Courses for Teachers

English Language Teacher Training And Development at Aberystwyth University

The International English Centre specialises in English Language teacher education and training, and has expertise in TESOL, language teaching methodology, and academic English.

The summer programme includes two Cert TESOL training courses for English language teaching (sometimes known as TEFL), two Free English courses for teaching practice, and one professional development course for teachers of English.

Courses and Qualifications available at Aberystwyth

• Certificate in TESOL (validated by Trinity College London)

• Professional Development for Teachers of English

• Undergraduate module in TESOL

Bespoke courses.  We are also experienced at designing and running courses for specific groups of teachers, in the UK and in their home countries. Please contact tesol@aber.ac.uk

Principles

All activities on our courses are intended to be developmental for the participants.  The courses may include observations, discussions, and practical activities, all of which are aimed at developing participants’ understanding of methodologies as well as their own language skills in English.

The summer social programme includes evening functions, as well as excursions and visits, for enjoyment and for helping to develop a greater understanding of British and Welsh Culture.  All participants will be expected to take full advantage of the social programme.

Participants will have access to IT facilities at the university, for course purposes and also for email and internet access.

Staff

All staff on the teachers’ courses are professionally trained and qualified, with substantial experience, both in the UK and overseas.  All are current practitioners in teaching as well as teacher-training

Teaching

The staff of the International English Centre have substantial experience of teaching students of many different nationalities, in both monolingual and bilingual situations.  All have taught in the UK and overseas.

Teacher Training and Development

International English Centre staff members have trained teachers at pre-service and in-service levels in the UK and many other countries.

We currently run Cert TESOL courses throughout the year for undergraduate students, and at regular intervals as intensive 5-week courses.

Curriculum Development

Our specialist staff engage in curriculum development activities, and have expertise in the principles involved.  The Head of Department has been involved in developing national curricula for English language teaching and teacher-training in a number of countries, through British Council and DfID projects.

Materials Design

International English Centre staff are constantly engaged in materials design, and have worked on materials projects in different countries.

Free English

Trainee teachers must have some supervised practice in teaching before they can become qualified.  Each of our trainee teachers has at least 6 hours of teaching practice.  The classes that they teach are offered free of charge to international students.  There are two 3-week Free English courses for this purpose each summer.

Resources

The University has three main libraries.

The Old College Library has a collection of books, journals and other resources relating to Educational Studies and Drama.

The Hugh Owen Library is based on the main campus, and has books, journals and resources on many subjects, including the substantial Law Library.

The Thomas Parry Library has a substantial collection of books on librarianship and a collection of children’s books.

The National Library of Wales, one of only five copyright libraries in the UK, is located next to our campus, and students may join this and use its extensive research resources.

The International English Centre has a Resources Centre for the use of staff, teacher-training students, and teacher development participants with a big collection of books on language teaching methodology, language skills, and collections of class sets of course books.

All students and course participants have access to the university’s computer suites, with many computers which can be accessed 24 hours a day through a swipe card entry system.  Use of email and the internet is free of charge.

Participants may have self-access use of the language laboratory in the Language Resource Centre.  This is a modern multi-media suite with facilities for listening to CD-ROMs, and access to on-line materials and the internet.

Teaching Rooms

All teaching rooms are equipped with data projectors and facilities for playing DVDs and CD-ROMs.