With a keen desire to teach English abroad, Sophie Ferris and Sarah Heath chose to study TESOL at the University of Central Lancashire.
An important part of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) degree is the opportunity for a student to practice their emerging skills in Teaching Practice sessions. In these sessions, members of the community, refugees and asylum seekers who want to learn to speak English join our free English lessons. Our students then get the chance to gain valuable teaching experience with real learners and observe their peers' teaching.
During their time on the TESOL course, both Sarah Heath and Sophie Ferris had the opportunity to observe and teach real-live lessons. When asked about their experiences in teaching practice classes Sophie told us: ‘It is not only my experience and knowledge and skills improving but also the students as well. Just seeing them is heart-warming and just following their English language learning journey is really, really nice. As I have come back in the final year, I have seen the same students and they have either moved up to different levels or they are still the same level, but they have improved.’
"I think that it is an incredible opportunity really as it is just such an amazing way to become a teacher and to learn about teaching. There is no other course like it!"
— Sophie Ferris, BA TESOL with Korean student
"The experience and support offered over my time at UCLan has helped shape me into the person and teacher I am now"
— Sarah Heath, BA TESOL with Korean student
When asked what they would say to someone who is thinking of doing the BA TESOL course and teaching practice Sophie said: ‘I think that it is an incredible opportunity really as it is just such an amazing way to become a teacher and to learn about teaching. There is no other course like it!’ Sarah added: ‘All of the teachers are really great and supportive, and they just couldn’t go further to help you really. They really do go out of their way to do anything for you. That whole theory and practice go hand-in-hand so you get to practice what you are learning in the lessons as well, so it is quite nice and hands-on.’
Sarah went on to tell us what the course and the teaching practice have enabled her to do. She said: ‘The support of the teachers increased my confidence when it comes to teaching and my peers. Especially in teaching practice, everyone is really supportive, and you get really good feedback… I have been teaching online with CAMBLY so sometimes when things came up, I already knew how to deal with it because of the time doing TESOL.’ Sarah has since been offered her dream job at Maple Bear School Pyeongchon in South Korea and will be starting work in September! Sarah told us: "I was so excited to get offered a job at an English school in South Korea, and I couldn't have done it without the dedicated help of the TESOL staff, who helped me to practice interview questions, and gave me all the experience I needed to land a teaching job. The experience and support offered over my time at UCLan have helped shape me into the person and teacher I am now."