TESOL and TESL are two different acronyms which stand for essentially the same thing. TESOL, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and TESL, or Teaching English as a Second Language, are both names for the field of education that involves helping people from non-English-speaking countries learn how to use English both at work and in their personal lives. Another frequent acronym is TEFL, or Teaching English as a Foreign Language. All of these acronyms are essentially interchangeable.

Differences Between TESOL & TEFL
Some minor differences between the acronyms do exist, despite the fact that they are often used interchangeably. For instance, TESOL is something of a broader usage of the term, encompassing both TEFL and TESL. TEFL is often used to describe teaching English in a country where it is not the dominant language. TESL, on the other hand, is used to references teaching English to non-native speakers in a country where it is the dominant language, usually to recent immigrants. The acronym "ELT" is also commonly used in the U.K. And stands for "English Language Training."

Approaches to TESOL and TEFL
Many different approaches to TESOL, TESL, and TEFL teaching. Often, a single class will be taught with a combination of these methods. It is usually up to the teacher to decide which approach to focus on, often based upon either the student's needs or desires.

Immersive
Immersive teaching means students are forced to use the language whether they know the language or not. This causes students to learn as they go, with a bit of guidance from a teacher at the same time. Usually, modern TESOL and TESL teachers always speak only English in the classroom, so this approach is hard-wired into the curriculum.

Tutoring
Tutoring by a native speaker involves one-on-one classes between the learner and an English native-speaking teacher. These types of classes can be very effective in helping with a wide variety of skills at once. However, classes like this tend to be more expensive and requires a great deal of dedication from the teacher.

Directed Practice
In directed practice, students are asked to repeat different words and phrases. The words are phrases are repeated until students can use them without effort. This is good for increasing quality of usage, but bad for increasing comprehension or conversational ability.

Absorptive
Absorptive teaching is done with exposing students to audio or video recordings of English in use. Used alone, this approach is not very effective, but can help with listening.

Grammatical
Grammatical instruction teaches students in grammar and vocabulary, usually through memorization. This involves a lot of the students sitting and listening to the teacher, so does not encourage usage.