Job Discussion Forums

[Belu]

Hi,

I�ve been following these boards for a long time and I am hoping to get some advice from you.

I am considering a teaching contract at Hail University, like Trapezius, the contract is through Al-Falak.

I am curious to find out what you think of this offer. The university is offering SR12000, housing, visas and transportation from Bahrain to Hail. It is an 8 hour a day 5-day workweek and I wouldn�t get holidays within my first year, except for government holidays. I also have to pay for my return flight.

All I have is a BA in Linguistics and a few years of experience teaching ESL in SE Asia and in Canada. I am a little skeptical about this offer because of my credentials, after reading the boards I know that most people have more education that I have.

Also, I inquired about what level of English I would be teaching and I was told that the students (female) were directly out of high school; this doesn�t answer my question. Do you know approximately what levels of English students are at when they begin university?

Thanks,
Belu.

[a_ibrahim]

Hi,

I'm probably the last person to answer your questions but I thought I'd try anyway. Perhaps the timing has something to do with the high offer. It's late and many of these institutions seem to be behind in the hiring process. Either that or as I've read in other posts, they've had no-shows or people backing out at the last minute. I don't know.

I'm sure someone else has a whole lot more to say on the subject.

[Cleopatra]

The package sounds good in terms of salary, but the bit about only getting government holidays for the first year, and having to pay my flight home, is something I've never heard of before. I would definately question it.

As for your credentials, they sound fine to me. Yes, most third-level places say they want people with MAs, but that does not meant that everyone working in such places has this qualification. It's all about supply and demand, as elsewhere. Regarding your students' level of English, having taught in similar set-ups, I would say that you can expect many of them to have reasonably good spoken English, but very poor reading and writing skills. Of course there will be variation in the group - some will barely be able to say 'good morning' and others will be quite fluent. But I'd say it's a fair bet that all of them will be far better at spoken than at written English.

[kanterbrau]

I agree wholeheartedly with Cleopatra on this one, Belu. The salary looks fine but I am rather wary of the holidays and the flights situation. I have never come across this before and if I were you I would definitely pursue it.

As regards their not being able to tell you what level your students are likely to be, I really wouldn't get too worked up about it. At this stage of the game most schools are unsure of the number of students they are going to admit let alone their levels. The students' abilities will undoubtedly vary wildly so I really don't see any point in losing sleep over it now. Anyway, you're an experienced teacher so I'm sure you can cope with any level.

Good Luck.

[scot47]

At Haıl Unı your students wıll be false begınners and elementary wıth a few at upper elementary or low ıntermedıate level. 6 years of learnıng Englısh ın school has not worked wonders wıth them.

Consıder how kıds ın anglophone countrıes are after exposure to French or Spanısh ın school. That ıs the way ıt ıs wıth Englısh ın Haıl. In Jeddah and Dhahran thıngs are a bıt better.

[Belu]

very helpful, thanks so much
Belu