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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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 Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:56 am Post subject: TESOL CERTIFICATION - How many hours are usually needed? |
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TESOL CERTIFICATION QUESTION:
What do most employers abroad or within the U.S. look for regarding the number of TESOL hours with your certification? 120? 150? There is an accredited program that I'm looking at that offers between 40, 60, 120, 150 hour programs. Which one should I choose? I currently tutor ESL in the U.S. but I'm seeking TESOL certification for possible work abroad.
However, because of my circumstances, I must do an online program. Thank for any info!! 
Last edited by Monchi on Sun Jan 25, 2015 3:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:39 am Post subject: |
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To be competitive for many of the better jobs worldwide, a CELTA, SIT TESOL, or Trinity CertTESOL is the best route to go because these qualifications meet the minimum standard of a 120-hour course. Moreover, they appeal to employers because they're 1) standardized; 2) provide face-to-face instruction; and 3) include that all-important six hours of supervised/assessed teaching practice with a classroom of real students. Some non-branded TEFL certs fit this mold as well.
However, in your case, since you're looking at online teacher training courses, you'll need to check out actual job ads in the countries you want to teach in to see what level of TEFL cert employers are expecting as well as each country's visa regulations. Some will accept an online TEFL qualification, while others don't care if you have a cert or not. You'll be limited as to where you can teach with an online cert. As for cheap online TEFL courses, pick one that fits your budget. Just be mindful that you get what you pay for. |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:44 am Post subject: |
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| nomad soul wrote: |
To be competitive for many of the better jobs worldwide, a CELTA, SIT TESOL, or Trinity CertTESOL is the best route to go because these qualifications meet the minimum standard of a 120-hour course.
However, in your case, since you're looking at online teacher training courses, you'll need to check out actual job ads in the countries you want to teach in to see what level of TEFL cert employers are expecting as well as each country's visa regulations. Some will accept an online TEFL qualification, while others don't care if you have a cert or not. You'll be limited as to where you can teach with an online cert. As for cheap online TEFL courses, pick one that fits your budget. Just be mindful that you get what you pay for. |
Thanks, Nomad Soul:
I have the following education requirements and teaching experience. I'm wondering how I would fair with a Bachelor's in Education and a Master's in Higher Education Administration). ??
BFA - Music Education and Music (completed entire Dept. of Education requirements along with Music Education requirements)
MA - Higher Education Administration
TESOL (anticipated 2015)
Music Teacher: K-8 public school for 2 years. 9-12 practicum teaching for 1 semester.
ESL Teacher/Tutor - Taught in-person classes and online ESL lessons (5 years).
Last edited by Monchi on Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:49 am; edited 4 times in total |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:08 am Post subject: |
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Please re-read my previous response; you'll have to rule out those countries where a CELTA or equivalent TEFL cert is the standard. Additionally, your BFA and MA in Higher Ed Admin aren't viewed as relevant to TEFL. Online ESL lessons/tutoring experience are problematic because employers want to see verifiable, face-to-face classroom teaching experience. That said, your qualifications are likely fine for parts of East and Southeast Asia. Head over to the General Asia forum and post your questions there.
However, another option is to teach music in a k-12 public or international school abroad, if you hold a teaching license in music. Take a look at Teach Away's site to see what opportunities may be open to you. |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:14 am Post subject: |
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I have a two education degrees which I do believe are relevant in regards to teaching (but maybe not in some countries). Both of my degrees were through Education departments and I completed all of the necessary standard education classes as well as my music education and music curriculum classes. And yes, I have had face-to-face in-person classroom experience teaching ESL as I mentioned above.
Last edited by Monchi on Sun Jan 25, 2015 7:44 am; edited 2 times in total |
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nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 7:23 am Post subject: |
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| zugora wrote: |
| I do have a two education degrees which I do believe are relevant. Both of my degrees were through Education departments. And yes, I have had face-to-face in-person classroom experience teaching ESL as I mentioned above. |
Possibly. You'll have to convince overseas foreign employers that your degrees are relevant to English language teaching if you're expecting them to qualify you for positions requiring TESOL-related academic credentials. As for your TESOL experience, it helps if you're clearer about what you teach/taught and for how long in each position versus lumping your teaching experience together. |
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spiral78
Joined: 05 Apr 2004
Posts: 11534
Location: On a Short Leash
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| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
TESOL CERTIFICATION QUESTION:
What do most employers abroad or within the U.S. look for regarding the number of TESOL hours with your certification? 120? 150? There is an accredited program that I'm looking at that offers between 40, 60, 120, 150 hour programs. |
I have served on hiring committees in both North America and Europe, and what we look for is hands-on, supervised teaching practice with real students as a part of a cert course.
Even if a candidate has related degrees (and your BA would definitely not, and I'd query your MA, but highly unlikely it would be considered relevant), a CELTA or equivalent is advisable as an indication of what your actual classroom approach to language teaching might be. Music and Higher etc. Education won't apply.
