Job Discussion Forums

[Qaaolchoura]

Hello, so I'm a college student in my third year, majoring in developmental psycholinguistics and second language acquisition.
At my school the thesis is the major part of our senior year, and I would also like to conduct some psycholinguistic research as part of it. So my advisor and I both feel that it would be immensely useful to take leave and get some practical experience teaching before starting my thesis.

I got an SIT TESOL certification through the International Language Institute in Northampton (www.ili.edu) this summer, but I would, of course, be teaching without a baccalaureate.

While I feel that given my concentration and reason for teaching without a BA, it would be possible to convince a school to hire me, but it would be immensely difficult to get a work visa in most countries with half-decent education systems.

I know that the majority of countries in Eurasia seem to require a baccalaureate, and the list is growing.

I believe that my first choice countries: Turkey and Vietnam both require BAs for work visas, but I know nothing about how strictly immigration laws are enforced there. I also think that Indonesia recently started requiring a BA.

What are some countries where I might get a work permit without a BA? Alternatively, if I were to teach on a tourist visa the authorities would look the other way?

I prefer a country where I could teach private lessons on the side. I have a working knowlege of Spanish and Modern Standard Arabic, and might also like to practice those languages, but that's hardly a must. My main concern is finding some country where I could teach for a semester or two without a BA, and would have some degree of freedom with my lesson plans.

Thanks,
~Q

Edit: Finally remembered to fix "baccalaureate" spelling.

[Serious_Fun]

[Glenski]

[Qaaolchoura]

The only volunteer opportunities are 1-1 tutoring at the ILI and the local library. Which I may do for the community service requirement, but isn't entirely applicable to the classroom.

I fail to see how getting out of the classroom and away from the ivory tower in order to get some practical experience in what I'm studying "takes away from my studies." Students at my school do it all the time, and most of the best projects I've seen (admittedly, basing this of the posters in the science building) have been where students have done a field study or leave.

It doesn't have to be abroad, but I would like to generalize this to teaching a foreign language in English speaking countries, and language instruction is very different when students are in a country where the language they study predominates, so a non-anglophone country is preferable.

Thanks for the spelling correction. I don't normally use the word, except in speech, and now that I think about it, I pronounce it wrong. (Which is an interesting example of generalization, but that's beside the point.)

Glenski: Why would should my advisor know about TEFL/TESOL? She's a neuropsycholinguistics researcher, and TESOL's a vocation. That's what the career counseling people are for, and no, they don't know anything about it. They have contacts who do, but one works in Western Europe and one is a recruiter who works with recent graduates.

I'm interested in studying second language acquisition for both theoretical and practical purposes. I have had a couple of ideas for original research, but they're fairly minor in scope, without broad academic implications.

I already have a theoretical knowledge a least on the level one could expect of an upper class undergrad, but it's completely Ivory Tower.
Whereas teachers frequently understand when something works, but have a bad idea why. This was particularly driven home in the TESOL course, where the things they taught us intuitively made sense, but the educational theory she gave us was scientifically questionable at best.

[VictorVictoria]

Hello,

Have you explored schools that offer an Intern Program? This can be found even in international schools if your grade point is high enough.

[Qaaolchoura]

Sorry if this sounds snappy, but I'm not interested in doing an internship.

People wouldn't expect me to do an internship after I graduate, and I do think that I'm at least as qualified to teach English now as your average poly sci major fresh out of college (even assuming a standard TEFL cert, which I do have and a lot of grads who start teaching don't).

I'm also doing this for the experience, not for credit, which is why I'm doing this as a leave instead of a field study.

[Justin Trullinger]

I feel like we've all gone a little tangent here, regarding whether or not you SHOULD go on a leave...

I'm going to assume that you've done your homework, that you and your advisor know more about your degree study than I do, and that it makes sense for you to spend a year out.

So where are you interested in going? The generalization that most countries with a half decent educational system will require a degree really doesn't hold up, at least not from region to region. Put another way- many countries without a half decent educational system still require degrees for some circumstances, and many others, with or without a half decent educational system, offer loopholes for various working circumstances. If Latin America is an interest, I can recommend some possibilities. If not, I'm sure others around here can.

So- are you interested in schools? (teaching kids or teens) Universities? Language institutes? In which country or region? What dates look probable to you? What kind of work do your feel most prepared for from your SIT cert? (Hope you enjoyed it, by the way. I run the SIT Cert program in Ecuador, and am currently working on another one in Korea. Good program!)

Without the answer to these questions, it's really hard for us to know what we might be able to suggest, so let us know.

And for what it's worth, in my opinion, the "not interested in an internship" snappiness was probably a little ill-informed. Remember that we don't know exactly what you're looking for; but the "Intern Program" mentioned would almost certainly put you in the situation of interning with a trained, degree-qualified teacher (meaning a degree in teaching). Not a poli-sci major fresh out of college. You may not be interested in that kind of situation, which is fine. But the idea that it's below your level of qualification is probably not true. IMO, you response to it runs the risk of sounding a little inflated.

Best,
Justin

[naturegirl321]

[Qaaolchoura]

Thanks Justin.
I am interested in Latin America, particularly since it'd give me a chance to practice my Spanish.
The only regions I want to avoid are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Anglosphere, though I have some specific countries (eg. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, which I would like to avoid).

I would prefer to work with adolescents or adults. I wouldn't think I'm qualified to teach English at a college without a college degree myself, but if there is some country where I am, I wouldn't object.

I plan to start making inquiries about employment in January. When I am free will depend on several factors, but I will definitely be on leave Sept 2009-Jan 2010.

The internships I've looked at at various points have ranged from mostly clerical work to about 50:50 educational studies and clerical duties. I've asked explicitly, and been told the point of such internships is resume boosting, school credit, and networking. I apologize if I have formed an incorrect impression based on the handful of internships I have looked at.
~Q

[Glenski]

[Qaaolchoura]

Thanks to everybody who's replied so far.

It sounds like I'm limited to Latin America, which isn't a problem.
I'm actually fairly certain that it's possible to teach in Mexico without a BA, at least, I know somebody who did a few years back. She did it with a six month visa that she kept renewing, and flying down to Monterrey on a tourist visa is my backup plan.

I do want to find out what my options are, and I appreciate the response.

Though if anybody does know any country that doesn't speak a Romance language and doesn't require a BA though, I'd love to hear about that too. From my experience learning Spanish vs. Arabic, it's a bit different learning a language with a lot of cognates, from one without, and it might be instructive to do a semester in Latin America and a semester elsewhere. (And I know in the TESOL course, the Spanish and Portuguese speakers used the Latin cognates to explain phrasal verbs.)

[nickpellatt]

Im sure there will be charities and other organisations locally that are working directly with the migrant population and/or refugees in language learning. I say this as I have just signed up with one locally to me.

Your advisor suggests setting up your own class would be a bad move...pitching up in a foreign country, getting a class full of wailing kids, and no teaching material or syllabus may be worse. This can and does happen in TEFL.

I really would suggest scouring the local papers for something you can do closer to home....might offer some benefit to your community as well as your thesis etc.

[Justin Trullinger]

You're well and truly thinking in advance, with regards to hiring in Latin America. If you consider Ecuador, PM me as your time gets closer. I know a few places that would probably be interested...


Best,
Justin

[sidjameson]

I would offer Indonesia as a interesting place that hire persons without a degree. Great place to spend a year too.