More about CELTA
The Nature of the Cambridge CELTA
Language teaching is very different from other types of teaching, and success in other teaching endeavours does not necessarily imply that you will enjoy the challenge of this particular field. The success of an English language teacher depends not only on a warm, encouraging, sensitive and adult manner but also on a good level of language awareness and the ability to set up activities in such a way that the learners (rather than the teacher) use English as much as possible. Imagination is also important as you must be able to contextualise new language and also predict the difficulties students might have so as to take measures to pre-empt them. A conscientious approach and initiative in the selection of relevant and appropriate materials are also crucial, as is commitment to the students' learning. You also need to be a good listener, attentive to students' mistakes and able to deal with them effectively. Finally, it is helpful if you have had experience of dealing with foreigners, since this will assist you in understanding the difficulties that they experience in learning English.
Assessment
The CELTA course has two interdependent components of assessment, component one: Planning and Teaching and component two: Classroom-related written assignments. Assessment is continuous and is based on performance in the two components.
Teaching practice is conducted on a daily basis for full-time courses and on two evenings per week for part-time courses. Each participant must teach for a minimum of six hours altogether. The role of the course tutors is both to support you in your teaching practice and to assess you. At the end of each teaching practice class the tutor conducts a verbal feedback session involving all candidates. The strengths of each lesson and the areas to work on are highlighted. Candidates also receive a written feedback form with an overall assessment for each lesson.
The written assignments are related to teaching practice and teaching materials. They are assessed by the course tutors. The total amount of assessed written work, as specified by The University of Cambridge, is 3000 words.
Every CELTA course is externally moderated by a Cambridge approved assessor who acts as a moderator of the judgements made by course tutors about the candidates’ performance. Towards the end of the course the assessor will spend the equivalent of one day at the centre looking at candidates’ portfolios, observing teaching practice and participating in a provisional grading meeting. Assessors recommend final grades to the University of Cambridge which issues certificates to successful candidates.
Although this course is very rewarding, it must be emphasised that the full time course is an intensive course and most people find that it demands 100% of their time, effort and psychological reserves. The part-time course appeals to people who work but it also requires a considerable commitment. You need to be in a good state of health and be able to manage the demands and stress produced by the course.
Personal qualities needed for CELTA
The ability to work independently is very important. You have to find out a lot on your own, do grammar research, use grammar books, and refer to methodology books for ideas and further help. The timetable only allows for a limited amount of time to discuss teaching practice preparation.
The ability to reflect and be self-critical, to think about your lessons and draw conclusions as how they might be improved, to be aware of your own progress, etc.
A desire to learn from and to act on feedback. You need to be someone who is generally flexible, and above all willing to act on recommendations from course tutors.
An awareness of the impact you have on others in your role as teacher, and an ability to tune into learners' needs/ insecurities, etc.
The ability to listen, both in your role as teacher of other learners (eg. picking up on learners' errors) and in your role as trainee (i.e. being open to feedback)
The ability to handle feelings of insecurity. The course is to a large extent an experience in problem-solving within the framework of human interaction, so there may be times when advance answers are not as clear-cut as you might like.
The ability to be organised and to sequence the staging of lessons in a logical manner
The ability to think calmly and remain organised under pressure
The willingness to be a supportive group member, co-operating rather than competing with the others in your group. Liaising among group members is essential, as you will be preparing lessons together for most of the course.
Sources of stress
Hard work, long hours. On the full-time course there is work to do every evening: maintaining a portfolio, reading, assignments, and preparation for teaching. You are likely to get less sleep than usual. On the part-time course you need to devote at least another evening per week to complete this work.
Learning by trial and error. Error is inevitable, especially early in the course as teaching starts on day 1 or day 2 so you will feel that you have been "thrown in the deep end". You often have to get up in front of the class when you're not entirely sure what you're doing, think on your feet, deal with problems that arise, and simplify or paraphrase your language when learners don't understand you.
The course contains a lot of information and you might feel that you are expected to absorb and fully digest everything immediately. This is not the case. People process different information at different rates and the course aims to cater for these differences as well as for your need at a later date to have thorough course notes to refer back to. Provided you are suited to teaching and are willing to apply yourself to the work, the course is not unduly stressful.
The possibility of not achieving a pass grade can also be a concern.
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