• Home
  • Login
  • Registration
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
ESLarticle.com
Tweet
  • Home
  • Articles
  • Blog
  • Members
  • Add Article

Top Categories

Teaching 509
Other 210
Classroom Management 138
Career Development 135
Learning Methodology 121
Study Skills 90
E-Learning/CALL 87
English Language Learning (ELL) 78
Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) 77
Teaching Methodology 76
English Language Teaching (ELT) 73
English as a Second Language (ESL) 64
Teach in Shanghai
Home / Articles / Teacher Training / View Article

Publishing

  • Articles
  • Add Article
  • Articles Archive
  • Latest Articles
  • Popular Articles

Latest Articles

Jan 5, 2019

Metacognition in Reading Competency

As related to the reading process, metacognition can be defined as contemplation concerning one's own thinking processes or knowledge of one's own...

Jan 5, 2019

Mass Media Literacy Reflections for Language Instructions

"You cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within himself." Galileo Galilei Mass media forms thrive today. As development...

Nov 30, 2018

Ideas for the First Class with New Learners

~~The first class with new learners can be an anxious one for all concerned – teacher as well as learners. Below are some tips to make that first...

Nov 19, 2018

10 Amazing Hacks for English Learners

10 Amazing Hacks for English Learners It is estimated that there are over a billion English speakers in the world, including native speakers,...

Nov 15, 2018

Building Reading and Writing Knowledge with Very Young Children at Hom

Education Today, December 2013 Building Reading and Writing Knowledge with Very Young Children at Home  Timothy G. Weih University of Northern...

Popular Articles

1142821 Views

5 Creative Ways to Decorate Your Classroom Bulletin Board This Winter

Back to school, fall leaves, Thanksgiving and Christmas all easily lend themselves to great decorating themes, but what to do when those are over...

381567 Views

Three Unique Ideas To Make Your Bulletin Board More Useful

Bulletin boards have long been existent in campuses. They have proven to be such versatile and useful aids in both the learning and teaching...

140627 Views

History of the Chalkboard

Walk into just about any classroom and you will find one: A dark green board on the wall, lined with pieces of chalk and felt erasers. Chalkboards,...

65150 Views

Report Card Comments

For a small minority, writing report cards isn't a big deal. But most teachers generally dread report card writing time. Completing the comment...

49101 Views

Second Language Acquisition: Swain's Output Vs Krashen's Input

1. Introduction: Input versus Output. A general overview In order to assess how compatible Krashen's and Swain's views are, it is essential to...


Choosing a TEFL Course

by Richard Francis

Aug 19, 2008 Teacher Training 4034 Views

_notregistered/art_165_23c148cc8f~.jpg

After careful consideration of all the above, I chose The TEFL Institute, Bangkok (www.teflthai.com), impressed by their attitude and philosophy towards learning teaching. Fortunately, I found it to be a massively positive experience, not least I am sure, due to the fact that I found a course that emphatically provided the answers I needed to the questions above.


  • Time: The TEFL Institute offers a 5-week, 120-hour course (some courses offer a more intensive 4-week program). The extra week certainly helped me better absorb the material and reflect on my progress.An accelerated program may appeal but give careful consideration to how it could affect the quality of your study time.
     

The proportion of time engaged in practice teaching on the course was also attractive. Eight hours of supervised teaching in one-on-one, small group, and Thai school situations were supplemented by responsibility for in-class presentations and seminars. Although teaching theory is invaluable, it’s standing up at the front yourself that the learning curve steepens and a tangible sense of progress develops. The rule here is simple—the more chance you get to practice what you are learning the quicker you progress.


  • Cost: Prices for full-time courses generally range from $1000-$2000depending on the duration. The TEFL Institute has priced itself very competitively for full-time training, but it was their attention to additional details that really seemed to provide value: high speed wireless Internet access, CV and career advice workshops, a fully stocked library of new TEFL related teaching materials, and discount ordering for personal supplies. It certainly pays to look into the small print of a course description to see what you’re really getting for your money.

  • Qualifications: In additionto the various distinctions between the teaching certificates and how they relate to specific teaching roles (see www.britishcouncil.org) it is also worth investigating what opportunities are present for further professional development after graduation. If remuneration is a primary short-term concern, the opportunity to study further may be worth considering as the high-earning teaching jobs usually require several years of experience or additional educational qualifications.
     

Is the course affiliated to any other institutions of further education that will recognize your achievement? Is there an opportunity to further your training beyond the basic certificate at a later date? The TEFL Institute (as a subsidiary of United Educational Consultants (www.uecthai.com)) is affiliated with The University of New York State and, as such, offers Asia’s only graduate level TEFL program. Degree holders are able to use the course as credit towards a multi-disciplinary master’s degree.


