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ESL certs and their many discontents | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| carlonove Senior Member United States Joined 5988 days ago 145 posts - 253 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 1 of 5 10 June 2010 at 7:33pm | IP Logged |
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I started writing this post as a response to the "Native teachers without linguistic talent" thread but opted to start a new topic due to its length. It's related in that it broadly discusses the teaching-English phenomenon, but is more focused on ESL certifications, since these certifications dictate the general methodologies used in many private and public schools internationally from the preschool to the university level. There is still a lot to be said about this issue, I'd like to hear other peoples' view on this be it as teachers or students.
I recently completed the CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) certification. The CELTA is the most reputable, popular and expensive ESL certification you can get (although the Trinity certification is comparable in all respects). The most striking aspect of the course is that you spend 90% of the course learning about classroom management and preparation and probably less than 10% on the actual English language. I assumed those figures would be reversed--and it was indeed amazing to see some people finish the course with me who still had little or no real grasp of English grammar. I'm not saying that conveying strict grammatical concepts is the be-all end-all of language teaching, but the "communicative" approach the CELTA people teach is very grammar intensive, so you'd think people would come out with a better grasp of it. The CELTA has its merits--specifically in the classroom management aspect I mentioned previously. It does get you up in front of the classroom and interacting with students in a controlled setting, which helps an awful lot of people get over their fears about speaking publicly. It also helps you figure out just how much material you have to plan to fill a specific time block. The CELTA builds confidence and teaches you logistical and preparatory skills which are good to learn before stepping foot into a real classroom the first time, or signing a 1 year contract at a school 10 time zones away (although many CELTA-holders are UK citizens who end up teaching in the UK, the overwhelming majority of CELTA-holders teach abroad and the course reflects this). On the other hand, if you don't get the certification and just go abroad and start teaching, you'll figure out a lot of this stuff in the first week. As for the actual methodological and linguistic content of the course--it's pretty abysmal. The "communicative approach" mandates all-English, all the time, no exceptions. We were forced to mime/elicit/play-act new vocabulary, something that wastes precious class time and is ultimately forgotten by students by the next class anyway. Students are encouraged to break into pairs or small groups frequently and practice using newly-learned content orally, with activities, etc. Most people have encountered this in a language class at some point or another. I personally always thought it was a little weird as a student myself, but from a teacher's perspective found it futile bordering on absurd, since it reinforces bad habits between two people who can hardly speak the language to begin with. The students I taught during the course sign up for a 1-month, nearly-free English course that they know is taught by student teachers, and may be of suspect quality. A lot of these students had already taken the course several times (some around 6-8 times) and even after repeated exposure to precisely the same content over and over again (albeit taught by amateurs) I witnessed very basic, easily-fixable pronunciation and grammatical mistakes over and over. I'm taking about "He am..." "We is..." etc. along with V's pronounced as B's and L's pronounced as R's. These are not extraordinary problems and can be fixed with lots of drilling, if the teacher is willing to really work with the students rather than play charades and hand out crossword puzzles. Here was the one thing that really set warning bells off for me: One of my "trainers" (the teacher of the student-teachers) taught ESL for over 10 years and had a master's degree from a highly-regarded U.S. university. He told me he taught in four different countries, most of them for several years. When I asked him about his foreign language capabilities, he said he had never learned any of the languages in the countries he had lived in (for YEARS) except for a smattering of Spanish. He had been offered free Arabic classes while teaching abroad at one point, but decided after one class that it was "just too much". This is a rather typical ESL-teacher story/attitude, as many people already know and have pointed out. It's more than a little bit bizarre that there are people who willingly pack up and move to a totally different country, speak English all day, hang out with other English-speaking people in little colonies, and never feel the desire or compulsion to learn the local language or exert upon themselves the discipline that is their livelihood. Unfortunately, these certifications have become the industry standard throughout the world, and are the only means of weeding out teaching applicants (though many people do get a master's in ESL, and many people get jobs with a general bachelor's degree). Although there are some very excellent English teachers out there (both native and non-native), I think the classroom hours students spend in an "all-English" communicative setting are largely wasted, on par with the time wasted in American language education at the high school level (taught by teachers with at least a master's degree). The only exception is that learners of English are perhaps more motivated than American high school students, and might get more out of the experience. In short, (hehe) it's a shame that monolingual people with these certifications and no analytical or linguistic knowledge of the English language are considered language teachers, and I truly sympathize with the members of this forum who have been subjected to their teaching. I did receive my CELTA certification, but probably won't be entering the ESL world because of a change in my own circumstances. For anyone interested in language education, you're much better off studying languages on your own and reading this forum. --carlonove Edited by carlonove on 10 June 2010 at 8:36pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |
| magictom123 Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5595 days ago 272 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 2 of 5 10 June 2010 at 9:15pm | IP Logged |
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I am very interested in becoming a ESL teacher and found your message very interesting
