TEFL TEFL Certification
Is a TEFL certificate really necessary? What time of year is the best for doing a course? What is a TEFL certification course all about? Find out here.
Impartial TEFL Certificate Advice (Or Not)
First of all, a note on being impartial – I’m not! I think it goes without saying that course providers are unlikely to be neutral, but I would be a bit skeptical even of teachers who have done one of the certificates in question presenting themselves as totally objective or impartial – almost always they will have one and not the other, and I think it’s just human nature that most people will be less than forthcoming when it comes to admitting another certificate is better than or even perhaps equal to theirs.
That said, I think it’s more honest to give my background and continue with my opinion after that, rather than present myself as totally neutral; those interested can use their own intuition to decide.
I have a CELTA – and I do feel it has helped me develop into a good teacher. Or maybe I’m just clever and any course would have been the same. I do think the CELTA is a good course, for what it is, but that certainly doesn’t mean other courses aren’t.
Date: February 22nd, 2007 |
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Getting Licensed In Your Own US State: Interview With Tracy Ann
Tracy Ann, who recently took and passed the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL), was kind enough to share her insight and impressions with the TEFL Logue. The prospect of becoming a licensed teacher in your own country is one of the steps associated with working in international schools (often - though not always - even in ELT). You can read about the insight of a teacher who moved from a language school environment to an international school right here.
Back to Tracy Ann: How is the MTEL set up?
Tracy Ann’s test consisted of two parts: ESL (now called English Language Learners) and Communications and Literacy (C&L), and is designed to certify teachers to teach what is now called ELL in public schools.
Once you pass those tests with a score of 80% or more, you still have to apply and be approved for a license. There are several levels of licenses, but because Tracy Ann has a BS and an MS (in a subject not connected to language teaching) she can get a license based only on the degrees and her MTEL success.
What was the test like?
“The C&L test was what you’d expect, reading comprehension, technical grammar questions, etc. The ELL test caught me totally off guard. First there was a listening part - you had to listen to a short thing on a CD and answer an absurdly easy question. At the end there was a part where they asked you a question and you had one minute to formulate a one minute oral answer.
But the middle, oh the middle!!
Date: February 22nd, 2007 |
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TEFL In International Schools
If you’re tiring of the language school grind and willing to get an additional qualification, working at an international school might be just the ticket for you.
International schools exist in, well, a variety of countries as the name implies, and they generally provide elementary through high school education to children of expats in a language other than the one spoken in the host country. Local families who would like their children to be educated in that language – often but not exclusively English – may use the schools as well, provided they are willing and able to pay the international rate tuition. So, for example, the children of US diplomats in China might attend an international school in Shanghai, or Korean families living in Slovakia might find it more realistic for their children to learn in English than in Slovak.
The result of all these different first languages means that there is often a need for English language teachers…but generally any international school teachers are required to be certified teachers in their own respective countries. And as excellent as the CELTA and other recognized TEFL certificate courses are, they are not the same as certification in one’s own country. Read about the process for that here and find some additional resources for international schools also at Transitions Abroad.
Date: February 11th, 2007 |
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TEFL Training Tips I Still Use
I’ve confessed that there are a few things I don’t use from my TEFL course…but of course there are a lot of tips and techniques I DO use. Here are a selection of useful hints that you may also pick up from yours:
Give instructions first and then hand out papers; the focus stays on you and not whatever is on the back of the copy you’ve made on the clear side of scrap paper to save your school money.
Use timelines when you teach tenses.
Focus on meaning before form – ideal with grammar and also marvelous with vocabulary. My own ability to do this developed over time, in large part due to this voabulary activity from a Bulgarian colleague.
Date: February 2nd, 2007 |
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Around The Web On TEFL: January27
Want to get a better idea of what’s in store for you during your TEFL training? Check in with ESL Base’s TEFL Course Diaries…and return to your favorite because the most popular blog will win 400 Pounds (if you’re taking a TEFL Course, you can start blogging and enter the competition!).
A new job for Bob? Kazakh language courses will soon be more widely available.
It’s probably not a surprise that English language is important in Mongolia.
Another adventure teaching English in Turkey….
ESL students in New York now need to take the No Child …
Date: January 27th, 2007 |
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Pros And Cons Of CELTAs And Other TEFL Certificates
Before you even think of starting this, check out my post on Impartial TEFL Certificate Advice (Or Not).
