Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

Suggestion for further reading
The best general and detailed account of the secondary school (in a second
language situation) is:
J.A.Bright and G.P.McGregor, Teaching English as a Second Language,
Longman, 1970.

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187
Chapter 13
Teaching English
to Adults
Adults learning English bring to the task a mature personality,
many years of educational training, a developed intelligence, a
determination to get what they want, fairly clear aims, and
above all strong motivation to make as rapid progress as
possible. These are formidable qualifications which far
outweigh any disadvantages, and make teaching adults a
challenging and satisfying experience.
An adult is no longer constrained by the educational
system or parental pressure to learn English, so the problems
of dealing with conscripts do not exist. Since people choose
to be present in an English class, the opposite is more the
case—the tertiary teacher’s task is to utilise and channel his
student’s motivation so that his specific needs and aims are
optimally fulfilled. There is considerable diversity in the
tertiary sector and the rest of this chapter looks at some of
the important areas and their problems.
Higher education in the state system
Many English teachers find themselves in or attached to
university or polytechnic English departments throughout
the world in the capacity of assistants or lecturers. Generally
speaking, the framework of the studies is fixed and the
syllabus, usually preparing for a final examination, settled.
The teacher’s challenge is to bring to life the language,
literature and civilisation it is his charge to teach.

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Teaching English to Adults
188
The proficiency in English language on entrance to the
English department varies from country to country
throughout the world. In countries close to England with long
traditions of English teaching and an efficient secondary
feeder system, the standard of the new entrants is likely to be
generally high. There will always be room for advanced
English teaching, with specialisation in certain areas. Beyond
improving the advanced student’s use of the language, it
should be possible at this level to increase his knowledge about
English—that it is English as a content subject as well as a skill.
Many departments offer a course in the history of English,
which provides valuable insights into why English is the way it
is today. A higher priority is a description of contemporary
English presented as a formal system in as much detail as time
will allow. Strongly to be recommended for this purpose is
R.Quirk and S.Greenbaum’s University Grammar of English.
A good new grammar is S.Chalker’s Current English
Grammar from Macmillan. It is also worth reading through
an introduction to the principles of language—R.Hudson’s
Invitation to Linguistics or J.Aitchison’s Linguistics are fairly
basic; somewhat more advanced are D.Bolinger and
D.A.Sear’s Aspects of language and V.Fromkin and
R.Rodman’s An Introduction to Language.
Many less developed countries pose different problems.
Often the intake is of very mixed ability. A few people may
have spent several years in Britain or America, others may
have attended the English department because other
departments of their first choice had no more places available,
and their knowledge of English is very poor. Yet these people,
and many in the middle, find themselves in the same class.
There are two main ways to deal with these heterogeneous,
very mixed ability groups—one administrative, the other
pedagogic. Administratively it is best to devote all the class
hours to intensive language work directed towards a
Language Barrier exam which everyone must pass before
going on to the degree course proper. Those who can pass it
immediately should be allowed to proceed—but it is
important to pass in all areas. Many people who have spent
years in an English-speaking country may be orally fluent but
quite incapable of expressing themselves in writing. The
Language Barrier exam should be set as early as possible, but it

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