Who certifies the TESOL or TEFL certificates?
Daniela asked:
I was wondering who certifies and or regulates the TESOL or TEFL certificate in the United States. If I was going to offer TESOL classes where would I start?
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I was wondering who certifies and or regulates the TESOL or TEFL certificate in the United States. If I was going to offer TESOL classes where would I start?
February 22nd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
what is tesol and tefl
February 24th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
There really isn’t a difference between CELTA/TESOL/TEFL and TESL certificate courses. These are just different acronyms used for courses on how to teach English to non-native English speaking individuals. The certificates are all equally recognized and the approaches used are all very similar. CELTA stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching for Adults. TESOL stands for teaching English to speakers of other languages. TEFL is teaching English as a foreign language. You can be a TEFL teacher in a non-English speaking countries teaching students who want to learn English as a foreign language. TESL stands for teaching English as a second language. You can be a TESL teacher in an English speaking country teaching immigrants or foreign students English as a second language. With any of these certificates you can teach abroad or in an English speaking country.
The major difference is that Trinity and CELTA are franchises with years of brand recognition but when it comes down to getting hired, the employer is going to choose a candidate who has either a TEFL, TESOL or CELTA certificate and most important the candidate who presents themselves as a mature professional individual with good teaching skills.
TEFL courses in general are recognized internationally as long as they meet the industry standard of being at least 100 hours, having a minimum of 6 hours of teaching practice and having qualified teacher trainers. The course I did is 124 hours and offers 8 to 10 hours of teaching practice.
I completed a 4 week course with TEFL Worldwide Prague 2 years ago and have been teaching ever since. They are an independant school ansd I feel it was the best choice I could have made.
Good Luck!