Job Discussion Forums

[athenssoest]

If you get an MA in TESOL in a non English speaking country, will it still be accepted by future employers or is it pretty much a must to do this in an English speaking country?

[fluffyhamster]

An MA in TESOL open to English native-speakers will almost certainly be taught in English no matter which country it is offered in (see for example the Master's in TESOL from TUJ (Temple University, Japan Campus)), so I can't see that the non-English-speaking country thing will be such a huge no-no for employers (well, not unless the institution you're thinking of taking the MA at, and thus perhaps the MA itself that they award, is so unknown as to seem less-than-stellar generally). And it might actually be better to study on-site but "abroad" than to do a distance/online degree (some employers e.g. in the ME apparently can be funny about distance degrees). But I guess the ideal for most people, for personal as well as professional reasons, would as you imply be to do the MA on-site at a renowned center of learning and research in an English-speaking country!

[natsume]

Of course, if you get an MA from Temple (or Columbia) in Japan, you are getting an MA from a U.S. university.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Temple is actually an American university- so when you graduate, you have a degree from an American university. I think employers probably do care whether or not the university is from an inner-circle English speaking nation (US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc) or not.

A degree from a university in Thailand, for example, isn't going to be thought of all that highly outside of Thailand, or possibly the rest of SE Asia, even if it was done entirely in English.

There's a reason why there are so many off-campus graduate degrees n TESOL/Applied Linguistics.

[fluffyhamster]

Heh, I guess that's what I was sort of suggesting, Natsume (and GBBB)! (Thanks for clarifying for the OP though!). I mean, it's hard (for me at least!) to think of any "non-English-speaking" MAs in TESOL that aren't effectively branches of or affiliated with (i.e. pretty much identical, equal, and equivalent to) the same qualifications from the affiliating/awarding/"parent" universities in English-speaking countries!