TOEFL AND TESOL

[rookie09]

Is heart power management in bukit batok a good place to do TESOL?

[Mammi2U]

Hi tesol2U- Thank you for sharing your views. They are truly helpful to me who is seeking information that is useful as I embark on teaching English here in Singapore. I am a mom of two primary kids and I want to be home when they come home in the afternoons. I am passionate about teaching. I thought teaching English in the mornings would be a suitable job for me. It fits my needs and is doing something I love. May I ask where did you take your Diploma in TESOL? It will help me greatly in my decision on where to take the course. Thanks so much!

It gives me the goosebumps reading the various postings in this forum. This prompted me to offer my views.

Firstly, it's a real world out there. When you run a private school i.e. as a business, you want to maximize your revenue which is totally dependent on student enrollment, obviously. If your school specializes in teaching English, you would want to find teachers who are fluent and proficient in English, regardless if they are native or non-native speakers. However, if you are targeting at students who prefer teachers who are native-speakers for certain reasons, I absolutely don't see why it is an issue.

Remember, there is a place for all teachers or teacher-aspirants out there. There's no need to get upset about the situation. The only catch is: you would need to be formally trained on the various methodologies and best practices, and be passionate about your teaching, so that your students are not short-changed. We all can cite countless anecdotes of ineffective teachers, native or non-native, qualified and non-qualified.

Secondly, for your information, I'm an ethnic Chinese teaching English in some private language schools as a freelance teacher, and I teach in the morning, afternoon and evening. In fact I've more assignments than I can handle. Sure native speakers command a higher rate than us, so what's wrong? But the difference, surprisingly, is not by leaps and bounds. And if one is truly passionate about teaching and always wants the best for their students, over time, you will stand head and shoulders above other teachers, whether they are native or non-native English teacher.

Thirdly, as I'd mentioned, one needs a formal education in teaching English, there's where TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) comes in. Despite criticisms by certain quarters, the British Diploma in TESOL which I've earned locally exposed me to various L2 acquisition methodologies and approaches, the various theories expounded by leading pedagogical experts and the challenges faced by language learners, and the list goes on.

The fee and timing suit my budget and schedule well. Taking a course that can't guarantee me a job, exceeds $5000 and demands so many of my hours which I could well use it for income generation, and leading to a "Certificate" is discouraging to say the least.

In my view, regardless of the institute or school, since we are all in the private education market, a DIPLOMA does have a higher standing then a CERTIFICATE to any private school considering your application to be a teacher there. As CELTA stands for CERTIFICATE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING TO ADULTS, it is precisely that, it teaches you to teach ADULT learners! (Do correct me if I’m wrong.)

Please don't get me wrong - I'm NOT at all criticizing the CELTA, in fact, I've high regards for this program (except the fee!) and I had considered CELTA before I chose the British Diploma in TESOL, but the fee was too high and the timing was too inflexible. IF I had the time, the money and the intention to teach adult learners, I would have taken CELTA.

Anyway, coming back to the Diploma issue: we all know that many of the language schools in the market, locally and elsewhere, cater mainly to children, teenagers and youths who are planning to pursue local primary, secondary and tertiary education, respectively. And the Adult market, in my personal opinion, is rather small and thus limited for those intending to career-switch to teaching.

These were the reasons I took the Diploma in TESOL instead and it’s where I learnt to manage a broad spectrum of learners, and I’ve no regrets whatsoever.

Enjoy teaching & Do be Passionate about it.
(Then the money will come.)

[Mammi2U]

I totally agree with tesol2U-
Enjoy teaching & be passionate about it and the money will come.
Although it is not wrong to seek for appropriate monetary compensation, we must remember our primary goal is to impart knowledge to our students. That at the end of the day, they are learning what we are teaching them.

[Mammi2U]

Did anyone of you took up diploma in TESOL here in Singapore?

Can you give a recommendation besides the British Council?

[Mammi2U]

I will appreciate a recommendation of a TESOL school

[Mammi2U]

Thanks!

[ksl]

Tic tock!

[Ginner-Sg]

Tic tock!

Wth How about English