A Short Guide to Understanding
the Acronyms of Teaching English Abroad
TEFL, TESOL, TESL, ELT...
There are a million acronyms related to the field of teaching
English to non-English learners. It is very difficult for newcomers
to the English Language Teaching world to know what they mean,
so here are some explanations.
The Acronyms
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and EFL (English
as a Foreign Language) are perhaps the most common terms. The
term ELT (English Language Teaching) has quite recently come into
use as an umbrella term which aims to include everything in the
field. TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
is another umbrella term, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages) is now very much in vogue, due partly but not entirely
to the political attention this area tends to receive.
TEFL, EFL, TESL & ESL
TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is teaching people,
usually in their own countries, often in private language schools,
who want to use English for business, leisure, travel, etc. It
is also used to describe the teaching that takes place in Britain
to short-term visitors who believe it is better to pay to study
the language in the country where the language is spoken. EFL
is viewed by some as a little pejorative, with its emphasis on
the ‘foreign’ element.
TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) is teaching immigrants
in English-speaking countries, though this area is also, confusingly,
referred to as ESOL. ESL is English as a second language. In the
US the terms TESL and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages) are much more widely used than TEFL, but basically
the concept is the same.
TESOL & ESOL
Confusingly, the acronym TESOL also refers to the American professional
association: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages,
while the UK equivalent is IATEFL, the International Association
of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. ESOL (English to
Speakers of Other Languages) teaching takes place in countries
where the learners’ own language is not English, but where
the learner has come to live and is therefore learning the language
for every day use and integration in the host community.
The Courses - TEFL courses, CELTA courses,
TESOL courses
TEFL and CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers
of Other Languages) and TEFL and CELTA (Certificate of English
Language Teaching to Adults) are often confused. This is partly
because when anyone asks "Have you got the TEFL?" what
in fact they mean to ask is if the teacher has taken a teacher
training course and is therefore trained. ‘Trained’ is largely taken to mean being in possession of the Cambridge
CELTA qualification awarded by Cambridge ESOL or the Trinity Certificate
in TESOL, awarded by Trinity College London.
Though you will often hear it, the question "Have you got
the TEFL?" is not actually grammatically correct, it needs
another word, ‘qualification’ at the end, and arguably
the indefinite rather than the definite article (‘a’
rather than ‘the’) to be a real question (this is
where you need a language awareness course!) "Have you got
a TEFL qualification?"
Cambridge CELTA & Trinity Cert TESOL
These two are the most widely internationally recognised TEFL/TESOL/ELT
qualifications, and are the only ones that the British Council
will accept for teachers in their British Council accredited language
schools in the UK. These schools have to go through a rigorous
inspection and to fulfil various criteria, one of which relates
to the TEFL/TESOL teachers’ qualifications. The British
Council do not accredit language schools outside the UK. Some
countries have a local accreditation scheme that some language
schools will belong to, but this is fairly rare in what is generally
an unregulated industry.
‘Equivalent’ TEFL / TESOL courses
There are many courses which are based on the model that has been
proven to be the most effective in training TEFL/TESOL teachers.
This model consists of a judicious mix of ‘input’
sessions, which include focus on language (the ‘what’
of TEFL/TESOL courses), and methodology (the ‘how’),
along with a total of at least 6 hours teaching practice. Teaching
practice is classroom experience of teaching real live students.
The most effective teaching practice includes pre-class lesson
planning, teaching which is observed and in many cases assessed
by tutors. Feedback, from which trainees learn the art and craft
of TEFL/TESOL teaching, is usually carried out in a group format,
and is often followed by a written record to refer to later.
The contentious areas connected with ‘equivalent’
TEFL courses are recognition and accreditation.
The 4 week course training format was originally designed and
implemented in the UK, by John Haycraft, the founder of International
House. As such, it is the forerunner of its many ‘equivalents’,
but it has also engendered a whole industry, including systems
of quality control which have attempted to mould TEFL/TESOL training
to fit frameworks and criteria which give it value. This value
is particularly important in the UK context, although it has also
spread to much of the rest of the world. Depending on where a
teacher ends up teaching, the perceived value of UK accreditation
is more or less important. In many parts of the world, home-grown
‘equivalent’ courses are in fact much better known
(recognized) in the local context than either CELTA or Trinity
CertTESOL, and therefore are perceived to have more value than
the UK-based industry greats. |
