English language teaching is one of the most important academic activities for building a future society with sound and valuable principles and knowledge. However, what happens when English language teaching becomes a mere business and what will be the impact of this reality on students?
What is the business of English language teaching?
Nowadays, English language teaching can be considered a business because more and more people want to learn English precisely because of all the benefits it provides for a person’s professional and academic future.
This is why many teachers and even language academies devote themselves to teaching English as a simple mechanism to generate income, forgetting the pedagogical principles and accompaniment that is necessary to achieve real learning.
In this sense, some of the main consequences of seeing English teaching as a business are as follows:
Meaningful learning does not happen
Meaningful learning is a concept by which solid learning is established. Specifically, meaningful learning occurs when a learner is able to associate the notions they have learned with those they have already acquired throughout their lives.
To the extent that a person achieves meaningful learning, he or she can make the newly acquired concepts last and use them in everyday life. In this way, language learning such as English must be meaningful learning, so that it can be part of everyday life.
The point is that meaningful learning must be encouraged by the English teacher. He or she looks for the most appropriate tools so that the student can know and develop the meaning of what he or she learns.
Of course, when a teacher sees English teaching as mere business, he or she is not able to generate meaningful learning in the student. And, as a result, learning does not happen in the right way.
The teacher is not doing his or her real job
Of course, the teacher who teaches English must be committed to doing his or her job. The problem is that, seeing English language teaching as a business, teachers only care about the profitability of their profession and, as long as this is achieved, nothing else matters.
This, unfortunately, is a consequence that makes English language teaching an incomplete business. As a result, many people fail to learn the language in the way they want to learn it and have to resort to other means.
So what is the solution?
Although this is a fairly latent reality, you should know that it does not happen in all English academies or with all private teachers. This means that there are institutions that really care about meaningful learning and are committed to effective language learning.
How to choose the best English language school?
With the above in mind, you’re probably wondering how to choose the best English school. It may be helpful to consider the following details:
Teacher experience and training
The experience and training of teachers can say a lot about their approach to teaching English. In general, teachers who have more experience and solid knowledge are fully committed to meaningful learning.
Empathy
Empathy is a topic that is rarely talked about. But the truth is that, in many cases, the empathy of the individual English school staff is another factor through which you can learn about the school’s approach to English language teaching.
Which is the best English school?
In this sense, choosing the best English school goes hand in hand with assessing any policies and regulations of the school in question in relation to English teaching.
That’s why, before choosing the best English school for your circumstances, it is advisable to know thoroughly the advantages and disadvantages of the school and the teachers. But, without a doubt, the most important thing is to ensure that they see teaching as a noble, important and useful act.
