Difference between TESOL vs TEFL? Please help.

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gravatar-icon Posted on · by Holly R.

I'd like to teach English abroad but while i have teaching experience and am licensed I do not have a TESOL or TEFL? I am considereing attaining one or the other but before I do I'd like to know which certification would give me the better edge in the candidacy pool. I'd love to hear from people that are certified in either or from a recruiter. What is the difference between the TESOL and the TEFL? Which is more lucrative to have when trying to teach abroad? Also, I just realized that you can attain a TEFL certificate for either 100, 120, or 150 hours? What would be the difference between a 100 hour vs the 150 hour? I'm assuming the 150 hour is preferred, but are there programs that require a minimum? Are they expensive and/or time consuming to achieve? Which should I attain in order to teach abroad? 

Thanks!

HOLLY

2 Comments

  1. gravatar-icon
    Julie D.
    February 24, 2016 at 8.14 pm

    Hi Holly: I've been wondering the same thing. Your questions are excellent.

    Does anyone who might read this have any experience teaching in Argentina? That's where I'd like to teach (adults). I have an MA, and 17 years teaching experience, so I was hoping to get by without the TESL cert. My husband would be going with me and we prefer a city between (around) 500 to 800 thousand population. (So, not too big.) Any comments/suggestions/feedback would be most appreciated! Julie D.

  1. gravatar-icon
    Janice L.
    February 25, 2016 at 2.45 pm

    Hi Holly and Julie, great questions. Here's a blog post that will explain the differences between TEFL, TESL, and TESOL better than I can explain it: https://teflonline.teachaway.com/2014/04/whats-difference-tefl-tesl-tesol/

    Basically, if you're looking to teach ABROAD, the TEFL would be your best option. In partnership with the University of Toronto, we offer an online TEFL certification. The 100 hour is the most basic course, with 120 hours having extra content. You can take a look at the course curriculum to see what content is added into the 120 and 150 hour courses: https://teflonline.teachaway.com/online-tefl-curriculum/

    Holly - for your particular case, if you are a licensed teacher with experience, you're already in a very good position to teach abroad. The TEFL will definitely be an added bonus and will make you stand out, since it has some content on teaching foreign students, but not 100% required.

    Julie - if you don't have a teaching license, then a TEFL certificate would be a very good addition as some positions will require certification. Unfortunately we don't have any positions in Argentina at this moment, but you can check out the job requirements in other ESL job postings to get a sense of what is required.