Getting Started & Moving Forward: Professional Development for ELT 

English language teaching is a rewarding career. You get to meet interesting students from around the world, learn about their cultures, and maybe even live in new places. 

In order to find your first job, teach effectively, stay motivated, and progress in your career, you’ll need to dedicate yourself to continuous professional development. CPD is an essential part of any career, and there are many options for English language teachers. 

In this blog post, I’ll explore the essential professional development courses for ELT professionals. 

Before I start, I should clear up some of the acronyms: 

• ELT - English Language Teaching
• TEFL - Teaching English as a Foreign Language
• TESOL - Teaching English as a Second Language 
• ESOL - English for Speakers of Other Languages
• ESL - English as a Second Language

In general, ELT is the umbrella term of TEFL, TESOL, ESL, and ESOL. TEFL tends to focus on teaching English in a country where the first language is not English (e.g., South Korea). 

TESOL, ESL, or ESOL refers to teaching English in a country where the first language is English. In the UK, you’d be teaching ESOL, whereas in the US, Canada, and Australia, you’d be teaching ESL. 

1. Initial teacher training 

If you’re starting out in English language teaching, you might want to see if you actually like it first! There are tons of introductory TEFL/TESOL courses available both online and in person. 

These courses are often 120 hours and include essentials such as basic teaching theories, classroom activities, and grammar. However, it’s unlikely that they will qualify you for a paid teaching role. 

Most employers will require you to have: 

• a bachelor’s degree from university (any subject)
• a certificate in ELT (which includes observed classroom practice)
• a proficient level of English 

These introductory modules are a great starting point, though, or even as a review for practicing teachers. 

2. Certificate in ELT

Alongside a university-level degree, this is the minimum certification level you will need to secure a job as a language teacher. Although there are many providers, it’s essential to check that classroom practice is included in the certification. 

The most common certificates in ELT (which include observed classroom practice) are: 

• The Cambridge CELTA: Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
• The Trinity CertTESOL: Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

Both of these certificates are available online and face-to-face. They include: 

• language awareness
• learner profiling
• classroom management
• lesson planning 
• learning methodologies

Each course takes 200 hours and can be pretty intense, whether you opt for the one-month intensive or part-time options. 

3. Diploma in ELT

Once you have a few years of post-certificate teaching practice, you’ll be ready to develop your skills with a diploma. Again, the most well-respected providers are Trinity College London and Cambridge University. 

• Trinity College DipTESOL
• Cambridge DELTA

Much like the Trinity and Cambridge certificates, both are available as: 

• online or face-to-face
• intensive or part-time

Each has a research, written, exam, and observed teaching practice component. They are both designed to deepen your skills and knowledge as an ELT professional. 

4. Master’s degrees

In general, most ELT professionals do master’s level degrees after completing certificates or diplomas. However, it is possible to skip straight to this level with the right entry qualifications. 

There are countless master’s level options. The program you choose will depend on your location, the cost, your interests and career goals, and whether you prefer to study online or in person. 

Some master’s programs are research-focused, allowing you to investigate a particular area of interest. Others follow a specific curriculum. 

Common master’s degrees for language teaching professionals include: 

• MA - master of arts 
• MEd - master of education

These can follow more distinct subjects such as applied linguistics, TESOL, or learning technologies. 

To find out more about master’s programs, search online for universities or subjects that interest you. You could also seek recommendations from peers or colleagues. 

5. PhDs

This is the highest qualification for ELT professionals. Gaining a doctorate can take many years of dedicated study, but can be worth the effort. 

It can be a good option if: 

• you have a specific area of interest you’d like to research
• you’d like to advance a certain aspect of language teaching
• you want to explore your master’s research topic more
• your goal is to secure a university-level role

Finding the right PhD program will take time. The application process is rigorous, and you’ll need to submit initial research to be accepted. You’ll also have to show strong academic and research skills. 

To find out more about PhDs: 

• search online for universities that interest you
• search for funding opportunities and scholarships
• speak to other academics for advice

6. Other courses

I’ve covered most of the common routes for English language teachers. However, there are many other options. 

Here are some examples: 

Teaching Young Learners

Trinity College London offers the TYLEC, or Teaching Young Learners Extension Certificate. This certificate supports teachers to deepen their practice with specifically teaching learners aged 7–16. You can find out more here.  

NILE

Norwich Institute of Language Education offers MA programs, CELTAs, and DELTAs as well as a range of other courses, including: 

• Learning Differences & Inclusion 
• Management
• Materials Development
• Testing & Evaluation
• Teaching English for Academic Purposes
• Content & Language Integrated Learning

7. Independent courses

With the rise in online learning, many ELT experts have created group programs and online courses in very niche areas. For example: 

Clare Hayward offers training on how to use Canva to create classroom materials. 

Michelle Worgan provides teacher development on inquiry-based learning.

Katherine Bilsborough and John Hughes have a course on materials development. 

Emily Bryson (that’s me) has courses on graphic facilitation and sketchnoting for ELT. 

I list more of these opportunities in my Teacherpreneurs post, such as coaching, financial management, podcasting, neurodiversity, and publishing academic research.  

8. Ellii.com resources

If taking on a whole new training course leaves you feeling overwhelmed, Ellii has plenty of other professional development options for you: 

Blogs: Ellii has countless blog posts to help you deepen your knowledge of language teaching. 

Webinars: The Ellii for Teachers YouTube channel has a comprehensive selection of webinars, training videos, and demos. 

ElliiCon: Ellii has hosted a few free online conferences with ELT experts from all over the world. You can catch up on previous years at Ellii's YouTube channel for teachers.

What professional development courses have you taken? What are your CPD goals? We’d love to know here in the comments.