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Board of Academic Advisors
With the amount of information available on the internet regarding
various EFL and ESL Teacher Training courses it can be
very confusing for any one who wants to enroll for a TEFL Course.
Who does one trust, which is the most creditable course provider, who
has the greatest rate of successful placements? These questions can be
very baffling yet very relevant. TEFL International is the
largest Teacher training organization – however you may not accepted our
word for it. We understand your predicament and therefore have got our TEFL and TESOL courses scrutinized and endorsed by some of
the most revered names in the business.
TEFL International is externally validated and moderated by a
Board of Academic Advisors. This board includes several internationally
recognized experts in the field of English Language Teaching as
well as dozens of regional language experts in language teaching
and teacher training. Both international and regional members
advise TEFL International staff on our teacher training centers
worldwide.
Every month, Regional Board members or external moderators, not a
TEFL International staff member, visit our TEFL International
centers, meet trainee teachers, observe the way the TESOL course is
run and send feedback to the central administration in order to maintain
quality control and high standards of teaching.
Very few TEFL / TESOL Course providers can boast of such an
eminent list of educationists and English language experts on
their Board of Academic Advisors and this itself lends creditability to
the quality, thoroughness and relevancy of our TESOL / TEFL Courses.
International board members visit TEFL International regions
worldwide annually. Members participate as keynote speakers at free
national teacher training conferences / workshops sponsored and hosted
by TEFL International. They also provide TEFL International
with advice on the quality of our training programs in the region they
visit on how our programs can adapt and change with growing trends in
teacher training. International board members are not TEFL
International moderators, but industry experts.
TEFL International – Board of Academic
Advisors:
• David Nunan: Dr. Nunan is Chair Professor
of Applied Linguistics and Director of the English Centre at the
University of Hong Kong. Prior to this, he was Director of Research and
Development, NCELTR, and Coordinator of Postgraduate Programs in
Linguistics at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. He has published
over 100 books and articles in the areas of curriculum and materials
development, classroom-based research, and discourse analysis. His
textbook projects include ATLAS, Go For It, Listen In, Speak Out and
Expressions, all published by Heinle & Heinle/Thomson Learning. Go For
It has recently been selected and adapted by People’s Education Press as
a basal textbook series for middle schools in China. He was President of
TESOL in 1999-2000.
• John W. Miller: John W. Miller is an
Academic Specialist for the Korean Language Program at the Defense
Language Institute, Monterey, California, where he is in charge of
faculty development. He designs and facilitates teacher-training
workshops for faculty and learning strategies workshops for students.
John began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia. After
getting his MA, he taught in and directed Kyungsung University’s Foreign
Language Institute in Pusan, Korea for three years. Later, while working
for Ohio University, he helped launch OPELT, an English Language Program
at Chubu University in Kasugai, Japan. John is currently finishing his
dissertation for a PhD in Intercultural Communication at Ohio
University. He has written extensively on language teaching and has
conducted teacher training workshops in Liberia, Korea, Japan, Ukraine,
and the U.S.
• Marc Helgesen: Mr. Helgesen is co-author
of the English Firsthand textbook series (Longman) which is the market
leader in Japan and Korea and popular throughout Asia. He is also an
author of Active Listening, from Cambridge University Press. He teaches
at Miyagi Gakuin––a women’s university in Sendai, Japan–– and also in
the Columbia University Teachers College MA TESOL program-Japan. He led
teacher development workshops throughout Asia and has been a featured
speaker at JALT (Japan Assoc. for Language Teaching), Korea TESOL and
Thai TESOL.
• Robb Scott: Mr. Scott began his ELT
career in Quito, Ecuador teaching middle school ESL at an international
K-12 American style school. Several years later, he moved to Japan,
where he gained valuable experience working on American branch-campus
start-up projects, writing ESL curriculums and training teachers.
Recently, he has been in Brooklyn, New York, where he wrote education
materials for Newsweek, served as a technical instructor helping junior
high students build Web pages in a Cablevision project, studied at
Teachers College, Columbia University, and started an online newsletter
for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) professionals as well
as the ESL online mini-conference.
We are actively seeking additional ESL professionals to join this board.
Interested individuals may email daveh@teflintl.com and receive
information on being involved with some of the brightest minds in the
industry.
Regional board members are trained specialists with more than three
years experience in teaching, teacher training and managerial positions
(which hire teachers). Regional members visit TEFL International
locations monthly to ensure that each TEFL International course meets
industry needs for that particular region and is of high quality. A
regional member is not a TEFL International staff member, but rather a
paid external consultant that moderates our courses monthly by visiting
our center in the region where they have knowledge of local teacher
needs. The regional moderator meets with training staff and course
participants, observes trainee teaching practice, reviews course
participant’s work and checks center resources are adequate. A full
description of the moderation process, as well as any credentials of
regional moderators, can be provided on request by emailing
mikef@teflintl.com
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