Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Second Edition

The private sector
In many countries far more adults learn English in the private
sector than in state-run institutions. As has just been
mentioned, the private sector is prominent in providing ESP
courses, and one of its characteristics is its flexibility in
responding to a perceived demand. Clearly, however, private
language schools and institutes cater principally for students
wanting a more general grounding in English. Their clients
often begin with no knowledge, or a very rusty and hazy
knowledge of the English they did years before in secondary
school. This often produces beginner classes of very mixed
ability, and the remarks made earlier in this chapter on this
problem largely apply here. Not only may ability in the class
be very mixed—for the only entry requirement is the capacity
to pay the fee—but aspirations may be very different. At one
extreme there is the housewife who does not want to
stagnate at home, at the other there is the businessman who
wants to make very rapid progress. As a general rule it is best
to segregate administratively these different types into

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homogeneous groups by enrolling the housewife into an
afternoon or morning class which meets two or three times a
week, and by putting the go-getting businessman with his
peers in a daily intensive course.
It is quite conceivable, however, that both courses could
use similar materials, though at a different pace, especially at
the initial stages. But it is very important to make sure each
group is using an appropriate course—relevant to the
intellectual level and age of the group, suitable for the lifestyle
of the country (sophisticated western life is not appropriate
for less developed countries). As for the materials, the best
policy to adopt in private schools is to take a modern course,
of which there are many reputable ones on the market, and
use it as a basis for the teaching, often right up to intermediate
level and beyond. The Teacher’s Books are full of sensible and
practical advice, and the students are usually willing to buy
the Student’s Book, and other ancillary readers, workbooks,
etc., that may be necessary. To these basic aids, the teacher
himself must bring his professional expertise in using them
and in supplementing them where necessary with material
specially produced for local needs.
A key factor—perhaps even more so in private schools
(where clients demand value for money and ‘vote with their
feet’) than in state schools where it is obligatory to attend
English classes—is the teacher’s relationship with his class. In
all teaching, the teacher’s personality is the single most
important influence in learning. Nowhere is this more
important than in guiding his pupils with skill and
professionalism through the first stages of learning in private
schools and institutes. A teacher’s good humour and
sympathetic understanding of his problems have stopped
many a student from withdrawing from a course when faced,
as many are, with the pressures of a full-time job and English
classes several nights a week.
Private sector students have chosen to be where they are
because they feel this is the best way to achieve the goal they
have in mind for themselves. They have usually specific aims
in learning English and it is sound practice to make them see
during the course just how they are attaining them. Progress
should be made, and be seen to be made. One way to do this
is to work towards an examination as the ultimate target.

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This is a potentially dangerous procedure, since what is
taught is dictated by what is tested. And what is tested is not
necessarily what it is desirable to teach. However, there is
often very strong pressure to pass examinations. This is a fact
of life which cannot be avoided, and must be catered for. And
it is reasonable that the student should be able to
demonstrate by a pass certificate that he has reached a given
level in English. Indeed, ‘credentialling’, as the process is
sometimes called of issuing a student with a certificate
stating publicly what his level of achievement is, is vital to the
student. Very probably one aim he came with was to be able
to show to his superiors or future employers that he could
reach a given proficiency in English. Better jobs and
increased salaries are strong motivating forces.
At intermediate level and above, particularly, the
examination toward which one is working is of paramount
importance, as it will tend to mould, and even dominate, the
syllabus for months or years beforehand, and its
international integrity and good name will be very
important. There are very many examination options
available, both local and international, at every level of
learning, and an increasing number dealing with specialist
English needs (secretarial English, translation, interpreting,
etc.). A good guide to what there is can be found in
J.McClafferty, A Guide to Examinations in English for
Foreign Students, referred to on p. 164. One example of a
complete range of examinations from the post-elementary to
English degree level are those set by the Institute of Linguists.
Far better known world wide are the three examinations set
by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations
Syndicate: the First Certificate in English, the Certificate of
Proficiency in English, and the Diploma in English Studies.
These are taken by many thousands of students each year
and have currency all over the world.
A teacher faced with the task of teaching for the
intermediate First Certificate is in a fortunate position. All
the big international courses of the major publishers get the
students to the level of the examination without preparing
specifically for it. In addition there are more and more
courses coming on the market which are purpose-written for
the last year or so before the examination. Many of the more

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modern ones serve their purpose admirably, and are a solid
base for the teacher to build upon. His professional skill is
called on to a greater degree at proficiency level, as there are
few good books on sale and the demands of the syllabus and
the students on him are greater.
A great advantage of the Cambridge Examinations is that
they are international. The same test is taken at the same time
in scores of countries throughout the world, and the standard
of language of a Frenchman with a pass certificate is
comparable with that of a Brazilian or a Thai with the same
piece of paper. Within individual countries, this comparability
of standards is important, especially where national
examinations, often locally set on leaving secondary school or
at university degree level examination, are subject to variation
in standard both from place to place and from year to year.
The problem of harmonisation of standards has been
approached in a very interesting way by the Council of
Europe. With the impetus of European integration and the
freer movement of people between member states of the
European Community it became progressively more obvious
that some means to compare standards of attainment in
English, French, German, etc., had to be devised. The Unit/
Credit system is designed for this purpose. It aims to establish
a Threshold Level (T-level) in these languages, which can best
be defined in terms of the functions of language (not just the
grammatical structure) the student has learnt.