also. I have to say that I would have also thought that the ratio would have been 90/10 in favour of the teaching of grammar as oppose to the communicative side of things - not because of my favour of grammar but really because of my preconceptions of the language teaching industry. If you read benny's blog at fluentin3months he constantly talks about non-verbal and non grammatical aspects of language learning (I believe he's a former teacher) and how it is at odds with the traditional way of teaching. Do you think the emphasis on the communicative side of things is because in most situations the teacher and the student will not speak the same language. Traditionally, in UK schools, if you are learning French for example, the teacher is English and just knows the language. Do you have any knowledge of i-to-i's online tefl course. I have been looking for a while at doing their course and since my circumstances have changed recently (I'm now unemployed) and I am tempted to do it but have found it hard to find any independent reviews of their course. From the nature and content of the course it does appear to be largely weighted in favour of studying grammatical concepts whilst including a weekend of 'live teaching' at a hotel (I guess this is where the other side of teaching will come in, since I've seen video's of people dancing around like lions etc). In response to your example of the TEFL teacher who never bothered to learn the foreign languages spoken at the places he taught, my intention is to use TEFL teaching (of which I have an advantage in achieving with being English) as a means to be able to live abroad (with my family) and so be able to learn the language in the country I'm staying. Finally, what is your opinion of the Michel Thomas Method. I have found it to be fantastic via the CD's and have thought if I am ever in the position to be a teacher and utilise this method, then I would. The best part for me is that he was relentless in the teaching and rarely deviated from 'teaching' the students rather than giving them cultural information or 'handing out crosswords'. Hopefully people with some experience of the varying courses and the TEFL industry in general will be able to discuss this further. Tom Edited by magictom123 on 10 June 2010 at 9:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| carlonove Senior Member United States Joined 5988 days ago 145 posts - 253 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 3 of 5 10 June 2010 at 10:42pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Tom,
I believe the communicative approach is used primarily because the teacher isn't required to know the students' language or translate any materials. If only English is spoken in the class you can include students who have several different mother tongues, which is good for schools but bad for learning/teaching a language effectively. The communicative approach also emphasizes student to student and group interaction, which gives the teacher more breathing room, in comparison to more structured audio-lingual curriculum. It's also perceived as a more "entertaining" method for students since there's generally a lot of speaking in class--if parents are paying for their kid to go to English class they want to hear that the kid is speaking English every day, even if it is very poor, grammatically incorrect English. I am not familiar with i to i's course, but I know that a lot of schools specifically ask for people with a CELTA or Trinity certification, or an equivalent 120-hour course with monitored teaching practice. If you take a look at TEFL.com you in the "Search Database" you can get a sense of the requirements in different regions. Although it is possible to find a job without a certification or degree, I was told point blank during an interview that because I had a CELTA I would start at a higher salary. Teaching English can be a good way to travel and learn languages if you're motivated to, but I've been told it really requires effort to immerse yourself every moment you're outside of work. Some schools will advertise 2 open positions towards couples or people with families as it decreases the chances of the teachers skipping town and abandoning their contracts. I have used Michel Thomas' courses in the past and have found them very useful, although the format of the CD's can be very tiresome. The problem with implementing MT-type lessons in class is that there are 2 students on the CD's and you'll probably have at least 15 students in a class, more likely around 20--a situation where it's much more difficult to correct students and keep everyone on track. I think it would work great for private tutoring. More experienced ESL teachers, please correct me if your experience is different, or if I'm flat out wrong on anything. --carlonove 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| magictom123 Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5595 days ago 272 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French | Message 4 of 5 10 June 2010 at 11:26pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for your detailed response carlonove,
You have certainly made me reconsider using i-to-i. Their course is 120 hours (100 online with 20 at a weekend get together I believe). I am right in saying that the CELTA is only ran 'in-school' and cannot be sat online etc. Obviously being here I am interested in learning foreign languages but maybe a lot of people do indeed see this as a way to travel and be a 'working-tourist' and therefore never bother to learn another language. In my case, If I ever get into the position to be working abroad, it will be my second priority (behind being a good teacher of course). As for MT, I guess you are right. 15 students is a lot for a single teacher to keep everyone involved. I do believe the direct approach used by MT would be far more effective up to an intermediate level than crosswords and hangman etc. Multiple mother tongues would of course make this nigh on impossible to utilise as you pointed out. Do you have any experience of working online as an English Teacher. I have been in touch with one company that operates online and if I pushed it I think I could get a position with them (maybe) but I hesistant due to the obvious potential problems (employer doesn't pay, disappears etc) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sunny Groupie United States Joined 6250 days ago 98 posts - 128 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Russian, Welsh, French | Message 5 of 5 13 June 2010 at 3:24pm | IP Logged |
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Concerning the idea that students practicing in pairs is ineffective... That really
depends on the level of teacher interaction during these times. I just finished an intensive Russian course with a native Russian as professor. The high point of the class was usually the almost daily assigned dialogue in which we participated in front of the class in groups. After one group would do their dialogue, the professor would critique the grammar and pronunciation for the entire classes benefit. Since everyone got public criticism, it also was not a problem for the less able, or more introverted students. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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