TESOL Certificates?

[kansaiyaccha]

Hey I've been on JET--I also taught for a few years privately in Japan but I've since returned to the states and have begun to wonder about the usefulness or applicability of a TESOL/TEFL certificate at the Masters level. Does anyone have insight into this? I've already a undergrad and grad degree but I's thinking of getting one of these in hopes that it would make me more "marketable" to a higher-paying English gig in Japan such as corporate-level instruction. Is this faulty thinking? I remember interviewing many candidates in Japan to take my position at a particular school. There were a wide range of ages, backgrounds, motives and accents for that position. I remember a few candidates had the certificate or endorsement but in the end...it was "other" factors that led to their being hired: namely personality, general education level, clear pronunciation, potential, looks, attitude and experience.

Any insight would be great...
Knight

[Big Booger]

If you have a grad degree, why not teach at universities? Pay is much higher than any eikaiwa shit... and you can even get tenure AFAIK.

http://www.debito.org/blacklist.html

[kansaiyaccha]

Yeah: I thought about the college/university route. Frankly, I don't really understand how it works getting a job with them as an English teacher. My degree is in Music Education and Music Performance--Both degrees that, until recently, allowed me to teach college music/saxophone/Jazz band, etc. Unfortunately, STOPPING @ the Masters degree is sort of like being stuck on a rock in the middle of a river. You jump to the first one(undergrad) then work a little harder and make it to the second one(masters) but you're still stranded in the middle and the only way to the shore is the final rock(the doctorate), the one closest to the shore--just a step away. So, that is the plight of stopping at Masters. Now, if a Masters in Music is worth anything in Japan, let me know but last time I checked there are millions of native Japanese music teachers and especially in my field(woodwinds). True, Jazz instructors are a bit less but still the market is flooded and even though my Japanese is at a level I could teach university music...I don't see it happening.
Now for English...like I said, I don't know how that would work. But for me, teaching English is some I quite enjoy aside from my main profession. So I could definately enjoy it at the collegiate level or like I wrote before the Corporate level...
Insight anyone?
Knight

[CrankyBastard]

You might have a better chance if you apply for a position at the international schools here in Japan. Most of them have web sites.
Just a thought.

[samuraiwig]

There are very few full-time corporate gigs these days. Most companies outsource instructors through agencies. There's a small chance you could turn a part-time outsourced job into a full-time position, but it would be a long road.

Sumikin Intercom focuses on corporate clients, and AFAIK they require their instructors to have an MA in TESOL. Might be worth a look, but, as has been mentioned, international schools and universities are also worth following up.

[Taro Toporific]

If you have a grad degree, why not teach at universities? ]

For a real, full-time public university job teaching engrish, you must have a masters or Phd nowadays. However, just as important ---if not more important --- is that you have to have a published paper in your university field. For an example, if your were teaching engrish to econ students, you should have a published paper(s) in economics (or EFL, English education). Publishing a paper takes a little time and a little scamming but a public universities in Japan expect it of all faculty members.


Since you have a masters in music, a published paper in the field of music is not going to help to get a university job teaching English or specifically teaching English for science/business/econ/CS majors. However, you could get a LEGIT (not fake 3 month course) TESOL Certificates in a 1-or-1.5 year program and make damn well sure you publish a paper while you are in grad school. Since your present "employer" offers free education benefits, you could salvage your unmarketable music degree by doing an original EFL/ESL research paper in something like, "Using song to teach adults English pronunciation."

[kansaiyaccha]

[Taro Toporific]

[kansaiyaccha]

Taro: I guess your not called a "Premium Member" for nothing eh?
Alway bringing the good advice my way...thanks man.

I've been doing quite a bit of reading about this career recently. It really amazes me how little I REALLY knew of the CAREER of TESL/TEFL...I NEVER gave any thought to those cats with "degrees" and "certificates," I just went about being the best teacher I could be and I didn't think it really mattered because I had just as much or more "education" as they did...But I only recently, upon reading and reading and reading, started to understand the profession it really is. You know how it is in Japan too...For every serious, "trained" ESL teacher there must be a million and one tourist/teachers or cultural exchange ambassadors(CEA, the real acronym for a JET)

So, I finally stumbled onto the ACTUAL TESOL association web site...go figure...and it has all the information I needed. My dilema is what to do now... I'm PCSing to Japan(Tokyo) next year and I'll be settled there for several years with my current job as a musician but I want to get that MA in TESOL. I've found only a couple places from WITHIN the Kanto area to do this...and even fewer I can do online. The other thing is...If I stop at about 18 credit hours...I'll have the "certificate" but I have never known that certificate to be any deciding factor for a candidate in a job competition...have you? I could be wrong but it seems kind of like just a nice cherry on top of the undergrad degree...I could be wrong...

Thanks again for the discussion

Knight

[Taro Toporific]

...I want to get that MA in TESOL. I've found only a couple places from WITHIN the Kanto area to do this...and even fewer I can do online. The other thing is...If I stop at about 18 credit hours...I'll have the "certificate" but I have never known that certificate to be any deciding factor for a candidate in a job competition...have you? I could be wrong but it seems kind of like just a nice cherry on top of the undergrad degree...I could be wrong...

