Job Discussion Forums

[Von Dut]

Hi Everyone!!

I have read people posts about getting an online degree, etc. My question is what schools should I look to in getting a degree in Tesol? I have really fell in love with teaching in Asia and want to focus my education to that field. I don't want to go all the way back to Canada to go back to school to come all the way back to Asia.

I want to be a properly educated teacher for my students.

Thanks!!!!!

Von Dut

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Don't go to an on-line university, unless you can't help it (the on-line universities used by the American military are supposed to be good, though. I've also heard good things about Athabasca University, but 1. It's very, VERY expensive- more than being an international student in Australia, and more importantly 2. Although TESOL/ Applied Linguistics is a very common area for off-campus degrees, Athabasca doesn't have a program in it). Go to a 'real' brick and mortar school that has off-campus programs (MTESOL or M.Ed or M.A, it may even go by M.Sc) in TESOL/ Applied Linguistics (they may be through a linguistics department, or a faculty of education- those are the most common two places, or it may be through an English department, or even a stand-alone program).
Off-campus / distance prorams in TESOL are still sort of rare in Canada. Here's what I've been able to find:

University of Calgary has an off-campus Masters in Tesol (or TESL, or applied Linguistics or something like that). A couple of Christian universities in Canada do, too (Temple in BC, and Otterborn in Manitoba). University of Toronto is now offering one, too- but it's very long and you have to already have the one year B.ed or an Ontario university TESOL certificate (through U of T, or Brock or Carleton etc) [which is more ridiculousness from Ontario universities. What they are effectively saying is 'yeah, we know you have a TESL certificate from a university- and that is equivalent to a masters degree in Applied Linguistics from many countries. But now having done that, we'd like you to spend another three and a half years in order to get your M.Ed in this area. People from other countries study for a full-time year to get a M.Ed in TESOL. People from Ontario Canada should study for FOUR AND A HALF YEARS to get what is , as far as marketability of your education goes, the ***SAME THING***' Thanks, UofT, you pompous Assholes!!!.

It's still a lot more common for Canadians to do their off-campus masters in TESOL through a university that has a lot of experience in the area. Those universities are in Australia and the UK (and New Zealand, and if you check, possibly Ireland as well- basically every 'inner circle' English speaking nation outside of North America). The most common one from the UK is Birmingham and there are several common ones from Australia- USQ, UNE and MacQuarie. My masters was from Deakin University (in Australia). After some initial administrative glitches that really weren't that big of a deal, it went smoothly, and I thoroughly recommend it. Note that is wasn't one of the most commonly known ones. I looked for the university that was offering the program that met what I was looking for, not the one that spent the most on international advertising. So don't think you HAVE to do it at Birmingham, if you do it through a UK school (but also don't think that you shouldn't do it through them just because they do advertise heavily. Talk to real people that you know about the program they did, or what they know of the university, if they are from the same country and it isn't your country, and then make up your own mind).

The good things about the schools in Australia for Canadians looking for a masters are 1. Schools are regulated by the government, just like in Canada- so there aren't really any 'non-accredited universities' (like there are in the US). I just asked Australian people that I know or have known and still stay in touch with about the university before applying to make sure it was thought of highly in Australia itself. 2. Cost. UK schools tend to be much, much more expensive (which actually leads some people to honestly believe the programs are better- those people tend to be from the US, for some reason). 3. The university I went to, at least, allows you to continue using the on-line library (for a small fee) even after you graduate. I've heard some of the British universities are cutting people off form the library as soon as courses are finished (ie they are still working on a thesis, but now they have to try to work on a thesis, possibly from the middle of nowhere , Non-English speaking nation X, and the only new research they can do is through google). 4. Just like Canadian universities, a research unit (AKA Thesis or history major paper course) is optional. You can do the entire degree by coursework (but this severely limits doctoral studies opportunities- again, Just. Like. In. Canada.).

ETA

If you mean you are looking at getting an undergraduate degree, you don't mention what KIND of degree you are looking at getting and you work in China.. so it's sort of unclear. In that case, then I think that if you are sure you don't want to do it in Canada, then probably the same information as above is applicable for the undergrad level as well (there are far less programs available as a first degree off-campus, though- I just checked, you can do a Bachelor of Arts in various disciplines as an international student, off-campus through Deakin. International Relations is also a possibility). Australian universities have both three year and four year options for undergrad degrees. You could do a three year degree in English or something, and then a masters in TESOL- a masters in Australia is 12 units [like a one term course] for three year degree holders, and 8 units for four year university degree holders. So you could do many more units in TESOL specific areas for a masters degree and less units for an undergraduate degree.

