Have you ever thought of language learning as a "product"? I never had until recently. I'm not that well-read in education terminology, but I'd think of language learning as more of a service rendered than a product delivered. Of course, I don't associate teaching English with making money, either, but I'm only just learning about how big such an industry is, especially in places where knowing English as a second (or third or fourth) language can be the difference between a not-so-good job and a better job.
But about products and services.
Products are a one-stop answer. Moisturizer. Car wax. Bug spray.
Services seem to imply relationship. House cleaning. (I'll come to your house, check it out, give you a price and if I do a good job, you'll hire me again). Computer updates and repairs...checking, assessing, making adjustments... In short, with a service there is an expectation of dialogue (How many times a week? What seems to be the problem? Has it happened before?) Possibly even some kind of analysis in order to provide a better, more complete remedy.
It's taken me too long to figure this out, but while I don't agree with everything Michelle Kelly-Irving says, this article helped a bit and at least made me realize that I may not be jumping to too many conclusions. Her argument is basically that requiring English to be the language of academic writing has "downsides...that affect knowledge, science, policy and ultimately human thinking. This imposition of English upon the rest of the world, as well as being imperialism on a global scale, is also a form of cultural, and maybe even cognitive hegemony...".
At first, I disagreed vehemently with her assertions, but as I thought about it more, she does make at least one valid point. Speaking English in many countries is not the romanticized notion of "being one" with a world community, sharing and contributing ideas, or embarking on an empowered adventure of life-long learning; but possibly a feather in the cap of status and exaggerated sense of "betterness", if you will. I often see it on Facebook - heavy or potentially contentious conversations in Indonesian will be interrupted by someone using English that is usually constructed in such a way as to demean, ridicule, or "put another" in their place". I've also noticed that for quite a few, passing the TOEFL or IELTS test in order to study abroad is often not to learn, empower those at home and contribute to the universe of ideas, but as a means to gain a promotion or more posh position...sometimes even just to get away from it all.
The status associated with English speaking ability would be easy to blow it off as yet another vestige of a colonial past, but as the famous Indonesian author, Pramoedia Ananta Toer, put in the mouth of one of his characters, the Dutch were successful here because all they had to do was to tap into an existing social order, or hierarchy. Not quite a caste system, but it exists and is pretty obvious to a Southern American who grew up with something quite similar. People have a place and there are countless mechanisms to make sure it stays that way.
It's tiresome and as an English teacher with a conscience, I can't justify teaching skills that are often used in ways that further class divisions, put down rather than raise up, make money for someone with no real concern that students achieve a holistic mastery of the language, and that even promote "snootiness".
Teaching English can be a big business here. Of course, in order for that to happen, one needs to teach English as if it were some kind of product rather than a service; a package with materials and number of lessons. Services can include product, for sure, but a product without service and a commitment to building a culture of learning is nothing of true value.
Services empower and build relationship. Products will always need another application as soon as the first wears off. Services engage, build relationship and can build a foundation for life-long learning for all involved. Marketing English language learning as a product to be sold and bought is an affront to true education, an ineffective tool for true comprehension and objectifies one of the most versatile, powerful and beautiful languages in the world.
I want to teach English, but more than that, I want to inspire minds to use English in ways that truly empower, allow soulful reflection and develop an ability to make a contribution, contextualized and powerful, to the global library of ideas.
There are so many amazing teachers here - they love the students and want to see them succeed - as learners, as educated people, as assets to themselves and their communities.
Being a native English speaker has its perks, but I'm not interested in using that to make a buck, but to make a difference. I want to empower people to use English. I want to make connections, build a conducive environment for teachers to do what they do best and for anybody who wants to learn to be able to learn.
I don't want people to think like me, but I do want people to think...and if they choose, to use English to express their thoughts in ways that inspire, inform, and empower others.
That doesn't sound like a product to me, but I do believe that it can be a service. And a good one, at that.
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