Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Certificate (CELTA)

CELTA is an initial teaching qualification for people who would like to teach EFL (English as a Foreign Language) or ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) either in this country or abroad. It is suitable for people with no experience of teaching people who have been teaching in other subject areas or people who have unqualified EFL/ESOL teaching experience. It is a practical dynamic and trainee-centred course which aims to enable the new teacher to be able to independently plan and teach successful language and skills lessons by the end of the course.

You learn a wide variety of teaching methodologies skills and techniques to prepare you to become a successful and confident teacher plus encouraging you to adopt a reflective approach to enable you to take responsibility for own continuing professional development in your future teaching career.

On the course you learn by observing practising and feeding back on your own and others’ teaching. The input sessions are very interactive and given by experienced trainers who demonstrate the teaching skills you are expected to show in your own lessons in their own training. There are observations both on DVD and in real English lessons plus four assignments designed to focus the trainee on specific areas of teaching. There is also 6 hours of observed and assessed teaching practice from which the trainee builds up a valuable teaching portfolio to be handed in at the end of the course. There is no exam on this course.

You gain an internationally recognised teaching qualification which means you can work either abroad or in the UK in language schools and colleges.

You need a first degree or professional equivalent (although in certain circumstances we will interview a prospective trainee without a degree) to have experience of learning a foreign or second language yourself (you do not need to have reached any particular level) and a very high level of spoken and written English plus a good level of language awareness.After two years of full-time EFL/ESOL teaching you can take the next Cambridge ESOL qualification the DELTA or the Trinity College equivalent the Dip TESOL. If you would like to teach English in the state sector in the UK you will need a generic qualification such as PTTLS or DTTLS. PTTLS and DTTLS are both on offer at Reading College.