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wangdaning
Joined: 22 Jan 2008
Posts: 3154
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 Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| If teachers read and senior faculty observe, why pay hundreds to a dying institution? |
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mmcmorrow
Joined: 30 Sep 2007
Posts: 143
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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| weshh1 wrote: |
"Select any four of the following 12 courses.
TSL 5345 Methods of ESOL Teaching (3 credit hours)
TSL 6940 ESOL Practicum (3 credit hours)
TSL 5940 Issues in TEFL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6142 Critical Approaches to ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6250 Applied Linguistics in ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6350 Grammar ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6440 Assessment Issues in TESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6640 Research in Second Language (3 credit hours)
TSL 6252 Sociolinguistics (3 credit hours)
TSL 5380 Computer and Technology for ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 5601 Second Language Vocabulary Learning (3 credit hours)
TSL 6642 Issues in Second Language Acquisition (3 credit hours)
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Since you're in the University anyway, and these courses may help towards a future higher-level programme, I think it sounds like a good idea to take up this option. The courses are typical of most University offerings in this area and cover the field pretty well - shame you couldn't take them all though! In three hours, you'll only have a brief overview of issues in the subject - the equivalent really of reading a single article - but, after all, it's only intended to be an introduction.
There isn't much overlap between these courses and the content of a CELTA course. The sessions that are more likely to overlap in any way are probably the ones on methods, grammar and assessment. But CELTA grammar sessions are less 'about grammar' and more focused on practical teaching tips for selected grammar issues, such as simple vs continuous tenses, conditional forms etc. Assessment will cover some common ground - the need for reliability, validity etc - but a CELTA session will typically go on to a brief overview of commonly used ESOL exams such as TOEFL or Cambridge FCE, and possibly finish with the trainees beginning to plan an assessment for the students they've been teaching. A high proportion of CELTA sessions are 'how to do EFL' sessions, focusing on lesson planning, giving instructions, checking understanding etc. These tend not to get much coverage in University TESOL courses. I would hope there's a bit of this in the ESOL practicum course, though it probably also has to cover reflective practice etc, so the time would be a bit squeezed.
This example does, I think, illustrate the main underlying criticism of University-based TESOL - and other applied subjects like Management, Social Work etc; a tendency to focus on what the university is good at (i.e. research) - rather than what practitioners may need and want (i.e. models, practice, feedback on effective approaches, techniques and resources). Universities reshape knowledge and learning in their own image. The main criticism of practice-based TESOL courses, like CELTA, is essentially a mirror-image of the above: a tendency towards a narrow and dogmatic stance towards teaching.
As a CELTA graduate, trainer and assessor - and also someone who's studied and worked in university contexts - I really believe teachers actually need both forms of professional learning;initially, it makes sense for teachers to have a stronger emphasis on the practice side, and then later on, as they gain experience, they need to question their assumptions and broaden their scope through engagement with critical discussion and research.
Martin McMorrow, Massey University, New Zealand |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| mmcmorrow wrote: |
| Quote: |
"Select any four of the following 12 courses.
TSL 5345 Methods of ESOL Teaching (3 credit hours)
TSL 6940 ESOL Practicum (3 credit hours)
TSL 5940 Issues in TEFL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6142 Critical Approaches to ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6250 Applied Linguistics in ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6350 Grammar ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6440 Assessment Issues in TESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 6640 Research in Second Language (3 credit hours)
TSL 6252 Sociolinguistics (3 credit hours)
TSL 5380 Computer and Technology for ESOL (3 credit hours)
TSL 5601 Second Language Vocabulary Learning (3 credit hours)
TSL 6642 Issues in Second Language Acquisition (3 credit hours) |
The courses are typical of most University offerings in this area and cover the field pretty well - shame you couldn't take them all though! In three hours, you'll only have a brief overview of issues in the subject - the equivalent really of reading a single article - but, after all, it's only intended to be an introduction. |
These aren't 3-hour long introductory courses. For clarification, in the US, a 3-credit hour, semester-based course runs for 16 weeks and generally entails at least 135 hours of study (includes instruction). Additionally, the OP can choose to take more than the minimum four courses. |
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mmcmorrow
Joined: 30 Sep 2007
Posts: 143
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the clarification. These 3 credit hour courses look like the equivalent of what we call a 'paper' here in NZ - i.e. a semester-long course consisting (typically) of about three or four hours of lectures, tutorials, labs etc each week, with the expectation that students will spend about 10 hours per week in independent study (reading & completing assessments). So four of these would make up a full study-load for a semester.
