TEAL recently asked 3 professionals to give their views on what it means to be an E.S.L. professional. What follows is a good snapshot of where we are, where we have come from and what lies ahead. If you would like to comment on any of the ideas, we really encourage you to use the Message Board to start a conversation with the TEAL membership. The questions TEAL put forth are as follows: 1. What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? - Professionalism / Standards
- Students
- Schools / Programs
- Assessment
- Technology / CALL
2. Where you see the profession headed in the future?
3. What does it mean to be a “professional”? For the sake of neutrality, the participants have adopted pseudonyms. “Audrey Hepburn” has been in the profession for approximately 28 years. Her main activities include teaching, curriculum and program development, and program administration. She has worked mostly with international students; she had a few significant years with immigrants and refugees; she also taught overseas in China. Currently she is working, leisurely, on a PhD. "Nancy Drew" has approximately 24 years in the profession. Her main activities include teaching academic skills—primarily writing, and teacher training. She's an instructor who loves the classroom and avoids administration and coordinating. She teaches primarily international ESL students focusing on both academic and business writing. She taught in Japan, Korea and Eastern Europe. She has a M.Ed. and would never consider a PhD.
“Meredith Bell” has invested more than 30 years in the field of education. Her main activities include teaching, teacher training, tutoring, curriculum and program development, and program administration. She worked mainly with immigrants and international students. She’s also traveled abroad extensively marketing Vancouver ESL programs. She also has an MA in language education, though remains mum about the desire for a Ph.D. What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? a) Professionalism / Standards: AH: Certainly a significant change has been an increase in the sense of professionalism in the field. This has arisen, I think from a focus on appropriate training and a recognition of standards for training. Twenty years ago a master's degree represented an advanced level of preparation in TESL; now, it is essential for access to work in the larger institutions.
ND: No Longer the Accidental Career: Under the umbrella of accountability stands credentials. A short TESL certificate after a BA in Medieval Literature or Critical Sociology could land us a job anywhere years ago. Now a Masters in TESL is obligatory for most academic institutions. I don’t know colleagues my age who ever had a goal of becoming an ESL teacher—it just happened by way of stumbling into it: a backpacking trip in SE Asia; a summer job; something to do until the “real” career came along. Now I meet students in their early 20’s actually wanting to be an ESL teacher when they “grow up”. It is becoming a concrete goal as a career. Perhaps that is a strong indicator of ESL teaching becoming professional. MB: - Twenty years ago, The TEAL Professional Standards drawn up by Mary Ashworth et al were in use, but there were no institutional or TESOL program standards; institutions just did what they felt best. This was OK, as the operators of the programs had come out of the university/ college system, and knew what good programming was.
- The TEAL Institutional Standards Advisory Committee (ISAC) was formed in 1985 to set voluntary standards for programs, as there had been cases of school owners absconding with students’ tuition, leaving them high and dry. By 1990 the standards were complete and the ISAC members formed the Private English Language Schools Association (PELSA). PELSA members upheld the TEAL standards. Teachers in these schools were paid $30 -$35/hr and up.
- As time went on and more students arrived, more private schools were opened, many by offshore businessman, hoping to cash in on what looked like a lucrative business prospect: the “language industry” was born. Many of these new schools did not adhere to the TEAL standards, so could not get into PELSA. These schools formed their own organisation, the Canadian Association of Private Language Schools (CAPLS). Members did not have to adhere to strict standards for teacher qualifications, as their business model was built minimizing staff costs. The teaching salaries slowly declined to a low of $18- 20/hr through the late 80s and early 90s
- By 2005, when I was interviewing teachers for the YMCA’s summer program, I was apologizing for the sub rate reduction from $25/hr to $20/hr, as we were having a very difficult time competing with the private sector. The applicants were delighted with the $20 offer, as several had been offered $12 to $14/hr. That’s when I knew there was a serious problem with the ”language industry”. An academic field of study and important profession had been reduced to no more than a type of service industry by business people in their attempts to maintain market share and grow their businesses.
- The government watchdog, The Private Post-Secondary Education Commission (PPSEC) that included ESL schools when it was established in the ‘80s was re-formed into the current PCTIA, and ESL schools were removed from its jurisdiction. This served to make the situation worse, and currently, there is no governmental oversight of the private sector ESL programs.
