Archive for the ‘Teaching qualifications’ Category

Innateness hypothesis- The theory that studying English is inherently boring, so why bother with games. See also “Inaneness hypothesis”*

Input- The theory that the language we expose students to should be as carefully chosen as when programming a computer or doing data input, although most experts agree that the metaphor works best if we picture the teacher trying to type with a couple of sledge hammers

Input enhancement- Using a gold plated jack on the classroom tape recorder

Intercambio de Lenguas- Spanish for “exchanging tongues”, often involving conversation exchange and its more literal translation

Interface- Also known as “innerface”, the internal cringing (more…)

Look for lines like this:

“I got a real buzz working with some of the teenagers who didn’t really want to be there”

Newspapers are full of PR releases repackaged as “journalism” nowadays, and I don’t just mean rags like the Mirror (source of the article the quote comes from), and TEFL has more than its fair share. Here’s hoping that some people try Google before deciding that working as a TEFL teacher is something you should pay for the privilege of.

It was a quiet month (if you don’t count the sound of the cicadas), but that will just give you the chance to read all of them for once, starting with a new series of “well balanced…” articles on Usingenglish.com:

A well balanced use of L1 in class

A well balanced use of error correction

And back here in TEFL.netland

15 ways to prepare for the CELTA etc

15 ways to do needs analysis

Academic Vocabulary in Use review

And not one of mine but edited by me

Imagine That (Mental Imagery in the EFL Classroom) review by Darren Elliot

If that isn’t enough for you (and how could it be?), you could have a look at the same post for July, my newly updated list of links to my stuff, or my newly updated worksheet pages with links to stuff by category.

Finally, if you like any of my stuff, you’ll love ELTgames.com, from the ever fab Jon Marks- it is a lesson to all the rest of us about what a truly professional TEFL internet could be.

Some courses, for example, demand a non-refundable interview/ application fee for the pleasure of being asked questions about grammar. Other courses, however, just say this:

“I understand and accept that should I be offered a place on the course I have applied for, I am committing myself to completing the course, and am therefore liable for payment of the entire course fee.”

Wait a minute- you what?? Let’s move that into other areas of life and see how it sounds:

“I understand that by coming for a job interview I am agreeing to work for you, even if I don’t like any of the answers to the questions I ask you at the end or the room we have the interview in smells of pee”

“I understand that by going on this blind date I am agreeing to marry you, even if the photo turns out not to be yours, and will be liable for alimony payments if I do not”

Etc.

Luckily, it was just badly written, didn’t mean that, and they are clearing it up after having it pointed out by me, but the person writing the blog I found this quote on was seriously thinking about paying it all in advance. If you should be only 23 and so incredibly naive too, let me spell it out in big friendly letters- AVOID CELTA COURSES THAT DEMAND INTERVIEW AND OTHER NON-REFUNDABLE FEES BEFORE YOU DECIDE THAT YOU WANT TO TAKE THE COURSE. Luckily, the vast majority of courses don’t charge such fees, giving even less justification to the ones that do (see my article for EL Gazette for more details).

Here’s the original  blog entry , in case you want to give some kind uncle advice or are interested in a TEFL trainer that takes suggestions for improvements (from me!) seriously and are considering Milan.

TEFL International is not only often quoted as one of the largest TEFL training organisations (see the stats below), it is also almost certainly the one most likely to set off a firestorm by mentioning it on the internet- hence its interest, and the need for these somewhat strict rules on comments: (more…)

… and it’s not because of Interactive Whiteboards- see here for details. (more…)

Or not, but boy would they like you to read that article so quickly that you don’t realise that.

i-to-i is another organisation that gets all kinds of alarm bells ringing in my head, but can’t quite work out why… Just because it all sounds too good to be true??