So, within a semester on, say, assessment, you should be able to cover a reasonable amount - I still wonder how practical / classroom-focused the content would be, given the university context. And the other issue is that, without classroom experience, students may not get the maximum benefit from these courses.
Martin McMorrow, NZ |
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buravirgil
Joined: 23 Jan 2014
Posts: 967
Location: Jiangxi Province, China
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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| mmcmorrow wrote: |
| I still wonder how practical / classroom-focused the content would be, given the university context. And the other issue is that, without classroom experience, students may not get the maximum benefit from these courses. |
Yes, much thanks to Nomad Soul for clarifying what extensive parameters comprise an education versus a training. The caveats listed above come from a certain point of view-- that skills and knowledge can be delivered by an intensive training. Or, to take it further, viewing a skill set as it serves a vocation instead of the result of a discipline.
I've read a few times the view that an academic "track" to ESL is about research and papers as though such effort doesn't serve a practice and that professional certification best serves practical application. Neither is wholly true.
But the language surrounding CELTA training is fraught with sales language and the blurring of distinctions. Its example is too often a pitch. |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:59 pm Post subject: |
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| mmcmorrow wrote: |
| These 3 credit hour courses look like the equivalent of what we call a 'paper' here in NZ - i.e. a semester-long course consisting (typically) of about three or four hours of lectures, tutorials, labs etc each week, with the expectation that students will spend about 10 hours per week in independent study (reading & completing assessments). So four of these would make up a full study-load for a semester. |
Taking three of those graduate-level courses (9 credits/semester) would be the maximum for full-time study for someone not working. Those holding down a job may take one or two per semester.
| and wrote: |
| So, within a semester on, say, assessment, you should be able to cover a reasonable amount - I still wonder how practical / classroom-focused the content would be, given the university context. And the other issue is that, without classroom experience, students may not get the maximum benefit from these courses. |
The TEFL courses I took for my MAT were a mix of in-class and practical. For example, for my 'Writing for TESL Teachers' course, I was required to tutor a real English language student. Other non-practical/university-context courses entailed assignments such as interviewing educators in the field, observing ESL learners, etc.
In terms of teaching practice, the grad-level TEFL cert program the OP presented offers an ESOL practicum, which would be taken as the final course. It should provide a minimum of 135 hours similar to the other courses. By the way, these TEFL cert programs are generally geared toward two types of grad students: BA in Education degree holders, who have extensive teaching experience in the public school system, and career changers (like myself), who are new to education/teaching and are interested in heading abroad. This latter group would benefit the most from an ESOL practical course.
I can't speak for other grad-level, ESOL practicums, but mine was 3-credits for the semester. I chose to do my teaching practice in two separate situations: in an intensive ESL course at a technical college and the other in a non-profit, adult literacy program. I requested to be formally observed 6 times for a total of 12 hours. The remainder of the 135 hours entailed pre- and post-observation conferences with my cooperating teacher and supervising teacher, observing other teachers' classes, writing observation reports, co-teaching with my cooperating teacher, designing lesson and unit plans, creating materials, participating in placement testing, attending presentations and workshops at my state's TESOL conference, and lastly, compiling my teaching portfolio. I actually ended putting in nearly 150 hours into my practicum by the semester end. Understandably, the CELTA is nowhere on my list of future plans.  |
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