TEFL And TESOL

Teaching as a profession has been regarded with great respect from time immemorial. However the demands and needs of the students have changed the organization and structure of the school system. One such change has been in the field of English teaching or TEFL/TESOL. It is no longer considered to be a subject in the curriculum like all other school subjects.

Of late, language teaching and especially English language teaching with the emergence of English as a global language has undergone sea changes. English in the TEFL classroom is now taught in the communicative method so that it is made functional since it is used as a bridge language in the world of politics, commerce, trade, computers and higher studies.

Therefore, putting more stress on teaching English at the university level or adult stage is no longer effective. There is a critical period in language learning ; therefore it is introduced at the primary level in most places.

The problem however remains unsolved because having a well structured curriculum with willing students is not enough; the system also has to have equally efficient and well conversant teachers to implement the techniques and methodologies. Therefore in the past two decades the demand for teachers with specialized skills in teaching English has increased many folds. Hence the need for training teachers in teaching English has also gained ground across the globe.

• TEFL or Teaching English as a Foreign Language or TESOL which stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages are the acronyms for the same teacher training course.
• It is also known as ELT/ ESL/EFL/ ALT/TESL and many more.
• This is a specialized qualification for teaching English to non fluent speakers of the language irrespective of the learner's first language.
• TEFL or TESOL training makes a TEFL/TESOL teacher aware of how languages are learnt, how the language skills can be developed, how to keep the students motivated and make teaching effective and the learners proficient in the English language.