What is TESOL?

Starting to look into the world of TESOL can feel a little bit like deciphering a secret code or staring into a bowl of alphabet soup with a bunch of different letters swirling around.
 
Let’s clear a few things up. Firstly:

• TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

It is used to encompass both employment (teaching English to people whose first language is something other than English) and training (learning to teach English to speakers of other languages). Starting to look a little clearer? Let’s confuse you a little more then 😉
 
In addition to the common name of “TESOL” it can also be called other acronyms, such as:

• TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language
• TESL = Teaching English as a Second Language

 
If you’re looking at doing training in England then you may also run into:

• CELTA = Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
• DELTA = Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults

If this is you, you might also be interested in our up and coming article “What’s the difference between TESOL and CELTA?”. Subscribe to our blog to be notified when this article is published.
 
Now we’ve got the TESOL terms down pat, let’s dive a little deeper into the different terms around English teaching – there’s even more than the TESOL acronyms! You’ll start to see a pattern though.
 
Some common letters you’ll run into with English teaching are:

• ESL = English as a Second Language
• EFL = English as a Foreign Language
• EAL = English as an Additional Language
• ESOL = English for Speakers of Other Languages
• EIL = English as an International Language
• L2 = Second language
• SLA = Second Language Acquisition
• ELD= English Language Development
• ELT = English Language Teaching
• EAP = English for Academic Purposes
• ESP = English for Specific Purposes

 
Is your head spinning from all the letters yet? Feel like you’ve earned a TESOL qualification already just by learning all this? Not quite, but we can help you with that! Check out our:

• Certificate IV in TESOL (580-650 hrs)
• Diploma of TESOL (1300 hrs)
• International TESOL Certificate (200 hrs)

 
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