Job Discussion Forums

[curioustraveler]

I�m thinking about getting into TEFL. I�m noticing that many places will take you even if your BA isn�t in English or Education. So the million-dollar question is� How knowledgeable does a person really need to be to teach English. Does it matter???

[MO39]

Hmmm... How knowledgeable does a person need to be to teach Spanish, mathematics, computer science...?

[Glenski]

Some TEFL positions are not about teaching. JET Programme, for example, is more about internationalization, but they wrap that in the form of an ALT in a public school.

How much do you need to know? Depends on what sort of teaching position you're in.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

How knowledgeable about English do you think people become from getting a degree in literature or education?

Education is obviously an excellent background for becoming a teacher. English is great in that a degree in English shows at least an appreciation of English writing and culture, and (compared to other academic disciplines at the undergraduate level) very high writing skills (you are more likely to get away with slightly sloppy writing outside of that discipline).

Your undergraduate degree really becomes your 'background' when you choose a work area. English is great, but really many of the humanities can be useful in teaching English, because the thing to remember is that TEFL is not teaching English literature. It's teaching a foreign language. And so an undergradaute degree in another foreign language is really, really useful. It's also teaching about culture. And so history or sociology is really useful. It's teaching business communications. So journalism is also great. Maybe a double major in English and modern languages or linguistics would be really, really targeted for a career teaching English overseas. The reality is that after your undergraduate degree,　solid, real qualifications in teaching English language are necessary to move up in your career teaching English, and that normally means something like the CELTA/DELTA combo or an MA in TESOL / Applied Linguistics, and your undergraduate degree doesn't have to be in an area related to either English or education (or even linguistics) to do that.

I think if someone is entering or in university and knows they want a career teaching overseas (as opposed to doing it for a couple of years) then the best thing to major in is a cultural area (humanities or fine arts) that they are excited about, because that excitement about the area will show. But if, for example, you happen to be really really excited about biology and the environment (and not so much in English literature etc), then do a degree in biology and the environment. It's not like people don't often talk about the enviornment, just remember that you need to be able to communicate with people about subjects in ways that they understand, and for non-native speakers that means adjusting the way you speak about the topic considerably.

[MO39]

[Madame J]

Depends on who you're teaching. If you're the sole English teacher to a bunch of adults, then your grammar knowledge would need to be fairly proficient. If however you're working at a language school or teaching English to kids via acquisition, then you can get away with less.

[Nabby Adams]

I seem to have had very different experiences than others. In Japan nearly all my work involves teaching to students who have already been taught. That is I don't think I have ever introduced a grammar topic that the students haven't had explained to them (whether by a native teacher or a book) before.
I'll teach natural usage such as "How's it going?" rather than their usual, "How are you?" but I don't think a PHD in linguistics is needed for the task.
When I started out I couldn't even properly identify an adverb ( I can now) but I don't consider it to have affected my teaching much.

[MELEE]

[johnslat]

Dear MELEE.

"I think the only true answer is as much as possible, the more the better."

Amen - as with any job, from cleaning up offices (which I've done) to teaching English to students preparing to take the TOEFL (which I've also done), the more you know, the better, both for the students and for you.
Regards,
John

[J.M.A.]

I think knowledge matters, yes.... but everyone has to start somewhere too. As long as you are genuinely committed to helping your students learn and want to be a good teacher you will be on the right path. Not everyone fits this description though Education and qualification become more and more necessary as you start to get serious (and of course this will also determine where you will start, which can be a problem in itself sometimes).

Knowledge also begs the question of what- ability to talk about and reflect on language, classroom techniques, strategies, methodologies, approaches, understanding classroom dynamics, experience of the various English exams, pedagogy etc. ad nauseum... there's an awful lot to know, and it's not just knowledge but also experience and ability to teach according to principles.

[JZer]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[JZer]

[fluffyhamster]

Taiwanese language schools and/or students must be pretty different from Japanese ones, then. Such subject-specific stuff is usually confined to juku rather than eikaiwa, and taught by Japanese people and in Japanese rather than by foreign teachers using English (quite a few foreign teachers struggle with teaching just the English (based as it often is on grammar distinctions), and aren't or don't feel really qualified to teach e.g. science stuff anyway). That being said, you sometimes get a swotty and keen student who wants to talk about one of their school subjects in English (rather perhaps than something potentially more easy and/or banal), but it would be unusual (in fact, disallowed in principle) to do that too much, especially with larger classes where one would have to cater to the lowest common denominator or slowest ship or whatever, if my limited experience of eikaiwa (with attached juku) in Japan is anything to go by. I suppose I could imagine something like you've described happening in China, though (where I taught for a couple of years prior to my decade almost in Japan), JZer (which leads me back to my opening sentence).

[JZer]