An interesting research article was brought to my attention last week in my graduate Theory and Research of English as a Second Language. It was called "Evangelical Christians and English Language Teaching: A Qualitative Study" by Bill Johnston.
To be honest, I was initially offended that the student would bring up this topic, though the elephant in the room was exposed. Many people study TESOL (Teaching English to Speaking of Other Languages) as a means to get into a country that is closed. However, one of the main topics that students discussed during this lecture was that it is okay for Christians to work as ESL/EFL teachers in foreign countries, however they have a problem with the Christian teachers not focusing heavily on their job and more on their agenda. Furthermore, there are many Christian teachers who do not have qualifications to go and do an "unsatisfactory" job. This was difficult for me to hear and not speak up against. However, I felt like my mouth was shut up for a time and I really tried to listen and understand what their points were.
Here are some of the points discussed in class:
- Teachers always have an agenda no matter what they believe
- Christian teachers should not be exempt from doing a good job
- Atheists might be less offended if the agenda was non-religious, though Christian teachers can be very good teachers.
- Not having proper training does a disservice to the learners.
What do you think about this? I really started becoming ashamed, shouldn't we work hard no matter what? Many people who I respect and love have gone to do this very thing, teach EFL. I was not there, maybe they did do a great job.
My conclusion:
- Work hard as if for the Lord, don't give a second-rate product and then proclaim your faith. Give your boss a reason to be proud that he hired you, an ambassador of Christ.
