Price: $265 USD (£135 or €200)

The ICAL TESL/TEFL Certificate is what you need to become a certified teacher of English as a second or foreign language. 

This course will prepare you for any English teaching situation.

The ICAL certificate you will earn upon successful completion of the course has been accepted worldwide, with ICAL graduates working across the globe. 

The course is worth 100hrs and it will give you a solid understanding of the principles behind teaching English as a second or foreign language as well as a wealth of practical ideas on how to make any lesson a fruitful and enjoyable experience for both yourself and your students. 

Everything you need to complete the course is included in the course fee and at the end you'll receive your certificate, a reference letter from your tutor and a marksheet, free of charge. 

For the syllabus and details of the course, see below.

Overview

The ICAL TESL/TEFL Certificate course is a serious, practical and comprehensive introduction to the essential elements of teaching English as a second or foreign language.

The material we use in our course is in line with the current linguistic theories and reflects common teaching practice amongst professional teachers.

The course materials were devised by ICAL teacher trainers, who combined their theoretical background in linguistics with their direct experience of teaching in the class.

The course covers all areas a prospective teacher should be aware of. From current theories and trends in second language acquisition to the psychological, sociological and pedagogical factors which affect the learning and teaching of languages.

At the same time the ICAL course provides practical ideas and techniques that can help language learning in any situation: a private lesson; school setting; specialized classes; missionary work; community project; etc.

Assuming no previous knowledge, the course gradually introduces key concepts like learners’ needs analysis, effective syllabus design, clever lesson planning, materials adaptation, evaluation & assessment of students’ language development; classroom management, and much more.

Everything in fact a teacher needs to make any lesson a fruitful and enjoyable experience for both themselves and their students.

The ICAL TESL/TEFL Certificate course is worth 100hrs and is divided into 5 modules:

Module 1

In this first module, we introduce the subject of English Language Teaching. The module begins right at the beginning by talking about what it means to be an English teacher. It then brings in some basic ideas, words and concepts you will need to know to do the job.

We realize that many students are new to the subject, so the first module is particularly careful in introducing new ideas. There are plenty of examples and we use language everyone can understand - it's not overloaded with specialist terms and where we do use them, there's a glossary on hand for help if you need it.

Later, Module 1 talks about general approaches to teaching English, and the final section is all about students and what language learning is like for them.

Module 1 is really the background to the subject. When you've completed it, you'll have a good understanding of the general principles of language teaching. The next four modules will take these principles and go into more detail.

Module 2

This module looks more in detail at your students. Why are they in the classroom? What kind of English do they want to learn? How can they be motivated? How about the class make-up? All these are discussed along with the way in which differences here will make a difference to your teaching.

The module then moves on to look at how you can firstly discover what your students need to know and then how you can create a plan of action for teaching them.

Module 3

This module carries on where the previous module left off. Having got your plan of action, here we look at the way in which you approach each lesson with regard to subject matter, subject presentation and teaching style.

It talks about creating enthusiasm in the classroom, alternative ways of teaching (it's not all bored students learning verb patterns parrot-fashion!) and the kind of resources you can bring into play in the lesson.

This module works towards creating an appropriate lesson plan for the class, taking into account all the factors which influence what the lesson will include and what it will not.

Module 4

In this module, we take a step back and look at more general classroom management. For example, from how to deal with rowdy students to the best layout for your room. There are also plenty of tips on how to make your presence felt in the classroom and how to get the most from yourself and your students.

Like the rest of the course, the module is highly practical. There are plenty of real techniques and real strategies you can use in your class to make your teaching stand out and work.

The module moves on to deal with the practical side of running an activity and then de aling with the student errors which might follow. It's not all a matter of red ink and grade at the bottom of the page!

Module 5

This is the final module. It begins by looking at the kind of things you can do in class to raise your lesson from the mundane to being a worthwhile, interesting time. There are sections on resources you can use and how to use them effectively. Then come useful activities and ideas such as inventive ways to use course books.

The module then moves on to different skills areas and how to approach them: listening, speaking, writing and reading. Again, plenty more activities and ideas on how to get the most from your students - and yourself - here. The module also introduces a few more advanced areas of teaching and language which open up new areas for future work!