Job Discussion Forums

[nuchie]

Hi,does anyone here hold a TESOL Certificate?
I cant decide whether to get one or not? Any advice would really help
thank you [/i]

[Synne]

The overall responce I get from the ppl I know who have one is that it did very little to get them to Japan.

There is one friend though that made his way there on it...

I cant really say much more...sorry

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I got TESOL and it helped me out a bit in Korea, and a whole lot in China.

In Japan, it has the value of toilet paper.

[Glenski]

A TESOL/TESL/TEFL/etc. certificate will not get you a better job in Japan. It MIGHT open a door or two, but don't count on it. Eikaiwas are often afraid that you will bring in teaching methods that aren't compatible with their pre-programmed formats.

A certificate WILL make you more prepared as a teacher, so this is my standard advice.
1. If you are planning on teaching EFL more than a year, get it.
2. If you have no experience/background in teaching English (other subjects don't count IMO), get it.

In my opinion, the value of a certificate is twofold:
* It might refresh your memory or teach you something about English grammar.
* It should/might give you a good perspective on how to plan a lesson and present it properly.

[AgentMulderUK]

A 20-day course cannot really prepare anyone for teaching here or anyone else IMO.
But it depends on what kind of job you want here. Many are high school placement type jobs...and if you consider that it takes a least 1 year to train to be a school teacher, on top of a degree of your intended subject....then 20 days won't really help a great deal.

Of course teaching conversation is not quite as demanding(!) and the necessary skills are probably those you are born with :
(1) ability to talk about anything, even if it bores you stupid
(2) ability to listen
(3) patience
(4) even more patience

Some of the big companies give basic training (minimal, but better than nothing).All the schools here do seem to have their own methods so the Cambridge/Trinity/blahblah is not always the way to go. Some of the methods here are a bit 'dated' by western standards, but we can't change that.

So yes, a TEFL is pretty much irrelevant in Japan (at the risk of upsetting those who have invested their money...), but a very useful investment for a future that may involve working in other countries too.

I would say that its a good idea to read a book about such as
"The Practice of English Language Teaching (LHLT)" for some important pointers or better still just ask people who have done it.

[shmooj]

[AgentMulderUK]

[Mike L.]

Mine got me and 3 classmates on JET!

After that it wasn't so useful.

The ideas you learn in a TEFL/TESLv program such as using only the "target language" only in the classroom have yet to be fully accepted or even realized.

On a positive note this is changing though not in the public schools where it's realy needed..

[shmooj]

[stillnosheep]

[BenJ]

Mike, you don't use 100% English in the classroom? I don't think I've had a teaching job in 3 years in 3 different countries where I've used anything but English...

[shmooj]

BenJ

I've never had a job where I didn't make some use of the students' language in the classroom. Even after only being in Korea three months I take what little I know so far (and the lot I know of Japanese which is usually very close to the Korean mark) and use it very effectively to help students acquire English.

My Korean teacher does the same for me in English and/or Japanese and it works wonders at times - like a fast track to acquisition and use of language sometimes.

While I don't think this thread should degenerate into a for and against discussion of the use of L1s in the classroom, I think it is a bit disingenuous to lean too far either way.

[BenJ]

each to their own then schmooj - i dont use the L1 but a knowledge of the L1 to help my students.