Back in the day my home town was a vibrant multi-national community throughout the summer months, as thousands of visitors arrived to combine tourism with English language learning. Many local students got involved with teaching these visitors and worked as guides for excursions to places of interest. Those were great days, when firm friendships were formed across borders, some of which continue to this day.
This English as a foreign language teaching (or TEFL as it was referred to then) is, however, a very narrow view of English language teaching. And while demand for English as a second or other language (ESOL) lessons today remains high and standards of ESOL teaching have undoubtedly risen, are we currently meeting the full range of need and demand with appropriately qualified ESOL teachers?
“Absolutely not,” Rachel Öner, Specialist ESOL Consultant and recent National Co-Chair of NATECLA, the National Association for Teaching English and Community Languages to Adults, explained. “There has for a few years been a shortage of ESOL teachers in the sector. This has deepened after the influx of ESOL students following the Syrian refugees, then Afghan resettlement, and Ukrainian and Hong Kong national populations which have grown. There have been vacancy adverts in all parts of the UK. There has been a surge in funding in some local areas to fill the gaps by providing CELTA (Certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages) training to increase the workforce. This is a great course, but is not fully meeting the needs of ESOL providers who need staff with ESOL knowledge and capabilities.”
Having appropriately qualified teachers means ensuring that we are not overly dependent on the CELTA qualification. Öner also makes the point that we should not be heavily reliant on volunteer teachers. “This is wrong,” she explained. “All ESOL teachers should be recognised in our profession and paid accordingly.”
Paul Sceeny, NATECLA Co-Chair, also made the point that one of the major concerns is the decline in funded ESOL-specific teacher training. “This developed significantly in England during the 2000s on the back of the then government’s Skills for Life strategy, but has since fallen back at a time when demand for ESOL provision has been increasing!”
So, what needs to change? According to Öner, “We need to invest more in ESOL teacher training, and at all levels, but in particular at a sufficiently high subject specialist level. We need to ensure that teachers not only have a good level of training and qualifications in teaching in the post 16 sector, but also that there is a sufficient focus on ESOL provision and not EFL type training that is not preparing teachers enough.”
Bringing about this change is undoubtedly a task for the Department for Education. Öner explained that, “For them [the DfE] to recognize the valuable input that migrants make to our society and the highly challenging and professional sector that ESOL teaching is, they need to fund the ESOL teaching profession accordingly.”
A DfE Spokesperson said: “Teachers who specialise in English as a second language play a vital role in empowering individuals with the skills necessary to thrive in a globalised world, supporting both personal and professional growth among learners.
“To attract and retain the brightest and the best FE teachers we’re investing £470 million over the next two financial years from 2023-24 to enable providers to address key priorities, such as recruitment and retention. We’re also providing tax free bursaries of up to £15,000 for those training to teach English, which can include an element of ESOL, and providing additional support through the Teach in FE campaign.”
Does this mean there is hope for the sector? Sceeny also noted that, “We are starting to see some of the Mayoral Combined Authorities within England (most notably London), along with some of the local-authority led migration partnerships, recognising the need for capacity-building measures alongside funding ESOL provision itself. They’re not necessarily in a position to plug all of the gaps (and they’re tending to focus on CELTA which isn’t necessarily enough on its own to equip teachers for the full range of ESOL contexts they might encounter), but in the absence of an overall ESOL workforce strategy for England they’re at least providing some assistance.”
All of these approaches may edge us closer to where we need to be when it comes to ESOL teaching, but we are not yet there.
For Öner, there is an ideal vision. She explained, “Bring back the funded Level 5 Subject Specialist Qualifications and ensure the pathway to obtain these is there too. The public sector has a role to ensure that they prepare their staff to teach by providing the appropriate skills and opportunities to gain those qualifications.”
Whether we are talking about TEFL for summer visitors to the sunshine coast or fully qualified ESOL teaching for the purposes of ensuring a solid understanding of the English language so that people can thrive in their working lives in the UK, we know we need to do better. Let’s hope we continue to make strides in the right direction.
About the author
Elizabeth Holmes
After graduating with a degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading, Elizabeth Holmes completed her PGCE at the Institute of Education, University of London. She then taught humanities and social sciences in schools in London, Oxfordshire and West Sussex, where she ran the history department in a challenging comprehensive. Elizabeth specialises in education but also writes on many other issues and themes. As well as her regular blogs for Eteach and FEjobs, her books have been published by a variety of publishers and translated around the world. Elizabeth has also taught on education courses in HE and presented at national and international conferences.
