What is TESOL?

© Language Training Institute
Last updated: 28th March, 2022

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 🤔

Firstly, let’s clear something up:

TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

It is used to encompass both employment (i.e. teaching English to people whose first language is something other than English) and training (i.e. learning to teach English to speakers of other languages).

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?”. Follow us and we'll post 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 ESL – you’ll start to see a pattern.

Some other common acronyms 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
L1 = First Language or Native 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
NESB = Non-English Speaking Background

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 TESOL Courses:

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Quicklinks

Language Training Institute is a Division of Universal Education and Training Ltd. Australian Registered Training Organisation (RTO No. 30173).

Where this website states:

"Certificate IV" it is referring to the 11021NAT - Certificate IV in English Language Teaching (TESOL) qualification.
"Diploma" it is referring to the 11020NAT - Diploma of English Language Teaching (TESOL) qualification.
"Grad Cert" it is referring to the 11057NAT - Graduate Certificate in English Language Teaching (TESOL) qualification.
"International Certificate" it is referring to the non-accredited specialised International TESOL Certificate training course developed by Language Training Institute.