TEFL International - Affiliations

TEFL International is externally validated and moderated by a Board of Academic Advisors. This board includes several internationally recognized experts in the field of English Language Teaching as well as dozens of regional language experts in language teaching and teacher training. Both international and regional members advise TEFL International staff on our teacher training centers worldwide.

International board members visit TEFL International regions worldwide. Members participate as keynote speakers at free national teacher training conferences, and workshops sponsored and hosted by TEFL International. They also provide TEFL International with advice on the quality of our training programs in the region they visit on how our programs can adapt and change with growing trends in teacher training. International board members are not TEFL International moderators, but industry experts that advise TEFL International centers and participate in teacher training initiatives hosted by TEFL International.

Regional board members (local moderators) are trained specialists with more than five years experience in teaching, teacher training and managerial positions (which hire teachers). Regional members visit TEFL International locations monthly to moderate each TEFL International course, ensuring the course meets industry needs for that particular region, is of high quality and that trainees are happy with their courses. A regional member is not a TEFL International staff member, but rather a paid external consultant that moderates our courses monthly by visiting our center in the region (where they have knowledge of local teacher needs). The regional moderator meets with training staff and course participants, reviews course participants work and checks center resources are adequate. A full description of the moderation process, as well as any credentials of regional moderators, can be provided on request by emailing us.

TEFL International - Board of Academic Advisors:

Dr. David Nunan

Former President of TESOL and author of hundreds of TESOL and ELT books and articles.

"The TEFL International Certificate programs are among the best of their kind; excellent trainers teaching modern methodologies with input from some of the brightest minds in ESL. I highly recommend TEFL International."

Bill Leon

Dr. Bill Leon is President of Geo Education & Research and an instructor in Program Evaluation at the University of Washington. He has 27 years of experience as a researcher and evaluation consultant. With three degrees in geography and 20 years of experience as a community developer, he has worked on numerous social, economic and environmental studies with community, government and nonprofit clients. Leon has managed projects involving community building and citizen participation, and conducted evaluation research in numerous fields including planning, education, and social services.

Dr Arthur McNiell

Arthur McNeill is the Programme Leader in the Med TESOL course at Asian University. He holds a PhD in Linguistics for the University of Wales Swansea, an MA in Second Language Teaching  & Learning and a PGCE in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the University of London, and, an MA in French & German from the University of Glasgow. With over 35 years of experience in English teaching and teacher education, he has expertise in a wide variety of specialties including language policy, linguistics, language acquisition, curriculum development and the management of language projects.

John W. Miller

John W. Miller is an Academic Specialist for the Korean Language Program at the Defense Language Institute, Monterey, California, where he is in charge of faculty development.  He designs and facilitates teacher-training workshops for faculty and learning strategies workshops for students. John began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia.  After getting his MA, he taught in and directed Kyungsung University’s Foreign Language Institute in Pusan, Korea for three years. Later, while working for Ohio University, he helped launch OPELT, an English Language Program at Chubu University in Kasugai, Japan. He also served as Associate Peace Corps Director in Ukraine during the mid-90s and later returned to Ohio University to administer the OPELT Program. John is currently finishing his dissertation for a PhD in Intercultural Communication at Ohio University. He has written extensively on language teaching and has conducted teacher training workshops in Liberia, Korea, Japan, Ukraine, and the U.S. His current professional interests extend to areas such as reflective teaching, learning styles and strategies, and action research. He is particularly interested in learning more about the ways that intercultural relationships develop and change. He lives in Monterey with his wife, Sunhee, a naturalized Korean-American.

Marc Helgesen

Mr. Helgelsen is co-author of the English Firsthand textbook series (Longman) which is the market leader in Japan and Korea and popular throughout Asia. He is also an author of Active Listening, from Cambridge University Press. He teaches at Miyagi Gakuin—a women’s university in Sendai, Japan—and also in the Columbia University Teachers College MA TESOL program-Japan. He led teacher development workshops throughout Asia and has been a featured speaker at JALT (Japan Assoc.for Language Teaching), Korea TESOL and Thai TESOL.

Robb Scott

Mr. Scott began his ELT career in Quito, Ecuador teaching middle school ESL at an international K-12 American style school. Several years later, he moved to Japan, where he gained valuable experience working on American branch-campus start-up writing ESL curriculums and training teachers. Recently, he has been in Brooklyn, New projects, York, where he wrote education materials for Newsweek, served as a technical instructor helping junior high students build Web pages in a Cablevision project, studied at Columbia University, and started an online newsletter for ESOL (English for Speakers of Teachers College, Other Languages) professionals as well as the ESL online mini-conference. He now lives in Kansas, USA with his wife, Meribel and children.

Members of the Regional Board of Academic Advisors:

Local ELT Specialists / Moderators (ESL professionals, school managers and training experts) visit each TEFL International site monthly to moderate and validate our courses.