TEFL job prospects and teaching English abroad

TEFL job prospects and teaching English abroad

Introduction

Here we cover your job prospects based on the type of training programme you attended. It covers students:

• With an accredited certificate (residential or online) that includes teaching practice
• With a non-accredited certificate that includes teaching practice
• With a weekend, online, distance or one week qualification that does NOT include teaching practice
• With no qualification at all

With an accredited certificate that includes teaching practice

If you have an accredited certificate, your job prospects are virtually guaranteed. You will be offered so many jobs that it'll make you dizzy trying to decide which ones to take.

The question of "will I get a job?" does not really come up if you have an accredited certificate. The main question is "how long will it take me to get one?" For this reason it is very important that the school you choose will truly prepare you for the local job market and seriously help you find work.

You will probably notice that accredited course operators don't guarantee you a job with them. They don't have to because prospective employers will be falling over each other to hire you.

Most courses that claim to be accredited and guarantee you a job generally have a bogus accreditation scheme.

EBC does not guarantee jobs, but we do have possibly the best job placement programme available. The EBC programme will have you working within a few days of graduating.

With a non-accredited certificate that includes teaching practice

Non-accredited certificates always play second fiddle to accredited certificates. So if you really have no choice but to go for a non-accredited course, be prepared to wait longer to get a job and get offered jobs that the accredited candidates have rejected. You will eventually find work, but it will be of lesser quality and lower paying than your accredited competitors.

To cover up for this failure, some non-accredited courses offer you a guaranteed job.

Question: how can any organisation offer you a guaranteed job when they have never met you and have no idea of your teaching potential? If you do choose one of these types of courses, be prepared to be tied in to the company for quite a long while and get paid below market rates.

In these situations, the quality of the job, the pay and working conditions are always suspect. If you really have no choice but to go for one of these types of courses, be very careful.

With an online/distance qualification with NO teaching practice module

These should always be viewed as introductory courses. They are not designed for training classroom teachers.

Your job opportunities will be limited.

You may be thinking, “EBC offers an online course, why the negativity?” SIMPLE: EBC will always give you an honest answer. We do offer an online TEFL TESOL certificate course BUT we also give you the opportunity to take a two week residential teaching practice module that will give you those all-important, real-life classroom skills that employers look for.

With a weekend qualification or no qualification at all

If you get offered jobs at all, they'll be the ones that none of the above want.

Degree/native English speaker considerations

Some countries, especially in parts of the Far East require ESOL/ESL EFL teachers to also have a degree and some Far Eastern countries will not accept non-native English speakers. Most reputable and trustworthy jobs in the Far East are arranged via placement agents that will be able to answer your questions regarding getting work in the Far East.

How to choose a TEFL course

Course types

Hopefully you’ve already chosen EBC ☺. If you haven’t, then here’s a very useful check-list for you to use when comparing EBC to other courses. There are quite a few available:

• Residential
• Online/distance
• Blended learning
• Abbreviated or weekend courses

Residential TEFL courses

Designed for people that can attend a course in a training centre and dedicate themselves to full-time learning over a 4 week period.

Teaching is interactive, there are lots of practical exercises performed under the direct supervision of a tutor and most importantly you get to teach practice classes. Ideally (as in EBC’s case) you should teach to classes of non-English speakers rather than fake classes given to your peers. You should also get to teach to different class levels as well: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The latter so that you see first-hand where the learning challenges lie at each level.

Pros

A residential course is simply the best way to learn. You are in a classroom with a tutor and peers. You can interact with other people facing the same problems as you. You can ask questions and ask for clarification in real-time. You will finish in 4 weeks so the learning cycle is intense and most importantly, fast.

You should get to teach practice classes to non-English speakers. Aside from the invaluable experience of doing this, you will be infinitely more attractive to employers than other people that have only done an online/distance course.

Finally, in EBC’s case, the residential course you will attend is also accredited so you will be in even greater demand for jobs because language schools also prefer accredited qualifications over non-accredited qualifications.