[Here's an example: a full time year is four units. You could do a three year degree in International Relations- twelve units, and then a Master of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages- twelve units. It's the same number of units as doing an honours degree plus a masters, but you do more units in the English language teaching area at the masters level than undergrad units in another area- you cannot do an undergrad in education off-campus- at least as an international student, at that school].

[Von Dut]

I am looking to get a B.A. in the TESOL/Education field, so in Arts.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

TESOL/ Applied Linguistics tends to be a post-grad subject- it's the type of thing you study AFTER finishing your BA. You may be able to find a school that offers Linguistics degrees by distance. And Education is often something that is studied after a BA in something else too, though not always. I just remembered: Brock University in Ontario offers an undergraduate degree in Adult Education as a first degree and I'm pretty sure it's available by distance (I know it was available for distance for people just doing the major courses because they already had a degree).

http://www.ed.brocku.ca/adult/faq.html

Common undergrads in this area are English, Foreign Languages, Linguistics, anything to do with professional writing (journalism, public relations, advertising, creative writing, too) would be good, other Humanities area (for example, if you've decided that you want to work in Asia, then international relations may be a good one, or possibly some sort of East Asian concentration in a history degree- etc (know where your students are coming from, then concentrate on teaching them English).

[ETA: BTW, Education is often/ usually in its own faculty- it's separate from Arts, which is often lumped into Arts and Science.]

[tudodude]

Be very careful of expecting an online degree from ANYWHERE being accepted in Asia. All Asian countries are moving in the direction of rejecting ANY online degree from ANYWHERE. Thailand has already done this, Korea, Japan, China and Singapore are all doing so this year unless it went through last year.
Pity really because my adult education is all online and now it is becoming worthless in the countries I hold most dear

[runthegauntlet]

[Von Dut]

I am asking about a real university with distance education.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

There wouldn't really be any way to reject an off-campus degree from a real school. It's the same degree with the same people. Employers could not accept distance education, though.

But most real schools (brick and mortar degree granting middle class kids go there after high school and often their parents are paying the tuition types of schools) that have distance programs are very careful to stay away from the 'online' name. And the programs aren't online. Only discussion boards and the library is online. The rest is reading lecture notes, textbooks and journal articles- just like being on-campus.

[rogerwallace]

first one has to declare a major, toesl is not a major for an undergraduate degree-at least not in the usa. Try education and within thatis esl,toesl. Core classes come first, which is why western degrees are top in the education field.

[naturegirl321]

[ssjup81]

If one does decide to go with a distance learning degree, must make sure that the university in question has both an on-campus option to learn and an off-campus option. The ones that are purely and nearly 100% online are probably the ones that wouldn't be recognized or accepted.

If I'm not mistaken, I don't think places like the Phoenix University's online degree counts in some places.

[steki47]

I have been looking into the MA programs at UNE and USQ in Australia. They have brick and mortar campuses and are generally respected/accepted by employers. Or at least here in Japan.

[jimi1999uk]

[AjarnIam]

Hi everyone and thanks to Dave for letting me join. I thought this was a great posting and thanks to the OP and for some of the great replies. Unfortunately, I'm still lost in the decision to do my MATESOL. I think the problem I have is that there are too many choices out there. I've just returned the TESOL Thailand conference in Bangkok, and I'm sure I received 30 different opinions of where and how to do my MATESOL. Fortunately, I have the money to do this this course, (wow they are pricey:! however I really want to be sure before I start dishing out 20-30,000 US. Can you please throw a few more comments my direction. If money, time and relocation are not issues, dollars to donuts, what direction would you go? Would you focus on getting an actual classroom education over any kind of distance/online program? (Again assuming money, time and relocation didn't matter) Yes, I'm aware of the fact that classroom vs distance learning will result in the same degree, but I'm looking at purely from a personal quality of learning perspective. That about it for now....once again thanks for allowing me to join, and sorry ahead of time if this reply is a bit vague.
FYI, I have been an ESP teacher at a Thai university for 3 years.

Cheers

[Chancellor]