Job Discussion Forums

[mongrelcat]

i've been playing with the idea of a graduate degree for, well, a couple of hundred years now.

some people have told me that an MELT is worthless and doesn't get you much farther than where you already are.

I'd love to get a Master's in Literature, but what do you think of the idea of doing it in Turkey? I've heard that Haceteppe in Ankara offers one. It sounded kind of odd at first, getting a degree in English Lit at a Turkish University. But of course if I had the $$ to go to Stanford...I would've gone to Stanford.

I love teaching English, I teach in a private Kolej. But I really do want to get a Master's, do you think a Lit degree would serve me well in the ELT field?

[molly farquharson]

I think a lit degree is not that useful for teaching EFL. I would suggest that you get a MATESOL. You can do one online. Mankato State in Minnesota offers one and if you pm me I can give you the address. Aston Univ in the UK offers a good one. With a lit degree you could teach literature more effectively, but a MATESOL would enrich your teaching of English greatly and expand your options for teaching jobs in Turkey (i.e. university prep programs).

[coffeespoonman]

I have an M.A. in Lit, and I can tell you that it has really helped me in TEFL. For one, I taught for two years as a T.A., and that taught me class management skills (as well as time management skills).

And then, of course, American university students generally write worse composition than most Turks, so all that paper correcting helped me practice my grammar (and my patience)

Additionally, I chose to take a graduate class in grammar, which has been absolutely priceless. That one class (plus being an inherent language dork) immediately put me far ahead of most new teachers, some of whom still don't understand the perfect tenses.

Yes, an MA in TESOL would be more beneficial, but a Lit M.A. will be more fun, and will translate (marginally) better out into the real world, assuming you ever decide to poke your head out there.

My 2 cents.

[mongrelcat]

coffeespoonman where did you get your degree?

yes i was leaning toward a Lit degree just because it would transfer well later....also duh i love literature

[coffeespoonman]

I did it in the States, at the University of Dayton. However, there are many places abroad you can do if (if you have the out of country tuition money). My #1 choice would be Charles University in Prague, for reasons that are obvious if you've ever been to Prague. There's nowhere better in the world... Good luck!

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

Depending on how long you plan on being in TESOL, you could always do an MA TESOL, choosing modules that allow you to focus on using literature in TESOL ... and then, having graduated, spend the extra time .. you may well find you have on your hands in your new job .. studying for your MA in Literature ...