TESOL

I've made a decision to take up an online TEFL course last December and I still have another week to complete my last 2 chapters. Actually ever since I've started this course, English has been very interesting to me although English has always been my second language that I speak throughout my entire life. There are so many new words, sentences, meanings that I've learnt throughout the course and it makes me feel all brand new once again. One of the reason why I took up TEFL is because I wanted to teach our younger generations around the world if opportunities allowed perhaps in the future.  

What is TEFL?

 

 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 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.

The acronym TESOL encompasses both TESL and TEFL and is very widely used around the world.

Good teachers of English, whether they are TESOL, TEFL or TESL-qualified, 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.