Job Discussion Forums

[jonjones27]

Is a MA in English Language and Literature viewed as related to English when looking for a teaching job in KSA(or in its vecinity: UAE/Oman/Kuwait etc)? I know that a MA in just English Literature does not impress much recruiters and I would like to know whether English Language and Literature fits the bill.

[Grendal]

Hi jonjones,

I've a BA in English Lit. and it has served me well coupled with my two English Language teaching certificates. I don't have a TESOL but I do have a TESL and a TEIL. Both from recognized establishments and done on site.

Grendal

[rollingk]

If for KSA, I suspect it would depend on which day which clerk at which embassy and/or cultural mission decides to open your file. And finally, there is the overlay of wasta (influence ) issues of your prospective employer at the cultural mission or embassy you are using. We needn't mention racial concerns because, as everyone knows, these find no purchase in the magic kingdom.

However, despite all this uncertainty, persistence in not just accepting a denial flatout may certainly pay off. That's been my experience.

[nomad soul]

[rollingk]

Why Google Translate? Goodness, just think about it a second. Rudeness is unnecessary.

[jonjones27]

Hello again everyone, I was away for a while. Thank you all for your advice. From what I understood, a MA in English Language and Literature IS not totally useless when it comes to teaching in Saudi Arabia. Meaning it will be considered as "English Related". True I do not have a CELTA yet, nor experience but those are merely details for now. (I'm just 23).

[robbie_davies]

[jonjones27]

My university is the best-known university in Romania but it does not belong to an Anglophone one. Do they check for it's national recognition as well or it's a MUST to be part of an Anglophone one?

[robbie_davies]

[jonjones27]

I'm sad to say you are more than probably right. This means a MA in Romania will not suffice when it comes to Saudi or other Middle Eastern recruiters alongside with the fact that even if it is English Related, since it is not from an Anglophone country it will be basically useless.

My only chance is to take a Linguistics TESOL MA in the U.K in order to succeed. I humbly thank you for your advice I think there is no one to evidence otherwise your affirmation.

P.S Will my BA in Applied Modern Languages of 3 years + a 1 YEAR TESOL MA in the U.K + (the later on CELTA and 2 years min. experience) make me eligible for teaching in the Middle East. My main concern now it cuz of the Bologna System just 3 year BA and the just 1 year MA in the U.K. Or there is no questioning of such matters when applying for a job there.

[robbie_davies]

[jonjones27]

I personally know a romanian teacher of mine who started teaching there last year(true he has a PhD and over 30 years of teaching experience) so I don't see any difficulty there in getting accepted just cuz being of a different nationality.

The main thing was regarding the MA in the U.K which is only 1 year unlike the rest of EU where it's 2 years. They don't argue about that neither i presume.

[robbie_davies]

[ttxor1]

jonjones27: See Chapter 26 "Literature in the language classroom" by Alan Maley in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Ronald Carter and David Nunan (Eds), Cambridge University Press 2001:

"Introduction

Literature in language teaching has a long pedigree. It was a fundamental part of foreign language teaching in the 'classical humanist' paradigm, where an understanding of the high culture and thought expressed through literature took precedence over mere competence in using the language. Indeed, in the teaching of European classical languages, such as Greek and Latin, the literature was virtually all that remained of the language.

This central role of literature was carried over into TESL/TEFL in the early part of the twentieth century. In many parts of the world, such as India, it remains integral to the teaching of the language to this day. However, as the TESL/TEFL profession developed a more sophisticated understanding of how languages are learned, and as the demand for English shifted its focus from the small-scale production of scholarly elites to the mass production of large numbers of functionally competent users of the language, literature came to be regarded as, at best, an irrelevance and, at worst, positively harmful.

Among other things, this resulted in an unproductive debate between the 'ancients', staunch supporters of Literatures (with a capital L), and the 'moderns', devotees of linguistic structures, functions and the like, who would have no truck with literature. To some extent this divide continues, especially at the college/university level. In more recent times, however, there has been a gradual rehabilitation of literature and its value for language teaching. Nonetheless, the role of literature in language teaching remains contentious, owing to widespread differences in interpretation of the precise nature of that role" (pg 180).

[plumpy nut]