1. Join a professional organization
Teaching can be a lonely occupation. Connect yourself to a network of people who do what you do and who share your concerns. You’ll usually receive newsletters and reduced fees at conferences as a benefit. But consider joining also as a way of lending strength to an organization that can speak up on behalf of immigrants’ rights and educators’ concerns!

2. Attend workshops and conferences
Even if you haven’t joined an organization, you can still go to conferences, and there’s no better way to meet fellow teachers, get some inspiring ideas and see ESL books and materials on exhibit. (Note: if you only want to see the book exhibit, some larger conferences will sell you an exhibit pass for a reduced fee.) If you can’t make it to a conference, try at least to attend some teachers’ workshops. Most school districts and community colleges offer training sessions or workshops you can attend. But don’t limit yourself just to ESL! You can get good teaching ideas from other areas as well.

3. Start your own support group
Find some fellow instructors who are willing to meet occasionally or have lunch together for the purpose of exchanging thoughts and ideas. A long-term relationship with other teachers can be very beneficial! The members of your group don’t have to be from the same school–in fact it some times works better if they are not.

4. Get online
If you have access to the Internet through work or through a commercial e-mail service, sign up for some discussion groups, called “lists.” One that we know about is called TESL-L, which provides an opportunity to talk with thousands of ESL professionals internationally.

5. Get a pile of catalogs
Finding just the right ESL materials for your students can sometimes be a challenge! Get yourself on the mailing list with lots of different publishers so you’ll receive their ESL catalogs. You’ll find it useful to have a library of catalogs to browse through when you need to.

Read the rest of the tips here.

So what exactly is TESL?

As obvious as it may seem, some TESL students are still asking this question. TESL (or short for Teaching English as a Second Language) is dealing with the knowledge of how to teach English primarily as a second language. In Malaysia, the English language is considered as a second language though in most cases it’s Malaysian’s third or fourth language. There is a thin line separating TESL (or some consider them the same) from TEFL (as a Foreign Language) and TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) as within these domains, essential knowledge on English language teaching is similar. What differentiate TESL is the fact that it is used in a region/country where natural English language immersion situations are apt to be plentiful as in the case of Malaysia.

TESL programme is not merely a platform for learning English

Some students think TESL is a programme to improve their English, especially when they are not proficient users of the language to begin with. Though you will have the opportunity to improve during your course of study, chances are, you will struggle to cope. You’ll notice in the TESL programme, there are a lot of critical writing and reading to be done. If you’re not proficient enough, you might end up doing things like “copying”, “plagiarising” or “cheating”. A good grasp of the language is essential before you decide to take up a TESL programme.

TESL is not about measuring your proficiency in English

Perhaps, your friends would “salute” you when you tell them you’re studying TESL as they thought you must be really excellent in the language in order to study the programme. The truth is, you don’t necessary have to. TESL is not about measuring how good your English is, but it’s a matter of how good your English language teaching skills are.

Teaching ESL itself takes a lot of effort. Thus, studying TESL requires more than just knowledge about the language. You’ll need to have a huge passion to teach, the passion to make sure your students learn the language.

So, you think you can teach ESL?

The standard minimum requirements for pursuing a TESL degree is a good credit in SPM English (perferably B3 and above), and a Band 4 and above for MUET, apart from the compulsory credits for Bahasa Melayu (SPM) and Pengajian Am (STPM). You need to demonstrate good proficiency in the English language with passion for teaching.

We have listed them in the following list. We’ll be posting more details on the programme offered in each of the institutions from time to time and if you have information you would like to share, feel free to email us.

Public Institutions

University of Malaya (UM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Education
Interview Details: Need interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Institute of Education
Interview Details: No interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)
Remarks:only for IIUM Matriculation students

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Education
Interview Details: Need Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: School of Education & Social Development
Interview Details: Need Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Educational Studies
Interview Details: Need Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac.of Arts with Education/Bac.of Education)
Faculty: School of Educational Studies
Interview Details: No Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Sc with Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Education
Interview Details: Need Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Education
Interview Details: Need Interview (Bumiputra Candidates Only)
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI)
Level: Bachelor’s Degree Level (Bac. of Education)
Faculty: Faculty of Language
Interview Details: Need Interview
Duration: 8 semesters (approx 4 years)

Private Institutions

Open University Malaysia (OUM)
Level: Bac.of Education

Universiti Industri Selangor (UNISEL)
Level: Bac.of Education