Archive for the ‘ELT World’ Category

Chuseok holiday came just at the right point for me, so for once you can actually read my articles in the month which they are supposed to be for:

Natural Interactions (in HLT magazine for the first time in many years, so you get to see my softer, feely touchy side*)

How to use the Primary iDictionary CD ROM in class (in which I get a whole article out of trying to write a review- recommended technique for lazy TEFL writers!)

Can-do statements in preschool English classes (in which I jump on the CEF bandwagon, despite usually slagging it off as over-rated)

Questions to ask about a new kindergarten English class (in which I get carried away with question marks)

35 Present Perfect Simple and Continuous games (in which I get carried away with grammar games but the tranquilizers hit when I reach 35)

Explaining the Present Perfect Continuous tense

And in case you think this Case is entirely self-centred, here are some favourite bits and pieces this month from elsewhere, in approximate order of interest:

Should TEFL be more like Ryanair? on The PLN Staff Lounge

The TEFL Catch 22 and how we can all escape it on Good Dave’s ELT World blog

Philip Kerr’s guest piece on Lindsay Clandfield’s blog, Six Things About Multiple Intelligences That You Might Not Know

An Interview with John and Liz Sores on TEFLtradesman

In defence of course books and Can non experts teach ESP Part Two on Specific English

Everything on ELT Cafe

An awful lot of Turklish TEFL

87.93% of ESL Daily

A substantial percentage of the Delta Development Blog

A good deal of stuff on Lives of Teachers, Darrrrenn Ellliottt’s new blog

* or not

A request from a reader

By me:

How was the Dip? A personal reflection on the DELTA

Preparing for the DELTA- A pre-reading guide

The Advanced Teaching Certificate (some ideas on how the DELTA should change, some of which, no doubt through sheer coincidence, have happened since I wrote the three things above) (more…)

A guest piece by “TEFLista”

“No doubt about it, being ripped off sucks. And that goes double for TEFL cert courses. Putting your life on hold, flying to a foreign destination, and setting up temporary accommodation are all part of the equation when deciding to take a teacher training course overseas. So where to turn after it’s all gone horribly wrong? This article looks at some of the options for those who have taken a course with a business that has ties to the USA.

Dispute the Charge

If you paid for your course with a credit card, then call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Usually you have to file a written request within 60 days of when the bill was sent to you. If you’ve already paid the bill, then the card company may be able to issue you a temporary credit until the rest gets sorted out.

File a Complaint with the Local Government/State

Each state in the USA has an ‘Office of the Attorney General’ with a consumer protection division. Do a Google search with the words “attorney general”, plus the name of the state. Most, if not all, have very helpful consumer hotlines that you can call and complaint forms that you can download.

Take It to Small Claims

Don’t be intimidated by the idea of going to court. Taking your case to small claims is a lot easier than you might think and no there is no need for a lawyer. It varies from state to state, but it usually involves a postcard-size form and a fee ranging from $10-$50. Most likely, you will never step foot in front of a judge and matters such as this are usually taken care of in a back office. Tell your side of the story and it will all be over in 10 minutes. Depending on the state, if you win you may also be entitled to recover your fees and travel expenses. And if the other party doesn’t bother to show up, then you may win by default!
The process of small claims courts is quite similar in each state, but they do have some minor differences. Here’s a good summary of the basics from the state of Oregon:
http://www.osbar.org/public/pamphlets/smallclaims.html

Contact the Better Business Bureau

If the company is a member of the Better Business Bureau, then file a complaint with the BBB in the state where the company is registered. If you’re looking for a refund, then don’t expect much from the BBB. How it works is you file a complaint, then they respond and if the BBB considers their response reasonable then the case is considered ‘resolved’. Unfortunately, all the course provider has to do is to offer you another one of their crappy courses for free or a free online course and that pretty much will satisfy the BBB- not very much in the way of compensation for all that you’ve had to go through!

Another point to keep in mind when dealing with the BBB is that they do not get involved in job disputes. More recently, a number of course providers have become involved in the practice of offering ‘guaranteed jobs’ with a ‘free’ TEFL Certificate. Many of these are highly questionable and they are clearly being marketed as jobs, so don’t expect help from the BBB in these situations.
For more information, there’s a nice article about the BBB here:
Better Business Bureau Has Its Limits As Watchdog

Talk to the Top

If you feel that your dispute is of a minor nature, then it might be worth trying to take it to the top of the company that provided your TEFL course, or at least to someone a little bit higher up on the ladder. Do this in writing, be objective and leave your own actual classroom teaching out of the dialogue.

If on the other hand it’s clear to you that you’ve been fleeced, then don’t waste your time, especially if you want a refund of some sort. Once they’ve got your money, chances are you won’t get it back just by asking – the best you’ll probably get is a discount on another course.

Spread the Word

Course providers hate it when people do this. Unfortunately, telling others on the web isn’t as easy as it ought to be. Teaching websites used to be by teachers and for teachers. Today, however, many are often by website owners and for money. No matter how polite and objective your post may be, place it on a website where the course provider advertises and it will be taken down within two days and you’ll probably end up being banned from that site too. Don’t even think about trying to post it on Dave’s ESL Café. Your best bets are probably:

ELT World forums

TEFL.net forums

English Test forums

When posting, try to be objective and never accuse anyone of theft or fraud. Avoid using your real name online, too, as if you write something damaging you may find the course provider trying to come after you for libel. Just state your case.
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Other articles by “TEFLista”:

6 Ways TEFL Certificate Course Providers Try to Rip You Off – Part 1

6 Ways TEFL Certificate Course Providers Try to Rip You Off – Part 2

6 Ways TEFL Certificate Course Providers Try to Rip You Off – Part 3 (forthcoming)”

Many thanks to TEFLista, as always. I am also on the look out for other TEFL themed guest pieces- positive stories also very welcome!