- I had been involved with TEAL for 15 years, and when I started to volunteer with TESL Canada, I knew that what we needed was a set of national standards for teachers, programs, teacher training programs and students. The Canadian Language Benchmarks were in the process of being developed, and this would take care of standards for students. A few provinces were going through the process of setting their own professional and institutional standards, and it didn’t make sense to have 13 sets of standards for 1 country. I proposed to the TESL Canada Board that it adopt the TEAL ISAC standards, which included the professional standards. They agreed. I worked with Patricia Fahrni and Bill McMichael on this project for several years, and later many others as the TESL Canada Standards Committee. It was time-consuming, as it was all volunteer hours and we had to create the Teacher Training Program Recognition Standards (TESOL standards). I still remember some of the first TESOL program applications for recognition we received. While some were fins, and clearly designed by experts, others were atrocious. I spent many hours helping the program operators re-design their programs- it was clear they did not know what a good TESOL program should include. One had included a grammar course where the trainees were learning grammar instead of learning how to teach grammar!
- With a good number of dedicated members from across Canada, the TESL Canada Professional Standards Committee and the TESOL program Committee has honed the standards into something we can be proud of internationally. While I was president of TESL Canada, one of my 3 goals was to revise the professions standards to include 3 levels instead of 4, as the need for level 2 had been reduced since their inception. That was accomplished and we now have a very concise set that works better than ever. The standards do have currency both within Canada and abroad as far as helping teachers get hired into good teaching positions. Teachers can point to their accomplishments in education and experience when applying for jobs; the standards make very clear a teacher’s level of professionalism.
- In about 2004, PELSA joined the Canadian Council of Language Programs. This organisation was reinvigorated, adopted the TESL Canada Standards and set up a rigourous inspection process for members. CAPLS, feeling the pinch at being left out due to its lax standards, made a bid to join as well, and after much negotiation, most CAPLS members were admitted into a newly-named organisation, Languages Canada. Fortunately, the TESL Canada standards have been maintained for all members. This is important for teachers, because with a national organisation of public and private institutions, they can be more assured of some measure of quality in their workplaces than they would otherwise have. This will also reflect on salaries. Teachers should look at the Languages Canada website any apply to these programs if they wish to work in the better quality programs.
- Standards: Professional, Institutional, TESOL Programs and students (CLBs)
- Teachers: The teachers are the same- they’re people with a strong desire to help people, to learn through teaching, grow as human beings, and have a bit of fun in one of the best careers going.
What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? b) Students: AH: Another change has been in the needs and interests of the students. While short-term programs for cultural experience are still popular for international students, a far greater proportion of students has need for specialized programs; English for academic, technical or vocational purposes. MB: - New immigrants attended Canada Manpower classes (federal government sponsored)
- The bulk of the international students were academic prep
- In the mid-80s huge numbers of international students were arriving, many non-academic, learning English for interest or better employment prospects at home
- Various waves of immigrants created the need for more NGO programs and settlement services tailored to their needs
- Students are much more sophisticated re: knowledge of world youth culture, but just as innocent about how to deal with it
- Students are not as wary of students from other countries because of above; more willing to make the first move to get to know peers
- In the 1980s. I was the common denominator among students. There was no internet and not much international communication of popular media, music, movies, clothing, etc. The students knew very little about each other, and were very shy in the first few weeks of the term. Now, they all listen to the same music, watch the same movies, play the same computer games, have the same hair styles. I am the outsider- the mother/ auntie/older person outside the international youth culture. International students now have much more in common with each other, which is good, as there is a common point of discussion and understanding that was absent in the 80s.
- Despite this common culture, students are just as, or even more, racist and prejudiced as in the 1980s. I innocently thought when I was teaching then that this would have virtually disappeared by now – just as I naïvely thought that once people witnessed the atrocities of the Vietnam War via the rabbit ears on their TVs in the late 60s, it would be so blatantly clear that there had to be no more wars. Unfortunately, the horror in our living rooms was not enough to eliminate the greed for many people- there are more wars now around the world that there ever have been.
- Students are more oriented toward economic pursuits, to an even greater degree than Canadian students. No doubt the whole world has changed in this regard- no longer is a degree in History seen as having any real value. Despite this, Canadian students still take degrees in History (my own daughter as a case in point). We still, to lessening degrees as time passes, hold the notion that if we do what we love, things will work out-we will find a path. International students have very little interest in “wasting" time on educational paths that do not lead to proven economic gain. They want to enter the most prestigious university possible in order to pursue lucrative careers. Their parents are pushing them increasingly hard to keep ahead of the pack.
