Job Discussion Forums

[Western East]

Hi all, first time posting here.

I'm a female British national of Chinese descent in my early 30s just starting out in a TEFL type job. I want to ask others with more knowledge and experience of the TEFL world for some advice as to where I could go next in my overseas career.

Last year, I graduated with a PhD in Linguistics from a U.K. university. Following that, seeking a change of environment, I applied for a teaching abroad programme in China. I am currently teaching at a primary school in a second tier city in China. Whilst it's been a good working experience, I don't feel this is the right place or position for me. I'm thinking I might do better aiming to teach older students (from secondary school to university) now.

After I finish my current primary school teaching job in summer, what would be a good next destination for me if I were to continue teaching abroad? I am considering whether it would be better to stay in China and try to look for a job in a better location with older students or try out a new country? I've considered places around East and South East Asia, like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia.

Here's a quick list of my credentials:
U.K. national,
BA, MA and PhD (all related to English Language/Linguistics),
No CELTA/TESOL certificate, but completed a TEFL in China certificate (120 hours, comprising of 60 hours online and 60 hours classroom experience),
10 months experience working at a primary school in China when my current contract ends this summer,
Limited experience of teaching at university (3 months) and have presented at academic conferences before,
Some short story and poetry publications in writing competition anthologies.

Considering that I do not have an awful lot of experience in TEFL teaching, would my best bet for overseas work still lie with applying through TEFL programme recruiters? Or possibly should I consider government programmes like EPIK in South Korea or the JET programme in Japan too? And what about applying to institutions directly?

I've also been wondering how useful it would be for me to invest in gaining a CELTA certificate. Would it improve my employment prospects in the TEFL market? Or would it not add much to what I already have?

Thank you in advance for your responses!

[nomad soul]

[Western East]

[nomad soul]

[santi84]

Why a troll? My son's preschool teacher has a PhD in education. For whatever reason, not everyone with a PhD continues in academia.

[danshengou]

[HLJHLJ]

With your background, and the teaching practicum in your TEFL cert, a CELTA is unlikely to make much difference to you. More experience will certainly help.

In terms of where and what, do you want to teach kids or adults?



Oh, and be prepared for sniping here about your qualifications, it's best ignored. If you are interested in South America, drop me a PM.

[Western East]

Thank you to the pertinent and kind responders.

This is off-topic, and I had not intended to delve into this, but for those curious about my doctoral research subject, it was basically a study that tested the application of linguistic models used for analysing prose texts to the 'multimodal' medium of comics. 'Multimodal' is a term used to refer to mediums which possess more than one narrative mode, such as the visual and textual modes of comics, or the visual and auditory modes of films. It had implications for expanding the use of known linguistic models of analysis from prose to a multimodal type of text and furthered the field of multimodal studies. Of course, my research also revealed unique characteristics in comics and more complexity in their multimodal narrative than many people would give them credit for. Aside from contributing to existing linguistic knowledge, I had also set out to challenge the notion that comics and graphic novels are simply 'non-literary' and 'kiddy' texts. I personally feel I made a small step in 'legitimising' comics within academia and perhaps, in time, in the eyes of the public. I believe that there is still so much untapped scope in comics, with the comics industry largely dominated by the more popular superhero and childen-targeted titles, and 'literary' and biographical graphic novels (like Art Spiegelmann's 'Maus') been fewer. Of course, that is not to criticise the existing comics market out there, but I am saying that comics could be used for so much more. There is potential to experiment more with their storytelling capacities and to generate a wider variety of comic genres.

Anyway, back on topic...

[nomad soul]

[Elicit]

There would be opportunities teaching EAP in university parnerships in China. Unsure how the lack of experience would be viewed but the Ph.D would go down well, especially in the more research focused places.

You could try the big two British universities in China, although they may have already concluded taking applications for a September 2017 start. An alternative is to look for a lesser known reputable university partnership programme that would give you the all important experience to move on to bigger and possibly better things in the future. I only know the British parnerships but there are perhaps many other US partnerships that may well be interested in you too.

If my place begins to recruit for September 2017 I'll let you know, because they would achnowledge the value of your Ph.D. Big push for academia and research here at the moment.

[spiral78]

I am less optimistic about the OP's quals now that they've been more fully described. Just the possession of a PhD does not necessarily wow savvy prospective employers and the study of the deeper meanings of comics, while possibly interesting and useful in some circles, has little relevance to EFL.
I suggest that a CELTA may in fact be a useful addition to his/her CV.
Ah, hold on-I see that you've done a practicing. I take back my advice but still think the PhD is unlikely to be much of an asset.

[HLJHLJ]

That hasn't been my experience. In terms of English teaching, universities have been far more interested in my academic writing skills, (thesis and publications) and my experience of having been through the academic process of a PhD. They generally aren't that interested in the content of the research.

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Several inappropriate postings have been deleted. Members observing insulting, sexist, off-topic or other inappropriate postings are encouraged to notify the Mod Team without delay.

If you had a posting deleted on this thread, you may assume you are now on the Next Step Permanent Ban short list. Such action includes one's ISPs.

[taikibansei]

The destinations you mention all seem good to me, though they all tend to be on the competitive side--particularly with regards to finding university work. For these countries, I think the lack of university-level teaching experience and academic publications may make things a bit challenging. Regarding the former, is it possible to teach part-time classes at a local university near where you're at now? (Not sure how visas work in China....) Basically, the more university classroom experience you have, the better your chances will be.

The lack of academic publications may also hamper your search, particularly for the better positions in Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Japan, etc. Have you explored publishing your dissertation, either in parts as journal articles, or together as a book? Not sure how it works in the UK system, but can you discuss your publishing options with your dissertation adviser(s)? This would be the first thing to try, in my opinion.

To be honest, for many (most?) university jobs in Asia, schools just want to be able to check off boxes. You have a PhD related to English language/linguistics--that's a great box to have checked! Next, schools will want to check off the pertinent box on your teaching experience--each school will be different, but one year of relevant experience would probably be the absolute minimum (and many places will want more). With regards to publications as well, having "academic" publications (preferably in refereed journals) is a real plus. Note that surprisingly few people on hiring committees will be very concerned about the substance/contents of your research. They want to check off a box--does she have academic publications, yes or no? (Most Japanese universities will say they want at least three academic publications, but even one may be enough with the completed PhD, especially if the rest of your CV seems competitive.)

Again, all this is to help improve your chances of surviving the first cut. After that, most places will want to interview you (and the other finalists). Surviving that is another thread, however.

Good luck!

[taikibansei]