You’d be amazed at the number of actual lies on TEFL course websites, and will do a list of those soon. In the meantime, here is my compilation of the even more dangerous times when they are telling the truth in a way that is meant to deceive:
10 misleading claims by TEFL course providers – LINK FIXED
TEFLtastic 
Excellent idea Alex! It’s outrageous how these so-called TEFL providers can get away with so much deceit. I’m sure there are many prospective trainees who will benefit from your “translation”.
LikeLike
Whenever I read these types of blog I can see clearly that they are geared at attacking Bruce and promoting CELTA.
Let’s give a little balance:
CELTA is an excellent qualification for people who wish to take a training course aimed at teaching adults in a language school environment. It’s widely recognised and The British Council endorses it. Things to consider though:
UCLES which owns CELTA is part of a non-teaching part of the university. it’s an assessment organization and not a training organization. It describes itself as ‘non-profit’ the same as Bruce’s course. There’s nothing non-profit about Cambridge University though. UCLES certainly doesn’t belong to any faculty within the university, so it’s link to the university is certainly as tenuous as the old TEFL course at CMU LI. They should make this clear on their website.
UCLES sells CELTA franchises to wholly commercial organizations such as International House. CELTA claims it is externally moderated. However, the moderation is undertaken by UCLES. IE UCLES sells you a franchise and then charges to moderate courses. I don’t see how this can be described as external moderation. It’s certainly not independent. They should make this clear on their website.
As far as I know UCLES is the sole examination and assessment organization working with the British Council’s language teaching section. IE an endorsement from the British Council for one of their exclusive partner organizations should be taken with a pinch of salt. They should make this clear on their website.
The BC’s market share of the teaching-EFL industry in Thailand and probably the rest of Asia I would estimate at less than 1%. They have a school in Chiang Mai and 3 in Bangkok. The number of Thai schools that employ foreign teachers must be close to 1,000.
In Thailand teaching children must take up at least 85% of the EFL industry. However, CELTA won’t train you to teach children nor does it teach classroom management skills. In addition, it’s a homogeneous product that doesn’t make allowances for cultural differences. You must pay extra for another 2 weeks if you want a teaching children qualification from UCLES.
Just some thoughts to balance the constant propaganda of the CELTA mafia.
LikeLike
Billy
As you seemed very keen on Gavin stating his personal interests in the topic at hand, perhaps you could do the same. I’ll then be very happy to answer your points one by one.
Also, I wasn’t sure whether this comment was specific to the article this post links to, as it doesn’t seem directly related to any of the 10 points in it. Knowing that will also help me formulate a reply.
LikeLike
Alex,
It relates to:
3. Links to universities
4. Meets the criteria set by the British Council
I have absolutely no idea why you said “As you seemed very keen on Gavin stating his personal interests in the topic at hand, perhaps you could do the same.” Do you normally ask anonymous posters to become non-anonymous?
Looking forward to your reply.
LikeLike
You seemed to think Gavin was biased on the topic of CELTA because he had a link to IH, and that that link was relevant to the discussion. If you have or had a link to a training organisation, can you please reveal that link? It is quite easy to do that without giving away who you work for or where you work. I have done the same thing myself when mentioning my own teacher training experience. Your relectance suggests that you presently work for a non-CELTA teacher training organisation but for some reason don’t want to say so.
The criteria set by the British Council refer to connections to universities or exam boards. UCLES is “Europe’s largest asssessment agency” according to Wikipedia, responsible for, amonst other things, a good percentage of the UK national exams for 16 and 18 year olds (GCSEs and A Levels). Cambridge ESOL, which supervises the CELTA and Delta, is indeed part of UCLES. It would be interesting to know the relationship between UCLES and the university, such as faculty that are on the board, but I think UCLES has a good enough reputation on its own, and certainly meets the British Council criteria. For that matter, so does Cambridge ESOL on its own.
Your other points one by one:
– Aren’t all universities non-profit? I certainly don’t think they have shareholders…
– IH Worldwide (the international HQ based in London) is also non-profit
– Cambridge does not own any of the CELTA course providers. This is a big difference to, as you mention them, organisations like TEFL International
– Historically I would agree that the link between Cambridge and the British Council has been a problem, but nowadays they do offer Trinity and their own courses. Those are decisions that are made by individual branches. Anyway, the British Council does not endorse any TEFL courses by name, it simply sets the (industry standard) minimum standards that I mentioned above. I don’t think anyone can deny that those are the industry standards, so the size of the British Council is irrelevant.
-How well the CELTA trains you to teach kids is an interesting question that I have dealt with in more detail elsewhere. I took the old RSA/ Cambridge CTEFLA and went straight into teaching kids, and in classes with no discipline problems (e.g. Thailand and Turkey) it worked fine. I later did an in-school training course on YLs that had teachers with no training in it, and I think they only picked up games and classroom management and nothing about actual teaching and learning. I really don’t think it is possible to do both properly in a four week course, so I personally believe that it is better to pick up the basics of elicitation etc with a group of adults, and then learn things specific to kids afterwards.
