Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Curiousity]

Before you read on, please observe the following caveats:

1. I'm not interested in discussing the value (or lack thereof, if that is your opinion) of the courses. That argument has been done to death on a weekly basis, and this post is NOT intended to re-ignite it this week.

2. I understand that some people are not comfortable with sharing. Please don't feel compelled to lecture me on your personal stance on the matter.

Now, to the wonderfully helpful people who lurk around the forums, here's what I'm looking for:

- A copy or copies of CELTA or Trinity TESOL course materials.

Now to the why: I finished an online TEFL course some time ago. I chose the course because it was quick, relatively informative, and resulted in an immediate pay bump.

I'm now considering the CELTA and Trinity TESOL courses for actual personal development. I intend to use the course to improve my teaching, and provide some level of progression in the job market until my Masters is finished.

I'm not sure which way to jump (or whether to jump at all) at this point, and I'm keen to have a look at the courses in question before I hand over my hard-earned.

If you have copies of materials from your course, or know where I can find them, and are willing to share, please let me know! If you're more comfortable with a PM, that works too!

Thanks in advance

[BS.Dos.]

I completed a 1-year FT Trinity Cert. TESOL before I came out here. I do have a lot of my material (assignments and so forth) on my external HDD at my apartment. Unfortunately, my laptop is broken at the moment and wont be back from the repair shop for another week or so, so I can't access it at the moment.

Most of the actual course content material was presented as hard copies rather than electronically and while I still have all the materials back at home, I didn't see the need to bring them out to Korea with me.

I'll have a scratch around and see what I can find for you. I can tell you provisionally that some of the more notable pieces of work included:

A Comprehensive Learner Profile.
You're assigned a student (a Japanese girl in my case) and, over a period of about a month or so, you have to interview them and assess and document their proficiency over the 4-key skills. Having done so, you then make recommendations on areas of improvement on each of the key areas for a period of 10-weeks. You then have to identify the most urgent areas of weakness and prepare 4x1-hour lesson plans, two of which you actually teach in a one-to-one scenario.

Materials Assignment
You have to produce two pieces of educational material to be used during your last two teaching practicals. This can involve any language point and relate to any of the 4-key skills. Having used the materials in a classroom situation, you then have to produce a critique of how well they worked and how you'd change them etc.

That's two of the big pieces of work that I can remember, but you obviously have to observe lessons and teach for a minimum of 6-hours. Extensive and detailed reports obviously accompany each of these areas for which you recieve feedback etc.

If you bump this thread in a couple of weeks, I'll see what I've got on my HDD at home and re-post.

[Curiousity]

Excellent response, thanks!

That's the first I've heard of the learner profile aspect of things (though I must say, I've only just started to gather information). It sounds as though it would have been quite beneficial.

May I ask what you're doing now (generally) in terms of employment?

Thanks again!

C

[BS.Dos.]

Teaching (private academic HS) in Korea.

Isn't everyone?

Also studying for my Masters, though it's not teaching related.

[newinseoul]

Depending on where you take your CELTA. You will be given a course reading list.

Some books are essential reading and others are recommended.
Here is the CELTA reading list I found online.

I did my CELTA and definitely read the essential books by Michael Swan and Jeremy Harmer. The others depended on what I was doing. You will have many assignments that you have to complete and you will probably be able to use a lot of the books that are at the course too.

http://www.british-blc.com/ted/reading.htm#celtareading

[aarontendo]

Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener. That book was recommended as reading during our CELTA course in Bangkok. Hell of a great book for any newbie English teacher IMO.

[BS.Dos.]

^Also on the reading list for the Trinity. I've a copy and it is comprehensive as far as the nuts and bolts of English language instruction go, but I've rarely dipped into it TBH.

[chickyabroad]

I did the CELTA earlier this year. I still have an electronic copy of the lesson plan template if you want it. I would think it would be pretty much the same for all the CELTA centers. I thought the lesson plans were the bulk of the work as they want everything very detailed, I guess to see the thought process we used in setting up lessons.

Don't have copies of the 4 assignment instructions, but I could send my completed ones to give you an idea of what they're like (they all passed on the first try). Just, of course, please don't copy them

[Curiousity]

Seems that way

The Masters issue is an interesting one. I'm sitting on that fence at the moment, actually. I'm in Korea on a career break. My background has nothing to do with teaching. I haven't decided which way to jump, and I'm hoping one of these courses will push me one way or the other.

I've seen Scrivner pop up here and there on CELTA and TESOL sites and have been meaning to check it out.

The reading list itself is fairly daunting! I'm going to be a busy man for the next few months!

Thanks again, everyone!

[Curiousity]

[losing_touch]

I have also take a TESOL course. I did it in the United States at American University in Washington DC. I have lots of materials on my hard drive. You are welcome to them. I have the syllabus from each course as well. I have some handouts, required readings, assignments, etc. If you PM me your email address, I will forward them over to you. Many of my assignments were by hand, as they required phonetic transcription. Many were also posted online. I will see what I can dig up if you want them.

The course titles I took were:

Linguistics
English Language Teaching I
English Language Teaching II
Second Language Acq.
Teaching Pronunciation

[Curiousity]

[losing_touch]

PM sent.