Career Colleges » New Jersey » Education and Teaching » ESL
Looking for accredited career colleges, technical schools, and universities in New Jersey offering ESL degrees. ESL teachers are in high demand these days, and it is a job that many people who had to learn English themselves at some point are qualified to teach.
Attending a New Jersey college will put you in close proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, two world-class cities. New Jersey itself is a much more affordable alternative to New York, with it's relatively peaceful and crime-free towns and small cities. But New Jersey is not all city life: even today, nearly a quarter of the state is farmland, producing the renowned Jersey tomatoes as well as table vegetables and fruits of all kinds. Time out of the classroom can be well spent at New Jersey's 127 miles of Atlantic coastline, with some of the broadest beaches on the Eastern Seaboard.ESL, or English as Second Language, is a term commonly used worldwide to describe the study of the English language in a native, English-speaking country by non-native English speaking people.
To become certified to teach ESL, there are several routes you can take to get the proper credentials. The most common are a certificate, an undergraduate ESL degree, or related field, or a master's ESL degree. A certificate, such as a TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) or a TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certificate can be earned after completing a course that may last anywhere from one week to six weeks. The advantage of this type of certification is that it is relatively inexpensive, and a much quicker program than a four- to six-year degree program. In addition, many certificate programs will help to place you in a job upon completion of the course. The disadvantage of course is that you will only get the basics in such a short program.
If you don't mind investing more time (and money) in your pursuit of an ESL education and profession, then pursuing a bachelor and/or master's ESL degree may better prepare you to meet your goals. The biggest benefit of having an advanced ESL degree is that you can pursue university level teaching positions, which tend to pay more, and provide better benefits. Keep in mind that most ESL degrees offered at universities in the United States are ESL focused, meaning that they are designed for teachers who want to teach English in an English-speaking country. Also, curriculum in an advanced ESL degree, like a bachelor or a master's degree, will include a lot of theory and methodologies, and sometimes don't focus as much on the actual teaching aspect. As a result many students with an ESL degree will also take a TESOL or TEFL course in order to receive better training in practical teaching situations.