Job Discussion Forums

Gosta · Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Tamworth, UK

hi all,

i'm a CELTA-qualified teacher with 4 years' experience and i'm currently looking at career development options. i was planning to take the DELTA next year, but i've been told that i need to do the ICELT and the IH CAM courses before i'd be able to do the DELTA. i'm a little disconcerted by this as firstly, i thought the CELTA and ICELT were equivalent. secondly, this seems like a big investment of time and money.

i'd really appreciate any advice regarding this.

many thanks in advance.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:04 pm Post subject:

Who told you this?

Gosta · Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Tamworth, UK

A CELTA tutor, and the director of my school.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:25 pm Post subject:

Hmmmm. I must admit, I do not have much up-to-date info on the DELTA admissions procedure, but this sounds strange indeed. In fact, it sounds more like your tutor is trying to sign you up for his school's ICELT course when you probably don't need it.

Check directly with Cambridge or with the DELTA training centre you were thinking of doing the course with. I assume the DELTA course is not run in your own school? Even so, centres vary on how they admit candidates. But as you can see from the Cambridge website, no mention of the other certs there at all. Not even CELTA.

Am I eligible to apply?
Ideally you should:

have at least two years' full time (1,200 hours) experience of teaching English to adults within the past five years
have a range of teaching experience in different contexts and at different levels
be a graduate and/or have an initial teaching qualification
have a standard of English which will enable you to teach at a range of levels.
Centres may still accept you if you do not strictly meet all of these requirements but can demonstrate that you would be likely to complete the course successfully. This is entirely at your centre's discretion.

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

dutchman · Joined: 10 Mar 2010 Posts: 84

I can tell you with no hesitation that this is nothing but non-sense. ICELT is a certificate for non-native speaking teachers whose English are not good enough to do the CELTA. I am dumbfounded to hear that you were told to do the ICELT first. However, while there is no official requirement or whatsoever to do ICELT before doing the DELTA, it could very well be the case that your employer has an institutional policy for this (assuming that your employer is covering the costs of DELTA). Otherwise, don't waste your money on ICELT.

J.M.A. · Joined: 20 Jan 2009 Posts: 69

dutchman · Joined: 10 Mar 2010 Posts: 84

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Never heard of those reqs at all. Why not apply for the DELTA? With two years FT exp and CELTA you shoudl get in.

Sef · Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 74 Location: UK

I've also got the CELTA + 4 years experience. Did module 1 of the DELTA last December and I'm just about to start module 2. At no point has anyone asked for (or even mentioned) the ICELT or any other extra qualifications.

SahanRiddhi · Joined: 18 Sep 2010 Posts: 267

Waste of time. For most places, a winning smile, a few amusing anecdotes and a genuine concern for the students is all you need. Oh, and one other thing: patience and perseverance.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Any talk of a 'career' in EFL is a sign of deeply delusional thought processes.

johnslat · Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 5:05 pm Post subject:

Dear scot47,

Remind me again - just how many years have you spent in EFL? Very Happy

Regards,
John

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

Isla Guapa:

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 2:21 am Post subject:

Thanks for the encouraging comments, artemisia, but the business world holds no charms for me. I am at that stage of life when I have thoughts of turning my semi-retirement in Mexico into a fulltime proposition!