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The CELTA index

This is NOT an on-line CELTA course.  Although CELTA courses may now be delivered wholly online, they remain taught courses.
The guide to unpacking and explaining the CELTA syllabus and assessment categories linked below comes close to an on-line course because it links the syllabus and assessment criteria to guides on this site which will help you meet them.
Guides in this area are designed specifically with the Cambridge CELTA scheme in mind.  However, most will prove helpful to anyone following any initial English Language Teacher Training programme.
If you are completely new to English Language Teaching and would like to read an introduction explaining what it is all about, click here.


Copyright

You may not use the material for commercial purposes.  The material may be used with fee-paying learners of English but may not be used on fee-paying courses for teachers.  Small excerpts from materials, conventionally attributed, may be used on such courses but wholesale lifting of materials is explicitly forbidden.  There is, of course, no objection at all to providing fee-paying course participants with annotated links to materials anywhere on this site.  Indeed, that is welcomed.



an overview of CELTA – the syllabus and assessment where to take CELTA – the course options

Preparing for CELTA

Before you start a CELTA course, it will help if you have familiarised yourself with some basic grammatical concepts and terminology.  There are guides on this site which will help:

CELTA: a candidate's guide This is a short handbook to help you prepare for and take a CELTA course.  There 's a quiz on its contents on this site linked below.
A pre-course CELTA / CertTESOL preparation programme This is a one-page guide which lots of links to areas on this site that you may find helpful to follow before you take a pre-service training course in English language teaching.
A course in Language Analysis This is a longer 10-unit course covering the elements of pronunciation, word class, content and function words, subjects and objects, tenses and aspects, modality, sentences, phrases, clauses and text structures.  It will tell you all you need to know for CELTA (and more).
Grammar for CELTA If you do not have time to follows the Language Analysis course, try this short 4-part guide to some key grammatical ideas.  Doing it before you begin a CELTA course will be helpful.  It comes with a worksheet.
A pre-course grammar quiz If you can't score better than 50% on this 25-item quiz, you need to follow one of the last three links before you do a course.
Some key CELTA concepts This is a short guide to some of the key terms about language and learning you will encounter on a CELTA course.
A CELTA teacher's toolkit This is an eight-part course which covers some of the key teaching techniques that you will need to demonstrate.
Methodology essentials This is a short guide to three important sets of methodologies in English Language Teaching.
Researching language online This is a short guide to whom to trust.
Simple Grammar of English A simple grammar designed for elementary learners of English.
An exemplified grammar glossary This is part of the short course in grammar for CELTA and is an extended version of the glossary in the candidate's guide.
A methodology glossary This is an extended version of the glossary contained in the candidate's guide with more examples.
A very basic training course Intended for people with no experience at all.  This is quite basic but covers theory and practice.
Learn phonemic transcription Learn how to transcribe the sounds of English.

CELTA guides

Syllabus Areas Written Assessment Teaching Assessment
Getting to grips with the CELTA Syllabus, area by area What to include and how to write the assignments Developing practical skills and procedures
and links to guides on this site
1: learners and teachers structuring your assignments teaching on CELTA teaching language skills
2: language analysis focus on the learner a CELTA teacher's toolkit teaching speaking
3: language skills focus on language systems writing a CELTA lesson plan teaching reading
4: planning and resources focus on language skills teaching grammar teaching listening
5: developing professionalism reflecting on teaching teaching vocabulary teaching writing
unpacking and explaining the CELTA syllabus, assessment categories and grading using time lines grouping learners
    dealing with error asking good questions
    being clear types of tasks
    concept-checking questions managing feedback

Other resources for CELTA

   
Initial-plus training section Guides to specific areas of English (and to teaching them) can be found in these sections.
The in-service guides are more technical ones (which you probably don't need yet).
The ones in The Bridge fall midway between initial and in-service training.
In-service training section
The Bridge
Cambridge English website A good deal of documentation for CELTA can be found on this website.
Mythologies in ELT This is a guide to some fairy stories you may be asked to believe on an initial training course.
Researching online This is a guide to doing language and methodology research online which suggests how you might judge how reliable such sources are.
Glossaries This takes you to the index of all glossaries on this site.  Some contain links to guides for more data.
Search ELT Concourse If you are looking for something specific.
The A-Z index
Courses The index of all courses on ELT Concourse.  All courses on this site are completely free.
A 50-item grammar quiz This is a slightly more difficult test.  You should be able to score well at the end of a pre-service course.  It opens in a new tab.
A 20-item methodology quiz You should be able to perform well on this after a pre-service training course.
The CELTA Handbook quiz To check if you have understood the handbook for CELTA.
After CELTA For some advice about what to do next and finding a job you like.
Training to Train If you have ambitions to train people on CELTA courses (or similar pre-service courses) this free six-part conversion programme may help.