Buyer Beware: Professional Preparation and TESL Certificate Programs in Canada

Abstract

Significant progress has been made toward greater professional recognition for adult ESL instructors in Canada over the past decade. At the same time, an ever-increasing demand for English-language teachers, particularly abroad, has resulted in a substantial growth in the number of private companies offering short-term ESL/EFL teacher training. Often these programs make inflated claims about the worth of their certificates in the job market, undermining attempts to professionalize the field in the eyes of the public. In this article, I propose basic requirements that should be expected ofany professionally adequate TESL training program. I then assess several TESL "certificate" programs from across Canada to determine to what degree they meet these minimal professional standards. I conclude with a discussion ofwhy increasingly stringent training standards are essential if we are to promote professionalism in the field and to achieve recognition commensurate with that in other disciplines.