Most American teachers are eligible to teach English to non-native speakers only after completing a master’s degree. In addition to higher education, there is an opportunity to obtain a specialization as a foreign language teacher through various courses. Employers attach great importance to international certifications, and TESOL seems to be the most promising certificate for an English teacher. This paper aims at describing the intent and rationale for pursuing a degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
One of the TESOL benefits is that this online learning program contains a lot of practical assignments that can be addressed at any time in teaching. There are instructions on how to make an English lesson fun for different age groups. The course also details various psychological types of people, helps to find an individual approach to each of them, and makes students open to mastering new skills (Mckinley, 2019). During the training, not only methodological information is given but also possible reactions of the audience to the use of various teaching tools are described. The course also includes video tutorials that showcase effective lessons and different teaching methods. Many graduates find the program’s content helpful for their future careers.
With the help of TESOL, future teachers can form their ability to analyze various situations, learn to develop teaching materials and lesson plans, and use existing methodological directions and concepts. They also get new information about the features of learning a foreign language. Having successfully mastered these pedagogical disciplines, TESOL students can demonstrate an understanding of the importance of the main linguistic disciplines, the place of the English language, and the role of the teacher (BauerâRamazani et al., 2016). Learning the principles of building curricula and the communicative method of teaching language is also important for pursuing the degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
Another major advantage of having a degree in TESOL is that students can find a job more easily. Moreover, teachers that have international certificates are in high demand for translation activities. TESOL graduates are involved in interpretation and translation in all sorts of fields. Besides, language skills, attention to detail, and knowledge of languages make them excellent editors (BauerâRamazani et al., 2016). It follows from this that the possibilities of TESOL graduates are not limited. Obtaining a certificate gives the status of an international specialist and the right to teach English to any audience in countries where this language is not official.
One more rationale for pursuing the degree in TESOL is the opportunity to teach English to students residing in any country, both English-speaking and non-English-speaking. Moreover, the program has an active professional community that serves its members around the world, which is another benefit for educators (Darvin & Norton, 2018). TESOL and its Career Center offer many career opportunities, but working in a foreign country is the end goal for many teachers. Thus, having a degree in TESOL can help those who want to experience a different culture and work abroad.
Teaching a foreign language plays an important role in the careers of linguists. People with a degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages will get a sufficient amount of skills and abilities to develop teaching materials and find effective methods of teaching foreign languages. They will also get enough knowledge of scientific research in the field of education. Specialized training such as TESOL will make a professional highly qualified and give the graduates a great perspective in different areas of human activity. Thus, the TESOL certificate is a confirmation of the teacher’s qualifications, equating his or her level of English to a native speaker.
References
BauerâRamazani, C., Graney, J. M., Marshall, H. W., & Sabieh, C. (2016). Flipped learning in TESOL: Definitions, approaches, and implementation. Tesol Journal, 7(2), 429-437.
Darvin, R., & Norton, B. (2018). Identity, investment, and TESOL. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching, 1-7.
Mckinley, J. (2019). Evolving the TESOL teaching-research nexus. TESOL Quarterly, 53(3), 875-884.