Trinity Cert TESOL Course - the only globally recognised equivalent to the CELTA

課程目標  Course objectives

Trainees will be expected to demonstrate the following learning outcomes on completion of the course:

1. Knowledge of the main grammatical, lexical and phonological features of standard English
2. Awareness of the learning needs of individuals or groups of learners, and of the motivation of learners in a variety of cultures and contexts
3. Ability to establish rapport and create and maintain learners’ interest
4. Ability to draw up a range of lesson plans with clear and achievable aims, using appropriate methods for learners with various needs
5. Ability to manage and stimulate active participation among a class of learners and provide a relevant learning environment and learning opportunities in relation to their learning objectives
6. Ability to evaluate, use and adapt published material and create simple teaching material, which may include using the internet, visual aids, audio, video and ICT
7. Broad understanding of the main advantages and disadvantages of various language teaching approaches
8. Ability to evaluate their own effectiveness as teachers and to work co-operatively as members of a teaching team
9. Awareness of the need to continue their development as ESOL teachers
10. Awareness of the means of finding a TESOL post after training and of the main issues relevant to employment in this area

課程架構  Course structure 

The course length is around 130 timetabled hours per trainee, and 70 non-timetabled hours (a total qualification time around 200 hours).

Timetabled hours will include:

• supervised input
• teaching and observation
• preparation for teaching and completion of the Teaching Practice Portfolio
• preparation and completion of the Learner Profile
• preparation and completion of the Unknown Language Journal
• preparation for the Materials Assignment.

The 70 non-timetabled hours will include:

• reading, research, assignment writing and lesson preparation.

The qualification is made up of five course units which include

• Unit 1: Teaching Skills
• Unit 2: Language Awareness & Skills
• Unit 3: Learner Profile
• Unit 4: The Materials Assignment
• Unit 5: Unknown Language

本課程總監及講師均經過Trinity College London審核及認可

Approved Course Director and Tutors

Course tutors are approved by Trinity College London and have extensive experience in teacher training across various education sectors, in materials design and as authors, as well as in presenting papers and workshops at conferences.

參加者不限教學經驗，尤其適合有意取得TESOL國際證照者

Who should apply for this course?

Novice or experienced teachers interested in developing their classroom based skills and theoretical knowledge. Experienced teachers without a formal qualification will also benefit from the course. 

英語口說及書寫能力均需達CEFR C1，英國文化協會對於學員之篩選保有決定權，並會透過面談了解報名者之經歷

Application requirement

Course participants must have a high level of competence in spoken and written English, whether English is their first, second or additional language.

The minimum entry level is CEFR C1. Only recognized proficiency test results will be accepted where the exam included a speaking and writing component. Entry is at the discretion of the Course Director and applicants without a formal English qualification may be offered entry without an official exam.

There is also a pre-course interview to determine suitability for the course.

學員Stella

The observation sessions were enlightening. The trainers were positive, patient, and communicative from the very beginning of the lessons (or even before the lessons) to the very end of the feedback and error correction sections. They challenged the students, and the final production was massive because the scaffolding of their lessons was solid. Although the trainers had already taught us how to teach a lesson, it was eye-opening to see how they implemented everything they had emphasized in one 50-min lesson. 

The effectiveness of the Trinity CertTESOL course is profound. One month after I took the course, I had an epiphany right after an extremely teacher centered lesson I delivered. I felt so sick of my excessive TTT that I knew I could not do it anymore. Now I use the same textbooks, but I ask my students a lot more questions and I no longer cram them with rules and answers. The response from the students has been encouraging and a positive teaching cycle has been activated. My learning to become a more effective teacher is an ongoing process and now the course has come to an end. I feel positive, motivated and grateful.

學員Moshe

It’s been a great journey, and I am sure that I will be reviewing my notes for some time.  I would like to thank all the trainers for their time and effort to steer us gently towards our target throughout the course, and I look forward to applying the practical skills and knowledge gained from this course in my future classes. An area of the course that was essential to my development as an effective language teacher was the guided planning tutorials, and the production of our own detailed lesson plans.  Although I have been teaching EFL for nearly fifteen years now, I had not had the opportunity to develop my own lesson plans based around a specific learning aim, objectives, and in conjunction with a clear methodology.  The process of deconstructing our lesson planning down to its essential components, identifying how and when each learning aim will be achieved, and developing our own materials to facilitate those aims was a giant leap forward in my teaching practice.  I now feel much more confident in designing a detailed lesson plan, for a specific group of learners, and a specific learning aim, and knowing that I will be able to achieve those aims if they are practical and measurable.

