Job Discussion Forums

[thedude72]

Hello all,

I have been researching the various TEFL courses online. From what I have read on this forum, the CELTA is the best course to have.

I also discovered a TEFL course on www.oxfordseminars.com that is 60 hours in length (as opposed to the 120 hours on the CELTA) and is much cheaper.

First of all, has anyone out there taken the 60 hour course and if so, is it worthwhile?

Second, is the 60 hour course recognized throughout the world as a legitimate certificate comparable to the standard 4 week 120 hour course? Does the course have a practical teaching element to it, where you teach a class and get evaluated?

I assume that the 120 course must be better, but I am wondering if the 60 hour course is adequate in giving the teacher a good foundation in which to build his or her teaching skills on. I would like to avoid spending $2300 CDN for the CELTA, if I can pay $695 CDN for the 60 hour course and still learn what I need to and be able to get a teaching job overseas.

Any input would be much appreciated.

[Sekhmet]

The Oxford course looks good except for one major detail - there is only one teaching practice session!!!! However, the rest of the course looks pretty comprehensive. But IMO, the most important part of a course is the practice. If there isn't enough of that for you to be able to refine your teaching style, then the course isn't worth doing.

Sometimes, cost isn't the main concern. Make sure you have a good course (pretty much anything with preferably 7 hours TP), somewhere you want to be, and everything will work out from there...

Good luck!!!

[Gordon]

I agree, TP is really important. I also balked at first at the cost of a CELTA, but am glad I have it now. It was worth it and the money is well spent IMO. It has paid for itself easily.

If you only want to teach for a year, than go the cheap route.

[gugelhupf]

The 60 hour course you mention would be false economy in the long run. Many of the better jobs want a teaching certificate like the CELTA with a minumum of six hours observed teaching practice, and I have a feeling that this trend will continue. I took a Trinity TESOL course, which is equivalent to the CELTA and just as expensive, and I am glad that I did. I had quite a lot of non EFL classroom teaching experience beforehand but even so I found it took quite a bit of practice to teach communicative EFL properly.

[Ludwig]

I would have to echo the previous two posters, especially 'Gordon'. If I were you, I would opt for the course with the greatest teaching element. In that regards at least, the CELTA � or any other course with a strong teaching element � wins hands down.

If you do eventually teach English as a second or other language, it will of course most likely be in a classroom setting. This fact alone surely makes it essential that any such introductory/pre-service course does not only offer a teaching element, but, rather, is actually based and geared around it. It should be the fulcrum on which the course turns, if you like. Skills and strategies introduced and practised in class can and should be applied in your very next teaching practice and should be assessed � for your own benefit if for no other reason � by a qualified and experienced teacher-trainer. In addition, classes (in which you are the student) will examine points that have arisen (either planned or otherwise) in your individual teaching practice sessions. There should be no clear, sharp divide between the two elements, but instead, they should be dovetailed together. Remember also that the teaching practice element is not simply about classroom teaching but will also entail co-planning (with your teaching peers), an increasingly important skill for any teacher (or indeed any employee) to have.

On a more pragmatic and personal front, the sheer experience that teaching practice gives you, ultimately aids you a lot when it comes to actually entering a classroom for the first time, as, in fact, it is not your first time! (Your first time was in a controlled environment.)