Job Discussion Forums

[christyannemelendez]

Hi all,

I have heard mixed reviews concerning which cert (CELTA or TEFL/TESOL) is more readily accepted...

Experiences? Opinions? Justifications?

Thanks!

[spiral78]

CELTA is the name brand, but some TESOL/TESL/TEFL courses are considered equivalent. Basically, look for 120 + hours on-site and including real teaching practice with actual students (not peer trainees).

Keep in mind that a CELTA will not help one overcome the restrictions on hiring non-EU citizens, though. I realise that this is bad news, but please do consider the legal difficulties if you are considering a move abroad.

[SirKirby]

Yes, there's a misunderstanding there...

CELTA is a qualification, TEFL is not -- it's the profession, teaching English as a foreign language.

Best is always going to be either CELTA or the Trinity certificate -- otherwise you're worse qualified than the next candidate. All things being equal, you WON'T get the job if it comes to a choice.

[pingouin59]

How does a TEFL holder with lots of experience compare with a CELTA with no experience?

[spiral78]

TEFL means Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It is NOT A BRAND NAME - and having 'a TEFL' tells a potential employer ZERO.

What certification do you have?

If it is 120+/- hours on-site and included supervised teaching practice with real students, it may be considered equivalent to a CELTA by some employers.

If your 'TEFL' is from an online course or a weekend course or a course that did not include teaching practice with actual students, it is not likely to be taken very seriously by employers in this job market.

The kind of experience also matters. If it is in a teaching context similar to that in Spain, it will count. If it is somewhere that the teaching market is very different (Asia, for example) it will count for less.

[SirKirby]

The equivalent of Cambridge CELTA is Trinity. I'd say potential employers in Spain will regard those more or less as being equally good; anything "less" (ie anything not a minimum of 4 weeks, with real classroom teaching practice and externally validated) as making you definitely less interesting as a candidate. With the latter, you will NOT get the job if it comes to a choice between you and a similar candidate with CELTA or Trinity.

If, on the other hand, you have relevant experience, teaching English, have a business background and/or have experience working with children, you might just get yourself a job without CELTA or Trinity (I did, when I started out).

In Spain, an MA in TEFL/TESOL is not considered necessary (but would also be accepted instead).

CELTA
http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html

Trinity
http://www.trinitycollege.co.uk/site/?id=201

[epik_teacher]

I looked at both and decided to do the Trinity for the entry level. It looks a bit more user friendly, IMHO. I may be wrong, tho. From what I gather, CELTA is a brand name more people recognize but they are roughly equivalent. The Trinity seems to stress phonetics a bit more and the CELTA doesn't seem to have the 4 hours of an unknown language part.

I definately plan on doing the Diploma afterwards. The reason why, is after 15 years, I want to move out of Asia. I have an MS Ed in Online Curriculum Design as well as Adobe Certifications. I want to specialize in Teacher Training and Online/Blended Learning. I'm not sure if I'll do the DELTA or Trinity Dip at this time, tho. Can anyone give some feedback to that as far as the major differences to Delta and TESOL Cert?

[SirKirby]

CELTA or the Trinity equivalent are very much initial training in English language teaching: it gives you an idea of the basics, in other words.

DELTA on the other hand is for someone with an initial qualification and at least two years (usually more) classroom experience teaching English. It goes way beyond the basics. Personally I had my doubts about how it was assessed, but learnt a huge amount from the course, despite having 15 years teaching experience when I did it.

If you want to get into training English teachers, some places (IH, for example) will require DELTA (or equivalent), and it will certainly be good for your CV. I wouldn't want to train other English teachers without the knowledge DELTA provided me with.

[epik_teacher]

[SirKirby]

DELTA or the Trinity equivalent...? That I couldn't say as I'm really not familiar with the Trinity course. I did Cambridge DELTA.

I personally know a LOT of people who have done DELTA over the years, can't think of anyone who has done Trinity, though that's just me. Probably the Cambridge ones are more widely known, I imagine also done by more people every year (but have no facts or figures on that).

As a DoS (which I was for 10 years), if I had 3 candidates to pick from, one with DELTA, one with Trinity, one with only CELTA (or equivalent), in 99 cases out of 100, the CELTA-only candidate would not get the job; but the name of the accrediting organization would NOT decide me in favour of one or the other of the other two candidates.

[epik_teacher]

[SirKirby]

[PG_Tips]

My two cents worth, apologies if it has been repeated in anyway:

The Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL are the only two entry level TESOL/TEFL qualifications recognised by the British Council and UK National Qualifications Framework (NQF). They are both level 5 on the scale and considered equivalent in difficulty to the second year of an undergraduate degree course. They are viewed as direct counterparts from differing organisations. Any DoS worth their salt will recognise them in the same light and move on to using interview and observation to find the right candidate. The basics of the courses are more similar than different, the exceptions being Trinity's stronger focus on trainees experiencing the L2 classroom for themselves and more onus on phonetics. Trinity awards a pass or fail for their Cert, Cambridge awards a pass, B, or A. Cambridge is a much larger organisation and has a long standing relationship with International House. IH helped to develop the original CELTA course. This has helped the CELTA become more widely known, and more available. In my opinion, these are the only two courses that someone should consider if they have no experience in the field.

The Cambridge DELTA and Trinity DipTESOL are further qualifications designed to establish experienced (min. 2 years post CELTA/CertTESOL) teachers vocationally in the field of TESOL/TEFL. They are recognised by the British Council and are both rated level 7 on the UK NQF framework. This rating is seen as similar to a postgraduate qualification or Master's degree in the field. Obviously an MA has more depth to it, but the diploma courses have a strong practicum component that theory based curricula lack. The DELTA is more widely known for the same reasons as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Both are equally respected by the bodies qualified to judge them. I am currently doing the DipTESOL because it was nigh on impossible to find trainers in Japan for the distance DELTA. I will return to the UK to complete my practicum. I went through their respective syllabuses with a fine comb and found the DELTA to be slightly more verbose. It seemed almost purposefully obtuse whereas Trinity's language seemed a lot clearer. I talked to a few other people who had done the DELTA, some of them had similar thoughts to my own initially, but enjoyed it and found it rewarding. I chose the DipTESOL really for logistical reasons more than anything else. With these four qualifications it should boil down to price, location and accessibility. They all have a hallmark of quality that is globally recognised.

I know in times like these it's not always easy, but I would not work for a school that had a preference of Cambridge over Trinity. It would suggest to me they don't really understand the true value of the qualification and are not up to snuff with what they actually represent in terms of realistic teaching ability. Just my personal opinion, I'm sure people will disagree.

[rafaella]

PG_Tips - Thanks for your post. I've been trying to decide whether to study for the DELTA or Trinity Diploma and have come to the conclusion the latter would be better for me for much the same reasons you mentioned. How are you finding the course? Do you know if the Trinity Diploma gives you credit towards a Master's?

[PG_Tips]