Cons

There are two main cons: cost and time. A residential course is more expensive than an online course. You’ll also have to set aside 4 weeks to take the course.

Summary

A residential course is the best of all options. Top quality courses (like EBC’s) are accredited and include teaching practice classes to non-English speakers at different ability levels.

An accredited TESOL TEFL certificate qualification gained through a residential course that includes real teaching practice is the most attractive to potential employers.

The two cons mentioned can also be pros depending on your ambitions. If you want to travel and visit a new culture whilst learning then the travel and accommodation commitment are not cons, they are pros as they help you achieve your travel ambitions.

Distance online TEFL courses

Exactly as it says, your training is given online. These types of courses grew from the old distance learning courses. Initially started in the 1970’s, distance learning courses functioned using the postal service. Material and assignments are interchanged between student and teacher using the postal service. As we are now in the internet age, the postal service has been replaced by email and web based delivery.

The EBC online courses use web technology. All material is published on the web and administered using MOODLE. Your material, video clips, assignments, communicating with your tutor, feedback, results etc. are all processed online in order to shorten your learning time.

Pros

Online courses are cheap and you study when you feel like it. Most online courses give you a fairly wide time window in which to complete the material. In EBC’s case you get 6 months (180 days) to complete the course. Online courses are ideal for people that cannot afford to take time time away from their job or other daily commitments in order to attend a residential course.

Cons

Online courses are not very interactive in comparison to a residential course. You aren’t in a classroom, there’s no spontaneity, if you have a question you don’t have immediate access to your course tutor. The online course you choose should give you access to a tutor to mark your assignments and give feedback (EBC’s course does), but communication is usually quite impersonal as it is mainly done by email.

The main problem with a purely online/distance learning course is your attractiveness to potential employers at the end of the course. Almost all good employers will demand that teachers that they hire have attended a certificate course with actual teaching practice. To get round the job limitation problem, EBC has an optional teaching practice unit that WILL give you the opportunity to get real classroom practice.

Summary

An online/distance learning course will teach you teaching theory. It is cheap and you study at your own pace. If you choose to take an online/distance course you must always remember that if you like what you have learned, then to get the best jobs, you’ll have to take a residential teaching practice module (like EBC’s) as well.

Any online course that is shorter than 80 hours or does not have tutor support is not worth considering.

Blended learning TEFL courses

Blended learning courses are a half-way house between an online/distance learning course and a residential course.

The course combines the study time flexibility of an online course during which you learn the theoretical aspects of teaching and the real-life exposure to teaching in a classroom environment.

EBC gives you this option. You can combine the online TEFL TESOL certificate course with a two week teaching practice module taught in one of our training centres.

Pros

Blended learning combines most of the advantages of online and residential learning. You will obtain a qualification at the end of the teaching practice that will help you get work as it has real teaching practice.

Cons

The online part still has the problem of a lack of immediate response by a tutor to your questions. The residential part still has the problem of you needing to dedicate time and travel in order to complete the teaching practice module.

Summary

Blended learning is for someone that wants more than a purely online course but usually cannot afford the time or perhaps the cost of a 4 week intensive residential. Blended learning will give you a qualification that will be viewed positively by potential employers as it has real teaching practice.

Abbreviated or Weekend TEFL courses

These courses provide the equivalent of a management summary about teaching English. They are not designed to train you how to teach. They are overview courses.

The course is usually given over a weekend or a few days (usually 1 week). You usually get 16 to 20 hours of tuition so as you can imagine, you aren’t going to learn anything to the level of detail you’ll need to be able to teach. Usually there’s no teaching practice either.

Pros

Very short.

Cons

On a cost per hour basis they are very expensive, usually twice the price of a residential course and often more expensive than a good online course. If you are given a certificate at the end of it, very few employers will accept it as the number of course hours falls well below the generally accepted minimum of 100 hours and there’s no teaching practice.

Summary

If you have a bit of time to spare on a weekend and are looking for something to do, then this type of course may be for you. If you are serious about teaching English and want to get a qualification that is acceptable then do not take one of these courses. If, due to personal circumstances, the abbreviated or weekend course is the only type of course you can do, save your money.

