| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
|
 Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 2:08 pm Post subject: Re: What would be the best degree to aim for? |
 |
|
| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
| Prof.Gringo wrote: |
Avoid all Lib Art majors like the plague.
Engineering and business tend to be the best majors.
For the vast majority of EFL jobs, it simply does not matter what your major was in. So get a useful undergrad degree and then take a CELTA and you will be on your way. |
Liberal Arts majors:
| Quote: |
| The contemporary liberal arts comprise studying literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, and science.[1] |
from Wikipedia.
So saying to avoid liberal arts majors is very close to saying avoid majoring in anything you study at primary or secondary school. |
I'd respectfully  disagree. My Liberal Arts degree was in Studio Arts and Business Management. I did two internships, one in each major. At the Smithsonian. That's pretty good ! |
Alrighty then! Not really sure where the disagreement is, though... 
I'm not saying that I agree with the idea of avoiding the liberal arts (that term wasn't used in the universities I went to in Canada. We used the term 'Arts and Science' but then at one university Fine Arts was another faculty. At another somehow music had it's own faculty, but visual art was in the arts and sciences. It's just how the universities divide up academic areas.
I was just pointing out that saying to avoid the 'liberal arts' is saying to avoid a big chunk of the initial undergraduate degrees at most universities (most of what I've studied is in the 'humanities' areas, which is a part of the liberal arts based on the definition from Wikipedia. Also 'education' is either a post, or concurrent program in Ontario. A B.Ed is a year long program, the same as a PGCE in the UK, so it cannot be considered available to undergraduates the way say English literature is available). |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
MarkieP52
Joined: 02 Jan 2011
Posts: 11
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I appreciate all the answers, I can say for sure buisness is not my cup of tea. I'll look into the suggestions here and just try to make the best decision. Thanks again! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
spanglish
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Get a degree in the language of the region in which you want to teach. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
GambateBingBangBOOM
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 2021
Location: Japan
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| spanglish wrote: |
| Get a degree in the language of the region in which you want to teach. |
That's good advice (and note: languages are part of the Humanities, which in turn are part of the liberal arts).
The only issue is that there are many, many areas of the world where there isn't a language of the region, and each country has it's own language. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
denise
Joined: 23 Apr 2003
Posts: 3419
Location: finally home-ish
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 4:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
And it's good advice until you start country/region/language-hopping! I
d |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
johnhearst
Joined: 26 Jan 2011
Posts: 16
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:53 am Post subject: Re: What would be the best degree to aim for? |
|
|
Definitely you can stay in school for your Master because the job market is not good.
| naturegirl321 wrote: |
| GambateBingBangBOOM wrote: |
| Prof.Gringo wrote: |
Avoid all Lib Art majors like the plague.
Engineering and business tend to be the best majors.
For the vast majority of EFL jobs, it simply does not matter what your major was in. So get a useful undergrad degree and then take a CELTA and you will be on your way. |
Liberal Arts majors:
| Quote: |
| The contemporary liberal arts comprise studying literature, languages, philosophy, history, mathematics, and science.[1] |
from Wikipedia.
So saying to avoid liberal arts majors is very close to saying avoid majoring in anything you study at primary or secondary school. |
I'd respectfully disagree. My Liberal Arts degree was in Studio Arts and Business Management. I did two internships, one in each major. At the Smithsonian. That's pretty good ! |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Muhammed Abbas Khan
Joined: 04 Jan 2011
Posts: 73
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
| You could consider studying at the University of Westminster. You can combine Chinese language with another subject such as English language, Linguistics, or English Literature. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zero
Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 1402
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 3:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| artemisia wrote: |
I think getting a degree does matter quite a bit - for China, too. You could do what the above poster suggested but you might also want to consider what you think you'll be doing long term. I assume you haven't done teaching before so is that likely to be TEFL or secondary school teaching?
If you think TEFL is something for the short term and are not interested in being a school teacher, then think about English Literature with possibly some linguistics papers and /or combining that with a TEFL certificate such as CELTA or Trinity College. Later you have the option of an MA in Eng Lit etc. and possibly pursuing a uni route of work through assistantships.
