CELTA

For the Spanish football club, see Celta de Vigo.

The Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA,  /ˈsɛltə/ or /ˈkɛltə/) is a professional credential held by many teachers of English as a foreign language.

Overview

The CELTA is a common requirement for those entering the field of English language teaching. Since it is recognised internationally, it is a particularly popular credential among people who wish to travel and teach English around the world. However, it is also held by people who intend to teach only in the country where they trained, and do not intend to travel.

The full-time CELTA course runs for four to five weeks; it can also be taken part-time over several weeks or months. CELTA courses are run by many different institutions, whereas the courses are validated and certificates are issued by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), a part of the University of Cambridge.

The CELTA is awarded upon passing the course, which includes six hours of assessed teaching practice to real EFL classes at at least two different levels of ability. The course grade is determined primarily by the performance of the candidates in this teaching practice; there are also four written assignments due throughout the course, which are graded on a pass/fail basis only. The grades awarded are Pass, Pass B and Pass A.

The full-time four-week course is very intensive. Even the part-time version of the course can take up more time than a full-time job for many candidates, especially those with no teaching background.

There are over 286 approved CELTA centres in 54 countries, providing almost 900 CELTA courses every year.^[1] Each course is audited by an external assessor.

Accreditation

The CELTA is awarded by Cambridge ESOL (formerly UCLES) and accredited at level 5 by both the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and level 5, as well, by the National Qualifications Framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

History

The Cambridge ESOL CELTA was originally a pre-service teacher training programme operated by International House. The current Cambridge CELTA replaced the RSA/Cambridge CELTA in 2001. In 1996, RSA/Cambridge CELTA replaced the RSA/Cambridge CTEFLA (the Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults), jointly administered by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and UCLES. The RSA/Cambridge CTEFLA replaced the RSA Certificate in 1985.

Related credentials

A less common qualification from UCLES is the CELTYL—the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners. Like the CELTA, it runs as a full-time course for four weeks. It is equal in status, having the same number of hours of instruction, teaching observation, and supervised teaching practice, but focuses on the teaching of children. Candidates who have already been awarded a CELTA can take a "YL extension course" in two weeks, which adds a qualification in teaching young learners to their existing qualification in teaching adults.

UCLES also offers a diploma in ELT, the Delta, which can be taken as a follow-up to the CELTA by those seeking further qualifications in the field.

In order to meet the UK government's criteria for teachers of ESOL in the Learning and Skills Sector (that is, adult education) in England and Wales, holders of CELTA need to undertake an additional qualification, known as CELTA module 2. The CELTA and the Trinity College CertTESOL are often considered to be roughly equivalent qualifications.

A similar qualification is the Certificate in English Language Training (CELT). This is awarded by the Irish Department of Education and Skills (formally the Dept. of Science), via the Advisory Council of English Language Schools (ACELS).

References

1. ^ Cambridge ESOL: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults

External links

• Advisory Council of English Language Schools website (includes details of accredited CELT courses)