學員Sophia

The course has been the most invaluable experience in my life. I have encountered more challenges than I had anticipated which is a good thing, especially when one has been teaching English for nearly two decades and still finds herself enthusiastic in the career but with all her good ideas going nowhere. Each trainer did his/her magic and used their professional background in TESOL to empower us. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the whole process of taking the certTESOL course was an overall transformation in the thinking, preparation and teaching for everyone, including the experienced teachers like myself on the course.

學員Amy

What I have learned from the CertTESOL also helps me to realize where many of our students’ complaints stem from. And, what I can do as a manager to help my teachers to improve their teaching methods at my institute. The teacher-trainers’ feedback has really helped me a lot. All of their suggestions have made me feel more confident to become a better teacher. They shared with us their experiences and reminded us about aspects of teaching that we did not notice and suggested techniques to us through which we can further improve to become better teachers. I tried to recall what they have done, especially Steven’s and Gerhard’s teaching methods. And, I have applied what I recall into my teaching practices. For me, the process of learning is like a journal of adventure.

學員Anusha

This course gave me a new understanding of how to use various interactional patterns to maximize student involvement, motivation, participation levels, rapport and language production (irrespective of the level of the class). Having been mainly exposed to traditional teaching techniques where the teacher stood in front of the class and spoke, the ability of using different interactional patterns to make classes more student centric was a revelation to me. 

We were exposed to a variety of input sessions such as Language awareness, phonology, lesson planning (formulating clear aims and creating/ adapting materials to achieve the aims), learning a foreign language, teaching young learners, various teaching methodologies (CAP, TBL, PPP etc.), needs analysis, evaluation techniques, classroom management techniques etc. All these lessons were very helpful as they helped to hone my understanding of what it meant to be an effective, student centric teacher, who encouraged students to discover the language for themselves whenever possible. It helped to debunk a lot of pre-conceived notions I had about teaching, and how a teacher should teach. 

學員Gary

This experience has been one of the most rewarding journeys once in a lifetime. I have not just taken away the lucrative value of knowledge in relation to teaching methodologies, but more importantly I have also learnt to face my own errors and weaknesses throughout this course. 

學員Lenard

For someone who doesn’t have any academic background in English nor has taught any English class, I found the CertTESOL course to be intriguing, informative and inspirational. There was never a dull moment as there was something to be learned every day. One of the more memorable aspects of the course was the input sessions. Examples include planning a sound lesson, implementing the right type of activities, learning a foreign language, structuring effective CCQs/ICQs and modeling of functional language, etc. The course taught me how to plan an effective student-centered lesson that puts emphasis on progressing students up bloom’s taxonomy. I’ve learned the importance of material development and how they complement different interaction patterns. Good materials and effective interaction patterns create a dynamic learning environment where students can excel in the production of the target language. 

It’s been quite the journey, I remembered walking into the first few classes feeling anxious and not confident.  My first lesson was nerve racking as I was literally stumbling in front of the class like a deer in headlights. Things that you remember in life are the good/bad memories, family, friends and individuals that have made a difference in your life. To say the least, Steven and company were the difference makers. They taught and inspired me to teach better and become an effective teacher. The course was in essence more than just a professional development tool for me. The course and the people (trainers, peers) in it have allowed me to become a better parent as well as a better teacher. I now teach my kids differently and that in itself... is priceless. 

學員John

The CertTESOL course forms a quite unforgettable learning experience. Thinking back, I’m amazed how much I’ve learned. I look forward to not only putting what I’ve learned here to practical use, but to building upon it to becoming a more effective teacher. 

An important aspect of becoming a more effective teacher is being able to identify effective teaching techniques, materials, lesson structures, and so on. The Observation Journal was extremely instructive in this regard – giving specific ideas about what to look for in each observation session was greatly appreciated. Seeing what other teachers do effectively, and noticing the ways in which they can improve, is highly beneficial. I’m happy that in every lesson in which I was observed, in addition to the routinely excellent feedback provided by the trainers, my peers also gave me useful and insightful feedback (and I always endeavoured to do the same for them). 