In summary, I think there are some important issues that you have addressed, but each of your individual arguments has huge holes.
LikeLike
Hi Alex,
I’m sure anyone reading this thread can decide whether my individual arguments have huge holes, or not.
I’m sure you agree that discussions are corrupt if only one voice is allowed. Thank you for allowing me to add another voice. I would like to continue being a dissenting voice to what I perceive as CELTA prejudice and will always welcome responses to my posts.
PS
Gavin signs his posts with his full name and hyperlinks to his blog. I prefer to remain anonymous but I can say I have absolutely nothing to do with CELTA or IH. The blog of the first poster on this thread also clearly shows their vested interest.
All the best,
Billy
LikeLike
Dissenting voices are always welcome here. I’ve only ever blocked two people and that because they were annoying and always off topic (Glenski from Dave’s ESL Cafe, amongst many many other forums) and literally mad and threatened to sue me or worse in every comment (Paul Lowe of Windsor TEFL infamy). You can even do me a guest post on why CELTA is ruining TEFL if you like. I’m not sure how working for an organisation that competes with Cambridge and IH makes you an impartial observer, though, nor how being anonymous is supposed to help your credibility.
LikeLike
I’d love to see a guest piece by Billy on the topic that Alex suggested. I think to some extent Cambridge is to blame for current lack of world-wide quality assurance among TEFL course providers. They ought to at least make an attempt to offer their services to other course providers, and in doing so there would be no excuse for many of the dodgy courses out there. At least that would level the playing field a bit. Instead, they’ve pretty much created a monopoly and marginalized everyone else.
LikeLike
Anyone can open a ‘Cambridge’ UCLES CELTA by buying a franchise. It doesn’t guarantee quality assurance though and there are dissatisfied CELTA customers out there. Some have experiences that would put their CELTA course on a par with the ‘dodgiest’ in the industry. For example,
“…it was impossible to find work in Spain (work visa issues). I was a little disappointed because at my interview with International House, I asked about getting work and was not told that it is near to impossible for US citizens to work in Spain. I was told there were many companies seeking American English speakers – but if they are, they require you to already have working papers (which you can only obtain by being offered a job in Spain or by being a full-time student on student visa). I felt misled by this information…”
The reviews of many independent TEFL courses from people who spent $1,500, travelled across the world to train and spent 4 weeks with their training organization, are often equal and sometimes superior to CELTA courses
I agree UCLES wishes to create a monopoly of the TEFL industry, and this is very unhealthy for a number of reasons. They use their relationships with the British Council and professional organizations such as IATEFL to further this aim. They are big, well-established and have the influence to do this. TEFLista suggest UCLES should “offer their services to other course providers” but this would just achieve their objective of owning the TEFL training course business.
Ideally, what the industry needs is an organization completely independent of any TEFL business that can supervise the industry. UCLES/Cambridge CELTA would need to apply along with any other independent TEFL course. There should be standards for content, facilities as well as management. At present, few offer any sort of guarantee of management quality. An UCLES ‘moderation’ doesn’t cover facilities or management.
PS
Alex, I never said I worked for a competing organization. You made that up.
LikeLike
I’m already tired of correcting your wrong facts. Anyone else fancy taking over? Also, it is quite clear that you have a personal interest in this matter, and I notice that you have never directly contradicted me when I’ve said that. Whatever course you are involved with, you are hardly a good advertisement for it and so it is indeed maybe best that you stay anonymous
LikeLike
It’s clear he’s got an agenda and obviously runs a course that competes with International House.
“Anyone can open a ‘Cambridge’ UCLES CELTA by buying a franchise.” – Wrong. They don’t sell or own franchises.
Student reviews are not an assurance of quality control and if they were then we wouldn’t need accreditation organizations. The very next review adjacent to the one that you picked out says:
“I did my course at CLIC (International House) in Sevilla, Spain last year in October. I can sincerely say it was one of the best experiences of my adult life…”
And say what you want about IH in Spain. IH has a 56 year history of teacher training and their center in Barcelona is one of the largest and best known in Europe. Scott Thornbury worked there for over a decade and still occasionally gives guest talks.
“Ideally, what the industry needs is an organization completely independent of any TEFL business that can supervise the industry. ” Absolutely and I couldn’t agree more. But you know what? Even if one were offered some course providers wouldn’t partake because it would still be easier for them to steal someone’s logo off of an organization’s homepage and slap it up on their own website.
LikeLike
Here’s one:
Billy says that “There’s nothing non-profit about Cambridge University though.”
The University of Cambridge says it is an exempt charity
LikeLike
This is just another example of what makes me end up recommending CELTA all the time. I’d be delighted if someone like Billy could set up a TEFL course that raised the minimal minimum standards that CELTA sets, or even was just as good as CELTA and cost less. Instead we get people who claim to be better than CELTA without knowing anything at all about said Cambridge qualification and/ or quite happily spread lies about it online. I despair, I really do…
LikeLike
Thank you for your responses.
LikeLike