Impact of the Political, Economic, and Educational Contexts on Life Stories of Taiwanese EFL Teachers
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Impact of the Political, Economic, and Educational Contexts on Life Stories of Taiwanese EFL Teachers Chih-Min Shih1
© De La Salle University 2017
Abstract Although numerous research projects have examined the lives of general education teachers, relevant studies in ESL/EFL are rare. The present study intends to fill this research gap, focusing on Taiwanese EFL teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the political, economic, and educational contexts on their lives. Thirty-eight EFL teachers in Taiwan, from diverse backgrounds, were involved in the study. Results showed that political contexts, such as divergent ideologies, and Taiwan’s capricious cross-strait relations with China, had influenced teachers’ careers. Economic contexts such as the economic depression, the M-shaped income distribution, and the relocation of laborintensive industries to China have caused certain English language teaching markets to shrink and have had an impact on the life stories of EFL teachers. Educational contexts including the boom in universities and teacher education programs have also altered EFL teachers’ career paths. Overall, this study demonstrates that external contexts significantly affect some EFL teachers’ lives. More research can be conducted in different countries to shed light on this issue. Keywords Life stories · Taiwan · EFL teachers · Career
Introduction The earliest studies on teachers’ lives in the English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts date back to the late 1980s. At that time, & Chih-Min Shih [email protected] 1
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
researchers found that ESL/EFL teaching was not a wellestablished profession and that ESL/EFL teachers did not have careers (e.g., Centre for British Teachers 1989; Johnston 1997; McKnight 1992). For example, in Australia, McKnight (1992) surveyed 116 TESOL program graduates at his university. Due to unpalatable working environments in primary and secondary schools, his participants were seeking a position in the adult ESL sector. McKnight lamented that there was no vertical career promotion, only horizontal career mobility. It seemed that teachers were more concerned about salary increment and job stability than a higher status position. In the past decade, there has been a growing interest in the impact of the working environment on ESL/EFL teachers’ lives. These studies often revealed an unharmonious relationship between ESL/EFL professionals and their employers. For example, Cowie (2011) investigated the emotions of university EFL teachers in Japan toward their universities, colleagues, and students. These teachers felt vulnerable as they were not trusted by the university administrations, and the hierarchical structure of job positions resulted in frustration and competitiveness among colleagues. They were also frustrated by the variety of educational values that existed among faculty members. A second study (Breshears 2008) examined the
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