Sorry I haven't written for a while. I had planned on writing something on Golden Dawn's disruption of a Civil War commemoration, had opened up half a dozen sources to quote, when someone in the family shut down my computer and the following morning I did not have the time to search for them all again, then life just got in the way. I'm afraid they are likely to give me another opportunity to write soon.
Yesterday I went to a foreign language coursebook publishers' exhibition. In addition to keeping in touch with new books, attending talks and getting ideas for teaching, it is a great opportunity to meet old friends, trainees and colleagues. I have been teaching English in Greece since my arrival in the early 1980s. In 1990 I was Chairperson of TESOL Greece, a professional organisation for English teachers. Since then I have been a teacher-trainer at CELT Athens, so I have come to know hundreds, perhaps thousands of English teachers. It is one of the rewards of teaching to be remembered years later, to know one has made a positive impact on some lives.
Back to the exhibition yesterday, I was moved by several people commenting on my blog. I had received several kind Facebook likes and comments, but had no idea other people were also reading it. So this spurred me back to the keyboard after a week's hiatus.
What impressed me most at the book exhibition, as well as last week's ELT News forum, was the number of dedicated professionals giving up a precious weekend to develop professionally. Most were English teachers, but a few stands also catered to the main other languages being taught in Greece: German, French, Spanish, Italian. One publisher also displayed Russian and Chinese, the emerging languages in Greece due to sizeable Russian tourism and Chinese investments.
Alongside the publishers of course books were several stands by some of the most popular public examining bodies in Greece. Certification of foreign language level is useful in Greece for employment, and knowledge of up to two foreign languages can earn extra salary points in the public sector. Over a dozen public examining bodies for the English language are officially recognised by ASEP (please click on the first doc icon--this site is in Greek but the certificates and examining bodies are listed in English).
I was impressed by how large the field of language teaching has grown in Greece in the three decades I have been living here. My earliest English teaching jobs in Japan and Greece were obtained on the strength of my first degree in English Literature--most people thought that being a native speaker of a language was enough to teach it. Since then the more conscientious teachers and employers have realised the need for methodology training. Many teachers attend language awareness courses to improve their command of English, and methodology courses to obtain certificates and diplomas in teaching, some even go on to Master's degrees, even though there is no guarantee this investment will result in higher income. Some enlightened employers subsidise membership fees to TESOL for their teachers, realising they will get these returned in better teaching, but even when this is not the case teachers are willing to pay this from their small wages. Forums, conferences and publishers' exhibitions are always crowded, some talks are standing-room-only. Of course there are still some neighbourhood language institutes which employ young, inexperienced (i.e. low-paid) teachers without any methodology training, because in Greece people can still obtain an English teaching permit with a Proficiency certificate. But as their pupils' examination results are understandably disappointing I hope that market forces will eventually drive them to change this if they want to compete against schools with better pass rates.
When my son was in third grade at a Greek state primary school, English was introduced as the first foreign language. I believe that this now happens in first grade. In fifth grade he was given the choice of German or French. Any other languages have to be learnt outside the state school system, so every few blocks in every neighbourhood one can see private language institutes. Some belong to larger franchised chains but most are still family businesses. Greek children usually start with English, to give them a head start since until recently this wasn't taught in state schools until the third grade, and many parents believe it isn't taught well. This is changing with the financial crisis, more parents are unable to pay the neighbourhood language institutes despite their lower prices and special offers such as second language free.
This is just a fraction of the information I could share regarding teaching English in Greece. If anyone is interested in this please leave a comment and I'll try to answer any questions.
Update on my previous post, Education Uncertainty. My friend the English state school teacher is still waiting to know whether she will teach or not, and if so, where--I met her yesterday at the exhibition and there is no news yet. The school year starts in three days...
Yesterday I went to a foreign language coursebook publishers' exhibition. In addition to keeping in touch with new books, attending talks and getting ideas for teaching, it is a great opportunity to meet old friends, trainees and colleagues. I have been teaching English in Greece since my arrival in the early 1980s. In 1990 I was Chairperson of TESOL Greece, a professional organisation for English teachers. Since then I have been a teacher-trainer at CELT Athens, so I have come to know hundreds, perhaps thousands of English teachers. It is one of the rewards of teaching to be remembered years later, to know one has made a positive impact on some lives.
Back to the exhibition yesterday, I was moved by several people commenting on my blog. I had received several kind Facebook likes and comments, but had no idea other people were also reading it. So this spurred me back to the keyboard after a week's hiatus.
What impressed me most at the book exhibition, as well as last week's ELT News forum, was the number of dedicated professionals giving up a precious weekend to develop professionally. Most were English teachers, but a few stands also catered to the main other languages being taught in Greece: German, French, Spanish, Italian. One publisher also displayed Russian and Chinese, the emerging languages in Greece due to sizeable Russian tourism and Chinese investments.
Alongside the publishers of course books were several stands by some of the most popular public examining bodies in Greece. Certification of foreign language level is useful in Greece for employment, and knowledge of up to two foreign languages can earn extra salary points in the public sector. Over a dozen public examining bodies for the English language are officially recognised by ASEP (please click on the first doc icon--this site is in Greek but the certificates and examining bodies are listed in English).
I was impressed by how large the field of language teaching has grown in Greece in the three decades I have been living here. My earliest English teaching jobs in Japan and Greece were obtained on the strength of my first degree in English Literature--most people thought that being a native speaker of a language was enough to teach it. Since then the more conscientious teachers and employers have realised the need for methodology training. Many teachers attend language awareness courses to improve their command of English, and methodology courses to obtain certificates and diplomas in teaching, some even go on to Master's degrees, even though there is no guarantee this investment will result in higher income. Some enlightened employers subsidise membership fees to TESOL for their teachers, realising they will get these returned in better teaching, but even when this is not the case teachers are willing to pay this from their small wages. Forums, conferences and publishers' exhibitions are always crowded, some talks are standing-room-only. Of course there are still some neighbourhood language institutes which employ young, inexperienced (i.e. low-paid) teachers without any methodology training, because in Greece people can still obtain an English teaching permit with a Proficiency certificate. But as their pupils' examination results are understandably disappointing I hope that market forces will eventually drive them to change this if they want to compete against schools with better pass rates.
When my son was in third grade at a Greek state primary school, English was introduced as the first foreign language. I believe that this now happens in first grade. In fifth grade he was given the choice of German or French. Any other languages have to be learnt outside the state school system, so every few blocks in every neighbourhood one can see private language institutes. Some belong to larger franchised chains but most are still family businesses. Greek children usually start with English, to give them a head start since until recently this wasn't taught in state schools until the third grade, and many parents believe it isn't taught well. This is changing with the financial crisis, more parents are unable to pay the neighbourhood language institutes despite their lower prices and special offers such as second language free.
This is just a fraction of the information I could share regarding teaching English in Greece. If anyone is interested in this please leave a comment and I'll try to answer any questions.
Update on my previous post, Education Uncertainty. My friend the English state school teacher is still waiting to know whether she will teach or not, and if so, where--I met her yesterday at the exhibition and there is no news yet. The school year starts in three days...
OT but not totally irrelevant since this post is about teaching English, I see that we have a new Prime Minister in Australia. Politics aside (I have lived outside Australia so long that I cannot really comment), as an English teacher I am somewhat concerned about my country being led by someone who can't speak proper English: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/12/world/asia/australia-abbott-suppository-gaffe
ReplyDeleteFor the English teachers reading this, have fun seeing how many deliberate malapropisms you can identify in this parody:
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/tony-abbotts-election-victory-screech-revealed-20130813-2rtp8.html