Dedicated to quality in TESOL distance learning

What is TESOL?

As you may already know, TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and encompasses what used to be called TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language).

Generally, TEFL emphasises aspects of teaching English in countries where English is not widely used in daily life, such as Russia, China, France and Brazil. The primary goal of such learners, at least initially, is to be able to use English for travel abroad or for meeting people from other countries or to have English as a part of their broader eduucation.

The term TESL tends to emphasise the needs of learners who will use English in their daily lives, in addition to their mother-tongue. In many countries, such as Zambia and India for example, English is used as an official language in government, in business, in newspapers, TV and radio as well as being the main medium of educational instruction in schools and colleges, as well as universities. As such it would be quite wrong to regard English there as 'foreign' even though it is not the mother-tongue of most people in such countries.

A TESOL qualification such as the TESOL-direct TESOL Certificate (accredited by the College of Teachers) covers all aspects of English teaching and learning, and is suitable for all parts of the world. It provides a solid basis for teachers and for developing personal expertise in a diverse range of English teaching situations. TESOL encompasses both TESL and TEFL is is the most widely used acronym around the world.

Good teachers of English, whether they are TESOL, TEFL or TESL-qualified, will adapt their teaching methods, their expectations of students, their teaching materials and their classroom activities to their local environment and the needs of their learners. In other words, they will adapt their materials and their approach to their students in the knowledge that they are teaching individual students, and not just another class. Many teaching materials will be locally produced. For example, English teaching materials used in, say, South Africa, will be mainly based on local in-country publications, scenes, imagery, interactions, dialogues and embedded in the local environment.

TESOL-direct TESOL certificate accredited by the College of Teachers

Thousands of teachers around the world have found this an invaluable certificate-level qualification. Having a TESOL-direct TESOL Certificate will give you the skills to teach English to speakers of other languages in the UK and abroad.

The demand for teachers with training in TESOL is very high around the world, and schools and colleges in many areas are urgently looking for native speakers and non-native speakers with high-level English language skills.

The fact that this TESOL training course is accredited by the College of Teachers ensures the quality of the course materials and the experience of the trainers; as a result, the TESOL qualification is accepted all over the world.