What is tefl / tesol?

TESOL? TEFL? TESL? TEAL? ELT? TESL? What’s the difference?

They are essentially all the same thing. They are all terms used to describe the teaching of the English Language by native or proficient English speakers to those that do not speak the language. The main difference is the country where the teaching takes place.

TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Second or Other Languages) and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) are standard terms for English language teaching in non-English speaking countries.

TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) and TEAL (Teaching English as an Additional Language) are normally related to English teaching among immigrant and refugee communities in English-speaking countries.

TEFL and TESL are more frequently used in Europe as acronyms while TESOL and TEAL are more commonly used in North America.

Therefore a certificate in "TEFL" and a certificate in "TESOL" are exactly the same thing and employers from all over the world will accept either as a suitable qualification for a teaching position where English is taught as a second, foreign or additional language.

In recent years some well-known EFL writers have expressed their concern with the implications of the word ‘foreign’ in TEFL and advocate a shift in terminology to TESOL on grounds that the English language has become a truly international ‘lingua franca’ and no nation should be able to claim possession on it.

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