JEDDAH: The British Council celebrated the successful completion of its second women’s Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) course in Jeddah recently. The 12 students, many already teaching, were graded and assessed and now face a two-month wait for independent ratification of their results by the Cambridge Examination Board. Significantly for this premiere English language teaching qualification, none had English as their first language, though some were completely bilingual.
“There is a consistent and very high demand for the course,” commented Paula Ellis, the course support tutor. “Some of the students traveled from Riyadh and Dammam especially to enroll.” The course is full-time and lasts for four weeks.
Ellis said that the candidates came from a range of nationalities and backgrounds. Some were already engaged in full-time teaching of English. “The fact that you may not be a native speaker of English is not a barrier to learning to teach to CELTA standards, because the course is about teaching, not facility with language.” She added that the selection process was “quite stringent”.
“I am quite sure there is an untapped reserve of potential teachers here,” she noted. “The CELTA is not about language; it is concerned with learning and adopting strategies that get the language across in an effective student-centered way in a communicative classroom.”
The character and techniques in the course are under a process of continuous improvement. “We respond rapidly to effective advances in techniques of teaching,” she added. The current course would have some of the content from ten years ago, but it would not be the same.” Ellis reflected that the CELTA and other Cambridge courses were about reflection on the candidates’ own abilities, techniques and self-evaluation as part of the learning process. “A thoughtful considerate teacher is a better teacher.”
Helen Glenn, the Main Course Tutor at the British Council’s women’s center said she was very pleased with the high quality of the candidates for this, and the first experimental course ran a year ago. “I think we can look forward to some very good results.” She said that the demand was very definitely there for the courses for women and men.
The communicative techniques and role-play used as teaching strategies in the CELTA course transfer from culture to culture easily. Sometimes traditional techniques and experience are very different from the communicative practices taught on the course. To ensure consistency in the course teaching and grading however, the independent Cambridge Board require that a main course tutor is employed at the center.
“There were candidates who were very experienced and there were some new to teaching — ‘blank slates’”, observed Glenn. “It is often easier for the blank-slates to take on the new ideas immediately but experienced teachers have their own models and ways of doing things.” She concluded that the best way to approach the course was “to bring no assumptions.”
“Tough, stressful and enjoyable” said Tahana, one of the candidates of the course. In a round table discussion all agreed that there was a feeling of relief that the pressure was over, but with that came a sense of accomplishment. “We learned a great deal” was the group’s opinion. “It’s a never ending course, days and nights blend into each other,” said Shayma. “I even dreamed about it!”
Anna said that each member of the group knew the language but implicitly so they never thought about the rules of grammar, for example.” “We had to be able to respond to questions about why particular language structures were right or wrong. That was a new experience and a challenge.” The trick she opined was to learn that and then teach the language in context.
Katiya, a teacher in the Saudi education system felt that the course changed the perception of English teaching. “It was beneficial to me and it will be beneficial for my students,” she said. “The biggest difference between this and the method I am used to is that it was communicative. With this method, the students will be able to use the language at the end of the class to communicate in real life situations.”
She said that the traditional method was to teach students to pass an exam. “It wasn’t to use English on a daily basis. It was focused on grammar, not on modeling and drilling and not as English is used on a daily basis. It was just grammar, grammar, grammar.” Another member of the group, a university lecturer, summed up the core value of the course for her. “I teach Islamic studies. The strategies and methods I learned here to teach English I can apply to my students. It has completely changed my way of teaching.”
