Job Discussion Forums

[CPUESL]

There has been some discussion on this topic a couple years ago in this forum, but I figured I'd revive it to get some fresh opinions. I understand that the answer to the "Is a CELTA useful for getting a job?" question is "possibly, depending on the employer and other factors." I understand that showing CELTA certification on a resume will not likely result in a higher starting salary. But, what I'm still trying to get a grasp on, is the answer to "Is what one learns in the CELTA course actually USEFUL in Japan, particularly when teaching in eikaiwas?"

Clearly, it will not be terribly useful for teaching to children. But how about teaching young adults or adults at an eikaiwa? Do most eikaiwas expect teachers to strictly follow their lesson plans/methods, or is there room to apply CELTA training in the classroom at most eikaiwas?

I'm sure there will be varying opinions on this subject, so instead of generalities I'm more interested in hearing about CELTA grads' personal experience in this matter. Thanks for the help!

[rtm]

[fluffyhamster]

The standard line is that communicative approaches work best when the class doesn't share a first language to fall back on (as for example when teaching a summer intake made up of many nationalities in the UK), but generally the Japanese eikaiwa adult students that I've taught have been very willing to not revert unnecessarily to or expect too much Japanese, i.e. to accept a partial or even complete ban on their L1 (first language). That still doesn't quite solve the problem however of them speaking enough English (their L2), though they do try (just be prepared for slow progress).

One will need to become more flexible however the further one moves away from communicative or c-like environments, and indeed I think it would be pretty difficult to be that successful if one were teaching in e.g. as an "Assistant" ET in elementary schools say, but lacked enough Japanese to converse with the (at that level, non-English speaking, non-specialist, all-round) teachers or to set up the English activities and practice in the classrooms (classrooms many and plural LOL). Obviously the CELTA won't equip you with the L2 (Japanese) skills that you may need if you break out from eikaiwa (though there will probably be a couple of hours on the CELTA devoted to your selecting a student to interview and working out what that particular nationality's problems with English might be in terms of pronunciation, grammar etc. Obviously it's pot luck if you end up with any J student from the teaching practice or whatever to interview, and if the worst comes to the worst you can always sneak a peek in books like Swan & Smith's Learner English: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Learner_English.html?id=6UIuWj9fQfQC&redir_esc=y ). Be careful of using much if any Japanese in eikaiwa though (unless your aim is to e.g. demonstrate in your awful Japanese how paraphrasing skills can elicit unknown words from the listener by means of defining with known words - so if you're willing to do it in J why can't the students do it in English blah blah blah), as students may call you out on it and it could well be against the stated school policy.

Now some might argue that even in more "resistant" environments, one should always try to use communicative methods, that there is no better test and potential validation of the methods, and that to do otherwise is to give up (and certainly open oneself to accusations of sub-optimal practice). That rather assumes however that anything with the label 'communicative' attached is in the first place always kosher, quality-assured, and then will always work regardless of context.

I don't wish to make out that Japanese learners are sooo unique, and that we must ultimately surrender to their every unspoken but possibly deep-seated belief or behaviour, so to cast my argument in more general terms I'll just mention the concept of affect ("a term referring to a number of emotional factors that may influence language learning and use. These include basic personality traits such as shyness, long-term but changeable factors such as positive and negative language attitudes, and constantly fluctuating states such as enthusiasm, anxiety, boredom, apathy, or elation." - Richards & Schmidt's Longman Dictionary of LT and AL).

All students can suffer from anxiety, confusion as to pedagogy and its aims etc etc, and I've often posited that a lot of so-called communicative materials and methods, apart from being linguistically skewy, might well be if not appear just so much handwaving, time-filling and going through the motions, that in the end distance what should be actual conversational participants (remember the meaning of eikaiwa!) engaged and engaging in more authentic and honest interaction.

In other words, if you're going to increase the "affective filter" until it potentially blocks comfortable learning, there are other places than Japan where one might try that. (Note that I am lumping methodology in with the 'learning' pole of guys like Krashen's learning [e.g. of conscious grammar rules] versus [more natural] processes of [comparatively effortless, less fraught] 'acquisition'). To quote Englishdroid (and I'm not trying to be too facetious here), "3. Treat the students as if they were retarded four-year-olds. This is the correct ELT approach. Speak slowly in a bright, singsong voice, with exaggerated intonation and lots of hand gestures. For instance, whenever you use a past tense, point over your shoulder. The students will not have a clue why you are doing this, but the trainer will approve." ( https://sites.google.com/site/englishdroid2/the-profession/celta-without-tears-1 ).

If you'd like me to dig out some links to threads that discuss the characteristics of Japanese learners, or where I try to show what a more conversational and thus IMHO more genuinely communicative methodology might look like, just say!

Ultimately I always suggest that people invest in and read a few books before then considering investing thousands in an arguably irrelevant cert course (irrelevant certainly for visa purposes, if not for actual teaching in Japan - again, that whole 'eikaiwa may have their own materials and methods from which it will be unwise to "deviate"', if not the possibility that somewhat alternative approaches may be called for in East Asia generally). My most recent list of recommendations is here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?p=45942#45942

Bottom line: Have I ever found the CELTA (well, the CTEFLA, its predecessor) that useful? One partial answer here: http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=105194 All I'll say (repeat) for now is that I've always got far more out of and found far more direction from books. And only the other day I was working through an online courses' series of video lectures when I realized how much faster it was to simply download and scan through the pdf transcripts LOL. But then I considered how much a lecturer might allude to (for the very attentive if not already reasonably well-informed). One contrasts that with the pretty sparse and tight-lipped "masterclass" input given on many a cert (much depends unfortunately on the quality of the trainers, despite claims of an acceptable level of standardization between centers offering the "same" qualification. Do your research on any place you intend to study at!).

