Job Discussion Forums

[thailandreb]

Hello, ladies and gentlemen of Turkey.
I'm currently applying to take my CELTA course at this company. Does anyone have experience/comments about ITI, the tutors, the CELTA course, or anything else? There's a staggering lack of info regarding ITI on the internet. Thanks for any information!

I also ventured onto this frightening site composed of comments of people who failed the CELTA. It was a bit intimidating. Is the CELTA really that incredibly difficult? (I was a Dean's List college student but some comments on there were from people who have received Master's in Linguistics!!).

[Chaplin]

ITI is probably the best place to take your CELTA in Istanbul, maybe in the whole of Turkey. One of their trainers, Liz Aykanat, was my first D.o.S. many years ago and I still appreciate all the effort and work she put into my training as I'm now able to pass it on to others.

[spiral78]

It is true that some people fail the CELTA and other similar courses. In my years, I've seen these types who often don't make it (I'm sure there are many other possible scenarios, but these seem fairly common).


1. People who simply aren't willing or able to work pretty hard for a whole month. Tends to be those who are very young, or have few real accomplishments behind them for other reasons. Sometimes have been shipped abroad by fed-up relatives, or come to get away from failures at home. Often more focused on drink/party/etc than the job.

2.People with low social skills for one reason or other. It's simply necessary for teachers to be able to listen and to work well with others. I've seen such candidates range from those with label-able problems to people who simply speak before they think on a very regular basis.


3. People who 'know too much' about teaching/the English language:-). This may have been what happened to the MA linguistics candidate. It works like this: The trainee has a strong background in something related: teaching in another field, or the mechanics of the language, or counseling students, or something. The elements that 'worked' in those contexts may well not work in an actual language classroom. The most common example is a seasoned teacher from a traditional classroom context who is strongly wedded to the idea (conscious or not) that all wisdom flows from the teacher. It doesnt' work this way with language learning, necessarily, and the experienced teacher may well not be able to successfullly transition to the different approaches and methods needed.
I have worked with a couple of teachers in both categories - they were far from among the most successful. One MA English teacher knew the language inside out, but was singularly useless at conveying her knowledge to students.

Anyway, the converse is simpler: plan to work hard for a month, be open to what the trainers are asking you to do, when you don't understand what they want, ask for clarification (open communication is really needed in CELTA - and in language classrooms!), and take care to do your best to relate in a positive way with everyone involved (students, other trainees, trainers). You'll be fine!!

[thailandreb]

Thanks to both of you for your helpful comments. It's good to know there are good staff members at ITI. I have my telephone interview this week and am very excited about the opportunity.

I am definitely a very hard worker, so I am not at all worried about that aspect of the course. The teaching observation parts bring me a little anxiety, standing up there and teaching while being observed by your fellow students and tutors, then having them dissect your performance afterwards. Still, I am really looking forward to the feedback. I am very open to change/adaptation, so I feel this will help me grow tremendously as a teacher. I also have previous teaching experience (both in the US and abroad), so i'm a little concerned that some of the CELTA tactics will contradict with what i've previously been taught. However, like I said I am very adaptable and believe I can conform with the CELTA curriculum. We'll see. Keeping my fingers crossed the telephone interview goes well!

[spiral78]

CELTA and other similar courses are intended to give a teacher a few introductory, general tools. All you have to do is focus during the course on doing it the way they want - when you are in your own classrooms, you can use other/additional/different kinds of things as applicable.

I'm a believer in getting started with a good cert course, but it is a bit of 'play the game their way' which can certainly be modified later on.

[_smaug]

What spira78 said.

I�d only add this: your instructors are probably going to be from the UK.

Now, for some strange reason, people from the UK seem to think that education can only come through pain and suffering; through intense pressure, impossible deadlines and brutal evaluations.

So, be sure to act like you�re suffering, even if you�re not. Break down in tears once a week or so; walk around dazed and grim like some battle worn soldier . . .

No matter how good your test scores are; no matter how brilliant your lessons: Pain. Suffering. Enduring. Those are essential elements of education where the Brits are concerned.

Never forget it.

[Sashadroogie]

Don't forget the regular cold showers and canings : )

[_smaug]

[billy orr]

The severest punishments are reserved for those who don't use the present perfect correctly, who don't put the stress on the second syllable in advertisement, and who can't spell properly (colour, words ending in -ise etc).

[Sashadroogie]

Far, far more effective than the sickening 'yay, you're awesome!' approach employed by others...

[thailandreb]

I have to admit i'm a bit intimidated by that, being an American. British people in general look down upon American English, and I hope something simple like my English accent/dialect will not lose me points with an British tutors. The whole "act like you're suffering" bit i'm okay with, lol.

[spiral78]

I think the UK/US thing is a bit overblown, though I guess it can be more or less an issue depending on the trainers at any given centre.

But I'm an American and have been teaching in Europe and with primarily UK teachers for more than a decade. I have also done quite a lot of work in teacher training.

It's honestly not that difficult to adjust grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation to something that's broadly recognisable as 'educated English' in an international context. I'm fully capable of squeezing out an occasional 'have got' at need without losing my identity, for heaven's sake! Ditto trousers/pants (as this one can cause embarassment), and I was honestly happy to ditch the coy 'restroom' for the more accurate WC or simple 'toilet'.

It's also true to some degree that the approach to education is different. I've heard Canadians (haven't been around enough USAians recently to comment) saying things like 'I know I'm special' - this sounds pretty odd in an international context.

I think it's fair to expect feedback that is more direct and may sound harsher than what's currently pc in North American schools, but being aware that it's a cultural difference should take the sting out of it - it isn't personal, after all!

Overall, I would expect that the trainers will be pretty experienced in working with trainees from North America as well as from the UK and they really shouldn't give preference to any particular brand of English, so long as you are within an acceptable standard range. I have failed (a very few) candidates with extremely strong regional accents (both UK and US - and a Kiwi!) , but normally educated people from whatever continent (can) speak clearly in an acceptable range.

[thailandreb]

Thanks spiral, I appreciate your feedback

That's really great you have found employment in Europe. Many job offers I see online throughout Europe (Western Europe, at least), will only hire teachers from other EU countries. When I was in Australia, it was like that as well (much easier for Canadians and Europeans to get work visas than Americans).

I have a bit of experience regarding British English; when I was a teacher in Korea, the school ordered its English books from the UK and I was puzzled by a few general terms and had to ask my British co-worker the meanings.

That's unfortunate you have had to fail people for their accents, although I can see why this can be necessary at times (I have met many Irish people with accents so strong I can't understand a word they're saying!). I will really try to focus on speaking clearly and coherently through the course.

[Sashadroogie]

ITI is quality all round. You won't lose points for silly things like differences in spelling or whatever, or on any other CELTA course. You're not the first North American to take the course in ITI in any case.

But as has been said (perhaps too tongue-in-cheek for a newcomer) you will not be mollycoddled by the trainers, and no trainee is special. Personally, I do not equate this with pain and suffering - more like a healthy no-nonsense business attitude.

Good luck. Get stuck in and you'll be fine.

[thailandreb]

Thank you Sasha. Your input and feedback is always much appreciated. It is quite reassuring to hear that ITI is "quality all round". I am personally one who welcomes criticism (as long as it's not too confrontational!); this goes a long way to helping one realize how they can improve upon their performance. I have always been a good student, so hopefully this transfers over to the CELTA program.