yu2fa3
- 2014-12-02
People without a degree or an unrelated degree might well be competent enough to handle conversation classes, but the real bones of actual language teaching should be left to those of us actually qualified to teach.
I totally agree with you. I'm saying there is a need for shall we say 'teaching assistants' We certainly wouldn't want to let loose second language turnoi's on the poor little mites otherwise these real bones would be assembled in a highly curious fashion. All I'm saying is that degreeless native English speakers won't do more harm than they do good for conversational English, but degree-holding Russians and the like will do.
Beth
- 2014-12-01
Consistency is not something I've come to expect... Especially when the arguments against were mainly only put forward in order to disagree with me, not because they passed for anything resembling common sense!
Although, it should be noted I am on the fence with this... I have made it clear what I think the minimum requirement to teach should be. That said I understand that, especially in Asia, there is far more of a demand than actually qualified teachers can meet.
If the only way to get a work visa was to meet those requirements, then a lot of the very bad TCs would be forced to close and only the ones serious about providing good quality education could afford to remain open and hire correctly qualified teachers.
As this is unlikely to happen, I realize (like it or not) that exceptions will be made. In that respect, I don't think having a fake degree or an unrelated degree really matters, so long as you have a TEFL certification. Someone with a BA in media studies is no more qualified than somebody who never went to uni is to teach English.
People without a degree or an unrelated degree might well be competent enough to handle conversation classes, but the real bones of actual language teaching should be left to those of us actually qualified to teach.
yu2fa3
- 2014-12-01
I have met some people who studied history who I consider to have excellent English skills. Some history teachers I've met ( including my own in high school ) were also great at English, it was better than a lot of English teachers IMO.I also think many genuine degrees from the UK in any discipline are much better than some of the crap English degrees people get in Asia and Africa ( sorry Turnoi, I know there are some very good English speakers in Africa, Kenya for instance )
Beth is right though, there are a lot of people holding degrees that have no relevance to language or teaching whatsoever who work in ESL and other language teaching roles.
Well this is all very cosy like but it was only the other day when you and Turnoi were virtually yelling RUBBISH! RUBBISH !RUBBISH! English Literature is not a qualification for teaching ESL. Now you are saying "Beth is right though"
ESL is now brimming with degreed FT's who can't speak English and know very little grammar. And I haven't forgotten that's been proved on this site. You personally as a native English speaker have the qualification to argue the toss about it. I certainly would not give credence to a second languager(artist licence) to argue out something which should be none of their business or concern. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chinese children would be better off under the teaching skills and language knowledge of well-read degreeless FT's.