How to Become an ESL Teacher

Discover the delights of a career in ESL and the pitfalls to avoid. Read interviews with practicing teachers talking about how they got into it and why they are glad they did.

The guide has a quick check to help you to decide if ESL teaching is the right path for you and then tells you how to go about getting started. It covers the qualifications you need and the type of training courses available.

Find out the best websites to check out for ESL jobs and related information, the sort of questions you could be asked in interviews and the best books to take with you. You will learn the meaning of the industry jargon - enabling you to decipher ads for ESL teachers - and there's a list of abbreviations that are commonly used together with their explanations.

The guide explains the kind of work opportunities there are in Australia and how they compare to working overseas. There are useful forms and plenty of examples from an experienced ESL teacher.

Table of Contents

Welcome to the TopJobGuide®: How to Become an ESL teacher

ESL or EFL or what?

What's in this guide?

About the author

The ESL industry

The role of an ESL teacher

What does an ESL teacher do?

A typical day in the life of an ESL teacher

Lesson planning

Interaction abbreviations

An example lesson plan

Class profile

Place in scheme of work

Teaching conditions

Assumptions

Anticipated problems

Contingency plans

Materials

Summary of the lesson

Time

Activity

Inter-action

Purpose

Self-check: do I have what it takes?

What grammar do I need to know?

Your first steps into the industry

Sample cover letter

Your resume

Sample cvs

Curriculum Vitae

An introduction to ESL

Which course should I take?

ESL in the mainstream

The age factor

Getting your first job as an ESL teacher

Your first job interview

Top ten grammar questions asked at interviews

ESL examinations

Advancing your career

A typical working week for an ESL teacher

The work environment

Your colleagues

Summary

Useful resources

Websites

Handy resources

Sample form for an ESL teacher

An example lesson plan blank

An example lesson plan

Class profile

Place in scheme of work

Teaching conditions

Common abbreviations used in ESL