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CELTA full-time online course

Are you looking for a career change? Are you looking to travel abroad? Do you wish to teach English in South Africa at one of the language schools for foreigners? 

The Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) is a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course administered by Cambridge English Language Assessment. In contrast to other TEFL courses, CELTA certification is recognised world-wide. 

Your CELTA online training will combine solid theory with virtual practical training that will make the crucial difference to your confidence and effectiveness when you get into the classroom. You will be astonished what's possible to do with modern technology!

The CELTA online course is recommended for anyone who wants to start teaching English as a foreign language at one of the many English language schools in South Africa or abroad. 

CELTA certified teachers are highly appreciated at English language schools around the world.

Why do a CELTA full-time online course?

  • CELTA is internationally recognised.
  • CELTA is an essential qualification for entering the field of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language).
  • CELTA is the best-known and most widely taken qualification in the field of English language teaching to adults. The course is designed and closely monitored by University of Cambridge English Language Assessment; and on passing the course, trainees receive a certificate from Cambridge as well as a report from the centre detailing the trainees’ areas of strength and weakness.
  • Our online virtual classroom on Zoom allows participants audio, video, text chat and screen sharing (standard tools in all live classrooms).
  • Other functionalities, such as dividing students into separate breakout rooms in order to do group work are learnt to create more student-centred, communicative lessons.
  • The course is both practical and theoretical with extensive, closely supervised teaching practice followed by both written and oral feedback.
  • Trainers are highly qualified and experienced, and approved by Cambridge.

About the full-time online course

The online course is longer because working in front of a screen all day is draining and fatiguing, so more breaks have to be catered for to help maintain concentration and productivity. Technical glitches may also occur and there needs to be time on the course to absorb these.

Our CELTA courses have a very practical approach. A solid grounding is provided in teaching skills and techniques. Emphasis is placed on developing awareness and sensitivity to student needs and also on general language awareness.

Details

The online course runs over 6 weeks and is highly intensive and rewarding.

Teaching Practice and Input Sessions are held on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Times are between 8:30 – 16:30 local time with scheduled breaks and slots to work asynchronously. These times may vary according to the timetable of the day. Wednesdays are Zoom-free days and time set aside for candidates to work independently on lesson plans, asynchronous tasks, and assignments.
The first week will include training on how to use the different platforms used on the course so that once teaching practice officially starts in Week 2, candidates are confident and ready to teach with technology.
Candidates are assessed on their teaching practice, lesson plans and written assignments.
All preparation for lessons, as well as the written assignments, happens outside of course hours so applicants can realistically expect to put in 80 additional learning hours of coursework, undertaken in your own time, focusing on lesson planning and assignment research and writing.
It is not advisable to hold a part-time job or have other major commitments or responsibilities throughout the duration of the course.

Key components of the online course

Components are the same as for the face-to-face CELTA Course and include a minimum of 120 contact hours providing:

1. Input sessions
These include, for example:

  • lesson planning;
  • classroom management;
  • teaching theory;
  • methodology and lesson frameworks;
  • language analysis from the perspective of a foreign learner.

Sessions are conducted using the learner-centred methodology that is encouraged in teaching practice, and in these sessions tutors model teaching techniques and concepts.

2. Teaching Practice
Trainees do 6 hours (8 lessons) of assessed teaching practice over the 6 weeks. This is a key part of the course. The trainees split into smaller groups in virtual breakout rooms and teach foreign volunteer students, who often have refugee status. Trainees receive guidance from the tutors in planning their lessons, and after the lessons there is a group feedback session, with oral feedback from other trainees and the tutor. The tutor also gives detailed written feedback on the lesson.

3. Observation of experienced teachers
Trainees observe a minimum of 6 hours of lessons taught by experienced, CELTA-qualified teachers through guided video observation. This is an opportunity to observe a range of teaching styles and techniques as well as a range of teaching contexts.

4. Written assignments
Based on input and teaching sessions, these are a very practical assimilation tool, which reinforce skills and knowledge development. Four written assignments of 750 - 1000 words will be required, extensive feedback given and assignment support provided. 

5. A self-maintained digital portfolio of all documents is required for course assessment.

Is the CELTA online course open to anyone?

You need not have a teaching qualification or experience, but 

trainees should:

  • be 18 or older at the start of the course;
  • have a Matric pass (or equivalent leaving schooling-leaving certificate) which would enable entrance into tertiary-level education;
  • have a good level of awareness of and proficiency in the English language;
  • have a reliable laptop or computer with a web camera (NO tablet or cell phone)
  • have a reasonably fast internet connection
  • possibly have a noise-cancelling headset with a microphone for participation and teaching with no audio and video issues.
  • be computer-savvy to cope with the online course (i.e. be able to take screen shots, be able to upload and download documents, convert word to pdf documents, create slides, etc.)
  • be willing and able to cope with the intensity of the course.

Interested candidates are required to complete a pre-interview task and may then be invited to attend an online interview, at which the candidate will immediately be told whether or not he/she has been accepted onto the course. The interview allows the centre to determine the candidate’s potential to pass the online course and allows candidates to get a clearer idea of what the online course involves.

More information

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams-and-qualifications/celta/