The change in employment opportunities for English language teachers

Since the early 1970s, there has been significant growth in the number of students studying in the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector in Australia. However, despite this growth, by the late nineties, it was becoming more difficult to obtain employment as a teacher of general English as the ELICOS sector experienced difficulties. This essay will consider some of the causes of the change in employment opportunities for English language teachers, and some of the effects.

The first cause of the change in employment opportunities was the dramatic downturn in the economies of several Asian countries in the late nineties. The downturn resulted in a sudden devaluation of currencies in Indonesia, Japan and Thailand, for example. This led to a fewer number of people being able to afford study overseas, including preparatory English language classes in Australia, because of the lower value of currencies. Fewer students meant fewer classes resulting in decreased employment opportunities for teachers of English.

Secondly, in the late nineties Australian visa requirements for overseas students were changed. A new conservative Liberal government was elected and replaced the less restrictive Labour Party government. The new government introduced visa policy changes that led to a decrease in the number of overseas students planning to study in Australia which also led to reduced employment opportunities for English teachers.

These two factors led to a decrease in the numbers of students and opportunities for employment for teachers of English in Australia, and these, in turn, led to some clear effects for the ELICOS industry.

The first effect of the changes in student numbers led to colleges becoming more active in marketing their own programs. Up until then most colleges had offered similar programs. Reduced numbers of students meant that institutions had to become more competitive. As a result, university language centres, for example, formed an association to promote their courses, and took a stronger language training approach. This ensured that overseas students studying in university language centres were assured of a quality language program.

Anther effect was a change in the type of courses offered in many centres. As competition increased, centres began to promote specific courses to attract particular student groups. There was an increase in English for specific purposes (ESP) courses especially academic English and courses for professions. This led to changes in the requirements of what types of course teachers had to take. Previously, general English courses were clearly the most common type of course, however, this changed to academic and specific purposes courses for which needed particular types of experience and qualifications. This meant that teachers now needed to have a greater variety of academic and professional backgrounds.

To sum up, there have been changes to employment opportunities in Australian language centres since the nineties as a result of visa requirements, and the economic crisis of 1997. The changes have led preference for employment of teachers with experience in teaching particular types of courses. It appears this trend will continue as most students plan to enter, or continue, higher education after their ELICOS programs.