And in fact, Alex Case of TEFLtastic fits that bill, plus he has had experience training people with different qualifications - including some with ESOL MA’s. Head on over to TEFLtastic to see what he has to say about all this.

Date: July 4th, 2007 | 3 comments

Unqualified Teachers In China? From Insights Into TEFL

Insights Into TEFL recently expanded on the notion that there are many teachers billed as “unqualified” working in China.

On the one hand, I would not want to imply that training isn’t important; I think it is, and I believe that training in communicative method, like that in the CELTA and many other TEFL certification courses, and the teaching practice and feedback which are part of it, is useful no matter what you end up doing. This is not only for the students’ benefit but also for the teacher’s.

However, author Frank Doonan pointed out in the post: “It is true being able to speak English as a native speaker does not mean you know how to teach. Unfortunately getting your degree in teaching or other related fields does not always qualify either…The original goal of Chinese schools was not necessarily geared to having professional teachers teach English. The system mostly developed based on just having native speakers give Chinese the opportunity to practice oral English. The schools still basically depended on Chinese teachers” [to teaching English]… I found that the ability to teach English in China is basically learned by teaching English in China. The problems and techniques of teaching in China involves not only teaching, but a culture barrier in learning and teaching methods not learned in schools in western cultures.”

Date: June 28th, 2007 | No Comments

What Should I Tell Students About My Training?

It can be an awkward moment when students want to know how you’ve been trained to teach them. Native speaker EFL teachers are hired to do work that is substantially different from that of university professors or, say, elementary school reading teachers, and as such, I don’t think a four-week intensive training course such as the CELTA is a poor choice of qualification at all. However, I wouldn’t want to respond with “Oh, I have a month of training.” Even though the qualification can be good, it may not sound like “enough.”

Date: April 29th, 2007 | No Comments