I found the input sessions to be critical to the course. Reading the companion book and other materials is of course beneficial, however, nothing beats an interactive classroom to learn. I was continually impressed how the trainers structured their lessons and taught teaching techniques by using those very techniques on us, the learners. This allowed me to, both in real-time and upon later reflection, consider how those skills could be used in the ESL classroom. These input sessions were a major factor in why I chose this particular ESL certification and this specific school.

學員Connie

Overall, the course has been an incredibly valuable and meaningful experience as a new teacher. I was introduced to a variety of teaching methodologies and philosophies on the best practices for teaching. Some of the lessons that made a lasting impression on myself are the importance of student-centered lessons, effective scaffolding and understanding learners’ needs. In addition to teaching practices, I was able to delve more deeply into understanding grammar, phonology and other language systems. 

If it weren’t for the collaborative atmosphere of the course, I wouldn’t have been able to reach a deeper understanding of the methodologies and philosophies that we covered during the course. The input sessions were memorable because they were collaborative and gave us ample opportunity to discuss, observe and practice what we were learning. It changed my way of thinking about learning as well, since I’ve experienced how giving students a chance to do and work together creates more learning than just listening to the teacher and taking down notes. 

學員Ben

An important thing I learned was analyzing the students’ needs to prepare lessons according to their needs and goals, taking into serious consideration the challenges each learner has to face due to the differences in pronunciation, meanings, and forms of use between languages and cultures, and being aware of this gave me a deeper sense of respect for every second language learner in the world, increasing at the same time my sense of responsibility as facilitator in another person’s learning process and the importance of motivation and making the right choices on behalf of the learners. 

學員Ruth

Tutor feedback in the classes were enlightening and I particularly appreciated the comments from the tutors because it is rare to receive constructive feedback.

學員Mei

The one thing that stood out for me that I learned from this course, was NOT about how to teach per se, but how to facilitate the whole process of learning and how to maximize the comprehensible output of the students. Students centered teaching was a new concept for me. 

學員Ira

I have learned how to effectively plan a lesson taking into account learner´s needs, language skills focus, time limits, interactional patterns and materials used. Moreover, I can now identify properly linguistic lesson aims and my personal objectives which makes my teaching much more meaningful. I also feel that I have developed the ability to anticipate some problems and find solutions to them in class.

學員Kat

With this course, I have learned how to write effective lesson plans for reading, writing, listening, and speaking lessons. I have learned to teach and plan for lessons that focus on lexis, grammar, or skills. Now, I am also confident that I could write an entire curriculum for a one-on-one class, and give the student high quality lessons that will benefit them and improve their English.

學員Paul

This course came at a perfect time for me; when I felt I was stagnating in my previous cram school job and had largely lost interest in teaching in general. Now I feel a lot more hopeful and optimistic about finding a new job and being able to deliver interesting and effective lessons. My favourite part of the course was delivering classes and receiving immediate feedback on them, particularly when experimenting with new methodologies which I had previously been unaware of. Dealing with fairly large groups of adults was a new experience for me - in my experience the students approached the lessons with a good attitude, and feeling that I had provided stimulating classes and produced effective materials was very rewarding. Amongst many valuable insights gained from my tutors, techniques for addressing differentiation within a class and insights into how to present grammar more effectively were some of the most useful. 

As a whole—the input sessions with the trainers, reading through the course book (Companion), writing all the journals, and meeting all our students all proved to be an extremely valuable experience that I will never forget. I will use all of this as a tool to complete future professional development coursework. I think the most difficult thing for me personally was writing the journals. The most enjoyable thing was attending the input sessions—Gerhard had a great sense of humor and Steven was both laid back and thorough in his teaching. The other thing I enjoyed was the UFL lessons. Gerhard taught so well that I’ll probably never forget the little Afrikaans I learned. I had a lot of experience before starting this class and these tasks not only filled in the gaps where I didn’t know what to do in a lesson, but also helped clarify meanings behind what I sometimes do in my practice.