JOINT CERTIFICATE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES L ANGUAGES (JOINT CERT TESOL)

Joint Certificate TESOL programmes are agreed between Trinity and individual training organisations or ministries of education and vary from location to location. They are intended to meet the needs of teachers in a specific country or region. They provide professional development in methodology and language skills. They do not provide a globally recognised qualification such as the CertTESOL or LTCL Diploma TESOL, but have local status as a source of professional support and well respected external certification by Trinity. Each Trinity Joint Certificate is slightly different from the others offered. Joint Certificate programmes will normally meet the following criteria or similar, as agreed with Trinity :
Aim The Joint Certificate is offered on successful completion of an approved in-service training programme run outside the United Kingdom for practising teachers whose first language is not English. The aim of approved programmes is to improve and certificate the skills of trainees with particular emphasis upon : (a) their own awareness and command of the English language (b) their understanding and practice of current TESOL methods and techniques (c) their oral performance in English as teachers, and their competence in developing the communicative performance of their students.

Profile of trainees Participants are qualified or practising teachers in their country, with a minimum of three years experience of teaching English to speakers of other languages. An entry level language competence of at least lower intermediate (= Trinity ESOL Grade 6) is essential.

Course structure The Joint Certificate is intended to respond flexibly to a wide range of training contexts. The structure of approved courses can therefore vary widely to reflect local situations, resources and priorities. An approved course normally comprises no fewer than 120 hours of tuition, which must include at least eight hours of supervised, observed and assessed classroom practice. The modes of tuition may be a mixture of contact hours (lectures, workshops and tutorials), guided self-study, multimedia support and supervised practice. A course group must not normally exceed 25 trainees and will not normally be fewer than 12 trainees.

Course focus and content An approved Joint Cert course always reflects local objectives and should be directed towards specific outcomes. These may include the teaching of particular age groups, the use of special techniques or teaching aids, or teaching towards specified aims such as English for science and technology. In validating a proposed course, evidence is always required of the following components: (a) (b) (c) (d) language development of the trainees, including formal awareness and functional command of the phonological, syntactic and lexical patterns of English; TESOL methodology, including the application of principles and techniques at the level of the individual lesson; TESOL materials, including the ability to select and supplement appropriate learning resources; TESOL assessment, including the ability to design and conduct straightforward diagnostic and achievement tests as well as familiarity with other means of monitoring progress; classroom practice, including tutor reports, peer reports and self-assessment of the planning and conduct of typical lessons.

(e)

Assignments and assessments An approved Joint Certificate programme employs a mixture of formative and summative evaluation. This involves as a minimum : (a) (b) (c) (d) a written assignment in each of the major course components; a classroom-based assignment, involving reflective reports on teaching practice; a tutors report on observed teaching practice; other papers and assignments as appropriate for the course in question.

Trainers Trinity does not provide trainers or trainer training, although on occasion it may propose possible contacts between potential Joint Certificate providers and organizations currently validated by Trinity. Trainers must be able to demonstrate direct experience, as teachers or trainers, of the context in which Joint Certificate trainees are working. Trainers must be qualified or recognised as trainers in the country where the programme is offered and must provide evidence that their provision of the programme is approved by local authorities. This may be through an existing training institution or through a local Ministry or Department of Education.

Course approval A Joint Certificate programme must be approved and validated by Trinity College London before any trainee can be registered on it. Trinity does not provide itself a detailed course design proposal. The process of validation includes the validation by Trinity of : (a) the course setting - the institution or training programme - in which the Joint Certificate is offered; (b) the proposed course structure and content, including evaluation measures; (c) the course staffing, including the course director; (d) the entry requirements for trainees; (e) the name of the qualification to be offered, and its proposed national comparability and status; (f) the financial basis (fees etc.) upon which the course is to be conducted. There must be documentary evidence of the local authorisation for the course. Moderation of procedures and results The Joint Certificate course is moderated by Trinity each time it is conducted. Moderation is normally carried out principally or entirely by correspondence: the validation process defines the amount and nature of trainee work to be submitted for external moderation by Trinity. Trinity reserves the right to carry out on-site moderation for any reason.

The importance of validation and moderation The objective of the validation and moderation procedures is to facilitate, not to constrain, the varying characteristics of Joint Certificate programmes designed for a range of contexts. It is because of this variety of implementation that procedures are needed in order to apply benchmarks for course outcomes. Without these, it would not be possible to provide Trinity validation or certification. Certification Each trainee on completion of the programme has been judged to have either qualified or failed to qualify for granting of the Trinity Joint Certificate in TESOL. There is no merit category. Candidates may not normally be referred by Trinity, and may not normally retake the programme and assessments within two years of having failed at a previous attempt. Successful candidates receive a printed certificate showing the date and place of their qualification.

Validation, moderation and certification fees Fees chargeable by Trinity for validating and moderating programmes and issuing certificates are agreed in advance of each administration.

Course availability and status National recognition is achieved through partnership with a provincial or national education authority and/or an authorised or respected training institution. This is recognised on the printed certificate which the successful candidate receives. The Joint Certificate is designed for locations where the normal requirements for the Cert TESOL cannot be fully met, and is not available within the United Kingdom. Successful candidates may claim that they hold a Trinity Joint Certificate TESOL (or such alternative name for the certificate as is agreed with Trinity in order to meet national requirements): this does not imply the international recognition which is accorded to the Cert TESOL or accreditation by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in relation to the UK National Qualifications Framework. Trinity invites proposals from such authorities and institutions to co-operate in mounting a Joint Certificate TESOL programme. Applications are not accepted from individual potential candidates. Outline proposals and requests for further information may be sent to the Head of TESOL at Trinity College London. Jenny Pugsley Head of TESOL Trinity College London July 2006