- International students think that many Canadian students are lazy and the schools do not give enough homework, tests, exams, etc, though they say this in a kind way. Despite the fact that their parents moved here so that their children can benefit from a Canadian education, parents try hard to re-make that education in the model of the system they have come from. I find it is very hard or impossible to convince the parents that the well-rounded, broad-based knowledge of the world that has been a cornerstone of our education system is actually what has made our system something that they have come from so far away at such great expense to offer to their children. I actually had to ask one mother why, since she had come here solely for her children to partake of our education system, was she so keen on complaining about it and trying to model it after the system in Taiwan. She was at a loss for words, and not due to a language issue.
- All this to say that in our overly-speedy, money-based world, these types of issues have become much more prevalent over the last 20 years. I think we need to look at ourselves and what we are showing the world. We need to preserve the humanistic foundations that our education system is based upon and not let economics be our guiding star to the point of losing this valuable asset forever. We need to hold on to the principles that underlie our education system and ensure our ESL students have access to them by broadening their scope.
- Students: At base, the students are still the same- they’re people with needs and goals. They are trying to improve their English proficiency to meet these goals, but ending up learning not just English, but a great deal about other cultures, other people, themselves, and often changing their paths through life.
- Fundamentally, neither the players in the game, nor the essential ways in which the game is played have changed. The human-to-human student-teacher relationship is still the kernel of what we do and will remain so into the future. That is what keeps us here – in teaching.
What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? c) Schools / Programs: MB: - Many more schools and programs. In the early ‘80s, there were just a handful: 2 public (UBC, VCC); 1 Non-profit Society (Columbia College); 1 NGO ( the YMCA) , 1 private (Canada Language Centre).
- With the great increase in international students through the 80s, private schools started popping up like mushrooms.
- The market was saturated with schools; several economic downturns abroad, and disease issues (SARS) greatly reduced international student numbers through the early ‘90s. Schools scrambled to stay alive by reducing fees, paying agents exorbitant commissions, reducing teacher salaries, offering various deals to students- many went broke, but others cropped up in their place.
- From a handful of 6 or 7 programs in the early ‘80s, there were over 120 programs in downtown Vancouver by the mid ‘90s
- Of course while all of this has been happening in the international student area, the ELSA sector has been mushrooming as well. This sector went through several ups and downs as well over the past 20 years with funding cuts, the devolution to the provinces (name change from LINC to ELSA). Being at the whim of the government can be very frustrating. Many teachers can tell stories of their programs being cut overnight, losing classes and jobs, and upset students.
- Now, though, the sector is in an upswing with the promise of several billion dollars being put into settlement services over the next few years. This is a great sector for new teachers to become involved with.
- As the private, non-academic and ELSA (NGO) sectors have had their own stories of development, the number university and college programs has grown dramatically over the past 20 years. UBC, VCC and Columbia College were the 3 players in the early 80s. Twenty years later, the landscape is much different. SFU began new ESL programs in this period (downtown and Burnaby campuses), plus a revised TESOL program. UBC has remained a key player with the ELI, many summer programs and the expansion of teacher training programs (Language Education and ELI). VCC has grown its ELSA program, expanded offerings for non-ELSA students, and recently revised its TESOL program. Langara, TWU, UCFV, Douglas, Capilano, Kwantlen, BCIT, etc have either created new programs or developed smaller ones over the past 20 years, and have gone through some ups and downs as well. The university/college sector provides excellent prospects for employment, as they pay at a much higher rate than the private sector and include many other benefits, not the least of which is a professional work environment.
- Lots of Changes!
- Huge increase in the number of ESL/TESL programs in all sectors
- A field of academic study (language learning) turning into the ‘language industry”
- The plethora of materials for all types of students, programs- some great, some just a revision of great materials from the past, some with not much substance
- Institutions: The institutions are fundamentally the same- groups of people trying to meet their missions and goals, the needs of students, teachers, staff, myriad stakeholders, and not lose their shirts doing it. There are more institutions competing for their slice of the ever-changing pie, some go broke doing it, some change to fit changing educational environments, some remain the same because they have big names, but essentially, they are still schools.
