Job Discussion Forums

[lawrence]

Hi..all

Will u consider taking a Celta course in China, and what factor affect your decision most?

[nolefan]

I'd be very interested in taking one. The main factors woud be:

- Quality of the program
- Location
- Price
- Length of the course

[traveller]

Nolefan took the words right out of my mouth, but I'd put them in a different order

1)Quality
2)Price
3)Location
4)Length

[lagerlout2006]

No. Honestly I don't think I could get through it. I'm decent with grammar issues so I could get through the application process. But from what I hear it is like Army boot camp. They harass you (whether you deseve it or not) and make you feel incompetent for 4 weeks. (After you have paid the 1000US tuition of course.) I would end up walking.

Of course it would be useful and it is recognized. But I did one and after having experience I am sceptical about another one. Problem is the one I did --although expensive and tough--was not a Celta. And Celta is what is wanted now.

[London Angel]

I finished the CELTA in Britain at the beginning of August, so the harsh memory of feeling incompetent for five weeks is still fresh in my mind. For instance, if you give a weak class, you have to repeat the same topic focus (e.g. grammar, pronunciation) for your next lesson.
If the trainers are half way decent, they will give you the pointers to get it right the next time and the other people in your group (maybe three) will be supportive. This is especially so because, no matter their background, they will be going through hell for five weeks alongside you.

[struelle]

I second all the comments about 'boot camp', but it can be a real confidence builder. As well, you learn a lot about the complexity of language, classroom management, and your committment to this profession.

That said, I don't think the approach the trainers use in CELTA courses is very helpful for Chinese students. If a course is run on the mainland, chances are most of the TP students on the course will be nationals. For all the CELTA talk about putting students first, the course design actually benefits the teachers more. More to the point, a teacher who does CELTA elsewhere and transfers those skills to China will likely encounter problems down the line with local students.

Two problem areas:

(1) Grammar. They already know the grammar. If a teacher presents and practices the present perfect, for example, most Chinese students aren't learning anything new. Now CELTA focuses more on how to use the grammar, which is good. But after 10+ years of seeing this content in middle school, Chinese students have a big negative reaction to anything grammar-related and they tune out.

(2) Elicitation. The trademark CELTA format is to have the teacher go around a semi-circle and pick out individuals to elicit words or answers to questions. One teacher called this a constant game of cherades. This doesn't really work in China as the teacher has a role as authority figure. So why would a teacher ask a student? Also, an individualistic approach isn't good because a student may lose face in front of his/her peers. Not only that, but other students will chatter away privately if you enter a '1-1 dialogue' with a student.

These problems are pretty hard to circumvent during an actual CELTA course, as trainers will not bend on the format. I got slammed pretty hard on the elicitation part, that is not going along with the cherades game Mind you, I adapted in the end.

What I suspect happens is that TP students adapt to the course format as well, especially repeat students. So they get an idea how to participate.

I had lengthy discussions about this with my teacher trainer, who, at some point, was going to present an article at a linguistic conference to challenge the way CELTA courses are taught.

Steve

[London Angel]

[struelle]