Bruce has replied to all the questions below, so thanks to the few people who helped me with those rather than repeating the same old “I have evidence but I’m not going to show it to you” comments. I’m going to ask quite a few back up questions, then the finished interview Part Two will go up in maybe a week. In the meantime, all comments on Bruce V, TEFL International etc will be deleted as all the recent ones have already been answered in the interview and there doesn’t seem to be much point in tackling them twice.

When the interview goes up, there will be a 24 hour period with no comments so that people can write up their detailed and evidence-rich responses on Word at home first, rather than firing off the first things that come into their heads. After that time, you will be allowed to comment only on the things said in the interview. Any other comments will be deleted, and persistent offenders will have all their comments deleted (also in previous posts) in order for it to be technically possible to block them through Wordpress. If you have any other comments or questions about TEFL International, you may of course email me.

Comments are open for this post so that you may, if you wish, comment on the policies described above. Any other comments will be deleted.

As is my role as the navelgazer of TEFL, having had to take a close look at the battleground that is the teflnet recently has made me wonder whether something deeper is going on. Do I hear “class war” as an explanation? I’m never one to rule that out, but my theory is that, as is often the case with these arguments that go on forever, we are actually talking two different languages.

As me and Sandy have been doing more than our fair share of trying to see the TEFL capitalists’ point of view recently, let’s see if I can’t try and explain our particular (and peculiar) culture and viewpoint to them:

 - If you are a successful businessman who heads a large company, for many people that is enough to make you the enemy. and there is nothing you can do to change their minds. For example, how many people have admitted they were wrong about Bill Gates’s evil empire just because he has turned into Mother Theresa? That’s right- none! It could be due to a philosophy of class war or other political reasons, it could be bitterness, but it’s usually a version of the tall poppy syndrome. I personally think that the tall poppy syndrome is healthy, and while it suggests an abandonment of logic it’s no worse than the ‘rich and successful = good’ culture of the rest of the world (more…)

This interview was conducted by email over the last week or so, with me submitting the main outline and then asking a few follow up questions when the main answers came back. My questions are in bold, and the follow up questions and answers are in italics.

1. A brief history of your career
This was covered in a recent interview in the BKK Post but here it is again:

I began life in a completely different field—selling industrial equipment and negotiating Joint Ventures in China.  When the company I worked for had a problem with our customer in China, I was sent to Hong Kong to resolve it. 
When the company went under, I was somewhat abandoned in Hong Kong. 

The job market back home was not that good (and my field was very specialized) so I thought I would look for a job in Hong Kong.  A friend suggested I teach English to earn some money to pay the rent.

Before long I was teaching full time and loving it!  I then started opening small schools around Hong Kong.  But after several years I was burned out.  Married by then with a small child, we decided to move to Thailand.  Soon afterwards I decided to pen up a TESOL course.  The main purpose was to find and train qualified teachers for the schools in Hong Kong!  But after some initial success I decided to expand.

2.    A brief history of TEFL International, the secret of its success and the principles behind it

Started out as a Trinity course.  After some differences of opinion with the CE of Trinity at the time, we became independent on 1 Jan 2000.  As a small, newly independent school, I decided that the only way we could credibly tell our students that our course was internationally recognized was to be truly international.  Thus, the rapid expansion.

3.    A list of some of the things that TEFL International does now
 ·         TESOL Courses
·         Volunteer Programs
·         Guaranteed Jobs programs
·         Teacher Training for local teachers (usually through the Thai Ministry of Education)
·         Teach/learn language programs
·         Teach/Intern programs
 
4. Can you give some details of TI’s charity/non-profit status and structure

First of all, we do not need to be a non-profit.  We could avoid all taxes by moving our base to some offshore tax shelter.  And it’s not like I enjoy having all of our accounts (including my salary) available to the public.  But we work with universities and universities feel better working with a non profit than a for profit.  Plus, we do a lot of things that non profits do like real volunteer work and assistance for the less fortunate. 

I do not know a lot about US tax laws (which are extremely complex).  But every year we have to hire a special accountant to do our taxes and submit them to the IRS to ensure we continue to meet US non-profit status. (more…)