What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? d) Assessment: AH: Tied to the increasingly focused learning interests of students is the rise of the role of standard assessments. Language tests are now required for a wide variety of activities: immigration, professional certification, admission to a range of academic and vocational programs. So, students are increasingly concerned with learning what they need to know in order to "pass the test". This concern shapes curricula, so they look very different from the early days of the communicative approach.
AH: As above, the proliferation of assessment has been a huge change. When I first started learning about the "communicative approach" to teaching, assessment was not a significant concern in the classroom. Rather, the classroom was a practice area where target language was introduced, and the "assessment" happened out in the real world when students tried to use what they had learned. Nowadays, language assessment has to be far more quantifiable and systematic, because it can make a big difference to students' life opportunities; they get to stay in the country or they don't; they get into the program they want or they don't.
ND: Accountability: Testing, Curriculum and Credentials: These issues are tangled together. As ESL instruction has moved into the academic setting and away form the church- basement- new- immigrant cliché, ESL teachers have been pushed to be more accountable. Twenty years ago, a culture of tests and homework was unheard of. A rough curriculum might have been set out, but we were not under pressure to push through quickly. If a particular activity worked well and we happened to milk it for 40 minutes, we would be thrilled. This meant less prep for next day. Now I am always aware of “getting through” the objectives. I cannot devote as much time as I like to specific needs and interests of my students. I feel testing sometimes takes up more class time than actual teaching. What have been some of the biggest changes in the span of your career so far? e) Technology / CALL: ND: Computers: From the Gestetner to Moodle Word-Processing Class Materials: Computers have no doubt transformed our production of teaching materials. I began teaching at the tail-end of the inky Gestetner, a loud, inconvenient method of copying documents by turning a crank. Since it was such a hassle, we simply wrote things on the board. The Xerox machine then allowed us to create and distribute endless documents--some may say too many. Before word processing became the norm, we might type our documents to appear more professional. Now, we would not dream of handing out something to students that is not formatted, bolded, highlighted and made to look pretty. Word processing also enables us to alter documents quickly as well as store them. ND: I am now at a college with a learning platform called “Moodle”. Most of my documents are now on this class webpage. I do not need to come to class loaded down with reams of paper. I can show a page on the screen and then students can download it later. ND: Internet: I remember reading newspapers and magazines with a pair of scissors in hand, ready to snip out an article I might find useful for class. Now, I simply log on to a news site or wherever and locate content, lesson plans, explanations, quizzes, and activities. Time is spent wading through so many documents. The infinite choices of materials on-line seem to have added a lot of time to my preparation. I try now to simply restrict myself to those sites I know will be there tomorrow. ND: (An aside: predictions abounded at one time of a “paperless office”. I haven’t experienced that joy. My office is awash in paper: piles of handouts when the computer decides to quit; binders to store hard copies; tests and assignments.) ND: A negative effect of the computerized context is that technology can break down. I am sure we all have stories of the technology crashing at the most inopportune moments, or just not knowing how to get it working in the first place. I nervously approach the computer lab: Will it work? Have I remembered the right buttons to push? Will there be an electric storm to wipe out the power? (This has happened.) Has someone before me programmed the lab to self-embed video clips and I won’t know how to turn that off??? I am dependent on the tech assistants to get me out of trouble. I used to only have to depend on myself. Chalk and white board never gave me problems. At lunch, my colleagues and I share tales of our mechanical glitches, which only seem to become more involved and bizarre as the technology advances. I wish I did not have to spend so much time learning how to transmit the materials technically, and instead could spend the time creating better assignments, creative classroom tasks and valid tests. ND: I also see negative effects for the students. I sometimes wonder if CALL does benefit the students and by how much. Due to scheduling, students may end up with all their courses in the lab that day, meaning they are hooked up to the computer most of the school day. And we all know what they will do when they return home. MB: I guess I have to say the absolute greatest change has been technology and how it has made us faster but not necessarily more effective. When I first worked at the YMCA English Language Center as it was called in 1984, a student from Japan told me of this new machine called a Facsimile (now known as a Fax) that would send actual copies of documents along the phone lines. His company in Japan, Kobe Steel, had one. He would receive these technological wonders periodically - all clammy, curled paper with blurry, courier-font type, much like the Gestetnered copies with blue ink still smelling of intoxicating alcohol we received from teachers with names like Miss. Havesbeck in Grade 3 in 1958. I was amazed. Then, within a year they were everywhere! Faxes were the new way of conducting business- no more snail mail! MB:I remember the system at Columbia College in the 80s - everything done by snail mail, but the school was full nonetheless: a student writes a hand-written letter inquiring about the college and its offerings, the Admissions Officer writes back, and sends a college calendar. The student mulls this over, sends another letter asking a few questions, the college answers via a typewritten letter, carbon copied for the files. This goes back and forth a few times and finally the student submits a hand-written application with a bank draft, the college process it and sends an acceptance letter, usually with a nice hand-written note from John Helm the Admissions Officer whom they may have met in their country at an education fair. The student then takes the letter to the embassy to get a visa. The visa process takes another bit of back-and-forthing, perhaps a phone call or two, and finally, the student arrives at the college on orientation day at minimum 6 months, often a year or more later. Seems like an awkward system, but it was everybody’s system, and somehow the colleges were full. Now, everything is instant: student looks at website, applies on-line, pays on-line, receives acceptance letter by e-mail, takes advantage of new streamlined visa processing regulations, arrives at college post haste. Same student, same length of time to learn enough English to get into SFU or wherever, but just a fast, less personal first contact. I guess the question is to what degree is the student connected to his/her college of choice before arrival? Does a protracted and personal correspondence period increase this sense? Does it matter? Is the process important or just the end? I guess it doesn’t n matter, because we are not going back- just forward, and we deal with what is. MB: When I first started my Masters degree at UBC, Mary Ashworth was one of my professors. I didn’t have computer, but was thinking of buying one. This was 1988. Mary said that we should all buy computers and not be afraid of not being able to use one because she had one and if she, at age 70, could figure it out, we certainly could. I went out the next day and got one. Sounds so archaic now that I think of it. Thanks, Mary. Technology has allowed for distance delivery of materials and teachers’ expertise so that students no longer have to be in the country to benefit. Despite this, because of the nature of language as an intrinsic element of a culture, students will continue to prefer face-to-face programs in order to immerse themselves in the culture and internalize the new language.
Where you see the profession headed in the future?
AH: I think the next big issue that the profession is grappling with is the concept of "World Englishes" and what it means for the teaching, assessment and research agenda. Over most of the span of my experience in TESL, it has been assumed that the "native speaker" is the best model as a teacher, since the knowledge of the language is intuitively correct. In practice, certain varieties of English have been privileged over other varieties, and this has more to do with political, economic and social causes than linguistic ones. What we are seeing now is a challenge of "whose English is correct?" and this will affect what we focus on in our teaching and how we assess students' products.
MB: - More schools
- More schools closing; more opening in their place
- More universities having ESL programs from beginner to advanced to EAP to provide their students with “1-stop shopping”
- Government’s return to overseeing the private ESL sector via PCTIA or another such body
- Teachers’ qualification levels increasing. As with the rest of society, an undergrad degree is now considered the same high-school graduation was in the 60s. More teachers will be seeking Masters degrees and PhDs to remain at the top end of the profession
- Higher qualifications will result in higher salaries, but there will remain a sub-section of “train this month, and go abroad to teach next month”.
- More retired people in TESOL programs. I notice this happening now in the VCC TESOL program. People are looking for second careers, wish to travel, but do something meaningful; many want to volunteer abroad, enrich their lives
- More people not at retirement age, but from other professions in TESOL programs. People desiring to do something meaningful with their lives. I note this is already happening in the VCC TESOL program
- More language and content mixes, both academic and life-enriching; creative mixes (travel abroad and cook/scuba dive/climb/raft/dig for fossils, etc and learn language)
- Continued numbers on new immigrants requiring all types of language services- great opportunities for general ESL teachers and ESL specialists
- More teachers becoming private contractors for private companies (businessmen) English in the workplace, pronunciation, ESP, etc
- More distance-delivered or mixed –delivery TESOL programs
- More need for counseling and other specialist services for immigrants with a range of problems (room for a group of teachers to get together and create a service for mentally/emotionally disturbed ESL students. These family members are usually kept at home; many don’t avail themselves of public services and there are not enough services.)
- Continued increased focus on language for employment, from manual labour to professions.
- Governments working with professional associations to open their doors to professionally qualified immigrants
- More tolerance among general society for accented English among professionals; immigrant professionals see as just as competent as Canadians
- Continued waves of immigrants from war-torn countries requiring a full range of services
- More opportunities for teachers to go abroad and teach in developing areas
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