TESOL vs TEFL

TESOL vs TEFL

TEFL, TESOL, and TESL are acronyms that refer to the same industry. English language teaching can be a very rewarding profession, but admittedly the terminology surrounding it isn’t very consistent.

These designations are most widely used to describe a professional certification in the field of English language teaching. For the most part, there is no significant difference among them: it is often a matter of personal choice on the part of the institution offering the certification.


Should a prospective employer require certification, the source of the certification is far more important than the acronym used on the certificate. A teacher training school accredited by a recognized examining body will yield the best responses from employers.

 So there’s no need to worry about TEFL vs TESOL. The methodology of TEFL, TESOL, and TESL is the same. Whether you want to teach English abroad or teach in an English immersion program in North America, the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method prevails all over the world.

You can get an in-depth look at what is TESOL, TEFL, and TESL here.

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