Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

OFFICE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMS
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Frequently Asked Questions

1. I'd like to be an English teacher and work overseas, but I don't know anything about it. Can you offer any general advice about the ESL/EFL field? For example, what is the difference between ESL and EFL? Do I need any specialized training to teach English? Thanks.
Margaret Gamez has written a very useful summary that addresses these and other questions. It is called "The International ESL/EFL/ESOL Resource Guide to Frequently Asked Questions." You can find this Resource Guide at Kristina Pfaff-Harris' Linguistic Funland site.

2. Can you help me find a job teaching English outside the United States?
Unfortunately, no. The Office of English Language Programs is not a clearinghouse for ESL/EFL jobs. If you fit the criteria for any of our three exchange programs (see Question #4), we encourage you to send in an application. Otherwise, check out our page with job links. You might also want to look at the Peace Corps web site for information on becoming a volunteer.

3. What is the purpose of your office?
The Office of English Language Programs of the Department of State is the office responsible for U.S. government English teaching support activities outside the U.S. With a total of 30 Civil Service and Foreign Service personnel, the office provides a wide range of services and products throughout the world, most commonly through American Embassies in the capital city of a host country. The Office was previously known as the English Language Programs Division when it was part of the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). USIA officially merged into the Department of State on October 1, 1999.

4. What are the exchange programs that come under the supervision of the Office of English Language Programs?
We operate two exchange programs which you are invited to review at our web site: (A) the English Language Fellow Program, currently administered by the School for International Training, for recent American TESL/TEFL graduates and for experienced teacher trainers ("senior" fellows); and (B) the English Language Specialist program which annually sends about 75 academics overseas for short term programs.

Note: On October 1, 2001, two former exchange programs -- the English Teaching Fellow Program and the English as a Foreign Language Fellow Program -- merged to become the English Language Fellow Program.

5. What are Regional English Language Officers? The Programs Branch of the Office of English Language Programs is the home of twenty Foreign Service Regional English Language Officers (RELOs), some based in Washington but the majority of whom are posted outside the U.S. The field RELO is the U.S. government's front line diplomatic and professional link between the English teaching profession in the U.S. and counterpart ET professionals in other countries. RELOs consult with host-country ministry, university, and teacher-training officials, as well as lecture and present workshops on EFL methodology and practices; they stimulate and reinforce academic exchange programs between the United States and other countries to help interpret American life and institutions to the world; and they provide oversight for the English Teaching Programs run directly by American Embassies in Africa and the Middle East and engage in consultative services for Binational Centers and English teaching programs affiliated with American Embassies throughout the world.

6. Can a RELO help me find a job in a specific country if I contact him/her?
No, RELOs do not hire or recruit teachers. If you are interested in a teaching job in a specific country it would be best to contact an institution in that country directly. You could also contact the nearest embassy or consulate of that country for information.

7. What is the English Teaching Forum magazine?
English Teaching Forum is probably the best-known product of the Office of English Language Programs. The English Teaching Forum magazine, with articles by and for practicing English teachers, is the most widely distributed publication of its kind in the world. This past year approximately 60,000 copies of each issue were distributed in over 100 countries.

8. How can I subscribe to the English Teaching Forum? For subscription information, please review the ET Forum page on our website.

9. Can I read English Teaching Forum articles on the Internet? Yes, the English Teaching Forum has an online edition. The English Teaching Forum Online includes the full text of all the Forum articles dating back to 1994. It does not, however, include many of the activities and special sections of the print version of the Forum. Access to the English Teaching Forum Online is free to anyone. Issues of the Forum do not appear online until the next volume of the print edition has been sent to subscribers. For example, the April-June issue of the Forum does not appear online until the July-September print issue has been distributed to subscribers. In other words, articles appear online about 3 months behind.

10. Doesn't the Office of English Language Programs produce English teaching materials?
Yes, the Materials Branch of the Office produces a wide variety of low cost, English teaching and reference materials. These titles are available outside of the United States from our American Embassies and Consulates; legislative restrictions prohibit the materials from being distributed in the United States. Each American Embassy establishes its own policies regarding availability and pricing. Anyone interested in obtaining these materials, which include print, audio and limited video titles, should contact the press and cultural section of their nearest American Embassy or Consulate.

11. I know VOA has radio programs that teach English. Are there any television programs like these?
Yes, indeed. Please review our English by Broadcast page.

Crossroads Cafe is the Office's newest venture in English-by-broadcast, with satellite broadcasts that began on October 7, 1996, to all of Latin America, where 3.5 million cable TV viewers can watch it daily on the U.S. Government's Worldnet Television Service. Worldwide satellite broadcast began in February 1997. Aimed at adults with lower-level English proficiency, this engaging series incorporates humor and drama in the daily lives of a diverse group of people centered in a small lunchtime cafe. There are culture clips and grammar spots to help bring language and cultural problems into focus.

Family Album, USA has been a major project of the Office and Prentice Hall Regents, locally broadcast in more than 70 countries. This enduring series provides intermediate-level learners with equal portions of American culture and language, and has developed followers from Chile to China.

12. What is the State Department's relationship with TESOL?
The Office of English Language Programs and TESOL have long had a cordial as well as professional relationship, though there is no "official" connection between the two. For several years the Office was the major sponsor for the "International Networking Event" during the TESOL Convention. In addition, several live Worldnet programs with worldwide audiences have been broadcast direct from the convention. Outside the U.S., the Office of English Language Programs can usually be found in action when members of TESOL affiliates come together at national ET conferences.

13. How do the State Department and the British Council get along?
The Office maintains a cooperative, not competitive, relationship worldwide with our colleagues in the U.K. Indeed, in many countries, the Office of English Language Programs/American Embassies and the British Council/ODA are joint sponsors of a wide variety of English language projects, e.g., national English teaching conferences in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, international conferences in Senegal and Turkey, ongoing institutional co-support in Indonesia and Malaysia (to name but a few). Simply put, "cooperation" is the key word between the U.S. and the U.K.

14. Is the Office participating in any new Internet projects?
In 2003, the Office of English Language Programs published a new electronic journal on biotechnology called Language & Life Sciences. The journal includes chapters on mapping the human genome, controversial issues in genetic research, and cloning. Upcoming chapters on crop engineering and drugs of the future are forthcoming.

15. Where should I go for TEFL Training? 
The Office of English Language Programs does not maintain lists of graduate schools in TEFL; there are too many. Most state-supported universities have some kind of graduate (M.A., Ph.D.) programs.

16. I have a friend who wants to study English in the United States. Where should (s)he go? 
American Embassies support or maintain Student Advising Centers which have directories of college and university based ESL (English as a Second Language) programs. These directories can provide potential students with most of the critical information you need to make a school selection. 

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