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[veiledsentiments]

[mishmumkin]

Actuallly my MEd TESOL stands for "Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages." In other words, "TESOL" is the umbrella term for a number of acronyms: EFL, ESL, ELL/EAL, EAP, ESP, and so on. Having interviewed (and worked) with many employers in the Gulf from 1998 to now I have never heard an employer distinguish between the acronyms, nor comprehend the difference the true difference. Certainly universities in the UAE look for EAP, but I've yet to hear of any one of them question the MA TESOL credentials, implying that somehow they weren't suitable for teaching foundation English because ESOL is not EAP.

[seven seas]

I would not have any respect for an employer who could not differentiate between TESOL and ESL.

I think if you tried teaching a group of middle-aged Kosovan or Vietnamese refugees in SE England, and tried starting them off on New Headway...... you'd quickly realise what the difference was.

Likewise, if you try using the DfES ESOL materials on your Business English ESL class in the Hampstead School of English (or any other private EFL/ESL school in Europe) you'd get the same response.

[veiledsentiments]

In the US we teach mixed nationality immigrant courses using the appropriate ESL textbooks and most sensible places have thankfully avoided totally anything in the ghastly Headway series - new or old.

With business courses you would use appropriate ESP course books.

And we still have NO idea what you are talking about. And apparently neither do the universities who give out the MAs.

VS

[seven seas]

And not many people understand quantum physics either...

[veiledsentiments]

Well, that certainly explains it...

Who knew that teaching English had the same complexity as quantum physics...

VS

[meteacher]

For anyone thinking that IAT is a good place to work, IT'S NOT!! Stay as far away as possible!!

[kiefer]

[windstar]

ESL is for English speaking countries such as Britain, USA, Canada whereas EFL is for other countries where English is taught as a foreign language.

[veiledsentiments]

[kiefer]

VS,
I guess my posit is rhetorical.

English is the Lingua Franca in the Khaleej. From poorly paid fast food industry workers, the cashiers in major grocery stores, the sales people in shops in the malls and throughout the business sector, you find vacancy ads reading English a must while some Arabic is helpful though it isn't mandatory.

For this reason, the Khaleej in my opinion is in a gray area between ESL and EFL unlike, say Thailand or Korea where far fewer people in the market place speak English.

English just ain't so foreign around here.

[mishmumkin]

I agree w/ Keifer on that. The nature of education in the UAE is what makes me think it's all moving in a different direction. I've taught kids in the UAE who are not native speakers, yet have spent their entire lives in English-medium schools within the UAE not learning English for the purpose of occasional visits to English-speaking countries but to compete their education and compete in jobs all over the world. I've also taught college students that came out of the UAE govt schools who didn't remotely fit that description. Shades of grey, IMHO.

[seven seas]

Well at least we agree that ESOL/EFL/ESL are different things (the fact that they have different names was a hint).

The UAE is in a grey are though... you're right.

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Operator: 911, what is your emergency

Caller: Operator, we've been hijacked again

[seven seas]

LOL


that took me a while to figure out.........