Pros of a CELTA
It’s well-known, even if it is not always required. Employers may need to investigate the details of a lesser-known course, but my read is that in countries where certificates are required, employers who know certificates know the CELTA.
Yes, tutors vary, but the CELTA is externally assessed by Cambridge and this in my mind ensures some level of regularity no matter where you do it. I did mine in one Eastern Europe country and worked in another, and there wasn’t content specific to the first country, so everything was potentially applicable…and will be potentially applicable wherever I go. The school where I did my CELTA – which I worked for later but not the first year – itself provided information on language issues specific to its learners during a new teachers orientation (for teachers who would work there).
No, a CELTA won’t get you far in the US…but will some other TEFL certificate? I’d say not. In the UK, my intuition is that a CELTA may be somewhat more highly regarded (correctly or not) because of its Cambridge connection.
Pros of Another Type of Certificate
The CELTA may be slightly more expensive than other courses – an average cost might be between $1600-2000 depending on location – and other course are also considered internationally recognized. A course run by thoughtful and experienced trainers which includes teaching practice is likely to be good and useful, regardless of whether it is a CELTA or not.
Date: February 22nd, 2007 |
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One More Reason To Get A TEFL Certificate
In Is A TEFL certificate “enough”? I explained my thoughts on this, specifically that a one-month intensive course, no matter how good it is, is not going to make or break a teacher. But here’s the thing: language school-type teaching is usually quite different from the teaching most of us experienced in our foreign language classes at home. If you try and duplicate that, in most contexts it won’t go over well.
A TEFL course will at least get you started on recognizing and putting together the components of a good lesson. Not surprisingly…it takes time to do this, especially as a new teacher.
But when “no certificate Jack” steps into the classroom without preparing, opens his mouth and calls it a lesson, this affects expectations for everyone. Your boss will say “Jack teaches thirty contact hours in different locations around the city in split shifts between 8am and 8pm five days a week…why can’t you?”
Date: February 17th, 2007 |
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TEFL Logue Review: Travel To Teach
Due to popular demand (well, due to a nice request as a comment on this post), the TEFL Logue has visited the website of Travel to Teach in order to profile it.
Travel to Teach provides, in their own words “something between tourism, backpacking and volunteer work.” Participants choose a country (Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, or Vietnam) apply, pay the fee, and get teacher training and support upon arrival. There is additional teacher training in Thailand, which people can opt to pay for and follow, such as the CELTA.
The organization was created in Thailand by volunteers who felt that “the idea of volunteer work, and of contributing to the countries whilst visiting” was great, and that “by working out of a developing country we could keep moderate fees, create working opportunities and maintain closer contact with the volunteers, the communities and the projects.”
Date: February 4th, 2007 |
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Spotlight On Spain
The home of tapas, flamenco dancing, and best of all the siesta. The country which contains Sevilla, where the current temperature is 52 Degrees Fahrenheit! Possibly the only place on earth where you can run with the bulls, be pummeled by tomatoes, and find abundant work teaching English…especially if you have a passport from an EU country (for the teaching, that is; the bulls and tomato throwers don’t check).
Though work regulations are complex, they in effect mean that it’s nearly impossible for those without citizenship in an EU country to find legal work. So what can you do in Spain if you can’t work there?
Well, to start with, there is nothing stopping you from doing your TEFL course in Sevilla or Madrid through the LanguageCorps TESOL training program – where you can receive the Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
But wait! Don’t leave just yet if you lack a passport from an EU country.
Date: February 1st, 2007 |
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Interview With A Peace Corps Volunteer In Kyrgyzstan: Training
Thinking about volunteering with the Peace Corps and wondering what it’s like? Read on to see what Andy, who recently wrapped up two years of teaching English in Kyrgyzstan, has to say about the experience. I first read about Andy in the Free Lance Star and contacted him to ask if he’d be willing to share his experience with the TEFL Logue. After a month of travel, Andy is back home and ready to tell all. First things first: what was his training like?
Andy looks back fondly on the Pre-Service Training (PST) and says that the “early, completely clueless days were a blast.” He draws a surprising but fun comparison: “The consensus was that our PST was the closest to being on The Real World we would most likely get.” He lived in a village of abour 1500 with four other volunteers, and had group sessions with all 65 volunteers in the bigger nearby city twice a week. On weekends they either stayed in their respective villages or went to the city to hang out.
The training was in both language and teaching:
Date: January 25th, 2007 |
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