anglista.edu.pl :: TEFL/TESOL

Arianrhod · Wysłany: Sob 09 Cze, 2007 1:38 pm **TEFL/TESOL**

Jako nowy użytkownik - Witam serdecznie.
Chciałam zapytać czy warto robić TEFL w wersji on-line. Mieszkam obecnie w Irlandii i chciałabym zacząć w końcu uczyć w szkole. Narazie mam licencjat,ale w przyszłym roku wybieram się na studia uzupełniające na UCD (trwają tylko rok

). W każdym razie wiem, że aby pracować w szkole muszę złożyć wniosek o uznanie kwalifikacji. Ale oprócz tego niemal wszędzie wymagają durnego TEFLa. Nie mam ochoty na powtarzanie metodyki, którą miałam na studiach (specjalizacja- nauczycielska),ale chyba nie da rady bez certyfikatu. (tu kosztuje 900-1300 euro i 4 tygodnie wyjęte z życiorysu, i trzeba przeprowadzić aż 6 lekcji-żenada)
Czy ktoś na forum posiada te certyfikaty? (teoretycznie przeznaczone są dla native speakerów)i w jakiej formie odbywaliście kurs? Dziękuję z góry za odpowiedzi.
Pozdrawiam serdecznie.

lucertola · Wysłany: Nie 10 Cze, 2007 1:56 pm

As far as I know, the only serious requirement to take a TEFL course is a proficient level of English. So one can apply and be accepted regardless of their first language.

Do you want to teach English as a foreigh language in Ireland? The thing a TEFL course does for you is not to teach you how to teach, but how to teach English. If you have all the classroom managment skills you think necessary, good on you, and a course should be a smooth ride. Costly, but smooth and most importantly will get you where you want to be: qualified. It's weird that a college trained teacher should require an additional course, though. I take it you major was English lit then?

When choosing a particular course, it's worth taking a moment to look for an accredited one (Trinity for Ireland, I'm told), so that more schools can consider you in the future.
Distance learning has the obvious advantage of not having to go places when it's something you can't or don't want to do. However, I always felt the DVDs, CD-ROMs and whatnots they send you don't really compare to the real life observation and feedback sessions with a tutor. So I chose an onsite CELTA course. It was extremely intensive (which I'm sure those online courses, if approached responsibly, are as well), unbelievably exhausting, but so eye-opening and satisfying once you could look back at the whole experience. A big part of the course were the people. I think the fact that I was not left all to myself and could actually bounce some ideas off the others, helped a great deal.

Arianrhod · Wysłany: Nie 10 Cze, 2007 6:38 pm

Thanks for a quick answer. I know that TESOL has to be accredited by the ACELS. This is the main institution dealing with language teachers in Ireland. However, courses organised by the ACELS schools take minimum 4 weeks, when you spend at least 7 hours 5 or 6 days a week. I'm afraid, at the moment I can't afford to have such a nice holiday. And they cost quite a lot.
Anyway, I think the first thing I have to do is to give a full description of my studies and my diploma to the Teaching Council. I hope I'll have my qualifications recognised. And then I'll apply for the onsite TESOL course.

Ireland is a very specific country. They are not willing to let teachers from outside the country to teach English, even though we often know the language much better than most of them. In fact, the level of English of most people in this country is rather scary (only 30% receives the Secondary School Leaving Certificate and they have serious problems with spelling, not to mention almost complete lack of knowledge of basic grammar).And the worst thing is that most Irish with TEFL oe TESOL start teaching only after running six lessons. I've been teaching for four years now.
Thanks again for a good advice

And my major was historical grammar (nominal inflections in diachronic perspective). I'm a big fan of historical linguistics, especially Old English.

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