Job Discussion Forums

[laylow]

What percentage of people actually pass Module 1 of the DELTA? 50%, 70%. I am thinking of resgistering but just don't know if it is worth my money. I have heard if you fail you don't get to see the errors you made. What is the point of that? Even if you pass, it is still helpful to know what you missed. Any recommendations to help one pass. Thanks.

[Skyblue2]

In my experience, they try to weed out the unlikely to pass ones at the screening stage. As long as you put in the work, then you should be able to scrape by with a pass. If you're not committed to putting in the time and effort, then don't bother.

Why should they show you your mistakes? Either you've got the goods, or you don't. If you want to learn, do it in the course, not after the exam. People would dispute the results if they saw them.

[naturegirl321]

After looking more into the DELTA and emailing HEAPS of course providers all over Europe and Asia, I've decided to not do the DELTA.

WHy? The majority of course providers are the British Council and are only for teachers, OR, they just invigilate the exam and provide no prep. ILA in Vietnam said they will do it, but again, you have to be a teacher.

The distance DELTA sounds like an option, b ut then you'd have to pay for someone in your country to access you as well.

I don't know. I'm just really turned off of the Cambridge monopoly

[mozzar]

I was considering doing the distance course through Bell as well, but it sounds like it�d be easier doing it onsite. I do think they charge a hell of a lot for it though. �2500 plus the exam fees which they have as close to �400 a module.

[mmcmorrow]

I'm not sure what Naturegirl is getting at in her complaint above. Do you mean that you couldn't find a course which accepted teachers from outside the particular institution? I'm not sure how common that is, but there are courses available covering the various modules, if you are prepared to travel. Full-time intensive Delta courses are only available at a few centres, though (eg IH London) - it's more common to have part-time courses, as most of the candidates are practising teachers working in the local area.

Here in New Zealand, there are two onsite Delta courses - at Christchurch College of English in the South Island and at Languages International in the North Island - and International House (affliated with AUT University) has also run orientation courses for the Distance Delta. Like a lot of courses, they are part-time, which means that teachers need to be working in language schools in the area. This is where the demand tends to be because the course is designed as a professional development vehicle for practising teachers.

Sorry, I don't know the answer about the pass rate for module 1 - I don't think it's all that surprising if you don't receive your script back from Cambridge - that's the norm for most international and university exams that I've been involved with. But if you doa preparation course, either through a centre or online through the distance Delta you should get a lot of practice and feedback on examination tasks. Judging by my experience as a marker for module 3, I would recommend that people do take a preparation course, as there is a risk that they'll miss the point if they do it by themselves.

About Naturegirl's other point, I don't think Cambridge has any monopoly on teacher training courses. There are plenty of courses out there, including those run by private colleges, universities etc. The Trinity Licentiate Diploma has been around for quite a while, for instance. The value of qualifications ultimately depends on the quality of the curriculum and assessment and, particularly, on the institutions and people involved in them. Cambridge Delta programmes are not that easy to get onto and, once on, not that easy to complete and to pass. If institutions include Delta in job ads, promotion structures etc, it's because (I think) they know this.

Martin McMorrow, Auckland New Zealand
University Learning Advisor & Delta tutor / assessor

[naturegirl321]

[mmcmorrow]

Sorry you haven't been able to find a course near your house. The Delta isn't a huge programme - several hundred teachers do it internationaly every year, compared, for instance, with over 10 000 who take Celta. The programme also requires more highly qualified trainers and is quite demanding in terms of their time. Nearly always, running a Delta programme means that your Director of Studies, Head of Teacher Training etc are taken out of action for a while. It's always difficult to know if you'll have enough teachers to run a course and often Delta courses run at a loss. So, all of this means that it's hard for a lot of centres to offer the courses, even if they would like to.

There are a large number of places where you can take the exam for module 1 - that's because hundreds of centres around the world are registered as Cambridge exam centres. This doesn't mean that they offer a course to prepare teachers for any of the Delta modules - and that's why you've been receiving that standard response.

To check if a centre offers a course, I suggest that you first use the find a centre and then click on the website link for any centre that comes up for Delta Module 1 - just to see if they offer a course. For Korea, for instance, the 'find a centre' function lists the British Council, Seoul, as a centre, but if you look at their website, there's no mention of them offering any Delta course. This means they're an exam centre only. No one there is preventing you from joining the course - there is no course. It's not surprising that you'll have received that standard response from other places. Nearly all British Council schools are Cambridge exam centres, but few run Delta courses.

You could also use the find a centre link and select Delta module 2. Because module 2 is not an exam and can only be done by completing a course, it means that any centres that come up for module 2 will offer a Delta course - and if they offer Delta 2, it's likely they'll also run courses for the other ones. If you search for Korea, for instance, it shows there are no centres that offer Delta courses. So it can't be done on-site in the country.

The shift to three modules does increase flexibility for teachers who are able to do the course. Some of the teachers I've worked with have done the modules one after another. Others have done two at the same time, then the other. Some have taken a break between them. It also provides a wider choice of start dates and sequences. But if you live in Korea, for instance, it doesn't change the fact that there is no course available there. That was the case before and is still the case. There is, as you mentioned, the distance Delta option, however, and this is also more flexible than it was before. As it says on the website:

Start dates for all courses: March and September

Course options as follows:

* An Integrated 9 month Programme of all 3 Delta Modules leading to the full Cambridge ESOL Delta Diploma
* Individual Modules which can be taken either one at a time (in any order) leading to the full Cambridge ESOL Delta Diploma over approximately 21 months - if you take the three modules in immediate succesion. You may also decide to take them as stand-alone courses, possibly deciding to add further modules at a later date. We now also offer a Blended module option, with Modules 1 and 3 Distance and Module 2 face to face at International House London:

Module 1: 3 months

Module 2: 9 months (distance) or 6 weeks (face to face)

Module 3: 3 months

I think that does provide a reasonable amount of flexibility - and there are certainly more options than there were before. Let me clear up a couple of things. Firstly, for modules 1 and 3, you don't need to find anyone locally - the modules are done entirely by distance. There is no local tutor. There is no assessor.

For module 2, you need to find a local tutor - generally, this is going to be a senior teacher / director of studies etc, either in the place where you work or in a local college. This tutor needs to be approved by the programme - the description and relevant forms are on the website. That is all you need to do. You don't need to find an assessor. Cambridge does that. If the assessor has to fly in from another country, the candidate will need to pay additional costs. I don't think that's likely in the case of Korea, though.

If you wanted to do the Delta via this programme in Korea, there is nothing stopping you. Alternatively, if you wanted to do it on-site, you'll need to go to one of the few centres (eg IH London) which offers the programme on a full-time, intensive mode.

Hope that's helpful.

Martin McMorrow, Auckland, New Zealand

[naturegirl321]

Hi Martin, Thanks it does help. I guess I'll just have to do a bit more research and be more patient

[naturegirl321]

[Skyblue2]

I can relate to the frustrations re: the DELTA. Try the Trinity LTCL Dip. TESOL. You can also do it via distance. It's good. PM me for more information.

[mozzar]

I was quite surprised to see the distance DELTA is more expensive than the in class DELTA. I would�ve thought that it�d be the other way around.

[naturegirl321]