Teacher or Tutor: Are they the same, or different?
As the function of a tutor is that of a teacher, the certification requirements for EFL tutors are the same as that for EFL teachers. There are generally three different certification routes to obtaining the main qualification required, namely, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification. They both involve a course which typically has a minimum of 120 hours of training.
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There are three typical types of courses which result in this certification.
1. Onsite TEFL/TESOL certification
2. Online TEFL/TESOL certification
3. Combined TEFL/TESOL certification
TEFL Course Costs and Opportunities
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There are three typical types of courses which result in this certification.
1. Onsite TEFL/TESOL certification
These courses generally take place in a training center at some worldwide location that offers English language lessons to the local community. This allows these centers to offer their trainees real English language teaching opportunities as part of the course. In addition to this the 120-hour courses of this type also teach the trainees aspects of grammar knowledge and teaching skills.
2. Online TEFL/TESOL certification
These courses which may be taken from your own home, or indeed whilst traveling cover the same theoretical knowledge covered in the onsite version, but typically do not involve any teaching practice (There are some exceptions). Again they are of 120-hours in duration and produce a certificate which may be used worldwide.
3. Combined TEFL/TESOL certification
These courses, as the name implies, combine the main features of the previous two examples. The course is split into two sections, the theoretical part, which is covered online. This is then followed by the practical part which is done at a teaching location. Once again the certification obtained is a 120-hour certificate, with the same validity as the other two options.
TEFL Course Costs and Opportunities
Costs for the three different TEFL course types vary, with the four week onsite course typically being the most expensive and the 120-hour online course the least expensive.
Many tutors start by teaching for an online teaching company, of which there are many. Once you gain some experience you can start to look for positions within a school or language center that offers one-to-one teaching.Many large businesses and corporations also require one-to-one tutors for their senior staff, particularly in Asian countries, where senior staff members prefer to be taught privately.
Three other areas of EFL teaching where one-to-one teaching is often required are in the areas of teaching young learners, teaching business English and teaching English online. If after completing the 120-hour TEFL course you are able to add any of these three components to your certificate resume, you will increase your opportunity to take up a tutoring position.
Teaching one-to-one
There are differences teaching one to one, compared to a full class. The most obvious is that it is very different not only for you, as the teacher, but also for the student. Some may find it quite intimidating being the only student and you need to be aware of this. This student who is used to interacting with their peers will only be able to interact with you.Another point as the teacher is that one to one requires you to work almost all the time. Not only are you instructing as usual but you will also be the only source of interaction for the student, which takes much more time than usual. In activities which you would normally put students into pairs, you will need to be the partner.
Each of the above points will necessarily need to be taken into consideration when planning the lesson. Some of the major considerations are outlined below.
• If an activity would have been done as pairwork, you will need to be the pair partner, making sure you do not take up too much talking time from the student.• Activities such as mill drills and surveys will not be possible in a one-to-one situation so these will need to be adapted in some way for a single student.• Something that can help the student and help you bring down your teacher talk time is to be as visual as possible. Avoid lengthy descriptions and explanations and draw diagrams and charts as often as possible to help describe concepts and grammatical features.• By using information gained about the student you can help maintain their motivation throughout individual lessons and a series of lessons by individualizing the lesson content to their needs and their interests.
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