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Thread: the or a?

  1. #1
    jiamajia is offline Member
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    Default the or a?

    TESOL is the equivalent to TEFL or TESL and is the more internationally used term for English teachers. TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL is the name of the profession as well as a professional certificate to language teaching jobs.


    ------------------------------------------------------------

    My question is whether 'the' more internationally used should be 'a' more internationally used ....., or simply 'the most' internationally used term, for I see a compare among three terms, not two.


    Thank you.
    Last edited by jiamajia; 18-Jul-2010 at 14:50.

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    Default Re: the or a?

    Quote Originally Posted by jiamajia View Post
    TESOL is the equivalent to TEFL or TESL and is the more internationally used term for English teachers. TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. TESOL is the name of the profession as well as a professional certificate to language teaching jobs.


    ------------------------------------------------------------

    My question is whether 'the' more internationally used should be 'a' more internationally used ....., or simply 'the most' internationally used term, for I see a compare among three terms, not two.


    Thank you.
    Yes, I suspect that either TEFL or TESL was slipped in as an afterthought.
    The sentence would read better if only two terms were compared.
    I'd also write: "TESOL is the equivalent of TEFL and TESL"
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  3. #3
    jiamajia is offline Member
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    Default Re: the or a?

    Quote Originally Posted by Raymott View Post
    Yes, I suspect that either TEFL or TESL was slipped in as an afterthought.
    The sentence would read better if only two terms were compared.
    I'd also write: "TESOL is the equivalent of TEFL and TESL"
    Thank you Raymott. Does 'a more internationally used term' sound correct?

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    Default Re: the or a?

    Quote Originally Posted by jiamajia View Post
    Thank you Raymott. Does 'a more internationally used term' sound correct?
    Yes, it does.
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    Tdol is offline Editor, UsingEnglish.com
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    Default Re: the or a?

    I would question the accuracy of the statement, as well as the language; ESOL and its family are used in certain countries, like Australia and the UK, but ESL, widely used in the US, is a more common term. And the last part about the name of the profession and a professional certificate is the sort of claim made by some people offering certificates and plugging things they call the TESOL, but there are dozens of courses claiming to be the TESOL. You can talk about the CELTA or the Trinity course, but there is no single recognised TESOL certificate, but when they talk about TESOL being a professional certificate, I have no idea which one they are talking about.

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