Candidate number one

Involves me, and Paul Lowe’s threats to sue me for never mentioning him on my blog (!?) or something, still can’t quite work it out. “Bizarro!” as TESall.com put it. I thought, what the hell if I’m going down might as well go down with a fight and show some people power and so started an I Am Spartacus campaign to tell everyone in TEFL what had happened. Messes the story up a bit that it was all bluster and he never did sue me, and that every blog he wrote to saying I shouldn’t be allowed to comment on there because I was guilty of a “hate campaign” (along with UsingEnglish.com, whose apparent crime was publishing my grammar game worksheets) just ignored him. So, not sure this one wins, although it did all take a break after online rumours (still unconfirmed) of a suicide attempt…

Candidate number two

-involves Bruce Veldhuisen’s TEFL International and their one time guarantee of academic standards IATQUO. Or not, as some kind of feud goes on to this day with them each accusing the other of being unprofessional and worse, which kind of makes you wonder about the judgement of the other side for choosing to ever doing business with them, doesn’t it? It’s got the usual recipe of anonymous blogs set up by people who slag others off for doing just that and bringing people’s family into it, but still not sure it quite takes the championship.

Candidate number three

This is more like it. TEFL Watch turns into an anti-TEFL International slag fest, with needless to say Brucey’s side not keeping out of it. Then, in a twist worthy of Dallas (or at least Neighbours), an ex-forum moderator becomes the accuser in chief of the management of the site because he suddenly decides that Bruce V and his crew and being treated unfairly, eventually driving the owner of TEFL Watch to give the whole thing up and start writing about healthy grilling with George Foreman. Nice and juicy, that one, and haven’t even mentioned the allegations of having to flee the country for their personal safety. Could still be the greatest TEFL soap opera of all time, but let’s see how the last candidate plays out-

Candidate number four

Can the anonymous blogger throwing accusations about Sandy MacManus uncover Sandy’s real identity and so stop him being an anonymous blogger throwing accusations about? And how does threatening to make him lose his job in the Middle East help with that? Or has Sandy already uncovered “Michael Flynn“? And what script writer is being paid for melodramatic twists like death threats? And why would Paul Lowe, the chief suspect, go from repeatedly claiming to the police that he has never commented on any blog let alone started one of his own to suddenly tell the police where that blog with the death threat and many of his bizarre comments is?

Votes for one of the four or other candidates below please:

I must be the least likely blogger of all time, being neither technically savvy nor generally interested in online content- I’d never read a blog before I started this one, and I still reckon most of the best stuff is still in books. Anything from Zoltan available on the web? I thought not.

Once in a while though, I do stumble upon some good stuff. As that gives me even more stuff I want to read, I usually don’t find time to even mention it here, so here goes while I still feel a little recharged from my summer hols:

The Linguist Blogger

Some very thought provoking stuff, and perhaps a lesson to me that blogging less frequently produces greater quality… Two recent ones that particularly took my fancy:

Building Nations with the Cunning Use of Foreign Languages

Language Learning and Weight Lifting

Back in the world of TEFL, the other Dave is going through some highlights from his articles and he has chosen well, particularly:

In Search of a Word: Can Ambition Survive in TEFL?

When is it too late to get out of TEFL?

If like me you were stimulated by the ELT World articles but irritated by having to have a Google ID to comment, feel free to leave your comments here instead:

While I’m on the subject and have to make the most of Favourites on this PC (it’s staying in Japan when I go to Korea), here is a list of TEFL, linguistics and Japan related sites I most often end up at, in approximate order:

1. Dave’s ESL Cafe international job forums (the pointless bitching makes it more memorable somehow, maybe it’s the Dynasty of TEFL sites)

2. The TESall.com TEFL news ticker (including links to the forum discussions that are actually worthwhile)

3. The TEFL tradesman (as foul-mouthed and crusading as we’d all like to be)

4. The TEFL Blacklist (does exactly what it says in the title)

5. EL Gazette digital (a real TEFL newspaper. Click on the link on the main page to subscribe for free)

6. An Englishman in Osaka (just very funny, and so beats all the much more informative Japan blogs, of which there are many, in competing for my online time…)

7. Guardian TEFL (some real journalism would be nice- see EL Gazette for that- but a good way of keeping up with TEFL press releases anyway)

8. The Life of Mike (some odd changes of direction, but some thought provoking and entertaining posts)

9. Notes from the TEFL graveyard (hits the funny yet practical, cynical yet enjoying the life balance that I struggle with on my blog)

10. Teacher in Development (would probably be around number 2 if there were more posts)

11. Metatesol (pithy, to the point and almost inactive- this one would also be higher if this little bit of prompting results in more posts)

If I was a better person the list would probably be different, and Rave’s ESL Au Lait wouldn’t even be in the list let alone at the top and Insights into TEFL , Humanising Language Teaching  and Developing Teachers would be in there, but like my irrational desire to eat cheap gyudon, that is where I really end up. End of confession- how many Hail Mario’s for absolution?