TEFL now needed for a work permit?

[MrKitkat]

Good evening

 

I wonder if someone can answer my question. I've just finished an interview with a language centre. I am in Bangkok with an extension of stay based on marriage, I have my degree but the language centre informed me I also need a TEFL/TESOL to be able to get a work permit along with my degree now. Is this true or not?

 

Regards

[blackcab]

What subject is your degree in?

[MrKitkat]

Computer Science

[NativeBob]

Yes. this is true. Even Bangkok Hospital asked me for TEFL for sys-admin position. Sometimes HR ppl has no idea ????

[BangkokReady]

Now?  I thought this had been the case for a long time?  Quite normal for immigration to want degree, tefl and criminal record check.  Same in Vietnam.

[KhunLA]

Depends what website you're reading.  Some (most) say yes/required, other state not the law, but better to have, along with what & where you'll be teaching.

 

Imm doesn't specifically say it's a requirement.  Obviously if the school states you need one, then you need one to at least, teach there.

 

"2.4   Non-Immigrant Visa Category “B” (Teaching)  Foreigners who intend to take up employment as school teachers at the levels below university level in Thailand must submit the following required documents:
- Passport or travel document with validity of not less than 6 months
- Completed visa application form
- Recent passport-sized photograph (4 x 6 cm) of the applicant taken within the past 6 months.
- Letter of acceptance from employing institute or school in Thailand.
- Letter of approval from government agencies such as the Office of the Private Education Commission, the Office of the Basic Education Commission.
- Evidence of educational qualification such as diplomas or teaching certificates.
- School license or business registration, list of shareholders and school profile.
- Applicant’s resume.        
- Police certificate verifying that applicant has no criminal record or equivalents or letter issued by authorised agencies in applicant’s country. (The requirement of the submission of such police certificate is optional. The applicant must submit it if consular officer requests he/she to do so. This requirement is effective as from May 2007)"

https://www.mfa.go.th/en/page/non-immigrant-visa-b?menu=5e1ff6f857b01e00a84023d4

 

"A TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is not legally required to teach English in Thailand even though many sources misinform readers and say it is. Instead, it acts as a qualifier during the hiring process. Earning a TEFL will help to distinguish yourself from other candidates with similar qualifications and will help you manage a classroom if you’ve never taught before."

https://www.tielandtothailand.com/tips-teaching-english-in-thailand-first-time/

[KIngsofisaan]

How does a person with a computer science degree, end up in Thailand trying to teach english for peanuts? or why?

[Scott]

1 hour ago, KIngsofisaan said:

How does a person with a computer science degree, end up in Thailand trying to teach english for peanuts? or why?

This is the teaching forum and if you do not have constructive, helpful answers for straightforward questions, please don't post.  Continuing to be unhelpful will result in a formal warning and suspension.

 

Not everyone teaching in Thailand is an English teacher, but many teach IN English. 

[Pouatchee]

On 7/13/2022 at 10:52 PM, KhunLA said:

Earning a TEFL will help to distinguish yourself from other candidates with similar qualifications and will help you manage a classroom if you’ve never taught before."

Agree to disagree. Earning a TEFL only gives people a glimpse of things to come. As a teacher in training you are still "protected" so to say, during your training by the regular teacher. It is a whole different ball game when you are on your own and then, only experience will help you survive.

[EricTh]

On 7/13/2022 at 8:39 PM, MrKitkat said:

Computer Science

If you are teaching English in Thailand, it is recommended to have TEFL. 

 

Most native English speakers did not learn formal grammar in western schools, but you are required to teach grammar in Thai schools.

 

Knowing the language and teaching the language are two different skills. You are teaching to second language learners which is different from teaching native English speakers.

 

[youreavinalaff]

18 hours ago, EricTh said:

Most native English speakers did not learn formal grammar in western schools,

Really? I did.

 

18 hours ago, EricTh said:

but you are required to teach grammar in Thai schools.