While getting postgrad degrees in linguistics, I also got an MA and state certification ESL/EFL for teaching high school. For a valid MA in TESOL, you need to get a real MA that requires both a comprehensive (exit) exam and thesis paper (hopefully published in a journal). I suffered though all that. If you are going to suffer though all that make sure the MA comes through a brand-name university known for there ESL/EFL research like UCLA or Leeds since Japanese lo-o-o-ove brand names. Conversely, an ESL/EFL MA from a Central Texas College correspondence course, ya ain't gonna impress anybody in Japan.

There are many low-quality, attendance-only-no-thesis programs that last 9-15 months in the States. Those programs are for working high-school teachers to provide them with an additional certification in ESL/EFL. Such attendance-only-no-thesis programs are meant for regular HS english teachers in ghetto schools (it's not a education, it's just 'punching your ticket').

Finally, there are many dog-shit, fraudulent, 3-9 month "certificates" such as those offered by the Japan Times school here in Tokyo. Those are only for gaijin with spouse visas and a high school or less education.

[GomiGirl]

In Australia you can get a ESL certificate from TAFE college that only take about a month to finish. Is there anything like that you can do in Japan? This is just for a friend who is wanting the very minimum but is still wanting some bonefides for teaching Eikawa here in Japan but also to finance a round the world working holiday.

[kansaiyaccha]

Taro: Thanks for the post

That's pretty much what I was suspecting: I got a bad feeling seeing those 250$ 40HR TEFL Certificates on the internet. Unfortunately, for some people, it really IS so difficult to make it physically to a campus for classes. But I'm glad you mentioned your insight...How those diffferent certificates and diplomas are thought-of is really important to me.

So far, this is how I'm understanding all of this:

If one is interesting in teaching English in Japan at an upper-level, collegiate level, one must have an MA in Linguistics/TESOL. If this is not possible, at the very least some sort of endorsement on a teaching license may help. Distance learning courses are few and far between and don't hold a lot of water in the Japanese market for English Jobs. Credentials can help or hurt you--Make sure to be fully committed to securing a position before embarking on the road to the MA and try to get it from a reputable school. There isn't really much substitute for this--If you haven't the MA, you aren't getting hired at a college-level.

Is that pretty accurate?

Knight

[kansaiyaccha]

See this is what I didn't understand before--Why people were interested in these small, 2-4 week "certificate" courses in TEFL. I've never seen a regular eikaiwa job vacancy that required TESOL. All you really need is a bachelors to teach at those schools. I'm not sure you can get extra benefits for having that certificate. Now, if you friend is just interested in actually learning some tricks of the trade and wants to take the course for practice and improvement as a teacher, I could understand that. But still, most of those courses I've seen(in Kansai) are shit and they are taught by other eikaiwa gaijin that somehow think they know everything about teaching ESL.

Here in the US, I've seen people take the 15 hour professional development courses in TEFL just to satisfy current licensing requirements in education( In the states, teacher have to continualy take course and stay abreast of changes in their field.) Those are the people who are already teaching ESL and start prof development courses at a Masters level or so. Then there are the endorsements, which anyone who is licensed in any subject can get. It's just added to the back of the teaching license.

Knight

[Taro Toporific]

If one is interesting in teaching English in Japan at an upper-....There isn't really much substitute for this--If you haven't the MA, you aren't getting hired at a college-level.

Is that pretty accurate?

An MA or better is not required to work at a college-level per se---many gaijin only have a BA and strong "connections." An MA in ESL/EFL is helpful but any MA in the target field is ok (Sorry, MA in Music doesn't count except if your are teaching in a music school). The few gajin teaching at the college level (there's not many they are getting fewer and fewer) often have a combination of special qualities such as:

• special knowledge in a valuable tech field such as econ or computer science
• written a book(s) and published a paper(s) in the college major they are teaching English
• experience in the industry that relates the college courses they are teaching English
• gr-r-reat Japanese skills
• married to the college dean's daughter

The Japanese government universities have been in the ethic cleansing mode for the past 8 years. It's public policy to rid state universities of foreign influences such as full-time gaijin instructors. Many instructors are looking to get Japanese passports to prevent getting fired or demoted to part-time day-laborers.

[GomiGirl]

My friend is not wanting a job at a college or uni and realises that it is not a requirement in japan, however, after Japan he would like to travel to other countries and pay his way with ESL teaching and is just wanting something to walk into interviews with.

He is very young and sans bachelor degree and is looking at a round the world trip working in McEnglish schools. No lofty ideals other than not wanting to work in bars pulling beers.

[kansaiyaccha]

Thanks for your help Taro--I keep getting a bad vibe about the upper-level English scene in Japan--When I was living there, those jobs seemed impossible--then again, for most of the gaijin in Japan, they are. And now, from what you write and from others I've talked to things seem to be changing for the worse...Perhaps it's all relative but this seems to have been going on for a while...what you call a certain ethnic cleansing...I know debito has had many issues with universities and others too.

Anywho...
I guess I'll just open my own school!
I'm not sure I'll be in a position to get a MA in TESOL in the near future and I'm not concerned with any endorsements as I only want to do ESL in Japan not stateside(Music options are much broader in the states for me). I'm sure we could start an entire new thread on the ABC's of opening an English School in Japan.

Cheers,

Knight

[CrankyBastard]

I only want to do ESL in Japan

If your intentions are honest and that is all you really want to do, then get yourself over here, find a Japanese language school and a place to live, put an ad in a local rag and that's it

If you're any good at what you do, you'll succeed.
It's worth a shot.
Good luck.