Teaching English - what path should you take

TEACHING ENGLISH

So you have decided to embark on a teaching English as a foreign/second language career -exciting. But what road to this should you take?



GOING ABROAD UNTRAINED



This is an option that many people opt for especially if TEFL is a short-term plan. Look at job vacancies on the net, chose one and then go.


If this is your option, consider these questions first:


How confident do you feel about being in a classroom?
What does teaching and learning a language really mean?
What is a ‘good’ teacher?
What kind of teacher are you going to be?
Do you think you can teach large classes or younger learners?
How much help will you get from the school in terms of actual teaching- if it isn’t much, try to read around the subject. Acquaint yourself with TEFL methodology.

Recommended reading:


Learning Teaching, Jim Scrivener, Macmillan Heinemann, ISBN 0-435-24089-7
How to Teach English, Jeremy Harmer, Longman, ISBN 0-582-29796-6
Inside Teaching, Tim Bowen and Jonathon Marks Heinemann ISBN 0-435-24088-9
Teaching Practice Handbook R Gower, D. Phillips, S. Walters Heinemann ISBN 0-435-24059-5
Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom Tricia Hedge Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-44172-4

Work visas

Call the embassies of the countries that you’d like to go to and find out what is legal. Can the school provide help with what you need? If not, how much will you have to do yourself? Make sure that you are fully informed.


GOING ABROAD TRAINED

The best thing to do is to equip yourself with a short teaching course prior to going abroad; there are many. The most recognized is the CELTA (Cambridge English Language teaching to adults)

Duration: 4 weeks (or part-time)


Requirements: Proficiency in English- you will apply and complete a mini-grammar section along with why you want to teach and will be interviewed in person or over the phone.


For locations look at www.ucles.org.uk



The course is from Cambridge University, England but you will not be expected to teach British English. You will be expected to complete 6 hours assessed teaching practice, four written assignments and you will also observe qualified teachers. Teaching practice begins on the second or third day. You are not expected to have had prior teaching experience.
Is it a full course and you should expect to work very hard but to also learn a lot; enough to allow you to feel confident to walk into a classroom and to teach effectively.



Trinity College Courses

Duration: 4 weeks (or part time)

There are many locations for his course. It is in direct competition with the CELTA course.
You will have to complete the whole course, including various written assignments and a minimum of six hours’ teaching practice. For more information look at www.trinitycollege.co.uk


School for International Training Vermont USA

They have their own certificate.


It’s a four-week course. You begin teaching in the second week and complete memos (assignments). You also observe other teachers.
They also run SIT-Co-validated courses. This means that you can do an SIT course and also get a CELTA certificate.


Contact: www.sit.edu for more details on this and their certificate course.



Online and distance courses


There are a lot. Look at the course list on this site.
Most people will prefer that you have had classroom experience therefore it is best to invest in a course which allows you to do that.