Job Discussion Forums

[Moore]

I read somewhere that TEFL was predicted to continue growing as an industry for the next 20 years (presumably with the bulk of it being in Asia), followed by an abrupt fall as countries became more or less self-sufficent in their teaching needs.
I write this as a follow-up to the thread "Lost souls", as, in my view TEFL teaching is indeed a worthwhile and fullfilling job, no better or worse than any other (but due to it�s being-abroad nature much more prone to soul-searching than, for example, a plumber might be) - several posters quite sensibly recommended self-development as a way forward in terms of career and salary, but is that all still building your house on rather unsound foundations?
Is the TEFL industry going to burn itself out, and if so, when?

[sigmoid]

Until December 23, 2012.

[Moore]

Does nobody else worry about this?

[dmb]

I think in our lifetime there will be a need for efl teachers.

[moonraven]

Not only that, but the "marketplace" would be a lot more attractive if all the folks who have no educational vocation would just go home.

[Moore]

I think the chances of people with no educational vocation all going home are about zero, but�s it�s a nice thought.
In my opinion TEFL is an industry, for good or for bad, and that many of the people working in it think of it no more as a vocation than an office worker sees their nine-to-five as a vocation but as a means to an end.
I suppose the chances of TEFL lasting our lifetime all depends on how much you reckon we�ve got left! I�m thirty five, and by the time we get to retirement age it�ll probably be at least sixty five, giving me a good thirty years - can it last that long?

[Darkbloom]

The market will last as long as the US remains an economic superpower.

Want to keep yourself marketable beyond that? Start learning Chinese now.

[Moore]

Certainly got a point about Chinese: in Europe at least, English is the universal common language of business, so I think it�s less about American economic domination, and more about the need for a common language.

In view of the difficulty Europeans have learning relatively basic English, I shudder to imagine them grappling with Chinese...

[JonnytheMann]

Chinese will never be the world language. Totally impractical for modern life. Typing it is very cumbersome, for example.

Crappy little English language shacks might start to die out, but there will always be university jobs for English. I mean, there are university jobs for Italian and German teachers in the US so why wouldn't university jobs for English stick around in the rest of the world?

[31]

English Shack -that is a great name for a language school.

But I would never be as sad and as naive as to open one.

[Mchristophermsw]

Dont worry about in this lifetime.

English is the business and Internet language.
I am looking forward to some good years ahead for us all

[31]

good is relative.

[VanIslander]

The world of commerce may have less need of ESL:

A hi-tech translation machine will be sophisticated enough to go beyond mere word dictionary type translations to the level of entire phrases and expressions, with a limitless database and smart functions

perhaps accompanied by a 24-hour instant access phone help-line staffed by fully multilingual operators (a few thousand of them)

Perhaps. Who knows?

Just look at how advanced technology got in the last twenty years. I'm in my mid-thirties and I recall life before microwave ovens, VCRs and tape players.

I don't think too many 8-track playing executives in the seventies anticipated napster or its ilk.

But don't worry.

Those in the industry now should be experienced and skilled enough in ten to fifteen years to get one of the good jobs even if the market for English declined, which I doubt anyways.

[valley_girl]

[31]