Being professional in English language teaching services: a Delphic panel study
| Date | 27 September 2011 |
| Published date | 27 September 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684881111170050 |
| Pages | 307-334 |
| Author | John Walker |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Being professional in English
language teaching services:
a Delphic panel study
John Walker
School of Management, College of Business, Massey University,
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop an inventory of behaviours and attitudes expected
of English language teaching (ELT) professionals in a services context.
Design/methodology/approach – A two-stage Delphi method using ELT expert panellists,
comprising managers and owners from the ELT sector. Delphi is indicated for complex problems,
where interpersonal interaction is impractical and domination of participants is undesirable. It is
recommended for the exploration of interdisciplinary themes and the evaluation of professional
practice. The theoretical scope comprised professionalism, ELT, and the role of teachers as service
providers in a commercial context.
Findings – A framework of 50 standards in ten dimensions was developed. Honesty and integrity
was considered the most important dimension for ELT professionals.
Research limitations/implications – The usual Delphi limitations apply, e.g. potential validity
issues, unrepresentativeness, and participant attrition. The findings are not claimed as generalisible or
prescriptive. Suggestions for future research include: the work, status and relevance of ELT
professional associations; imperatives of private versus tertiary ELT providers; professional
development, its frequency, availability and relevance, particularly in the ELT private sector; and
commercial versus educational priorities in the ELT sector. The research could also be replicated with
Delphic panels of English language teachers.
Practical implications – The standards framework is of practical use to ELT institutions and ELT
professional associations, either to adopt whole, or employ as the basis for developing their own code
of conduct.
Social implications – The standards framework will contribute to enhancing the quality of the
service provision in ELT institutions operating in a cross-cultural context, and will benefit teachers,
students, managers, institutions, and the sector as a whole.
Originality/value – No such research has been reported to date in the literature.
Keywords ELT/TESOL management, Services management, Professionalism, Private education,
Tertiary education,Language teaching, English language
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Unlike the bulk of their colleagues in publicly-funded school systems, most teache rs in
the post-compulsory ELT sector (English Language Teaching, also referred to as
ESOL, English for Speakers of Other Languages) located in the inner circle countries
(Kachru, 1992) teach students who are in class not because the law requires it, but
because they are paying clients. The teachers are academically qualified specialist
English language educators who are employed by privately- or tertiary-owned English
Language Teaching Centres (ELTCs) which cater for a mainly overseas student
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0968-4883.htm
English
language
teaching services
307
Received January 2011
Revised June 2011
Accepted June 2011
Quality Assurance in Education
Vol. 19 No. 4, 2011
pp. 307-334
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0968-4883
DOI 10.1108/09684881111170050
clientele, and thus, operate in a cross-cultural context (Gronroos, 2007; Walker, 2000,
2010). Although English language teachers have struggled to gain professional
recognition (Pennington, 1992), nowadays their professional status is commonly
affirmed in the sector’s literature and discourse. Despite ongoing disagreement as to
what is a “true” profession (e.g. Myers, 2008; Thakor and Kumar, 2000), professional
status may not be confined to traditional groups such as the medical profession, but
may exist on a continuum (e.g. Hall, 1968; Haywood-Farmer and Nollet, 1994), be fluid
and shifting (Hanlon, 1998), and apply to a range of privately- and publicly-owned
service types (Dawson, 2005; Swailes, 2003).
Being a professional implies the possession, processing and transfer of customized
knowledge by a highly educated workforce whose qualifications secure entry to a
profession, and whose reputation and status are key to a professional organisation’s
success (Baschab and Piot, 2005; Greenwood et al., 2007). “When clients purchase
professional services they are, in essence, buying a firm’s people” (Ribeiro, 2005, p. 198)
and their knowledge and skill into the bargain (Maister, 1993). Human capital is
therefore the lifeblood of professional services such as ELT and knowledge is its
principal currency: to the client, the core value of the service is vested in the specialised,
complex knowledge, training, qualifications and intellectual skills of professional staff
and in the client-professional relationship (Beck et al., 2001; Howden and Pressey,
2008). For ELT this specialized knowledge includes (TESOL, 2009):
[...] a balance of theory and practice in the pedagogy and methodology of second language
acquisition, including tr aining in linguistics ... the str ucture of English, literac y
development, curriculum and mater ials development, assessment and cross -cultural
communication.
Mainstream ELT professional associations and statutory bodies traditionally define
ELT’s professional status by focusing on certification and credentialing of English
language teachers (TESOL, 2008a) and by producing frameworks around core
competencies, best practice or professional standards in areas such as classroom
practice and curriculum development (e.g. British Association of Lecturers in English
for Academic Purposes, 2008; TESOL, 2008b). Invaluable and essential as such
frameworks are, their utility lies mainly in defining what it means to be a professional.
However, they say little about what it means to be professional.
The distinction is more than just a semantic one. Being a professional entails formal
recognition of professional status by virtue of ac ademic and/or professional
qualifications based on knowledge acquisition and skills development, and/or
acceptance by an accrediting body. By contrast, being professional implies a portfolio
of behaviours, a demeanour, an attitude, and even a state of mind that shapes the way
one approaches one’s work. Merely possessing recognized professional statu s does not
necessarily mean that one behaves professionally. In addition to formal qualifications,
physicians may be expected to conduct themselves professionally by the possession of
conventional attributes such as integrity, honesty, duty and respect for others, but also
effective communication, responsiveness to criticism and even punctuality and dress
standards (Arnold, 2002; Gauger et al., 2005). Lawyers are expected to be fair,
respectful, unprejudiced, timely and protective of client confidentiality (New Zealand
Law Society, 2008a), while chartered accountants should promote their services
honestly, not use confidential information for personal advantage, and avoid bias and
conflict of interest (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, 2010).
QAE
19,4
308
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