30 hour Introduction to Phonetics
interactive · 30

A popular course with a focus on the theory of phonetics and phonology, with fantastic ideas for how to help your students with their pronunciation. Includes links to video clips outlining some of the key concepts in this area, along with audio and written materials so you can study and learn at your own pace. Key questions help you develop your own understanding of how our language works, so you can be better equipped to teach it.
We delve into the 26 letters and 45 sounds our language has to show you how you can help your students with their pronunciation.
Specific sections deal with Speech Production mechanics and how we articulate sounds, before we look at the areas of vowel and consonant production. We deal with sentence stress and intonation, how we articulate sounds and how we help our students if they have a particular pronunciation problem.
Written by EFL professionals with a wealth of experience in phonetics, this course makes creative use of video, podcasts, images and text, with links to websites where you can find great supporting materials for your own classroom.
Interactive or offline? Choose your mode of study
Interactive: if you’ve got a good broadband connection and are comfortable working entirely online via a tablet/PC/Mac, this is ideal. Enjoy the benefits of our interactive platform. See sample interactive screenshots by clicking on the green interactive button above.
Offline: prefer to work in Word/PDF? Don’t have a reliable internet connection? Offline is for you. Download your course – even print out the study books if you wish, only going online to upload/download your work and access the online components such as video and podcasts. (Not compatible with tablets.) View sample pages on the certification tab above.
Both methods come with access to a personal student area where you can meet your tutor, get advice, support and full feedback on your work and view the latest TESOL jobs worldwide via our jobs feed.
Course content for both modes of study is broadly the same but the modules are organised differently. Compare course content and organisation at the Course Content tab above.
Eligibility
This course is for existing EFL teachers who wish to enhance their career and learn more about teaching in this specialised area of Phonetics and Phonology. Applicants should already hold a TEFL certificate and have some experience in teaching EFL.
Our courses are open to all native and non-native English speakers with good written and spoken English. If you are a non-native English speaker, please see the course eligibility requirements on our FAQ page. Remember you can always ask us if you are not sure about your level of English.
We also welcome application from schools wishing to train their teachers in-house.
Duration
This course is approx. 30 study hours and typically take between 3-4 weeks to complete, but you can go faster or slower than that if you wish. Because many of our trainees are balancing work/life commitments, we go at your speed and allow up to 6 months for course completion. You can check out what’s covered in this specialist module on your course on the course content tab above.
Everything you need to complete your course and gain your certificate is included in the one fee above. However, check out these optional extras:
- Additional time course extensions available if you need to go beyond 180 days
- Printed and embossed certificate available for an extra fee
This course blends perfectly with the Global English Introduction to Linguistics course or the Global English Total Grammar course for an additional 10% discount.
It's also included in our 250 hour TESOL Professional course.
This course covers all the Phonetics and Phonology material in 9 shorter modules, in addition to an introduction and conclusion. Using interactive HTML5 to present information, trainees answer questions online. Note that material cannot be downloaded and worked on offline and a good internet connection is needed.
The course content is as follows:
Swipe for more
| Module | Module title | Section | Section title | Suggested Time (hours) |
| CI | Course introduction | 1 | Getting Started | 0.25 |
| 1 | Phonetics | 1 | Introduction to Phonetics | 1.0 |
| 1 | Phonetics | 2 | Speech Production Mechanisms | 1.5 |
| 2 | How We Articulate Sounds | 1 | Consonants | 1.0 |
| 2 | How We Articulate Sounds | 2 | Phonology | 1.5 |
| 3 | Vowels | 1 | Vowels part 1 | 1.0 |
| 3 | Vowels | 2 | Vowels part 2 | 2.0 |
| 4 | Diphthongs | 1 | Diphthongs in English | 2.0 |
| 5 | Sentence Stress 1 | 1 | Elision | 1.5 |
| 5 | Sentence Stress 1 | 2 | Strong and Weak Forms | 2.5 |
| 6 | Intonation | 1 | Intonation, Pitch & Tone | 2.0 |
| 6 | Intonation | 2 | Functions of Intonation | 3.0 |
| 7 | Sentence Stress 2 | 1 | Assimilation & Liaison | 1.5 |
| 7 | Sentence Stress 2 | 2 | Stress & Rhythm | 2.5 |
| LPP | LP - Phonetics Lesson Plan | 1 | Plan for a phonetics lesson | 5.0 |
| CRP | Course Review: Phonetics | 1 | Phonetics and Phonology | 1.5 |
| CC | Course Conclusion | 1 | Certification and survey | 0.25 |
| TOTAL COURSE SUGGESTED TIME | 30 |
Introduction to Teaching English Phonetics
A Global English PDF certificate is awarded upon successful completion. A printed, embossed version is also available for an extra fee from our TEFL shop page.
Click on the certificate to enlarge.
Ready to start? Select Enrol now to begin.
Who delivers this course
TEFL Global is a trading name of Edventure Abroad Limited, launched in 2026 by Jonathan Siddall. Your course is delivered by our partner Global English, a UK online TESOL school in Exeter, established in 1997.
- Delivered: you study on the Global English platform, using Global English course content.
- Marked: a Global English tutor marks your assignments and writes feedback on them, and you can message your tutor with questions. Some short questions inside the modules are checked automatically.
- Certified: your certificate is issued by Global English and carries a code anyone can check at global-english.com/verify/.
- Accredited: ACTDEC-accredited | actdec.org.uk
What Global English’s students say
These are reviews of Global English, not of TEFL Global, which is new and has few reviews of its own yet.
- TEFL Course Review: Global English TESOL, 4.79/5 from 123 reviews (checked 7 Oct 2026).
- Trustpilot: Global English TESOL/TEFL, TrustScore 4.5 from 72 reviews (checked 7 Oct 2026).
Why some sites list us separately
Review sites list Global English TESOL under its own name, and TEFL Global is not listed there as a separate school. That is correct: they are two brands. TEFL Global sells the courses and Global English delivers, marks and certifies them.