You might be a bit confused by the all the abbreviations you see connected with teaching English. To start off with here are the most common abbreviations that you will need to know:
ELT – English Language Teaching
ESL – English as a Second Language
EFL – English as a Foreign Language
The main difference between these are that ESL is English taught to foreign language speakers living in an English speaking country like The United States, Canada, England, Australia, etc. English as a foreign language, on the other hand, is taught to those wishing to learn English for their study / work / hobby needs but who live in countries where English is not the first langauge.
Here are some more important abbreviations related to teaching, teaching certificates, and English exams:
AAAL – American Assocation for Applied Linguistics
ACTFL – American Council on the teaching of Foreign Languages
AE – American English
BAAL – British Assocation of Applied Linguistics
BC – British Council
BEC – Business English Certificate – Cambridge business English exam certificate BrE – British English
BVT – Bilingual Vocational Training
CAE – Certificate of Advanced English – the fourth Cambridge Exam Cambridge Exams – The standard in English examination throughout the world outside of the USA (where the TOEFL is preferred).
CALI – Computer-Assisted Language Instruction
CALL – Computer-Assisted Language Learning
CanE – Canadian English
CAT – Computer Adaptive Testing
CBT – Computer-Based Teaching
CEELT – Cambridge Examination in English for Language Teachers. Tests the English competency of non-native teachers of English.
CEIBT – Certificate in English for International Business and Trade for advanced levels.
CPE – Certificate
of Proficiency in English – the fifth and the most advanced of Cambridge’s series of exams (roughly comparable to a score of 600-650 on the TOEFL).
CELTA – Certificate in English language teaching to adults (Cambridge/RSA Teaching Certificate also known as C-TEFLA)
DELTA – Diploma in English language teaching (Cambridge/RSA Language Teaching Scheme)
EAP – English for Academic Purposes
ECCE – Exam for the Certificate of Competency in English (Michigan University) – lower level.
ECPE – Exam for the Certificate of Proficiency in English (Michigan University) – higher level.
EFL – English as a Foreign Language
EGP – English for general purposes
EIP – English as an International Language
ELICOS – English Language Intensive Courses to Overseas Students. Government registered centres teaching English to overseas students in Australia.
ELT – English Language Teaching
ESL – English as a Second Language.
ESOL – English for Speakers of Other Languages
ESP – English for Specific Purposes (business English, English for tourism, etc.)
ETS – Educational Testing Service
FCE – First Certificate in English – the third of Cambridge’s series of exams (comparable to a score of 500 on the TOEFL and 5.7 on the IELTS).
GMAT – Graduate Management Admission Test. The GMAT measures general verbal, mathematical, and analytical writing skills.
GPA – Grade Point Average
GRE – Graduate Record Examination – an evaluation test for graduate admission to colleges and universities in the U. S.
IATEFL – International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
IPA – International Phonetic Association
K12 – Kindergarten – 12th grade.
KET – Key English Test – The most elementary of Cambridge’s series of exams
L1 – Language 1 – native language
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