Job Discussion Forums

Marconi · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 6

Is this possible? I've seen stuff where it looks like you can get some sort of certificate while teaching ESL, but an actual full masters degree taught in english while living in a non-english-speaking country seems like a bit of a stretch. I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about that.

mozzar · Joined: 16 May 2009 Posts: 339 Location: France

Certainly possible, if not normal, for a lot of EFL teachers. You've got either the distance learning option from an L1 country, or MAs in English in other countries. Although these may not be looked upon as kindly as an MA from an English speaking university.

Look around the forum - there are dozens, even hundreds, of threads about this.

FoundWaldo · Joined: 01 Jun 2010 Posts: 47

A good friend of mine started as an English teacher in Taiwan and has now quite to pursue an International MBA. His program is half English, half Chinese, but the Taiwanese government is kind enough to pay almost all of his bills.

Sadebugo · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 524

Montanaland · Joined: 20 Dec 2009 Posts: 60 Location: Bakken Oil Field

I never thought I would need to look at grad school...but if you want a long-term career/cushy job in this field it's manditory!

This program looks like it could be fairly straight forward and efficient.

http://mudirect.missouri.edu/degprog/ed-TESOL/index.shtm

HCV · Joined: 10 Nov 2009 Posts: 8

Hi,

It is possible - I am doing it. I am teaching in Indonesia, and studying at the same time at UNISA, a pretty good long distance university in South Africa.

Just a friendly warning - do not sign up for too heavy a load, being a in foreign country and having a new job take some adjusting.

I would recommend taking a few month to adjust before starting yr studies.

rayman · Joined: 24 May 2003 Posts: 427

Doing the same here. Also in Indonesia and completing a MEd (Educational Leadership) through University of Wollongong in Australia. If you're Australian it may be worth considering a MA with research thesis as the government currently pay 100% of the fees, no questions asked.

Coloradita · Joined: 07 Apr 2010 Posts: 7 Location: Guayaquil, Ecuador

This is probably a stupid question, but is it possible to study for a graduate degree in TESOL/ELT with an undergrad degree in an unrelated field (psychology)? I love my job and want to continue teaching in the US but it looks like you do need a grad degree in TESOL to do it!

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Most MA programs won't care too much what your first degree is in.
I did an MA TESL/TEFL from the University of Birmingham (England) while in the Czech Rep and Netherlands. Just spent one summer semester in B'ham.

kotoko · Joined: 22 Jun 2010 Posts: 109

When I was looking around about masters I found an interesting article that said that distance learners tend to do better than campus students because they can study the people they are teaching right there and then. Idea

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

I did mine from Deakin University in Australia. I did it off-campus (I live in Japan). I'd already done an on-campus 10 unit/single term course worth TESL certificate at a university in Ontario that included a substantial practicum (10 single term courses worth is slightly more than a masters degree from a university in Australia if you have a four-year degree. It's slightly less than a masters degree in Australia if you have a three year degree. I have a four year degree). The two programs were comparable in terms of depth and difficulty. Deakin's program is in the functional tradition (as most in Australia are) and the one in Ontario leans to the formalist tradition (as are most in North America), so the actual material differed considerably, though.

I agree that there are benefits to doing it off-campus. There are also benefits to doing it on-campus. A practicum is not really the same thing as continuing teaching where you are. And I really think that experience teaching ESL in an inner-circle country can really, really help the teacher in the EFL context as well, because chances are you will have students who learn in very different ways, and the mutli-lingual nature forces it to be done entirely in English- it's really easy to fall back on the learners first language when you teach a monolingual group (assuming you speak the learner's L1, of course).

killthebuddha · Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 4:33 am Post subject:

There are plenty of distance-learning options available. For credibility/recognition, etc., I like the USC (University of Southern California Trojans) M.A. TESOL. Otherwise, consider getting on with a uni that offers something similar, and where (as mentioned above) you'll likely have the fees discounted. It wouldn't hurt, when you're applying to various uni's, to inquire whether they have such a program. They might even take you more seriously, it might distinguish you, etc. Consider looking into the various world rankings of the uni's/M.A. providers as well.

powerrose · Joined: 14 Apr 2003 Posts: 119 Location: Shenzhen, China

I'm not good with distance learning (I think I'm too lazy/prone to procrastination to be successful at it), so I chose to fly to Singapore to do my masters. The University of Adelaide has a campus there, and they have intensive weekends 2 times per term. The flights are cheap from where I'm staying, and the degree is incredibly inexpensive compared to the US.

epik_teacher · Joined: 09 Aug 2010 Posts: 52

I did a Masters of Science in Online Curriculum Design from Cal State Hayward. Did it in 1 1/2 years and cost less than $6k. That was back in 2002, it's around $10k now. But a very accessible and interesting program. Unfortunately, there is not much call for it in Korea. One of the reasons I want to move on from here.