Job Discussion Forums

[Nabby Adams]

Been teaching a while and trying to find out if it's worth the expense to do a MA. I know one would be useful in some countries such as Japan and in the ME, but what about elsewhere? Please could you state briefly the situation in the country. For Japan.

Will give you a good chance of getting a uni position where pay and conditions are much better than language schools. Definitely worth it.

[ecocks]

worthless in Ukraine. The one exception might be if your career goal is to be an ESL teacher trainer. Keep in mind that would be a pretty limited marketplace since we only have a couple of places doing that and then only infrequently. University positions here seem more concerned with the content area (Business, Law, Economics, etc.) than advanced linguistics.

[naturegirl321]

helpful in uni jobs, but not institutes or school.s

[Sadebugo]

If you plan to make EFL a career, I would definitely get it at some point. If not, I would go for the cert. as most non-university positions will accept that. Plus, it's always nice to have the training.

Sadebugo
Djibouti, Horn of Africa
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Go for it, NA! I hopped out of my TESOL career in 2000 and re-entered it in 2002. Before, in Saudi. working for the military (really, the only GOOD paying jobs at the time), I was making about USD 40,000 max. Now with the M. Ed. in TESOL, I work in another M.E country at a uni and pull in over USD 60,000! It was the best decision that I ever made in my life!

NCTBA

[thelmadatter]

worth it in Mexico.... actually any degree in English is worth it here...

[Insubordination]

Useful in Australia for university or government jobs. For private institutes, you're pretty much guaranteed to price yourself out of a job.

[Extraordinary Rendition]

If you do an MA, make sure you do one in which you can include the DELTA as part of it (at least some of the British unis are doing that now). I'm getting disgusted with some of the interesting jobs that require a DELTA, regardless of having an MATEFL; CELTA trainer, for example. Note: If you don't yet have a basic qualification (CELTA/Trinity/SIT), it really would be a good idea to do that first - you will get a lot more out of your MA.

[tanuki]

Hi there Nabby

I thoroughly agree with Insubordination re: pricing your self out of a job.

In terms of going for jobs at private language colleges I think an MA is likely to be a DEmerit. (Not that, strictly speaking you need to mention on your resume for every job!)

However, I have never been a DoS--and I've never actually asked any of my DoSs--so I don't know.

Basically, it depends on what your long term EFL/ESL goals are, really.

If you plan to make this a serious career (presuming you haven't already; and you may well have! ), and go into a trainer position and/or a university position down the track, then by all means.

But if you're just thinking EFL for the short-term, then it seems like quite a lot of work to do for only a marginal gain (if any,as I've mentioned)

Having said that, though, there are some countries in which some very tasty jobs can be had much more easily with an MA (I think one other poster mentioned Saudi). But you need to investigate it. I'm in Japan, for example, and the competition for university jobs is pretty fierce so the standards are understandably higher. In addition to a TEFL-related MA (yeah, system ain't always been that way, but I'm told this is more or less par for the course these days (that it WOULDN'T be floors me!)...) you also need several published academic papers, good level of Japanese, etc.

So if there's a country that you'd REALLY like to live and work in, then find out whether the university jobs are relatively "easy" to get into with an MA because it might, actually, be worth the effort (despite what I said a moment ago).

For example, if you had, say, a passing interest in living and working in Japan and you wanted a university position, then it would seem to me that doing an MA would more or less be a waste of time and money if you didn't know about the other criteria and the stiff competition for those positions.

On the other hand, if you were FASCINATED with Japan and really, really, really wanted to live here, then clearly the university positions are going to be the ones you'd be going for (or maybe an international school--more on this in a minute) so you'd do your research, find out that you needed the other things (publications, lang.skills) and it would most likely be worth it.

Sorry, I kind of feel like my point is going round in circles. Is it?

Also, if you wanted to teach at an international school and/or had any interest in teaching back home (wherever that is), then doing an MA that also accredits you as a licensed teacher in your home country might be something to look into. I don't know how common such Masters programs are, but I'm pretty sure they exist.

Obviously international schools will vary, but I think that most of them require that you've taught in your home country for a couple of years.

Does this help?

Hope so!

Tanuki
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http://www.eflteachertraining.com

[arioch36]

Useless in many countries. China, you can use it as toilet paper in a pinch

[spiral78]

Very useful in Europe. But not a golden key in itself - local contacts, local language skills, patience, and legal work permits are also necessary.

And, like in Ukraine, an MA just prices you out of the market in most of the 'new' EU member countries.

[Kootvela]

A good idea for Lithuania, opens you the door to many teaching places (both state and privately run). Plus, you can always charge more for private lessons.

[Tiger Beer]

Worked great for me in Korea.

Once I had the MA degree, I was working 12 hours a week with 5 months of paid vacation. HIGHLY RECOMMEND getting the MA degree.

[dakota29michael]

There is a program near where I live that offers an Ms with a concentration in TESOL. Does that carry as much clout as an Ma? Is it the same thing ? Or is it a matter of semantics.... I'll tell you one thing. im surprised at how negative some of the folks are about the prospect of the masters in TESOL. Here in the US its a huge boon. All other things being equal...a masters blows a cheesy 120 hour thing out of the water....Am i wrong ?

[johnslat]

In the Middle East, an MA in TESOL or Applied Linguistics is a prerequisite for almost any decent-paying job.