Page 18 - ELG2111 Nov Issue 478

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT .

Which certificate?

In the sometimes confusing world of certificates, Melanie Butler
explains what’s what

irtually every country on the planet
requires a foreign English language
teacher to have a first degree before
Vthey will issue a work visa, but an
increasing number also ask for “a recognised
and accredited English teaching certificate”.
What does ‘recognised and accredited’
actually mean? It depends on the country
where the certificate originates.
The simplest system operates in the US,
where a certificate can be either issued by an
accredited university or by a training centre
or language school whose course is accredited
by one of two bodies: ACCETT or CEA. To
find out if the training course is accredited,
simply check the websites of both accreditors.
Simpler still, check the email address. Under
US law it is illegal to use the top level domain
name ‘.org’ on your address unless you are
accredited. Unfortunately, almost everywhere
else, this is not the case and domain names
with .org followed by .ru, .tv or even .uk tell
you nothing about their accreditation status.
In most other English speaking countries, The UK situation is much more confusing, validate TEFL courses which appear on the
certificates are not accredited, but they are not least because the four constituent national framework.
recognised if they appear on the website of nations have different educational Teachers in UK accredited language
the national authority responsible for all systems, although the qualifications schools are expected to have a first degree
educational qualifications. in each country are recognised by the or equivalent unless there are ‘exceptional
In Ireland, that body is Quality and others. OFQUAL, which runs the English circumstances’. However 64% of accredited
Qualification Ireland (QQI), which is also national qualifications framework, requires centres had non-graduate staff at their last
responsible for accrediting language schools teacher training courses to be validated inspection. While centres may not pass the
and the Irish equivalent of the CELTA, by a recognised assessment body, such as criterion of academic staff profile if their ratio
known as the CELT. The Irish also accept Cambridge Assessment or Trinity College of non-graduate teachers is deemed too high,
CELTA and Trinity as equivalent. You cannot London, before it will include them on the we know of no centre whose accreditation has
work in an accredited school in Ireland framework. At least four other assessment been put under review solely on the basis that
without a first degree. bodies – GA, Pearson, TDQ and Focus – it had too many non-graduate teachers.

Is an online-only cert enough for online teaching?

ith online teaching representing using the knowledge gained from the course It’s not clear whether national governments,
an increasing number of to complete a series of tasks which will be such as China, will accept such qualifications
available TEFL vacancies, there assessed by Trinity examiners. Completing the for visa purposes and since China, by far the
Wis an increasing number of tasks is expected to take a further 20 hours. largest market for online language teaching
training courses specifically covering teaching Other well-known training specialists, in recent years, has recently ruled that only
online. The vast majority, however, are an including International House, have teachers who are resident in China can teach
add-on to a normal four-week certificate introduced courses designed to equip already Chinese nationals online, this could well be
course, rather than a fully fledged and qualified teachers to teach online and in key for many teachers.
accredited initial training course. recent years Cambridge Assessment has Those who want to stay home and teach
The latest UK entry is from Trinity College offered free courses on online teaching. to students overseas will certainly find these
London and represents the first time this However, Trinity may well be the first to courses useful, particularly in the EU, the
assessment body has offered it. Teach English offer a nationally recognised qualification in second-biggest market, where teaching
Online (TEO) is an online self-study which online English teaching, although we haven’t qualifications command a premium. Hourly
can lead to a Level 4 qualification, CertOT, checked the full OFQUAL register so we rates in the UK, however, appear to be
which will appear on England’s national can’t be sure if other assessment bodies have plummeting, with one British Council
qualification framework run by OFQUAL. got there first. accredited school in the UK paying just £10 an
The 30-hour, 10-unit course is designed to However, so far no UK assessment body hour for a 40-hour teaching week in a struggle
help teachers develop their online teaching seems to be validating a teaching online to compete with online teaching operations run
skills. On completion, teachers can also opt course for novice teachers such as the out of countries like Russia and Malta, where
to enter for the CertOT, which involves accredited one offered by Bridge in the US. wages for teachers are considerably lower.
18 November 2021