  • Syllabus: In addition to the techniques and theories of teaching a foreign language, most courses will cover classroom management strategies, address the technicalities of English grammar, and look at the student-teacher dynamic. Enquiring as to the relative proportions of these in the syllabus is a good idea. For instance, having to teach grammatical principles can be intimidating. On top of the basics of teaching methodology and the relationship between teaching style and student interest, what else is covered? The TEFL Institute runs seminars on Asian cultural differences—a big help in trying to understand why some of the difficulties in the Thai classroom arise and how best to build rapport with your students. They also focus in depth on lesson planning, handy when you soon discover what a huge proportion of your time it takes up. Examination and coursework requirements should also be a consideration, particularly if tests aren’t your favorite passtime.

  • Group Sizes: On the UEC program, the group sizes are limited to six. The small group size certainly helped us to bond. The mistakes became less embarrassing and comfort developed in seeking advice from each other. A larger group size provides the opportunity to meet more people and develop contacts, as well as offering a larger audience for in-class work. Both have their merits to be carefully considered before making a choice.
     

As with many experiences, it is the evaluation and critique of your efforts that provide you with the clearest path forward. Having only six students in the class allowed everyone to receive detailed personal appraisals of their teaching attempts on a frequent basis. The honest and constructive criticism was certainly one of the main reasons we were able to progress so quickly. Larger groups do not always allow the tutors to analyze and evaluate on an individual level in so much depth.


  • Location: Be sure to give some serious thought to where you want to spend the duration of your training. Although for many the course itself will be the primary consideration, a month does give an opportunity to really get a feel for a place.
     
  • Work Placements: If you harbor plans to teach immediately after training, selecting a course with good contacts in the workplace can be a big help to you. Enquire about any schools they may have a relationship with. Also ask if you can be put in touchwith graduates from the program—they can act as great referees for the course, give you some insight into what it was like finding work after qualifying, and give you their experiences of how the course has influenced their development as teachers. A lack of contactable alumni speaksvolumes.
     

Article source: http://eslarticle.com/pub/teacher-training/165-choosing-a-tefl-course.html

  • General Information
  • Pictures
Author Info

Author Name: Richard Francis

About Author: Richard Francis is a British freelance travel writer, Ex-Reuters. He has traveled in South America, Asia, Australasia, and Europe. Richard lived in New Zealand for a year and has taught English in Thailand. He is currently living and working (hopefully!)

General

Pictures:

Most Recent Articles

  • Jun 14, 2018 Spoken Discourse Analysis in the Classroom by Richard Francis
  • May 16, 2018 Training Guidelines for the Novice Teachers by Richard Francis
  • Feb 13, 2018 Checking Meaning & Eliciting by Richard Francis
  • Jan 2, 2018 5 Paradigms of Language Teacher Professional Development by Richard Francis
  • Sep 3, 2017 Engaging The Disengaged Student by Richard Francis

Actions

  • Print Page

Articles Archive

  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021

Random Articles

TOEFL/TOEIC/IELTS

3 Powerfully Effective Tips for Passing the IELTS Test

 Top Tips for Passing the IELTS Here are 3 powerful tips for passing the IELTS test 1. Read the instructions carefully This may sound...

TOEFL/TOEIC/IELTS

Language Testing - Academic Versus Professional (TOEFL Versus TOEIC)

The action of utilizing English language assessments for a professional or academic career path is as simple as two acronyms. As a psychometric...

Lesson Planning

Writing a Lesson Plan

Understanding the parts of a lesson plan is among the first steps in closing the achievement gap. It is only when teachers can plan lessons...

Writing

Differentiating Writing in the Classroom

For the purpose of this article, integrating writing and differentiation into your classroom, I have designed techniques that meet most writing...

Speaking/Listening

Secrets to Learn English Listening Comprehension Effectively?

Why listening does not always improve your listening skill? How you can improve your listening skill effectively? What to do if you are too lazy...

About ESL Article

ESL Article is a private ESL/TEFL site designed and maintained by educators and educational administrators. It was launched in August 2008 with the aim of bringing ESL/TEFL students, parents, teachers and schools information and articles about the teaching profession and learning community.

Icon Group Member

ESL Article is a member of Icon Group Thailand (IGT), a group of ESL TEFL TESOL websites providing educational resources and information to teachers, schools and students around the world. The group was founded in 2003 and now includes 15+ websites covering educational information services, teaching resources and e-learning.

What is ESL?

English as a second language (ESL) is the use or study of English by speakers of different native languages. It is also known as English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), English as an additional language (EAL), and English as a foreign language (EFL).

  • Home
  • Registration
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Help
  • Partner
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
​

© 2022 ESLarticle.com.
Member of Icon Group Thailand - Educating the Future:
TESall All TESOL  Total ESL  ESL Job Feed
TEFL World  TEFL Jobs Overseas  Teach Overseas
Asia TEFL  ESL Powerpoint  Teacher Training