The Effectiveness of the CELTA Course for an Early Career Teacher from Outside the UK: a Personal Study

Abstract

The impact of the Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA) course on the experienced teacher’s practices has been given critical attention in the literature. This self-study sets out to determine the effectiveness of the CELTA program for the early career teachers from outside the UK, by thoroughly examining my personal experience during my time in the course. I will be the main participant and researcher in this study, due to the self-study research approach. Data were collected from my personal teaching journal, peer observations and feedback from my tutor. The data was analyzed and discussed thoroughly, by investigating the processes of each lesson and assignment on the course. The findings indicated that my knowledge and skills did improve immensely by the end of the CELTA course. Also, it showed that my previous teaching experience did hinder and help my development at the same time. Moreover, the findings also determined that the course is indeed effective for the early career teachers from outside the UK. Furthermore, the findings of this study suggest that future research could be done on a larger group of participants to thoroughly explore the advantages and disadvantages of the CELTA course for the early career teachers.