I'd also suggest talking to Faculty of Arts advisors at whatever uni you plan to go to as they'll hopefully be able to point you in the direction of a number of course combination options. |
I totally disagree. For TEFL, any degree will work. For post-TEFL life, English literature is one of the degrees with the least possible practical application.
I'd go for something useful. Probably education or business. If you have the aptitude, something related to math, science or engineering would be even better. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ls650
Joined: 10 May 2003
Posts: 3484
Location: British Columbia
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Get the degree that will mean the most to you on a personal level - don't make the mistake I did of majoring in a field that you think will always get you a job. Finding a decent-paying job is really never that difficult for someone with a good work ethic.
My major was in computer science. It's true that with this major I've never had a problem finding work in IT... but they've been boring jobs. If I were able to go back in time, I'd tell myself not to worry about finding work, but to study a field I found personally enriching. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I got a Bachelor of General Studies with a thematic option (ie. 'major' where the major did not exist) in TESL and a minor in English. My optional courses included Mandarin, French, Latin American Studies, Israeli & Palestinian Relations, etc (basically trying to cover all my bases, LOL).
I found it very useful on a practical level in the ESL classroom because I finished a five year university degree in three years (the TESL certificate was an additional year but I did the requirements as part of my thematic option, plus extra summer courses).
I wanted to be speedy as I already had 3 other years of Criminology from my previous career 
You can also approach your university with the option to do a "blended" degree rather than just one specific major - assuming you are interested in TESL as a long-term option. You can throw in business classes, etc. if you want. While I didn't mind the English literature courses for my minor, I found them remarkably less than useful when it came to practical TESL applications. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mackayscanland
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 39
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
artemisia
Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 875
Location: the world
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 8:41 am Post subject: |
|
|
ls650:
| Quote: |
Get the degree that will mean the most to you on a personal level - don't make the mistake I did of majoring in a field that you think will always get you a job. Finding a decent-paying job is really never that difficult for someone with a good work ethic.
My major was in computer science. It's true that with this major I've never had a problem finding work in IT... but they've been boring jobs. If I were able to go back in time, I'd tell myself not to worry about finding work, but to study a field I found personally enriching. |
I totally agree! (Though it might work out for some to follow work related degrees). And agree with this too...
santi84:
| Quote: |
| While I didn't mind the English literature courses for my minor, I found them remarkably less than useful when it came to practical TESL applications. |
I don't think English literature is particularly useful for TEFL jobs. It would most likely be more immediately 'useful' to those interested in pursuing academic careers. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 9:57 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| artemisia wrote: |
| Quote: |
| While I didn't mind the English literature courses for my minor, I found them remarkably less than useful when it came to practical TESL applications. |
I don't think English literature is particularly useful for TEFL jobs. It would most likely be more immediately 'useful' to those interested in pursuing academic careers. |
Here in Japan, Japanese teachers of English (especially for junior high and high school) get degrees in literature, or at least that is what they study most. And, the result is that they have an appreciation of sorts for a certain genre of written work, but their spoken language and skills in teaching EFL are pretty weak. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
santi84
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
Posts: 1317
Location: under da sea
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 10:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| In my post-graduate TESL certificate course, it was very easy to spot those who got a BA in English Literature thinking it was sufficient to teach ESL. Like many English Literature students of my generation (I'm 26), they can give a detailed analysis on the relationship between Hector and Achilles but they cannot tell the difference between simple present and present continuous. A gerund would be something off a menu at the local Oktoberfest. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mackayscanland
Joined: 15 Mar 2009
Posts: 39
|
| Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I believe most of the english teachers here in the states are lit majors (I really don't know this to be a fact) although it sure seems that way. This is a good question and I'm sure there are a lot of people that would like some more knowledge of this. I started my trek of pursuing an ESL career almost 2 years go and with all the surfin I've done, I have rarely seen posts on which degree would be the most advantageous for this venture. I am finally finishing my degree at the end of the year(I already had an AA) and it's in ESL. I also believe in how old you are when you decide can make a difference, I.E., I'm 48 and am not looking at doing anything else career wise, so a straight line between point A & B was the best bet! I'm doing my CELTA this summer and still a little unsure of which location. I'm sure I'll let the community know when and where, any suggestions? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
