Category Archives: TESOL

Should IATEFL and TESOL do more to stop abuse of their names?

Posted on 30/01/2011 by alexcase

I’ve had a reasonable amount of success myself with chasing up the misuse and downright abuse of the names of these two venerable (but vulnerable?) institutions. UniTEFL took away the “recognised/ approved by” bit above their names after I mentioned … Continue reading →

Posted in TEFL, TESOL | 5 Comments

Can teacher development make you happy?

Posted on 06/07/2009 by alexcase

I’m reading The Developing Teacher by Duncan Foord, the latest title from the always interesting Delta Publishing and it popped into my head that teacher development does provide a way of getting satisfaction and a feeling of progress out of … Continue reading →

Posted in CPD, Delta Publishing, ELT publishing, Lesson observations, mentoring, Peer observations, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TESOL | Leave a comment

How’s your ultimate job and/ or life going?

Posted on 04/06/2009 by alexcase

Not got either, you say? Well, maybe you should try a job with is “the most exciting employment opportunity of your life” which is “not hard” and “pays well”. Apparently you can “forget the commute, over-time …missed lunches… jammed photocopiers and … Continue reading →

Posted in Bruce Veldhuisen, Dodgy TEFL courses, finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, links, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Thailand, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL celebs/ TEFL heroes and villains, TEFL certificate, TEFL International, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions, TESOL | Tagged | 2 Comments

How to really improve the standard of TEFL courses

Posted on 01/05/2009 by alexcase

The Guardian reports (uncritically, as ever when it comes to TEFL) on the setting up of yet another organisation meant to, apparently, boost the standards of TEFL in the UK- this one called The Association for the Promotion of Quality … Continue reading →

Posted in British Council, British Council accreditation, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL courses, Guardian TEFL, links, Teacher training, TEFL, TEFL certificate, TEFL in the UK, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TESOL, Trinity, Trinity CertTESOL | 6 Comments

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

Posted on 14/01/2009 by alexcase

by guest writer “TEFLista” 3. Call Anyone a Trainer (and count on most people not asking about their qualifications). Arguably, the most important part of a good TEFL course is its trainers. Good trainers might be able to save a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge Delta, Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Dodgy TEFL courses, links, MA Applied Linguistics, MA TESOL, PGCE in TEFL, SIT TESOL, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Indonesia, Teaching English in Thailand, Teaching English in Vietnam, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams, TESOL, Trinity, Trinity CertTESOL | Tagged | 30 Comments

An A to Z of Korean English (Konglish) expressions

Posted on 01/12/2008 by alexcase

UPDATE: List now much expanded and polished up, including more listing of when it is the same in other languages. I’ve also since done a list of common errors for Korean speakers, worksheets for Koreans that deal with some of … Continue reading →

Posted in English as an International Language/ Lingua Franca, Error correction, False friends, Konglish, Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL, TESOL, Vocabulary | Tagged | 46 Comments

TEFL teachers rock!

Posted on 25/11/2008 by alexcase

No, really! Research shows that the best teachers of deaf kids are ones with TESOL experience, according to this Detroit newspaper. And I thought our only transferable skill was being able to translate from Cockney to understandable English when standing … Continue reading →

Posted in getting out of TEFL, TEFL career planning, TESOL | Leave a comment

Do you want the temporary buzz of moving on and/ or up too?

Posted on 21/09/2008 by alexcase

Doesn’t last of course, especially the initial thrill of being in the chaos of a third world city or in the chaos left for you by the last person who had that DoS job, but if having some kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Becoming a Director of Studies, becoming a teacher trainer, Business English and ESP, CPD, EFL exams, ELT management, ELT publishing, finding good TEFL jobs, getting into ELT publishing, Lesson observations, links, Materials, Peer observations, Teacher training, Teaching English in Asia, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL CV/ TESOL resume, TEFL qualifications, TEFL reviews, TEFL working conditions, TEFL workshops, TESOL, Usingenglish | Tagged | 2 Comments

Another 25 extracts from the brochures of crappy English schools

Posted on 10/09/2008 by alexcase

45. “Our incompetent teachers will make you feel better about yourself” 46. “Certificate of achievement for all students who are actually still around at the end of the course” 47. “Guaranteed students who are a much higher level in each class to explain … Continue reading →

Posted in Job security, Teaching English Abroad, TEFL, TEFL chains, TEFL scams, TEFL working conditions, TESOL | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Slogans for crap English schools

Posted on 07/09/2008 by alexcase

1. “Officially the blondest teachers of any school in Japan/ China/ Taiwan etc” 2. “We’ve never changed because we are perfect” 3. “Come and see the new batch of teachers, fresh off the plane” 4. “The youth of our teachers … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanistic language teaching, Job security, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in Europe, TEFL, TEFL working conditions, TESOL | Tagged , , | 5 Comments