CELTA Course
The full-time CELTA course involves 120 contact hours divided into 6 hour days for a 20 day period. Completion requires the following:
- Full attendance and participation in the course
- 6 hours of teaching practice
- 6 hours of lesson observation of experienced teachers
- 4 written assignments
- Upkeep of a portfolio of coursework (i.e. lesson plans, self-evaluations, etc.)
Course Content
The CELTA course covers the following topics:
- Language Analysis and Awareness
- The Learner, the Teacher and the Learning/Teaching Context
- Planning for Effective Teaching
- Classroom Management Skills
- Teaching Procedures and Techniques
- Resources and Materials
- Professional Development
- Classroom Observation
- Teaching Practice
Observed Teaching Practice (OTP)
OTP sessions involve each trainee teaching real lessons under the supervision of a course tutor. In total you will teach six hours of lessons that are between 40 and 60 minutes in length. Immediately following each class the trainee will receive a thorough debrief from the tutor who will provide clear feedback that will allow them to work on any weaker aspects in preparation for the next lesson.
Written assignments
During the course each trainee is expected to produce four written assignments. To pass the course you need to receive at least three pass marks from your four assignments. You will be allowed to re-submit any of your assignments that are not successful the first time. The four assignments are:
- Focus on the Learner, which encourages you to find out about your learners’ backgrounds, needs and purposes in learning
- Language Related Task which is a review of your language awareness
- Language Skills Related Task where you consider how to use an authentic text in the classroom
- Lessons from the Classroom where you reflect on your strengths and weaknesses over the course
Observation of experienced teachers
This is possibly one of the most useful parts of the course as it allows you to pick up valuable tips and guidelines for your own future lessons. Each trainee will spend approximately four hours observing their tutors teaching in the classroom, with a further two hours spent via video observations of specific classroom scenarios.
Maintaining your portfolio
Every trainee is expected to maintain a portfolio that includes all the important documents gathered during the course, including lesson plans, self-evaluation forms, and trainer’s evaluation forms from OTP sessions. Your written assignments should also be including alongside the CELTA 5 record-keeping booklet. This booklet is where you record important information during your training, such as notes on teacher observations, and mid-course progress reports.
Trinity Course
Course Content
The CertTESOL Trinity course contains five units which are assessed either in-house or by an external moderator. Units one to three and unit five are assessed by an on-site tutor and then checked after the course by a member of the Trinity moderator’s panel. Unit four is assessed by an external moderator.
The 5 course units are:
Unit 1: Teaching skills, assessed through:
- Tutors’ evaluation of six hours of teaching with real learners
- A journal including trainees’ own lesson plans, with self- and tutor-evaluation
- A journal covering trainees’ reflective comments following observation of four hours of ESOL teaching by experienced teachers
Unit 2: Language awareness including grammar and phonology, assessed through:
- A test or practical project
- Ongoing use of spoken and written English
Unit 3: Learner profile, assessed through:
- The preparation of a simple linguistic profile and needs analysis, including some basic phonemic transcription, of a single learner
- The planning of, and reflection on, a one-to-one lesson
- The preparation of recommendations for the learner’s future language development
Unit 4: Materials assignment, assessed through:
- Written rationale for the development of one piece of teaching material
- Written evaluation of use of this in classroom teaching
- Interview with a Trinity moderator to discuss the above and the ways in which materials development is beneficial to the development of teaching skills
Unit 5: Unknown language, assessed through:
- A journal covering trainees’ reflective comments on four hours’ tuition in an unknown language from the point of view of the beginner, including an analysis of the key aspects of methods and classroom management that affect the learner positively and negatively
Of the many goals set by the course, two of the most prominent are professional awareness and development. The trainers are looking for an awareness of the needs of your fellow trainees and an awareness of the importance of mutual support in a classroom environment.
Course graduates are also expected to demonstrate their awareness of the importance of professional development during the course and in their future teaching careers. This awareness can be demonstrated by an individual’s response to the input sessions and feedback received from tutors and other course members.
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