Teaching in Taiwan

[ESL Teacher]

I think what they are wanting here is either a TESL or TEFL Certificate that has been issued by a school that has some minimum quality standards set.

There is no governing body for a TESL or TEFL Certificate, hence the job ads are probably referring to a TEFL Certificate from a school that is registered and perhaps a member of some organization.

Note there is a difference between recognized and accredited.

Anyone can run a TEFL Course, but it doesn't mean it's worth it's weight. Would you accept a student who undertook a TEFL course from ACME TESL School? I doubt it very much, hence a recognized course would be i-to-i, ICAL etc. Something well known.

Have noted that i-to-i TEFL Course (www.onlinetefl.com) is accredited by ODLQC (Open and Distance Learning Quality Council).

BridgeLinguatec (www.teflonline.com) I couldn't find any accreditation or membership bodies it belongs to.

Hope the above info helps.

[Brian]

Originally Posted by bnli10

Another question from an ad:
"Government recognized Teacher's Certificate (Other than TESOL, CELTA, or TOEFL)"

My guess is that this refers to actual teaching qualifications back home i.e. a B.Ed. If you can legally teach in the government school system back home then you would likely qualify for this position.

Most of the private schools, also called buxibans, don't require teaching qualifications, but some do. Generally, certificates in EFL or ESL are adequate for these types of schools.

I would suggest that the advertised position is most likely one in a government school, and quite possibly under the MOE's current initiative to get foreign teachers into schools in rural areas. Be very careful with any position in a government school as teaching in government schools is actually illegal in Taiwan. There are very few exceptions by way of rural schools who have entered into the governments initiative as mentioned above. I have noticed however that a lot of recruiters have jumped on the bandwagon and are now offering positions in government schools. Many of these are illegal positions. It can be difficult to spot the differences, but you can do it if you are careful. For more information about this you can check out the link in my signature below.

[bnli10]

Thanks, ESL Teacher and Brian for your replies.

Went to the "List of Schools in Taiwan". Wow, it's very organized! Thanks, Brian.