Guide to language training business

Guide to language training business

By John Phillips

This is the first of two articles on English teaching in
Indonesia.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): I first came to Indonesia to become a
language education consultant at a government project under the
nominal supervision of a private school. The school seemed to be
a legitimate organization as it held several government contracts
and employed native English teachers. They also represented
themselves as education experts.

The trouble was that this was a gross misrepresentation of
the truth, and the same was true of most other private schools. The
problem which has not changed much is the unprofessional and
ineffective language education foisted on the government and the
public by shady operators of language schools.

They often employ native-English speaking teachers who are not
trained teachers at all, but a motley crew of itinerant
backpackers, culture vultures, unemployed cooks and used car
salesmen with one thing in common -- they wanted to live in
Indonesia and profit from their unearned status. Their only
qualifications for well-paid employment and ownership of language
schools was their native English.

Many schools consistently abuse visas, so as to obscure the
qualifications of their teachers. One school manager boasted of
forging credentials of teachers by the liberal use of "tip-ex" on
official documents.

Teachers who had never before taught received the proper
working permits through the guided intervention of paid procurers
and the imaginative invention of school managers. Some of these
"expert" teachers had not even graduated with a first degree. In
fact, some native English speakers had thick dialects which were
extremely difficult to comprehend, while others were not really
native speakers of English but merely looked the part. I should
add that many of these backpackers became good teachers and good
members of the community, but, I wonder at what expense for
Indonesian people and their development?

Schools not only manipulated visas to hire unqualified native
speakers to act as teachers, they also used the system to abuse
them as well as other more legitimate teachers.

If a teacher complained about work conditions or instructional
quality, they were not only summarily dismissed, their visas were
canceled and they were escorted out of the country by immigration
officials. Worse yet, the curriculum used to teach English was
pieced together from "pirated" books of questionable quality and
curricula were made teacher "proof" since so few of the
"teachers" knew what to do in the classroom.

But, most harmful was the reprehensible treatment of
Indonesian English teachers. They were paid only a fraction of
what backpackers received and they had few opportunities to
improve their language and teaching skills so as to be hired for
better jobs. No wonder, they were not highly valued by so many
students.

These conditions have continued to a degree up to the present,
particularly in the preference for native speakers despite the fact
that in many learning situations an Indonesian English teacher may
be more effective.

For example, Indonesian English teachers may be in a better
position to identify the specific language learning problems of
Indonesians, they often have better knowledge of grammar rules
than do untrained native speakers, and they are particularly
effective with low-level students who are unable to truly
"benefit" from having a native English-speaking teacher.

Also, genuine native speaker experts are misused to the extent
that they take the place of Indonesian teachers, thus delaying
the development of the large numbers of English teachers needed
here if Indonesia is to continue develop fully in the future.

So, it is a little bewildering that there is such a premium
paid for these untrained teachers. Even if the number of Indonesian
teachers is insufficient to meet Indonesia's needs or even if many
of them need to upgrade their language and teaching skills, it is
still very clear that the system must be reformed to insure that
Indonesia has enough English teachers. One obstacle to doing this
is the continued employment of unqualified foreigners. The
question is: Why are so many willing to pay so much for so
little?

The answer is unfortunately that Indonesian consumers demand
it! There is an old saying that "He who pays the piper, calls the
tune". In this case, Indonesian consumers are the ones who are
willing to pay for native English-speaking teachers whether
trained or not.

Even Indonesian English teachers with native-like fluency may
still be discriminated against because they do not look the part.
Apparently, just as beauty is skin deep, so is quality for
Indonesian consumers.

The reason why is not for me to answer, but I suggest that in
large part it is because the public has few means of determining
quality and is so easily misled by image. On the other hand,
language schools can hardly be faulted for bowing to the market
place. Those schools not using native speakers have fewer high
paying customers regardless of their quality. And, while some
language schools may have improved the quality of their
curricula, curricula are not substitutes for qualified teachers.

Also, many of the shady operators are still in business, still
preferring to hire unqualified native speakers, and still cutting
corners at the consumer's expense. Of course, trained and
experienced native speakers are extremely valuable resources even
for these schools, but can Indonesia as a country afford to waste
such resources on select individuals or groups who can afford to
pay? And even if this is an acceptable price to pay in order to
develop small groups of Indonesians with advanced skills needed
for such things as international diplomacy or commerce, is there
an alternative which would help develop domestic resources?

Also, how can consumers determine if they are getting quality
instruction from qualified instructors? How should genuine native
speaker experts be employed? And, finally, what measures can be
taken so that Indonesians not only get what they think they are
paying for but that all Indonesians benefit from having foreign
"experts"?