|
|
Christmas Newsletter 2009 - UK ELT RIP
publication date: Dec 23, 2009
|
author/source: Jason West
Previous
|
Christmas '09 Newsletter (end of year edition)
Hello to everyone Out There
Ok. It's a bit of a melodramatic headline (over emotional or sentimental). I apologise to everyone who does not care about UK ELT. However, the home of the English language is not in good health.
I was going to do a standard
kind of newsletter but then some great music came on my headphones
(Last FM - check it out, amazing) and I thought, 'aw heck', let's just
write something from the heart and see if I can entertain you whilst
also providing you with the solemn (serious) written
promise that this is probably my last ever industry whine (annoying and
repeated complaint), as life is simply too short and I'm thinking of
taking up hipocrisy (www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hipocrisy), I believe it pays much better. You were warned :-)
The slow self-throttling grips
of protectionism and conformity, in combination with the rapid
technological advances of education 2.0 are set to create something of
a shake-up in 2010 and if not then, 2011. There's no going back.
Cheering stuff.
It has been a strange year for me, LOT and EOT. The three of us still
get on ok, are always looking to the future and people everywhere
getting headsets in their Christmas stockings so that we can talk
without echo, feedback, the sound of cats being strangled or the porn
site that you failed to close down before you picked up the call. Small
technical issues aside, things have really moved forward.
Against my free advice at the
end of March the British government pegged (legally attached) visas to
accreditation and that failed to weed out the crooks (expose and deal
with) but served to exclude EOT London from operating as it had been
and now, somewhat ironically, the government are threatening to
'destroy' the UK ELT industry by adding further restrictions to entry
on a student visa.
I haven't read much on the
subject but it seems that people who apply for visas to study English
will now also have to be able to speak...English.
Way back in the mists of time (a
long time ago) I asked the head of UK Visas a cheeky question after her
speech at the Youth, Adventure and Independent Travel Industry
Conference 2004 which was, 'Have the entry clearance officers
(immigration officers) who reject visa applictions on the basis that
someone can't speak English well enough or can already speak English
too well been trained to make such professional assessments?'
She sought me out over coffee
after struggling to give a coherent response to the large audience. My
point being? This is not new. When you ask for legislation it takes a
long time to arrive and then, like London buses, you get a fleet (lots)
arriving.
The cunning plan (clever in a
dumb kind of way) that linked accreditation to visas did not address
the fact that criminals are ruthless and quick and legislation is blunt
and slow. It is a great plan to protect and enrich the private
accredited providers of English language training in the UK, if it
doesn't actually come back to bite them in the bum (hurt you in a way
you didn't see coming), which now seems very possible.
The petition (formal complaint
with lots names on it) sent to No10 closes with the impassioned words
"The English language is a crown Jewel - let's protect and nurture
it!". Now you know I hate unnecessary correction, much like Mr Mosley,
but shouldn't it read 'let's protect, nurture and profit from it!'. Oh,
and did you notice the metaphor used? Who could ever deny that English
is seen as our God-Given Imperial Cash-Cow now? Those who signed also
signed up to that way of thinking. Now, let's have a look shall we, to
see if we know anyone on there:
In the summer I realised that the British Council's 'Teaching English'
website, whilst on Skype talking to the editor, had only free samples
from the 'big four' UK ELT publishers on it. I was told that the
samples didn't point people to paid for product, but soon scotched that
(destroyed the argument) by downloading a sample there and then which
said something like 'get the rest here for money' and provided a link
to an online store.
Anyway, I thought it would be
fun to send an official 'Freedom of Information' request to the BC just
to see what the score really was (get the truth). You will find the
unedited response here:
This is free information after
all; you could write and ask for the same information and they would
have to give it to you; and whilst reading it bear in mind that the
'big four' had about a year of free advertising and that the BC propose
to charge other publishers to have a page on the site and have rejected
proposals from other publishers on the basis that they are
'commercial'.
Splendid, makes me think of that
'level playing field' so fondly referred to at ARELS conferences past
by the city-schooled CEO who was holding private cocktail parties for the big schools and agents in his hotel suite.
Now, at the risk of sounding
like a broken record (repeating, repeating) or someone stuck in a
virtual reality loop, I entered our printed coursebook, Intermediate
TD4, for the ELTONs, the BC's innovation awards. Somewhat tongue in
cheek (not seriously), it has to be said, as I knew on past form and
experience that we had a slightly better chance of winning the X
Factor. But, and this is where I get my old Sinclair calculator out, to
those who would listen (or couldn't escape in time) I predicted a
minimum 60% of shortlisted entries belonging to the 'big' publishers,
again. I say 'again' because if you take the time to look at all of
the previous years an unmistakable pattern emerges from the primordial (existing at or from the beginning) fog settled over our now proverbial level playing field.
When this year's shortlist was
announced I got Skyped by the friendly owner of an ELT service that is
at the vanguard (leading edge) of innovation and who had also entered
and not been shortlisted. He was baffled and confused by the fact that
'a dictionary' had 'edged us out'. Of course, if he'd only called me
earlier I could have saved him shattered dreams. I won't say who it was
as that would virtually give it away.
From our point of view, who'd
have thought the first ever ELT coursebook that works with Facebook and
Skype could be in any way be one of the most innovative developments in
2009...at least not when sat next to a cutting edge dictionary? This
review from October, which I completely and bizarrely missed (I was in an editing fug [unpleasant atmosphere, usually in a poorly-ventilated area]), doesn't contain the words 'new approach', 'extra dimension', and 'new, vibrant and engaging approach to learning English', does it? http://edition.tefl.net/reviews/level-3-materials/english-out-there-intermediate/ So, in a year when Pearson won
the President's Award from the English Speaking Union for re-hashing
the failed Longman English Online from years ago by slapping (putting)
it on Livemocha.com and calling it a social media English course I
think we should all, me especially, take a seat next to a roaring log
fire, raise a large glass of 'Château de Règles du Jeu Equitables' (a
bottle of which we liberated [stole] from the last British Council
function we attended) and toast those who dare to push the boundaries
of what currently exists and to speak the truth that dare not speak its
name.
Thanks for all of your support this year, I look forward to knowing many more of you in 2010.
Have a great Christmas and a very happy and innovative New Year.
Old Jokes Home (I Tweeted this but like it a lot):
Why was Santa's little helper depressed? He was suffering from low elf esteem.
Cheers Jason
|
