English Overseas

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Teaching English as a foreign language, refers to teaching English to students for whom it is not their mother tongue for use in a non-English-speaking region. This can take place in English-speaking regions, for example in language schools or summer camps, but most teaching occurs in the student's own country. In the student's own country, the teaching can be within the state school system, or privately. The teachers may be native speakers from abroad, or non-native speakers from that country.

Qualifications for teachers

The basic qualification for teaching English is an undergraduate degree in any subject and a TESL or TEFL Certificate.

Certificates come in many flavours. There are numerous organisations who issue certificates and although some certificates are valid and worthwhile, others are not. There is no international independent accrediting organisation overseeing the running of courses and issuing of certificates so most employers will rely on the reputation of the provider.

Where to find work

The TEFL world has many cowboy institutions so extreme care should be taken when choosing an employer. Prospective teachers should remember that recruiters receive commissions for filling jobs, and may have little regard for teacher well being. Teachers should check out potential schools on various black and greylists found on the internet. A greylist and blacklist can be helpful in determining if other teachers may have had a problem with the school in the past. A legal site offering free global legal advice is useful resource for all EFL professionals.

Rates of Pay Worldwide

Rates of pay will depend upon seniority, experience, employer, economic development, terrorism threat and recruitment method. In some countries a low wage may equate to a cosy middle class life style.

If your institute is not a native speaker organisation you may expect to earn considerably more than in institutes designed to recruit travellers.

Among "traveller" institutes pay is highest in the Middle East, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. In some circumstances it can be more than adequate in Britain, although plenty of exploitative schools still exist.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Teaching English as a Foreign Language"