A Career Guide in ESL Teaching

Anyone inclined towards interaction with people and enjoys the company of people will enjoy an ESL career. Teaching itself is quite rewarding and provides an immense sense of satisfaction. This feeling of satisfaction when a teacher sees her students make progress not only academically but also personally cannot be put in words! Teaching as a career has always earned respect and recently a huge portion of people with a corporate background are showing interest in ESL careers. Teaching English may not be restricted just to regular schools but ESL jobs have opened many other avenues for TEFL qualified people.

ESL TEACHER JOB OPPORTUNITIES

• An ESL career is no longer restricted just to teaching in regular schools but has also opened many other avenues for TEFL qualified people.
• English as a second language (ESL) teachers may work in public or private schools, language academies, or teach private lessons out of their home or the homes of students.
• You can also work as a corporate trainer with multinational companies
• You might also land up with a job as a curriculum developer for training centers.
• ESL teachers are also employed as voice and accent trainers with BPOs.
• Most importantly, an online ESL Course can even provide you the opportunity to work abroad.
• Your career in ESL will fulfill your dream to teach and travel abroad by providing English teaching jobs abroad .

SKILLS REQUIRED OF ESL TEACHERS

If you are planning to develop your ESL career, you must first be aware of the skills that are required to be an ESL teacher. Possessing these skills will move you one step forward in setting your career

An ESL teacher requires-

• Skills to evaluate students and guide each one as per their needs to achieve the highest English proficiency possible in the shortest amount of time.
• Have great communication skills to act as an intermediary between a student and his family and the school, to make the communications clear.
• An ESL teacher is not required to speak multiple foreign languages as the instruction is mainly in English and speaking English fluently is sufficient.
• For an ESL teacher, patience, respect, and solid research skills are much more important than the ability to easily pick up languages.

HOW TO BECOME AN ESL TEACHER

All government funded schools require its ESL teachers to have at least a 4-year Bachelor’s degree in English as a second language or any other related subject. A master’s degree is not compulsory but can be pursued by those who already have a Bachelor’s degree in any other subject and want to specialize in ESL.

If you are looking to develop your career as an ESL teacher, here is the path you must follow:

• Complete your bachelor’s degree in ESL or TESOL or a related subject, such as linguistics.
• Can join a student teaching internship in an ESL setting as part of your program.
• Take your state’s tests for teacher licensure with an endorsement in ESL.
• Apply for your teaching license.
• Start looking for jobs and apply to any open positions for ESL teachers.

ESL TEACHER SALARY AND JOB OUTLOOK

According to a BLS report, the average annual salary for elementary school and high school teachers is around $58,600 and $60,320 respectively. It also states that adult ESL teachers earn an average median salary of $53,630. The related BLS category of Adult Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy Teachers and Instructors reports a median salary of $52,100 per year.These salaries or wages are characterized by job location, training, education, and experience, as well as available funding for ESL programs.