Why do I want to be
an English teacher?
Svetla Tashevska, NBU
Are you:
a teacher of English?
 a teacher trainer?
 a Manager/ Director of studies?
 a professional materials writer/ publisher?
 a student of English?
 other – specify:

 _____________________________
Your start in teaching English

Why did you become a teacher of
English?
How long have you been teaching
English?
less than 1 year
1÷5
 6 ÷ 10
 11 ÷ 15
 15 ÷ 20
 21 ÷ 25
 more than 25 years

Why are you a teacher of English?


Do you consider teaching English as your main
professional interest?
YES
NO
If not, why are you teaching it?
 to
earn my living;
 because I enjoy teaching;
 other – specify:



______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
Context




Cambridge CELTA (Certificate of English
Language Teaching to Adults) – Certificate in
Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages
Introductory course – little or no previous ELT
experience; or some experience but little
previous training
AVO-Bell, Sofia, Bulgaria
5-week intensive course
Review of applications
40 candidates
 for 2008 and 2009 courses:

Feb 2008 – 5 candidates
 Jun 2008 – 11 candidates
 Aug 2008 – 6 candidates
 Nov 2008 - 6 candidates
 Feb 2009 – 6 candidates
 Jul & Aug 2009 (forthcoming) – 6 (so far)

Candidates’ age
20 ÷ 30 – 17 candidates
 31 ÷ 40 - 8
 41 ÷ 50 - 11
 51 ÷ 60 - 3
 Over 60 - 1

Or
Under 35 – 25 candidates (62.5%)
 36 ÷ 40 – no candidates
 Over 41 – 15 candidate (37.5%)

Candidates’ nationality

Bulgarian – 19 (47.5%)

Non-Bulgarian – 21 (52.5%)









British – 9 (1 Dutch/ Brit)
Canadian – 3 (1 Germ/
Canad)
American – 1
Russian – 2
Romanian – 2
Italian -1
Serbian – 1
Turkish – 1
Lybian – 1
-> Different education backgrounds
NESTs - Non-NESTs Ratio
Native English speaking teachers – 13
 Non-native English speaking teachers –
27
-> 32.5% NESTs ÷ 67.5% Non NESTs

Women – Men Ratio
Women – 26
 Men – 14
-> 65% ÷ 35%

Candidates’ experience teaching
English
ranges from:
- one-to-one (private) lessons to classroom
settings
- general to specific purposes (business)
- no experience/ a few months to 19 years
- students of different levels & ages
- in different places around the world
Personal Statement

Part of AVO-Bell CELTA application
procedure:
Please write on a separate sheet why you
want to do the course and how you feel
you would benefit most from this course.
Reasons

candidates give include reasons:

why teach
 why English
 why CELTA
 why CELTA in Bulgaria
& vary from quite practical to very idealistic
from quite honest & straightforward to ‘elated’
formulations aiming to impress
What do you think?
What are the candidates’ 2 top reasons?
 What are the 3 most frequent words used
in their personal statements?

Formulations (quantity)




qualification/ qualify/ ~ed/ ~ing – used 35x by 15
people
enjoy/ like/ love (teaching/ working with people /
with ESL ss etc.) – 27x by 17 p.
career, ~ change, (enhance/ continue ~) – 23x
by 19 p.
develop (teaching skills/ techniques/ qualities
etc.), development – 23x by 15 p.
Formulations (2)





certification/ certify/ ~ed/ ~ing – 22x by 15
people
culture, etc. – used 22x by 11 p.
improve (skills/ qualities/ methods/ style/
awareness/ knowledge, etc. ) – 20x by 19 p.
travel, etc. – 11x by 6 p.
step – 7x by 5 p.
Reasons

Difference between younger & more mature
candidates?
 More


mature:
established in teaching – improvement, quality, development
changed circumstances – career change
 Younger:


aware of needs – training, improvement
not aware of needs (but aware of personal strengths) – start
in life
Reasons (quotes)

handout
In conclusion
REASONS:
 improvement & professional development
 career prospects
 learning about other cultures
BUT – MAIN REASONS:
 enjoying
teaching
 & enjoying English
Resources




Cambridge ESOL CELTA www.cambridgeefl.org/teaching
www.avo-bell.com
Medgyes, P. (1994), The non-native teacher,
MEP Monographs, Macmillan
Woods, D. (1996),Teacher Cognition in
Language Teaching, Cambridge Applied
Linguistics, CUP
Thank you!

Svetla Tashevska

svetla_tashevska@yahoo.co.uk
 www.nbu.bg