Job Discussion Forums

[woolsocks]

I applied to St. Giles. Then I thought I would apply to ILA in HCMC as well. It seems to me that the ILA application is more difficult. I was curious if others have observations about which applications are more troublesome than others.

St. Giles application was a test and you're not supposed to look at reference books or whatever. I liked this because it takes much less time. In fact I think there was a time limit.

ILA Vietnam asks you to obtain one of two recommended books to use while completing a difficult (but open book) exercise. I found one of the books, but it isn't very easy to use as a reference... Ugh.

[Jeff Mohamed]

I think the two tests you mention represent two different approaches.

The test from St. Giles aims to find out what you already know about English and to test your general language awareness. The center will then help you to increase your language knowledge, and hopefully your language awareness, by having you work through some detailed pre-course assignments.

The other test appears to be based on seeing how well you can research specific language areas.

Both approaches seem valid to me, although I prefer the St. Giles approach.

Jeff Mohamed

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Honestly, to me it sounds like the one in Vietnam is a bit better. How much knowledge of language you have before the course is important (especially for the course providers so they can help you before the course to get to the required level if you're not quite there yet), but how much you have after the course is more important (I'm not sure if you actually learn all that much grammar etc in a CELTA), and the MOST important thing is that when students have specific language questions, that you either actually know the answer (so you're not just guessing and saying something because it sounds good) or else you can tell them 'hmmm... that's a good question. I'm not sure WHY it is that way. I'll look it up and tell you this afternoon / tomorrow / next week' and then you can and do actually do it (I personally think that if you're a language teacher then you should LIKE doing that kind of thing because it's interesting). It also sort of suggests that the course in Vietnam *MAY* be more along the sink or swim lines.

When I first did my grammar course for Anglophones (university 4th year level course. It was very, very definately a sink or swim course), many people already knew at least the forms and names of tenses and aspects (although usually just as a different 'tense' so we thought of the past perfect as a 'tense', and the near future as a 'tense'- that's how we learn them in French and other Western European languages -but using the French or other language term for them- in Ontario), pretty close to back and forth. But not everybody did (you are allowed to drop French quite early in senior high school) . I personally did, but I still sort of freaked out a bit and swallowed an English grammar book to review all those things in English during the first week or so.