Job Discussion Forums

tsadah · Joined: 02 Aug 2009 Posts: 3

Hi everyone. I'm just doing a bit of research on the various courses around to qualify me for teaching overseas but I was wondering if I even actually need one. I'm about to finish a university degree qualifying me to teach in the Australian school system up to Grade 10 (15-16 yo). So with that will I actually need to complete some sort of EFL course as well or will it depend on the location I go to? Any help would be appreciated!

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Depends on the country and the type of teaching you want to do. A bachelor's degree is sort of the minimum needed for most entry level jobs.

nickpellatt · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1522

Glenski is right, you can teach in some places with just the degree, but I feel for EFL work additional qualifications (which may be required in some places) is required to give you the skills to do the job better.

Teaching students in their own language (something I should add, I have no experience of) is different to teaching them (in what is to them) a foreign language.

I was discussing this subject with another teacher yesterday afternoon. We are both senior teachers in a summer school, with students that spend up to 3 weeks here in the UK. Due to the size of the organisation and number of students, up to 100 teachers are employed at any one time. These people come from different backgrounds, some have EFL qualifications, many are state school teachers, or are students studying to become state school teachers.

We have a few staff issues, and one of them centres around the standard of teaching ... and we were discussing the input from the PGCE / QTS qualified teachers we have, and the fact we feel they tend to do a pretty bad job overall. Whilst they are often better qualified than us EFL teachers, their qualifications and skills rarely translate well into EFL environments, and they dont employ methodology that is the norm for EFL classrooms. Their lessons are normally more like lectures with lots of 'teacher talk time', they rarely use any target language, and their materials are often less suited for the EFL classes. Their grammar knowledge also doesnt translate so well either.

For this reason, I think it may be a good idea to consider a recognised TEFL course. Whilst I accept your qualifications may be better than many people working in EFL, those qualifications are not geared toward EFL. Having a TEFL qualification will help you to do your job better.

tsadah · Joined: 02 Aug 2009 Posts: 3

Thanks for the replies. I was leaning towards doing a EFL course for the reasons you mention but now I am sure I will. Just need to find the right one...there seems to be a few! But there's a TESOL course that looks good so I think I'll go with that. Thanks again!

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Be sure any course you go with is 100+ hours on site and includes supervised teaching practice with real students (not peer trainees). CELTA is the name brand, though there are some generic certs that fit the bill. Beware of the great advertising of some short/online courses - the are considered substandard in many parts of the world.

tsadah · Joined: 02 Aug 2009 Posts: 3

The course I was looking at was a split between I think 30 hours in class and 80 hours online. I'm mainly going to be looking at Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey and China/SE Asia. Would that sort of course be ok to teach in those locations? Otherwise I saw some here http://www.tesolcourse.com/our-tesol-courses.php where you can do a full in class course in another country which could be good.

nickpellatt · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1522

The full in-class course is the one to go for. The other that combines online study with some class hours may be enough to find work in some of the countries you mention ... certainly China which is where my experience mostly is.

The downside is this course may not be recognised elsewhere. The minimum really as, as mentioned above by Spiral, the 100+ hours in-class with observed teaching practice. Some course providers use a variety of ways to describe the courses, in an attempt to make them sound as if they cover the minimum standard. I feel the 30 + 80 hours online is one of those types, and should probably be avoided. The CELTA type qualifications are the bare minimum really

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Definitely not in Eastern Europe - the vast majority of newbies in the region have a CELTA or equivalent, and anything less puts you at a significant disadvantage on the job market.

Chancellor · Posted: Wed Aug 19, 2009 7:02 pm Post subject: Re: Qualifications

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Another point (sorry if this is obvious): teaching English to speakers of other languages is a rather different skill from teaching 'subjects' to English speakers. I had been a college teacher some years before doing the CELTA. The latter course was full of things I didn't know.

Chancellor · Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: Qualifications

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Trinity is more for teaching children, I believe.
With regard to taking a masters course, may I point out that this commits you to a year. CELTA or Trinity (and you need to think about which is more appropriate) take four to five weeks and are asked for by employers. I would be inclined to go for a masters later in your TEFL career if and when you decide it is the right career for you. Apart from anything else, your experience feeds into a masters course, allowing you to bring your accumulated skills to bear on it. Indeed, many masters courses prefer experienced teachers.

Chancellor · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 5:28 pm Post subject:

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

No, I do not presume equality between a masters degree and an initial teacher training in ESL/EFL. Academically, the former is much more demanding and takes one far deeper into the workings of the English language. The CELTA/Trinity are the qualifications in demand as a basic qualification; they are teaching qualifications, even if (as you seem to want to quantify matters) they are lesser qualifications than say a secondary school teacher's postgraduate certificate. Secondly, the masters does not always contain a teaching element (it depends upon the nature of the masters: is it Applied Linguistics, which does not, and AL and TESOL, which does). Thirdly, in terms of personal development, the experienced teacher is more likely to benefit from the masters than the newbie, who can't bring much relevant experience to bear.

Perhaps there is some misunderstanding about the Trinity (maybe there are different Trinity qualifications). Many schools which teach primarily younger children regularly ask for the Trinity as the preferred qualification.

The last point is an eternal verity of course.