Re DELTA

What I meant to say was that both CELTA and DELTA cannot be taken as a full and equivalent substitute for ordinary ESL teacher training that consists of studies for a first degree at uni taking 3-4 years and at least another year for the PGCE to complete.

Unfortunately 'ordinary' ESL teacher training is not a degree taking 3-4 years to complete, but more often than not a 3-4 week course, horrifically often as online correspondence with no observation or assessment. Which is why I maintain a DELTA qualification is an exceptional one in the field of ESL teacher training as we know it.

A bit careless on my part, yes, but a minor issue in the end and not enough to make a lot of fuss about.

Given how pedantic you are towards others, it is quite a big issue to confuse a 4 week program with a year long program that is graded at the same level as an MA. It's also quite a big issue if you are advising inexperienced teachers and you are unaware of the differences between a CELTA qualification and a DELTA qualification.

It is because it is still true that even a DELTA is not a full substitute for standard teacher training. There is no need for CELTA/DELTA at all if the PGCE programme offered a specialisation in ESL with everything needed for that area of teacher training

Of course a DELTA is not a substitute for a relevant degree + PGCE, but for ESL teaching as it is today, I would rather a teacher had a DELTA than didn't.

I fully agree that PGCE should offer a specialisation in ESL, it would solve a lot of issues! But until they do, DELTA is a very good qualification to work towards, especially for those teachers without a PGCE ora relevant degree.