I never have been. Thai teachers have always taught the grammar. I've always taught listening and speaking.

[EricTh]

2 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Really? I did.

 

I never have been. Thai teachers have always taught the grammar. I've always taught listening and speaking.

I said 'most' and not 'all'. I am not sure whether you realize that most of the TEFL schools in Thailand teach the trainee teachers some English grammar because most native speakers were not taught formal grammar when they were kids. 

 

 

Do all Thai schools have two English teachers for the same batch of students? One to teach grammar and another one to teach speaking & listening?

 

 

 

[youreavinalaff]

7 minutes ago, EricTh said:

I said 'most' and not 'all'

English kids are taught grammar. That takes alot of teachers out of your "most".

 

7 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Do all Thai schools have two English teachers for the same batch of students? One to teach grammar and another one to teach speaking/listening?

It is an OBEC rule that all students in schools they govern must be taught English by a Thai teacher. Therefore, if there is a native English speaker teaching, they will have 2 teachers.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

9 hours ago, EricTh said:

Do all Thai schools have two English teachers for the same batch of students? One to teach grammar and another one to teach speaking & listening?

Yup. The Thai English teachers focus on grammar, while the native speaker is allowed to put the language in action, with conversational exercises, speaking activities, Q&A, etc. Dept heads especially love photo ops where the students are taking turns giving recitals, as the farang guides them along. Look, they're speaking English.

 

The rationale is that the Thai teacher's limited English is sufficient to teach them grammatical rules, while the assets of native speakers can best be used to actually demonstrate the language, so that students can hear it spoken with correct (or closer to it) pronunciation, which they're unlikely to get anywhere else in their daily lives in Thailand, especially out here in the countryside.

 

I don't mind at all as I hate teaching grammar, and my MA in English actually took pains to tell us not to teach it explicitly. Don't teach the rules, show them. Give them language they can immediately put to use. They can't ask for help at the grocery store with a table of past perfect and past continuous conjugations. That's what Chinese and Japanese students typically get, which is why they now come to me online, telling me that after their years of English in high school and university, they can barely speak it.

[brewsterbudgen]

The OP was being interviewed for a job at a language centre, not a government school. If the prospective employer understandably requires a TEFL qualification in order to process the WP for a TEFL job, the OP needs one.  It's not a legal requirement, unlike a degree, but if it's required in order to teach legally, it's required!

[youreavinalaff]

4 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

The OP was being interviewed for a job at a language centre, not a government school. If the prospective employer understandably requires a TEFL qualification in order to process the WP for a TEFL job, the OP needs one.  It's not a legal requirement, unlike a degree, but if it's required in order to teach legally, it's required!

A Tefl is not required for a work permit application, regardless of where one teaches.

[DavisH]

20 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

English kids are taught grammar. That takes alot of teachers out of your "most".

 

It is an OBEC rule that all students in schools they govern must be taught English by a Thai teacher. Therefore, if there is a native English speaker teaching, they will have 2 teachers.

That probably refers to Thai goverment schools. But private schools can have english taught exclusively by foreign teachers. We have no Thai english teachers (and we are under OBEC). It's an EP. 

[brewsterbudgen]

6 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

A Tefl is not required for a work permit application, regardless of where one teaches.

Correct. That's what I said. However, a language school can insist on anything they like before they employ a TEFL teacher, and all "good" language schools, like the British Council, Wall Street, Westminster, etc, require a TEFL qualification and usually it has to be a CELTA, Trinity or equivalent.

[youreavinalaff]

5 hours ago, DavisH said:

That probably refers to Thai goverment schools. But private schools can have english taught exclusively by foreign teachers. We have no Thai english teachers (and we are under OBEC). It's an EP. 

If you are governed by OBEC then you must have Thai teachers teaching every subject. Even if it is only one period per week.

 

You teach in an EP. OK. All teachers the EP program are foreign. However, your students will also have classes outside of the EP, such as PE, Art, Thai language. There will also be an English class taught by a Thai.