Things mummy never told you about TEFL classrooms

As one of our students commented "on our EBC course we left no stone unturned."

Part of any course should prepare you to teach English as a foreign language. We do that and we cover as much as possible including the human factor.

The HUMAN FACTOR

Teaching is a humanity and as the word implies, it's all to do with humans.

There are humans of all shapes and sizes and once in a while there is an attraction. BEWARE of this attraction. You may or may not want it so BE WARNED.

EBC's advice is to remain neutral and stay away from classroom romances as they can be fraught with problems.

If a student asks you out, throw the offer open to the rest of the class. The last thing you need is to annoy a class because they think you have a favourite student. Rumours start and before you know it, you may lose your job.

It could be that you find your soul-mate or it could be that you find yourself out of a job.

EBC's advice is to make sure that the line between you and your students is clearly marked and that if you decide to cross it, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

TEFL teaching practice - missing from online or distance TEFL courses

You can't learn to teach by learning from a book

In addition to getting experience in designing, planning, creating and successfully executing your lessons, you must also experience the human interaction side of teaching. Here are just two of many examples of problems you may encounter in the classroom and some ways to resolve them. Learn more at our main web site.

Your students keep talking in their own language

REASONS

• They want to communicate something important therefore they use the language they know best.
• Speaking in their language is a lot easier than struggling with English.
  

SOLUTIONS

• Talk to them about the issues
  • Negotiate with students when it's appropriate to use their own language in the class.
  • Emphasise that overuse of their own language means that learning English will be slower.
  • Explain that using their own language denies them a chance to rehearse English usage.
  • Don't be overly sympathetic and NEVER FORGET that your students are with you to learn English.
• Encourage them to use English appropriately
  • Make it clear that there is not a total ban on their own language.
  • Emphasise that speaking exercises must be done in English.
• Only respond to English use
  • Make it clear that you want to hear English.
  • You are allowed to ignore what students say in their own language.
• Create an English environment
  • You MUST speak English all of the time.
  • Students must be constantly exposed to how English sounds.
  • Students must be constantly exposed to what English usage “feels” like.
  • You could try to Anglicise student names.
• Keep reminding them
  • Go round the class during a speaking exercise encouraging students to use English.
  • You may have to be assertive when encouraging English usage as some students are shy or embarrassed due to the fear of losing face by sounding “stupid”.
  • Persevere with this because over time the students will gradually overcome their inhibitions.
    

Your students don’t want to talk

REASONS

• The student’s character.
• Other students may dominate and intimidate.
• Students are not used to talking freely for reasons of culture and background.
• Student fears making mistakes and therefore losing face in front of the class.
  

SOLUTIONS

DO NOT try to bully or blackmail quiet students into talking, you’ll just make things worse.

• Use pair-work
  • Helps to get quiet students talking.
  • In small groups they are under less pressure.
  • Allow them to speak in a controlled way at first for example dictate a short, simple sentence and then ask them to read it back.
  • Allow students to write down what they are going to say before they say it. This removes the risk element that a spontaneous response requires.
  • Once these basic skills are acquired you can start asking them simple questions about what they read. Psychologically they are more likely to respond.
• Acting things out and read aloud
  • Acting out dialogues encourages quiet students.
  • You must work with the students like a drama teacher.
  • Explain intonation, emphasis and emotion.
  • If you give good guidance and get good co-operation, the result will sound good and the student will achieve a great deal of satisfaction.
• Role-play
  • Quiet students, in general, speak more freely when they are playing a role.
  • They do not have to be themselves.
  • Allows the students to take on a new identity and behave in uncharacteristic ways.
  • Allows the student to connect to a different personality and therefore reduces risk.
• Use a recording
  • Ask students to record what they would like to say, outside the lesson.
  • Listen to the recording and point out inaccuracies.
  • The student is given the chance to listen, get feedback and repeat.
  • This is a positive iterative process that encourages self-assessment and motivation.
    NOTE: Some students may feel inhibited about this so try to persuade the student into accepting the task prior to asking him/her to do it.
    
