Foreign teachers at private English language schools

Foreign teachers at private English language schools

By Robert Shepherd

JAKARTA (JP): In his recent articles on the business of English language training in Indonesia, John Phillips raises a number of interesting questions.

He rightfully laments the lack of quality instruction in many private English language schools, especially in regard to the use and misuse of so-called "foreign experts". Too often, as he points out, they are unqualified backpackers who happen to have been born with white skin.

He is right on the money with his complaints about language schools owned and operated by shifty businessmen for whom profit, and not education, is the overriding concern. And he correctly illustrates the discrimination faced by qualified local teachers.

But some of the questions he raises leave me somewhat perplexed. To begin with, just how serious an issue is this?

Yes, a great many of the larger and more expensive private language schools on Java and elsewhere in Indonesia employ foreign teachers. But take a walk through any town or city on Java and what will you see? Countless foreign language 'academies', 'institutes' and 'colleges', often doubling as computer training centers, few of which employ foreigners. In fact, I would be interested to know just how many Indonesian language schools employ foreigners, legally or illegally. I suspect it is far less than a majority.

Who, then, studies at those schools which do employ foreign teachers? As any foreign teacher will tell you, most students are drawn from two groups: the Chinese Indonesian business class and wealthy bumiputera (to borrow the Malaysian term).

We can further sub-divide the latter into business and bupati classes. Possessing as they do a culture which stresses the importance of education, Chinese Indonesians are quite willing to pay a premium for what is perceived to be 'quality' English language instruction, while for many upper-class Indonesians, particularly the young, the study of English is one more fashion trend, as is Bon Jovi, Pierre Cardin and the Hard Rock Cafe.

Phillips asks if "Indonesia as a country can afford to waste such resources on select individuals or groups who can afford to pay?"

I would argue that in a free-market economy the question is moot. Indonesia as a country does not waste resources on educating select individuals at private language schools, select individuals choose to dispose of their own resources at these schools.

How these individuals have accumulated their resources and whether these language schools are of any real value are completely different questions. Phillips further asks how "all Indonesians can benefit from having foreign 'experts'?" As someone who has spent the last decade working in the development field throughout Asia, I can only reply: and if we all had wings we could fly to the moon.

English language instruction is no different than any other field in which foreign "experts" are employed. No matter the field, these "experts" usually turn out to be very average people who have had the good fortune to be born and educated in a wealthy, industrialized country. It gives them the opportunity to live a privileged life in a less-developed country -- complete with better housing and higher salaries than their local colleagues. As the British say about Hong Kong, "Failed in London, try Hong Kong". Are any foreign "experts" of value to Indonesians as a whole?

As to what to do about the language school problems pointed out by Phillips -- low-quality foreign teachers, unethical business practices and salary discrimination against local teachers -- the answer is: nothing. Free market forces will eventually take care of these problems.

This is illustrated by looking at the state of English language teaching in other Asian countries. Twenty years ago, the situation in Japan was quite similar to that of Indonesia today. Yet today, the quality of foreign language instruction is much higher in Japan. No longer can backpackers get off a plane and find a job teaching.

The situation is similar in Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea. From my own experience as a university teacher in Taiwan I observed this trend beginning to take hold. Why? Because over-all economic development in these countries has created a more savvy and self-confident consumer class which values "quality" over fashion.

In response to this heightened consumer demand, government work visa requirements have been tightened, school management has become more professional and unqualified foreign teachers are much less common than in the past. Salary differences between native and non-native teachers no doubt still exist, but I wonder if this is not the same in any country. For example, who is paid better in an American or British private language school teaching, say, French: a native French speaker or an American? I suspect the former.

In summary, Phillips is absolutely correct: Indonesians who study at English language schools employing foreign teachers are, too often, being hoodwinked. They pay a great deal of money for nothing more than white skin. But until they are no longer willing to do this -- that is, until the actual learning of English becomes more highly valued than the opportunities for socializing and entertainment that these schools present -- the backpackers and drifters of the white world will continue to descend on Indonesia.

For, like Japan of the 1970s or South Korea of the 1980s, teaching in many of these schools is secondary to entertaining. I would argue that this is partly why so many Indonesians explicitly value a bule teacher over an Indonesian; the bule, or foreigner, is good fun. Of course, there are many legitimate English language schools which employ well-qualified foreign teachers. But for most students, they get what they pay for.

To observe real teaching, drop by any of the countless small language schools which do not employ foreign teachers. The quality may vary greatly, but the Indonesian teachers staffing these schools share one trait: they are serious about teaching.