Ahat should my major be if I want to teach esl?
Beckham asked:
I’m nearing the end of my 2nd yr at community college and have finally decided what I want to do after college. Before I tranfer to a 4 yr school I need to know what my major is. I do not know if what my major should be, does it have to be English or what?
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I’m nearing the end of my 2nd yr at community college and have finally decided what I want to do after college. Before I tranfer to a 4 yr school I need to know what my major is. I do not know if what my major should be, does it have to be English or what?
April 20th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
No, it can be education, English, Spanish… but you need a license to teach so I’d recommend education. And try to do a semester abroad. It will make you a better teacher. Rah2006
April 20th, 2010 at 4:00 pm
….spelling (Ahat) tacoman
April 21st, 2010 at 6:12 pm
With the development of CLIL (Content Language Integrated Learning) and the amount of followers it has gained over the past few years, you could become an ESL teacher teaching a subject of your choice.
If you plan on teaching in your home country then you will need a teaching license, so Education is a must. You should do some courses in TESOL/TEFL or, if you want to, a certificate or diploma course through a recognized institution. If you teach in Asia for example, a license might not be required, but the better jobs still require them.
If you major in English you will obviously teach English as a subject, but there is sufficient evidence to support the idea that learners also acquire English when they are taught other subjects in English and you need knowledge of both to be really good.
If you can not already speak another language I suggest you learn one. Not only will it be beneficial to you but you will learn and understand first hand the difficulties learners of a new language deal with.
So, first choice - Education. Second - TESOL/TEFL. Third - A subject that you would like to teach.
Good luck and I hope you turn out to be very good. Blackmagic