Newbies to the field of ELT often assume that having taught something to someone will be valued by employers and students in English language teaching.
This may have been somewhat true in decades past, but in almost every job market these days (except parts of Asia, as nomad soul's already pointed out) these days there are lots of candidates around with directly relevant quals.
For example, in Canada without a CELTA or equivalent, someone with your quals would not be legally eligible to teach in a private language school, and would not be competitive for university or other positions.
ELT is a vast field in itself, with its own body of research relating to best practices in its field. These best practices in many cases bear little resemblance to those still applied when teaching other subjects to native speakers of the language of instruction.
As already noted, if you are aiming for Asia, this is probably all moot; you are likely fine. Other regions, don't waste your time with an online cert, and don't expect employers to consider your earlier quals directly relevant in most cases. |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 3:30 am Post subject: |
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| zugora wrote: |
| I do have a two education degrees which I do believe are relevant. |
Keep in mind that no one here is saying that the knowledge you gained during your two education degrees won't give you any skills for classroom ESL teaching. What people are saying is that in the dichotomy of related/unrelated that employers will use, those degrees will most likely be judged to be on the unrelated side. Would you hire someone with degrees in ESL education to teach a music class?
Your question about what "employers abroad or within the U.S. look for regarding the number of TESOL hours with your certification" is difficult to answer since requirements vary by country and by type of position.
For example, for a university position in Japan, no number of hours of an online TESOL certificate will qualify you (minimum is an MA in TESOL/AppLing, and often Japanese language ability and a number of academic publications as well).
However, one can get a position at a university in China with an unrelated BA and no TESOL certificate at all.
In some countries, a BA in any subject is enough. Some countries require a certificate, but the number of hours doesn't matter.
That said, 120 hours is often mentioned as a standard number, but usually in the context of the CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL, or SIT TESOL certificate, the three main, internationally-recognized certificates.
A better strategy than asking for a universal standard might be to think about what parts of the world you are interested in teaching in, and then investigating what opportunities there are in those regions, and what those opportunities require.
One question: You mention that your certificate would be from an "accredited program". To my knowledge, there are no central accrediting bodies for TESOL certificate courses, so you might want to investigate any claims of accreditation. Or, is it a certificate from an accredited university (in which case the university is accredited, not the TESOL certificate program)? |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| rtm wrote: |
In some countries, a BA in any subject is enough. Some countries require a certificate, but the number of hours doesn't matter.
That said, 120 hours is often mentioned as a standard number, but usually in the context of the CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL, or SIT TESOL certificate, the three main, internationally-recognized certificates. |
Thank you so much RTM and other above for your info. So, what I'm wondering is ---which countries only require only a BA that you know of and which ones will will look for the CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL, or SIT TESOL certificate that you mention? I'm mainly looking in Eastern Asia at this point (Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan) and I'm also curious about Turkey (if anyone know about requirements there). When I started perusing some job boards I was noticing the mention of a TESOL or TEFL certificiate, but they didn't specify exactly which kind or how many hours. Also, will my MA give me any advantage in any part of the world even though it isn't an Master's in TESOL/TEFL.
| rtm wrote: |
| One question: You mention that your certificate would be from an "accredited program". To my knowledge, there are no central accrediting bodies for TESOL certificate courses, so you might want to investigate any claims of accreditation. Or, is it a certificate from an accredited university (in which case the university is accredited, not the TESOL certificate program)?. |
This online course is reporting that they are accredited http://teflen.com/index.html and discusses it here: http://teflen.com/internationally-accredited-tefl-tesol-courses.html . They state they are "Internationally recognised by the IARC (International Accreditation and Recognition Council). I actually know nothing more about this program other than what is on their website. I do, however, know that they are relatively new (about 2.5- 3 years in business). Thanks again!
Last edited by Monchi on Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| With all due respect to the hiring system, I am a little confused why a school would require the in-person interaction requirement with the certificate if someone already had an Education BA (like I do) and had many hours of in-class experience with students in regards to classroom management, effectively delivering content and engaging students, motivating students, and preparing for the class. To me, the content is the only thing that is different and I already have the in-class experience for those countries who are requiring that for the certificate. You know what I mean? |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:23 am Post subject: |
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| zugora wrote: |
| So, what I'm wondering is ---which countries only require only a BA that you know of and which ones will will look for the CELTA, Trinity CertTESOL, or SIT TESOL certificate that you mention? I'm mainly looking in Eastern Asia at this point (Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan) and I'm also curious about Turkey (if anyone know about requirements there). When I started perusing some job boards I was noticing the mention of a TESOL or TEFL certificiate, but they didn't specify exactly which kind or how many hours. Also, will my MA give me any advantage in any part of the world even though it isn't an Master's in TESOL/TEFL. |
I posted on your other thread about Japan. In Japan, your MA will likely make you a more competitive candidate for entry-level jobs, but probably won't help you immediately get a job beyond entry level. Once you are in the country for a while and do some networking, it could help you get a position at a private high school.
