Re:locate magazine | Employee Support | Language | Portable TEFL: a new option for trailers

A TEFL – or Teaching English as a Foreign Language – certificate means ‘trailing spouses’ should be able to find employment anywhere in the world. Rosy Kempston –TEFL-qualified herself – looks at its advantages, and at the courses available.

Recruiting and retaining high calibre staff with spouses who want their independence is a growing challenge for HR departments. Many partners want to keep working both in the UK and overseas, and lack of opportunity may lead to the best people leaving their jobs for the sake of family harmony.

Major companies, such as Shell, Unilever and Schlumberger, offer spousal allowances that can be used for language training or career advice for example, but a new trend is now developing to offer financial incentives, or at least encouragement, to spouses, to train in portable careers such as Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL).

So it’s hardly surprising that International House, Regent Teacher Training and other leading providers of TEFL courses have seen a marked increase in the number of mature students whose partners work in finance, telecoms, the oil industry, the armed forces and the diplomatic service. In fact David Carr, head of teacher training at International House, says the fastest rising age group is 30-50-year-olds, while St Giles International cites the late 20s as another key age group.

The advantages of the intensive TEFL courses, which can be taken full or part time, are that they virtually guarantee overseas employment, and can also lead to work when spouses return to the UK. The work is fulfilling in its own right and leads to a stimulating array of contacts and friends outside the normal business circuit. Many relocated employees will freely admit that their families have settled down better in a country when their partner is teaching because it is easier to get into the local community and to find out what makes the place tick.

Most TEFL students get work in private language schools, but the demand for individual lessons in English from local businessmen, professionals or the diplomatic circuit is also significant. Often the job goes beyond straight language tuition: one of my Japanese students, who spoke no English, wanted to learn about world history in his language lessons, another was a top executive from Cadbury Schweppes who needed to practice presentations to European business forums, a third was a correspondent for the French news agency AFP who wished to know about UK current affairs. The flexibility of school-based or private tuition means that sudden moves are not a problem. Schools will often offer short-term contracts, and private lessons can be set up within weeks of arrival once you have put the word around that you are happy to teach English.

There are numerous language schools in the UK where you can get the basic TEFL qualification and you don’t need a university degree. All the courses will accept applicants with A Levels or GCSEs if they are likely to make good teachers. Age is not a factor - although the courses are very hard work, so mental and physical fitness are important. At St. Giles International (which has centres in London, Brighton and San Francisco, the majority of students are in their mid to late 20s but they have had students in their 60s.

There are two internationally recognised certificates: the Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) and the Trinity CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Both follow a set syllabus designed to cover all aspects of English language teaching and are externally moderated and assessed. To give an idea of the growing popularity of the courses, about 10,000 people take the Cambridge CELTA each year.

The courses run intensively for four weeks, or part time over a couple of months. At St Giles or Regent Teacher Training, for example, the sessions are two evenings per week and Saturday mornings. The courses last around 120 hours and the focus is on developing people’s ability to teach in the classroom. The first teaching practice session can be a 20-minute lesson on Day Two of the course. A normal day on the intensive course is 9-5, but background reading and lesson planning will eat into evenings and weekends.

All the language schools are very helpful and supportive when it comes to finding jobs for their trainees. Major players like International House have schools worldwide, and students from their TEFL courses obviously get the pick of the jobs. They also run TEFL courses at overseas centres, so newly arrived or perhaps suddenly moved spouses can do their training at-post. Other courses have links with private language schools or contacts all over the place, and some people get work with the British Council.

The advantage of TEFL is not that only can you work overseas but you can also keep it going in the UK, although it helps if you are near one of the big teaching centres, such as Central London, Edinburgh, Brighton, Hastings or Oxford. In the summer months, teaching camps spring up all over the country offering residential courses for youngsters, especially from European countries, and these always need teachers, supervisors and administrators. Alternatively you can get a post in the State further and higher education sector, in cases where language support is needed, and for this an extra 120 teaching practice hours are needed on top of the intensive course. Many people get great fulfilment working with refugees or asylum seekers who need a knowledge of basic English.

The cost of a TEFL course varies, and it’s worth shopping around, particularly if your company is offering only a set amount towards the course fees. The average course costs between £700-£800 with little variation in structure between different locations. Some are residential, taking place, for example, at universities during vacations, and accommodation can always be arranged. The pay for language teachers is certainly not in the brain-surgeon category, but it does provide a useful second income and gives an important sense of independence. It also provides flexibility – something that’s so crucial to the travelling spouse who needs to pick up a job anywhere in the world, or who may need to stop and start work over several years depending on postings or family commitments.

© 2007. Article taken from pages 24-25 of the spring 2006 edition of Re:locate magazine, published by Profile Locations, Spray Hill, Hastings Road, Lamberhurst, Kent TN3 8JB. All rights reserved. This publication (or any part thereof) may not be reproduced in any form without the prior written permission of Profile Locations. Profile Locations accepts no liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein.