TEFL or teaching English as a foreign language refers to teaching English to students whose first language is not English and is taught in a region where English is not the dominant language and natural English language immersion situations are apt to be few. TEFL usually occurs in the student's own country either within the state school system, or private, either in an after-hours language school or with a one-on-one tutor. The teachers may be native or non-native speakers of English.

This article concentrates on the teaching of English by native Anglophones working outside their own country. It is important to note that this is a small subset of all the English that is taught worldwide. To view this on a wider scale, see English language learning and teaching. There it explains the distinctions between the different types/methods of teaching English to non-native speakers providing a full explanation of abbreviations (e.g. the difference between ESL and EFL, or TESOL as a subject and an organisation).