Has anyone run into any problems where an employer was looking specifically for one of the above subject areas but wouldn’t accept the other? I just can’t imagine a situation where an employer would take one but not the other. Sure ESL has more focus on actually teaching, but still.
Similarly, what jobs, if any, would an employer likely be looking for only one of these degrees?
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Nope. Although sure… in Australia I needed a TESOL to teach ESL at registered training organisations. Also, schools require a teaching degree for teaching roles (as opposed to ALT/eikaiwa gigs). So sure, I’ve seen situations where a bachelor of arts (English literature) doesn’t cut it.
Eikaiwa / ALT gigs won’t give a toss though.
A degree in English, a degree in TESOL, and a teaching license are all different things.
A BA in English with a teaching license qualifies you to teach English as subject, though some schools in the US will also accept that as a qualification to teach TESOL classes, as my younger brother does. It depends on the state and it depends on the school.
A BA in TESOL with a teaching license qualifies you to teach ESL in a school; but to teach ESL at a university you’d need a MA in TESOL.
In Japan, to teach as an ALT or in a language school, you generally don’t need any qualifications. To be a school teacher, however, requires a teaching license, as well as qualifications relevant to what you would be teaching.
I imagine employers would be looking for the qualification relevant to the subject, but who knows? Some so-called “international schools” in Japan aren’t actually schools at all, and the people running them are looking to make money, and likely know very little about the different qualifications and their significance. So I can imagine some idiot school owner asking if you have “a degree in English” or “a TESOL” (which doesn’t mean anything) to teach ESL.
English and TESOL are wildly different fields. Majoring in English does not in any way prepare you to teach ELLs.
It depends on the contents of the course you teach. For most positions an MA in Applied Linguistics or TESOL is preferable because it is more suitable to the teaching situation. Not many teachers in Japan actually get to teach English Literature.
English Degree is teaching Shakespeare, literature etc, pretty useless degree here lol
They’re super different. A standard English degree is about essay writing, studying literature, Shakespeare, stuff like that while focusing on native speakers or people that are already fluent in the language.