Job Discussion Forums

[lingua.franca]

Hi ~

Could anyone could give me some insight about opportunities for teachers w/ an MA in TESOL? As I'm nearing graduation, I've started to do some preliminary "research" on teaching beyond bushibans in Taiwan. I was in Taipei 2005-06, teaching for KOJEN, which turned out to be okay since I was dedicated to the TESOL profession and found ways to negotiate the "business" with my own beliefs about teaching. Additionally, I'm originally from Taiwan and have Taiwanese citizenship. Though Mandarin is my mother tongue, English is by far my stronger language. For now, I am not sure where to even start as far as looking for teaching positions beyond the cram school variety. So far, the only connection I have is teaching English for Chungtai 's new private high school in Puli. While this is a good opportunity, I prefer living in Taipei. Any insight would be appreciated...

[romanworld]

Opportunities? There aren't any! I lived in Taiwan a few years back and I saw the writing on the wall for MAs then, which was why I left in search of greener pastures.(I hold an MA.) Basically, Taiwan needs two kinds of teacher these days: 1) FOBs to fill the buxibans because they are cheap and confused and easy for mercenary bosses to exploit; and 2) Ph.ds to fill the university Depts of English.(You'll also need to be qualified in an English-related area such as linguistics or English lit. too. Long gone are the days when an MA in physics or a Ph.d in Biology can saunter into a cushy university position.) I'm still in touch with some of my old teacher friends in Taiwan and most hold MAs and are still working in language centers. However, many of those are looking for other work because they know that their days are numbered. My advice would be to look elsewhere.