Paula Jullian (Chile), Margit Szesztay (Hungary), Setyadi Setyapranata Iindonesia), Ciarán McCarthy (Ireland) and Tatiana Ivanova (Russia).
First published in Issue 162, August/September 2001

IATEFL is an international organisation, but its members have their regional concerns too. For this issue we asked IATEFL members around the world about their own local priorities and interests.

We asked the following three questions:

What do you consider to have been the most significant development(s) in local ELT in the last five years?
What do you consider to be the most significant burning issue at present in your own country in the ELT sector?
What major change(s) or development(s) do you foresee in ELT in your own country during the next five years?

We asked teachers in Chile, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland and Russia, and their comments follow

Chile

Definitely the introduction and implementation of an Educational Reform three years ago. English Language is now taught from grade 5 (about 9-10 years old), that is two years earlier than previously. Also the incorporation of computers and technology in ELT, especially in private schools. This has enlarged the gap between these institutions and state schools which are poorly equipped with technology.
An on-going hot issue is why students learn so little (or nothing) in their six years of English at school. Most of them leave school without any of the four skills properly developed. This is partly due to the very low command of English of teachers, who teach the class fully in Spanish. In-service teacher training to retrain teachers, so that they may implement the reform and update their teaching. Teachers are terrified about the reform as they aren't properly trained to put it to work. Also the shortage of EFL teachers. Most schools hire anybody who can speak some English without any kind of training.
The need for a totally new teacher training programme at the university. EFL teaching trainees are still being trained in the same old traditional fashion, getting little preparation on the use of the Internet and computer technology in the classroom.

Paula Jullian, pjullian@puc.cl

Hungary

My view of Hungarian ELT is coloured by having been involved in teacher education in this country for the past eleven years. The picture from this vantage point is quite bleak. Many experienced teachers of English are leaving state schools, and most young graduates of teacher training programmes never enter state education. As a result of the shortage of well-qualified teachers in schools, ELT is continuing to move out of the state sector. This change is part of the more general social and economic trend, which is leading to the ever-widening gap between the state and the private sectors. EFL is fast becoming a commodity, and teachers are becoming service providers to busy clients who are demanding value for their money.
The most burning professional issue in local ELT? I have lost interest in professional issues for the moment as they seem so inconsequential. The bottom line for me is the status of teachers and the state of education. Would you expect a ticket inspector to be a life-long learner and a reflective practitioner? Then why expect a teacher who has about the status (and salary!) of a ticket inspector in our country to be concerned with her own professional development? As interested and intrinsically motivated as she might be, the conditions are just not there for professional development.
The future? ... I"m not very optimistic.

Margit Szesztay, margitsze@hotmail.com

Indonesia

The 1994 secondary school curriculum was implemented to, among other things, straighten misperceptions about the 1984 curriculum where the term Communicative Approach was narrowly misinterpreted by teachers as limited to aspects of oral communication. This misinterpretation led to crucial misapplications of the syllabus. Despite all the hard work and attempts, the expected result is not yet in sight, and the improvement is not at all significant.
While ELT authorities are now occupied with the preparation for further revisions of the existing curriculum, two new problems have arisen that might be imperative for the authorities to consider. The first is the ministerial decree that legitimises English for teaching in primary schools, while most primary school teachers are products of the old curricula and are not specially prepared to teach English. The second is the pressing need for more intensive treatment on ESP courses for tertiary-level students, which in the past had never received serious emphasis.
Will these attempts of 'doctoring' the input to produce ideal output be successful over this next five years? Many people doubt it, but if they are, this might be one of the most significant milestones in our ELT history.

Setyadi Setyapranata, setyadis@malang.wasantara.net.id

Ireland

Rather than going solo with the three questions, I decided to ask absolutely everyone … and the responses I got were almost always the same.

The most significant development of recent times has been the introduction of a new schools' inspection/evaluation scheme by the Irish Department of Education and Science, through the Advisory Council for English Language Schools (ACELS). Not only has the new format led to greater transparency and an improvement in the overall quality of schools, it has for the first time humanised the inspection process for teachers. Under the old format the inspector would arrive unannounced, spent some time in the classroom and departed just as suddenly. Now there are all sorts of helpful mechanisms for feedback included.
The most burning issue is, as always, the poor rate of pay that teachers receive - but, again, this is universal in ELT, isn't it?
The major change coming in Ireland is the conferring of professional status upon EL teachers by the Department of Education and Science. ACELS will keep a professional register of teachers for the first time, as well as introducing a scheme for Governmental recognition of ELT qualifications and experience relevant to teaching. Now that is good, isn't it?

Ciarán McCarthy, ciaran@mindless.com

Russia

The most significant development in ELT in Russia and in St Petersburg in particular is teaching in new conditions, when students and the public are more highly motivated than they have ever been and have more opportunities to use the language in real-life situations. The last five years have been the time of the emerging and growing of ELT Associations, when teachers felt eager to be abreast of new developments in the world methodology of ELT and started to feel themselves a community of professionals. For myself, our St Petersburg Association is very important. It is a bit more than five years old, but it unites about 400 teachers of English and has organised 14 international conferences in our city.
Difficult to name the 'Burning Issue' as there are many. Vital issues, to name just a few, are how to attract the younger generation into teaching and how to train them; how to develop a standard for state education while trying to cope with a variety of teaching approaches and students' levels of knowledge; the what, how and why of teaching ESP in the new conditions.
I very much hope that the next five years will be the period when we'll realise that being non-native teachers we are not limited by our weaknesses but have numerous opportunities and strengths. We'll stop throwing out babies with the bath water when dealing with our teaching and learning traditions and styles. We’ll be writing our own ELT books and develop our own teaching materials using the best of the new international developments and the best achievements of the rich Russian educational and methodological tradition.

Tatiana Ivanova, tivanova@TI2705.spb.edu

No doubt readers in these and other countries will find it interesting to reflect on the similarities and differences of local concerns. Our thanks to those who participated. As usual, comments welcome.