    As you can see, these are not things that you can experience just by reading a book. You have to be there to experience it.
    
    

EBC teaching practice

The EBC residential course includes eight hours teaching classes of non-English speakers at all levels.

The EBC online course has the option to take a two week teaching practice module where you will also teach eight hours of classes to non-English speakers at all levels.

Your students are local residents that have a keen interest in learning English.

Each 1 hour class teaching non-English speakers is arranged so that you teach to groups of beginner, groups of intermediate and groups of advanced students. The reason we do this is so that you’ll get to see the full  range of problems that each levels' learners have.

Teaching practice is observed and critiqued. Feedback is always provided so that you know how you are progressing and can iron out any wrinkles in your teaching style.

Imagine trying out your teaching style on the job. It wouldn't take your employer or your students very long to figure out that you didn't know what you were doing. Result? No more job!

TEFL course classroom teaching practice and why it’s important

Why bother with practice?

Would you trust a surgeon that had only learnt his or her skills from a book?

Chances are that you wouldn’t. Teaching English is less dangerous but no different.

Learning the theory is fine but you have to put it into practice to truly understand and experience what it’s like to stand in front of a class of eager learners and teach them how to use English correctly.

Employers prefer to hire teachers that have done teaching practice

Almost all reputable employers will expect that the certificate course you have attended includes real practice classes given to non-English speakers.

Most on-line and distance learning qualifications lack a teaching practice module and this is their main weakness when it comes to finding work.

EBC is different in this respect because if you take our online course you have the option to sign up for a two week teaching practice module as well.

The EBC course gives you the skills you need to get quality EFL jobs throughout the world. Our course provides practical, hands-on training and focuses strongly on real teaching practice sessions observed by course tutors.

In addition, the practice classes are observed and include feedback so that you know how you are performing.

On an ever increasing basis language schools that hire ESL EFL teachers insist that an applicant has an accredited qualification gained through a course that has real teaching practice.

Why do the best schools prefer this type of candidate? Simple, they want to hire people that have had quality training, can prepare and execute lesson plans, know how to behave in a classroom and have taught non-English speakers in a real classroom environment. They want to feel secure that a new teacher knows what he/she is doing and won't screw up.

In order to teach in a real classroom environment you must be prepared and know what you are going to do. This is the main reason that employers place a premium value on prospective teachers with classroom experience. You are forced to prepare before teaching the class otherwise your class will almost certainly fail.

To summarise, if you haven’t completed a teaching practice module, you will limit your job and career prospects.

Many schools also expect you to teach a practice class at interview time. If you've never taught in a classroom before, what are you going to do?

A word of warning

EBC's teaching practice is as close to reality as possible. Before we started our own TEFL course our hiring staff found that even teachers that had gone through the allegedly "best" courses were lacking in the key area of practice as they had very limited exposure to teaching full classes.

Even today, the "best" TEFL certificate course only allows students to teach one after another (like a production line) in 20 minutes slots and only exposes them to two language learner levels.

For EBC, this was and still is unacceptable because it is not what happens in the real world of teaching.

Make sure that the TEFL course you choose, has properly organised teaching practice given at all learner levels and each practice class is at least one hour in duration

Planning the lesson you will teach

You must have planned your lesson and written down what you are going to do, what you are going to say, what material you are going to use, what questions you are going to ask etc. BEFORE you teach your class.

Having a plan demonstrates the following:

• A plan gives the lesson shape and a framework.
• A plan shows your students that you have devoted time to thinking about them.
• Planning shows professionalism and commitment.
• Planning helps you to think about where you’re going.
• Planning helps you to think out ideas for the future.
• Planning helps you remember what you intended to do.
• Planning gives students confidence that you have thought about the lesson.
• Planning is crucial when you are being externally assessed.

To learn more about our TEFL courses, please visit our main web site.

Core skills for your success as an English teacher

These core TEFL teaching skills are crucial to your success as an English teacher and these are the core skills that you will learn when you take the EBC TEFL course training programme.

