TESOL, TEFL and CELTA forum
Close but not quite.
The usage of these acronyms varies around from country to country and it is related not so much to whether English is spoken in a country or not, but to the type of learners.
TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language – the term is more commonly used in Europe but also in the UK & Ireland so as you can see the idea that it is used in non English speaking countries applies only in part.
TESL - Teaching English as a Second Language. This is generally an American term used in the USA, Asia, South America & Africa.
TEAL= Teaching English as an additional language – this acronym in not as commonly used as TESL or TEFL and I’ve yet to see a TEAL Certificate
ELT = English Language Teaching – this is not really a subject to teach. It simply refers to the whole industry.
TESOL = Teaching English to speakers of other languages – this is an umbrella acronym, if you will, which combines TEFL & TESL.
In many cases, TESL, TEFL and TESOL are used interchangeably.
Hope this helps
Messages In This Thread
- What are the differences beteween TEFL, TEAL, TESL, ELT and TESOL? (General) -- answers.yahoo.com 1 July 2007
- Re: What are the differences beteween TEFL, TEAL, TESL, ELT and TESOL? (General) -- ICAL_Pete 29 August 2007