I don't know about the other countries you mention. You'd be best off posting your questions on the country forums, rather than on the "general" or "newbie" forums that you are currently posting on. The Korea forum is a separate site that requires separate registration (http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/).
When you look at requirements, you'll also want to be clear about which are requirements for a work visa, and which are employer 'requirements'/preferences.
| Quote: |
| They state they are "Internationally recognised by the IARC (International Accreditation and Recognition Council). |
If you google "International Accreditation and Recognition Council" and read some of the discussion, you'll quickly find that it is a fake accreditor. |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:32 am Post subject: |
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| zugora wrote: |
| With all due respect to the hiring system, I am a little confused why a school would require the in-person interaction requirement with the certificate if someone already had an Education BA (like I do) and had many hours of in-class experience with students in regards to classroom management, effectively delivering content and engaging students, motivating students, and preparing for the class. To me, the content is the only thing that is different and I already have the in-class experience for those countries who are requiring that for the certificate. You know what I mean? |
2 reasons:
1) Previous non-ESL teaching experience doesn't mean you will be a good ESL teacher
2) Potential employers on the other side of the world don't have evidence that you effectively delivered content and engaged and motivated students. A standardized TEFL certificate program that includes in-person, observed, evaluated teaching will at least be something that the employer is familiar with (since it's standardized all over the world). That is, many employers would rather take someone whose training and performance is known and they can verify (even if it is just a 30-day certificate) than someone with unverifiable experience of unknown quality. |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:39 am Post subject: |
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| rtm wrote: |
If you google "International Accreditation and Recognition Council" and read some of the discussion, you'll quickly find that it is a fake accreditor. |
Crap. Yes, I see now that the IARC is listed as an "unrecognized" non-profit accreditor. I'm not sure it is technically "fake", but yes, "unrecognized". |
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rtm
Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 1003
Location: US
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:42 am Post subject: |
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| zugora wrote: |
| Crap. Yes, I see now that the IARC is listed as an "unrecognized" non-profit accreditor. I'm not sure it is technically "fake", but yes, "unrecognized". |
"Unrecognized" in the sense that if you give them money, they will gladly accredit your organization, without any substantial evaluation of it. |
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Monchi
Joined: 27 Oct 2013
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 4:53 am Post subject: |
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[quote="rtm"]
| zugora wrote: |
2 reasons:
1) Previous non-ESL teaching experience doesn't mean you will be a good ESL teacher
2) Potential employers on the other side of the world don't have evidence that you effectively delivered content and engaged and motivated students. A standardized TEFL certificate program that includes in-person, observed, evaluated teaching will at least be something that the employer is familiar with (since it's standardized all over the world). That is, many employers would rather take someone whose training and performance is known and they can verify (even if it is just a 30-day certificate) than someone with unverifiable experience of unknown quality. |
Regarding #1: So, here's how I see it in an example: I have a BA in Education, with the subject area of Music. I have taken all of the core curriculum classes within the Dept. of Education from my alma mater. If I wanted to suddenly teach science or another subject matter, I would need to take those required science education classes and not have to RE-TAKE the entire core education set of classes. I would also need to take the test for science teacher certification. This is how I see it with ESL. ESL is just the content. I have already taken the core Education classes (including practicum in-class teaching), plus have a Master's within the Dept of Education and feel that I am just lacking this specific content area in my education. If I was a school employer and saw that a previous music teacher with a great teaching record is now applying for a science teacher position and has taken the required science courses, I would assume that they CAN actually TEACH science and would probably be quite good at it based on their previous teaching record along with the recent content area of Science Education under their belt. I understand it's the "rules" for some countries for ESL, but....it's a little silly to me and seems a little ESL elitist to me.
Regarding #2: Yes, I can totally see that. But gosh, I really hope my letters of recommendation for previously teaching ESL might help, my previous experience as a public school teacher along with the online ESL classes that I plan to take will help - I don't have the luxury of attending in-person classes at this point. (Btw, most schools in the US do recognize additional online science education content programs, for instance,- because they know you already have your degree in education). But yes...i understand there is a language barrier and they get 100s of applications, so they are scanning for this item only for standardization purposes. However, I really think they should make exceptions for those who already do have degrees in Education but have content area courses (online or not) in ESL. I actually think it's very short-sighted to assume that those with Education degrees are not qualified to teach ESL because they have not taken *in-person* ESL certification programs, only online ESL content programs. I really hope people remember that ESL is only the content area and that most Education majors actually do have skills to teach as long as they are educated in the content and how to engage ESL learners.
Last edited by Monchi on Sun Jan 25, 2015 7:47 am; edited 17 times in total |
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