[Shroob]

I haven't taught in Japan, but I have taught Japanese students (in a Japanese only classes and mixed nationality classes) and Chinese students. Both groups of learners tend to be labelled as 'reserved' and not used to the communicative approach Fluffy mentioned, which goes against the grain of teacher-centred learning in these countries.

While Fluffy's criticisms of the CELTA are worth considering, I would still argue the communicative approach can still work with these students. Context, of course, needs to be taken into consideration as well as certain cultural sensitivities (e.g. face), but it is quite manageable and not an impossible task.

One role of the teacher is to create a supportive, encouraging, and motivating learning environment. By doing this the cultural barriers (?) to communicative language teaching can be overcome, as well as lowering the affective filter. If students are worried about face loss, make your classroom a place where there can be no mistakes, only opportunities to learn. This may seem exceedingly "sunshine and happiness" but I have found it works.

With regards to the CELTA, if you think you're in TEFL for the long run, it's probably worth it. If TEFL is just a gap-year thing, it's probably not.

[fluffyhamster]

[Pitarou]

I can't add much to fluffyhamster's excellent answer, but for those who want something a little less in-depth:

Think of a classroom as a learning community. A CELTA gives you just enough preparation to step into a leadership role within that community. But it does not prepare you to be a transformative leader. It does not prepare you to take a bunch of people who are used to being taught in one way, and transform their expectations of how they should go about learning.

So it's a relatively poor preparation for Japan.

If you have a few months experience of English teaching, and you're intelligent and inquisitive enough to learn more about the tools, techniques and methodologies of your job, a CELTA won't add much to that. A copy of Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener should fill in the gaps.

[fluffyhamster]

Thanks for that, Pitarou, I appreciate it!

If I may, your mention of transforming expectations reminded me of points made here:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=1113508#1113508

[Gretschen]

I'd just like to note that the biggest benefits I got from my CELTA didn't necessarily relate to the pedagogy. For me, as a first time teacher, it gave me experience standing in front of a class, so when I started my first job I was somewhat more comfortable and confident than I would have otherwise been.

It also gave me more of an awareness of language. In Australian schools we learn almost no grammar, and the CELTA really opened my eyes to the complexity of English grammar and phonology.

All in all, I think if you haven't taught before it's a really good starting point. I went on to use it in Vietnam, where a CELTA-style method is the norm and classes generally have 10-20 students. I'm starting a job in Japan in a few months so I'll be interested to see how it goes! From what I gather my classes will be much smaller. I've always found the CELTA approach more difficult with smaller numbers. If you've got 3 students who don't want to talk it can really crumble!

On a sidenote, if you plan on teaching anywhere else in the future it'd be a good idea to get it done now. I know in Vietnam that the only experience they count when assigning your pay scale (or even giving job offers) is post-CELTA experience. I had friends who'd taught in Korea for many years who were put on the same scale as me, just because it was all pre-CELTA experience. I've also seen a lot of ads for jobs in the Middle East which specify 'post-certification' experience', and I know the British Council always ask for 2 years post-CELTA.

[RM1983]

It is useful for clueing you up on what the job might entail.

Experience is far more important though.

Personally studying the CELTA helped me enormously as it helpwd me to think deeply about it. I also did the young learner extension recently which was useful in terms of ideas on how to deal with the different challenges kids can throw up.

Depends on the person though. Here, people sometimes get by without any clue what theyre doing. To be honest though, the eikaiwas arent very serious in terms of goal achievement and whatnot, providing a comfortable consumer experience is more important.

[RM1983]

Also, when youre newly qualified from the CELTA you might need a supportive environment to develop your style and learn the ropes.

Dont expect this in Japan, if you try something not on the approved method list and it goes wrong then you might be looking for a new job

I think this is the main reason they use those methods they do, is because it dramatically lowers the chances of someone dropping a clanger and losing a class. Japanese are quick to complain if their customer service isnt up to standard and eikawa jobs are largely customer service roles

[steki47]

[Gretschen]

[fluffyhamster]

[Shroob]

[fluffyhamster]

Hello again, Shroob. I've no doubt that certified teachers DO teach differently to non- or "Non!" certs, but that's often the problem in a nutshell IMHO. Why all the extra layers of teacherese veneer and varnish that often obscures the details and nature of actual speech? (My own theory is that the prohibition of L2, or rather the "need" for L1 in the cert methodology [they aren't admitting many bilingual teachers, right?] leads the teacher into a bit of a linguistic cul-de-sac where all they can really do is rev rev rev [never reverse up and re-appraise the route] and thus fill the air with fumes - it's all good breathable stuff, no pollution level readings taken here so don't worry!). And it's not like these certs (what with their lashings of English-only Pepsi Max) even get the arguably necessary form-focused guff that right either.

I guess if I were observing a lot of "approved" teaching I'd often simply ask 'Couldn't you have introduced those key exemplars more "easily" and naturally? And seen and followed their import for and effect on (the - any?) conversation or not a bit more?'.

Anyway, if you're interested there's some stuff on page 2 of that thread I linked to in my reply to Pitarou above that explains my thoughts on less-divorced methodology a bit more.