Why do I want to be an English teacher? Svetla Tashevska, NBU

Are you: a teacher of English? a teacher trainer? a Manager/ Director of studies? a professional materials writer/ publisher? a student of English? other – specify:  _____________________________

Your start in teaching English Why did you become a teacher of English?

How long have you been teaching English? less than 1 year 1 ÷ 5 6 ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ 25 more than 25 years

Why are you a teacher of English? Do you consider teaching English as your main professional interest?YESNO If not, why are you teaching it?  to earn my living;  because I enjoy teaching;  other – specify: ______________________________

Context Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) – Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Introductory course – little or no previous ELT experience; or some experience but little previous training AVO-Bell, Sofia, Bulgaria 5-week intensive course

Review of applications 40 candidates for 2008 and 2009 courses: Feb 2008 – 5 candidates Jun 2008 – 11 candidates Aug 2008 – 6 candidates Nov candidates Feb 2009 – 6 candidates Jul & Aug 2009 (forthcoming) – 6 (so far)

Candidates’ age 20 ÷ 30 – 17 candidates 31 ÷ ÷ ÷ Over

Or Under 35 – 25 candidates (62.5%) 36 ÷ 40 – no candidates Over 41 – 15 candidate (37.5%)

Candidates’ nationality Bulgarian – 19 (47.5%) -> Different education backgrounds Non-Bulgarian – 21 (52.5%)  British – 9 (1 Dutch/ Brit)  Canadian – 3 (1 Germ/ Canad)  American – 1  Russian – 2  Romanian – 2  Italian -1  Serbian – 1  Turkish – 1  Lybian – 1

NESTs - Non-NESTs Ratio Native English speaking teachers – 13 Non-native English speaking teachers – 27 -> 32.5% NESTs ÷ 67.5% Non NESTs

Women – Men Ratio Women – 26 Men – 14 -> 65% ÷ 35%

Candidates’ experience teaching English ranges from: - one-to-one (private) lessons to classroom settings - general to specific purposes (business) - no experience/ a few months to 19 years - students of different levels & ages - in different places around the world

Personal Statement Part of AVO-Bell CELTA application procedure: Please write on a separate sheet why you want to do the course and how you feel you would benefit most from this course.

Reasons candidates give include reasons:  why teach  why English  why CELTA  why CELTA in Bulgaria & vary from quite practical to very idealistic from quite honest & straightforward to ‘elated’ formulations aiming to impress

What do you think? What are the candidates’ 2 top reasons? What are the 3 most frequent words used in their personal statements?

Formulations (quantity) qualification/ qualify/ ~ed/ ~ing – used 35x by 15 people enjoy/ like/ love (teaching/ working with people / with ESL ss etc.) – 27x by 17 p. career, ~ change, (enhance/ continue ~) – 23x by 19 p. develop (teaching skills/ techniques/ qualities etc.), development – 23x by 15 p.

Formulations (2) certification/ certify/ ~ed/ ~ing – 22x by 15 people culture, etc. – used 22x by 11 p. improve (skills/ qualities/ methods/ style/ awareness/ knowledge, etc. ) – 20x by 19 p. travel, etc. – 11x by 6 p. step – 7x by 5 p.

Reasons Difference between younger & more mature candidates?  More mature: established in teaching – improvement, quality, development changed circumstances – career change  Younger: aware of needs – training, improvement not aware of needs (but aware of personal strengths) – start in life

Reasons (quotes) handout

In conclusion REASONS: improvement & professional development career prospects learning about other cultures BUT – MAIN REASONS:  enjoying teaching  & enjoying English

Resources Cambridge ESOL CELTA efl.org/teachingwww.cambridge- efl.org/teaching Medgyes, P. (1994), The non-native teacher, MEP Monographs, Macmillan Woods, D. (1996),Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching, Cambridge Applied Linguistics, CUP

Thank you! Svetla Tashevska  