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Post-CELTA On-line Course (20 hours)
Is a post-CELTA course necessary? In my opinion there is an enormous gap in ELT training between people who have been teaching for a couple of years (with or without a CELTA or equivalent qualification) and teachers who have taken a DELTA-level* qualification. This means that the majority of teachers out there have picked up the basics of the profession in an often very ‘ad-hoc’ way – usually a mixture of advice from colleagues, in-house training sessions, methodology textbooks and journals and good old common sense. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach – it’s what everyone does when they are learning a profession ‘on the job’. The only problem is that there is nothing to differentiate the teacher who has spent two or three years really expanding his or her knowledge of ELT from the teacher who has not.
What is the aim of the course?
The aim of the course is to provide busy teachers with a short cut to broadening their knowledge of issues in ELT.
What does the course content include?
The content of the course is based on articles and excerpts from some of the most influential figures in ELT over the last 40 years. The amount of published material available on methodology in language teaching and learning can be overwhelming, and in my opinion only a fraction of it is relevant to the day-to-day classroom experience of the average teacher. In addition to this, even if teachers have access to a well-stocked resources library most of them are simply too busy searching for practical classroom ideas to devote time to reading books on methodology. The result of this is that many nuggets of wisdom remain buried in the pages of methodology books, and many teachers remain ignorant of theories which would inform and enrich their teaching.
How has the course content been selected?
Any selection process is, by its very nature, is subjective, and this is no different. From my own studies on a DELTA course and a Post Graduate Diploma in Linguistics (TESOL) I have selected the most influential work which I feel has the most direct relevance to the classroom environment.
* DELTA is the Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults. The course requires participants to
have at least 2 years’ teaching experience, and includes both a written and a practical exam. The
amount of coursework and the cost of the course mean that generally it is only teachers who are
committed to a career in ELT that gain this qualification.