What you’ll need to learn to teach English

The following is a list of skills that you'll need in order to be a successful English teacher. EBC's courses are designed to give you these skills.

Know the difference between "Learning" and "Teaching"

• How to determine that what you have taught has been learned
• Understand the learning cycle
• How to adapt to the needs of the different learning capacities of students
• Understand different EFL teaching models and their influence on current teaching styles
• Know what elements are necessary for EFL learning in a classroom

Know how to structure lessons

• How to present material
• How to present key points
• How to present explanations and instructions
• How to order the presentation of material and exercises

Know how to plan lessons and use didactic material

• Understand why lesson plans are important
• Know what should be in a plan
• Know how to plan effective lessons
• Understand the different lesson components
• How to select and order lesson components
• How to maximise the use of didactic materials

Know how to determine if a lesson was successful

• How to define lesson success evaluation criteria
• How to evaluate lesson effectiveness

Understand classroom interaction

• Understand interaction (teacher/student and students/student ), meaning and concepts
• Be aware of patterns of classroom interaction
• Understand the social aspects of classroom interaction
• How to implement and use interactive teaching strategies
• How to effectively use initiation – response – feedback techniques
• How to effectively use: engage, study and activate techniques

Know how to ask questions

• Understand the reasons for questioning
• How to construct effective questions
• How to successfully elicit answers
• How to concept check

Know how to give feedback

• Understand what feedback is
• Understand the nature and function of feedback
• How to correct mistakes
• How to tactfully and positively deliver feedback

Know how to test and assess

• Understand why testing is necessary
• Understand the value of assessment and correction for learning
• How to establish assessment reference criteria
• How to establish assessment grades
• How to construct successful and meaningful tests
• How to administer tests

Know how to maintain classroom discipline

• How to ensure that students keep using English rather than their own language
• How to encourage uncooperative students
• How to get quiet students talking
• How to help students that don't understand dialogues that they are listening to
• How to handle students that finish before everybody else

Know how to teach vocabulary

• How to present and explain new vocabulary
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate vocabulary use

Know how to teach grammar

• Understand grammar in general and why it is important
• Understand grammatical structures
• Understand grammatical meaning
• How to present and explain new grammatical structures
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate grammar use

Know how to teach reading

• Understand why we read and what the reading process is
• Understand the differences between how people read
• How to teaching reading
• Know what reading activities look like
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate reading

Know how to teach writing

• Understand why we write and what the writing process is
• Understand the differences between written and spoken text
• How to teaching writing
• Know what writing activities look like
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate writing

Know how to teach speaking

• How to practice oral fluency
• How and when to correct errors during fluency exercises
• How to resolve common speaking activity problems
• How to use role play and related techniques
• Know what speaking activities look like
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate speaking

Know how to teach listening

• Understand what is really involved when we listen to someone else speak
• Know the common attributes of real-life listening situations
• How to simulate real-life listening in the classroom
• Know what listening activities look like
• How to construct classroom activities that stimulate listening

Know how to motivate students and maintain their interest

• Understand why motivation is extremely important in learning situations
• Understand the characteristics of motivated students
• Understand different kinds of motivation
• Know why there are natural fluctuations in student interest
• How to effectively use motivation techniques

Know how to teach pronunciation

• Explain and practice long and short vowel sounds
• Explain and practice diphthongs
• Explain and practice different qualities of and pronunciation of vowels
• Explain and practice plosive consonants
• Explain and practice difficult sounds e.g. W, G, J. CH etc.
• Explain and practice intonation and its effect on phrase/sentence meaning
• Explain and practice how stressed and unstressed syllables vary the rhythm of words and phrases

Know how to behave in the classroom

• Know what are the characteristics of a good teacher
• How to communicate success and its rewards
• How to communicate failure and its penalties
• How to make authoritative demands
• How to structure teacher language
• How to manage Teacher Talking Time (TTT) vs. Student Talking Time (STT)
• How to teach using English rather than having to resort to the local language

