TEFL Certification

Gaining a TEFL certification is your first step towards an exciting and rewarding experience teaching English overseas. The major qualifications necessary to secure positions Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), also known as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) are an internationally recognized TEFL certificate or TESOL Certificate.

There are numerous organizations offering TEFL courses, which lead to a TESOL or TEFL certificate. The recognition of these organizations and the acceptance of their TEFL and TESOL certificates vary from course to course. There are, however, only a small number of international organizations that oversee the issuing of globally accepted TEFL qualifications, one of these larger organizations is TEFL International.

TEFL Certificate

Typically, English language schools and TEFL institutes around the globe require, at a minimum, a 4-week, externally moderated and accredited, 120-hour TEFL certificate that meets international regulatory standards. To meet international TEFL standards laid down by organizations such as TESOL in the USA and the British Council in the UK, TEFL or TESOL courses must have 6 hours of observed and constructively critiqued English teaching lessons with foreign English language students (not fellow course participants). The TEFL course should also have dynamic, trainee-led input sessions covering all aspects of teaching English, including teaching methodology, grammar and phonology, and also have a grading system based on performance in the classroom and a final exam.

TEFL International

Having obtained a TEFL certification from an organization such as TEFL International, language schools can see that you have attended a reputable TEFL course which included six hours observed and constructively critiqued teaching practice, that you completed the various course projects and assignments, that your English teaching is of a good standard and that you have shown an ability to adapt to a foreign culture or environment (especially if you take a TEFL course abroad).

If you plan to teach English overseas it is therefore to the benefit for your English language students and your own employment prospects that you gain appropriate training from an organization such as TEFL International.

• TEFL Certification Course Checklist

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  Important features to look for when selecting an internationally recognized TEFL course are:

  Does the course:

  • Meet international standards for the regulation of acceptable English language teaching certification?
  • Include one hundred or more hours of training and input?
  • Have 6 hours of trainer observed and critiqued teaching practice with genuine students of English?
  • Include input sessions that cover teaching skills, classroom management, language awareness (grammar), phonology and how to apply, prepare and teach these skills effectively?
  • Assess trainees continually during the course through projects, assignments, teaching practice and also include an end of course exam?
  • Have every course moderated and inspected by an independent teaching body or professional?
  • Meet the approval and recognition of respected independent professional bodies and individuals?
  • Update its input to reflect developments in language teaching?
  • Offer a certificate at the end of the course that is valued and internationally recognized?

  The TEFL International teaching program is one of the few courses that meet all of the above criteria.