What is the difference between TESOL and TEFL? What is CELTA and what does it stand for?
For all intents and purposes, the terms mean the same thing with TESOL being more common in America and large state sector colleges in Britain (e.g., the Institute of Education in London), while TEFL is more common in UK Language Schools. There is a slight technical difference as TESOL refers to all learners whose first language is not English, including ethnic minorities living in English-speaking countries, whereas TEFL refers only to “foreign” students learning to speak English overseas. Therefore, a TESOL course actually encompasses more than a more narrowly defined TEFL course. The CELTA, which stands for Certificate for English Language Teaching to Adults, is a TESOL certificate course aimed at teaching English to adult students. It was actually the first of this type of teacher training course and was originally an in-house training course for teachers at International House, a large chain of language schools based in London. Because it was the first, it is very widely respected
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