Know how to perform concept checking

• Understand what concept checking
• How to effectively use different methods for concept checking
• How to concept check vocabulary
• How to concept check grammar

Understand the differences in learner age groups

• Understand the "age factor" for language learning capabilities
• Understand the differences between children and adult learning
• Know the basics behind teaching children
• Know the basics behind teaching adolescents
• Know the basics behind teaching adults

Understand a syllabus

• Know what a syllabus is
• Know what to consider when planning a syllabus
• How to identify what students need to learn
• Understand the common characteristics of a syllabus
• Understand different types of syllabuses
• Know how to use a syllabus when planning lessons

Understand what ESP/Business English is

• Understand the definitions of ESP areas of specialisation
• How to conduct an ESP needs analysis
• Understand the ESP language teaching tree
• Understand different ESP teaching techniques

What do you gain from learning these TEFL teaching skills?

Without these skills, your ability to find work and teach will be limited plus you will find that teaching becomes a chore and not at all an enjoyable experience. Your employer may also fire you if the client complains that you don’t know what you are doing.

There’s no short-cut to learning these skills either, but spending 4 weeks with EBC or taking our online course is not really a lot to ask for and we guarantee that not only will you have learned these skills we also give you the opportunity to put them to practice in the classroom.

As well as graduating as an accredited English teacher, you will also have learned how to quickly adapt and survive in a new cultural environment. The EBC course mirrors real life as a new teacher in a foreign country so when you have graduated you will be truly ready to teach anywhere.

In 4 short weeks or the time it takes you to complete our online course, EBC will give you all the skills and support that you need in order to start a great career as an English teacher.

What does it take to become an English teacher?

What you need to be a successful EFL teacher

A summary in two short statements is:

1. Your desire to become an invaluable member of the English teaching profession.
2. Your determination to learn the skills that you’ll need to become a successful teacher by taking an accredited TEFL certificate course like EBC’s.

A typical English teacher

There is no such thing as a typical English teacher. Good teachers are people-oriented, curious, creative, open-minded and good listeners. Most English teachers have a degree, but people without a degree that have several years of professional and life experience can also make excellent teachers.

Personal qualities have as much influence over what makes a good teacher as do educational attainment.

Your training

With EBC you can get the training you need either by attending one of our 4 week intensive TEFL courses or by taking our online certificate course.

Q: Will I really be prepared to start teaching English after the 4 week or online course plus the EBC teaching practice module?

A: EBC’s experience so far is a resounding “yes you will”, and with continued research, reflection and professional development, you can become a true expert and respected professional in the field.

Now that you’ve shown a great deal of interest in becoming an English teacher, the battle is half way over. What remains is to give you the training and skills that you will need to become a successful, accredited English teacher.
To complete the final phase of your teacher training you’ll need to learn the following:

• How to analyse, use and present the English language
• How to practically apply EFL and ESOL/ESL teaching theory in the classroom
• How to manage a classroom
• How to plan effective lessons
• How to analyse the needs of your students
• How to behave in the classroom and interact with your students
• How to teach: grammar, listening, reading, writing and speaking
• How to motivate your students
• How to respond to student questions
• How to find and effectively use learning materials
• How to check that your students are learning
• How to evaluate lesson effectiveness
• How to analyse your success as a teacher
• How to survive as an English teacher in a foreign country
• How to adapt to a different culture
• How to behave as an EFL ESOL/ESL teaching professional
• How to succeed in an EFL ESOL/ESL teaching job interview

This may look like a daunting list of skills to learn, but the EBC TEFL course will get you through it and then help you get working. EBC’s objective is to make sure that you pass the course.

To ensure that this happens, we use pro-active continuous assessment, feedback and correction - a skill that you will also have to learn.

This feedback method creates a relaxed atmosphere that is essential for learning.

The EBC training programme uses all the skills that we teach you.
EBC walks the talk!

These core skills are crucial to your success as an English teacher and these are the core skills that you will learn when you take the EBC TEFL certification programme.