7/22/2006

Question: Should I get a TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate at the Masters level to improve my job prospects in Japan? I only have a grad degree in the Arts but I was hoping that TESOL/TEFL teaching certificate would make me more “marketable” to a higher-paying English gig in Japan such as corporate-level instruction or teaching in the university.

Answer: Sad to say that there are very few full-time corporate gigs these days. Sadder to say that teaching engrish in Japan is such a cruel joke that teaching certificates are little help since most employers don’t really give a shit. To apply for a position at the international schools here in Japan–they will require a valid (Western) teaching certificate.

For a real, full-time public university job teaching engrish, you must have a masters or Phd nowadays. However, just as important —if not more important — is that you have to have a published paper in your university field. For an example, if your were teaching engrish to econ students, you should have a published paper(s) in economics (or EFL, English education). Publishing a paper takes a little time and a little scamming but a public universities in Japan expect it of all faculty members.

Since you have a masters in music, a published paper in the field of music is not going to help to get a university job teaching English or specifically teaching English for science/business/econ/CS majors. However, you could get a LEGIT (not fake 3 month course) TESOL Certificates in a 1-or-1.5 year program and make damn well sure you publish a paper while you are in grad school. Since your present “employer” offers free education benefits, you could salvage your unmarketable Arts degree by doing an original EFL/ESL research paper in something like, “Using Art to express words in English” or “Using song to teach adults English pronunciation”.