Language Study

» Paym Bergson - Teaching illegally

Terrific topic - and informative article! Now, why do so many ads seem reputable and NOT request that you have a degree? Or are firms not susceptible to the same laws? I honestly never thought that only a degreed ESL could teach in a foreign country - and I do know of friends who have taught for one year there - with only a general BA.

-Paym Bergson
Teaching & Technology

» mrjcorbin - Teaching illegally

Dear Ms. Bergson,

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. I appreciate hearing back from you as well.

With regards to one of your questions, a BA in any discipline is all that you need for most places. However, recently corporations and schools alike have begun advertising for more specific degree requirements. Either a BA in English, or TEFL. The reason for this is the growing popularity of ESL teaching and as a result, making it possible for such places to be more picky about whom they choose.

With universities like Concordia University (in Montreal, Canada) that have three year BA degrees in TEFL, I can't help but wonder if the norm will eventually shift altogether forcing anyone who wants to be an ESL teacher to have a minimum of a BA in TEFL.

With regards to your other question, there are hundred of potential employers advertising positions to teach ESL. As the laws differ from country to country, generally most places need to adhere to immigration standards and follow their own counrties specifications regarding ESL teachers. However, this is in fact another topic altogether. Rather, I would be interested in seeing some of these adverts myself as I have never come across any that didn't in fact request a min of a BA.

You are quite right, you don't need to be a degreed ESL person to teach in a foriegn country. As my article states, most places in Asia hire periodically only university degree holders in any discipline with little to no previous experience. But as I think I also mentioned, European countries are demanding more and more that one has a TEFL and or a CELTA certificate accompanying the BA with a min of one to two years experience.

I hope this has been helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if you should have any furter comments or questions. Next week, in part two, I will be looking at teaching illegally with a fake university degree. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on that as well.

Thank you for your interest and time.

Sincerely,

Mario R.J. Corbin

-- posted by mrjcorbin