EFL by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

Worldwide, the teaching of English to non-native speakers is a booming business. Settings range from refugee aid groups in Britain and America to rooms full of, say, German businessmen who have been directed that all future e-mail correspondence within their company must be in English (this has actually happened at one big German multinational).

Like all means of earning a living that aspire to be called a "profession," the teaching of English to speakers of other language has developed quite a lot of ponderous, but ultimately quite silly, jargon. Even the name of the field is a subject of controversy.

First, as with all things, there is British versus American usage. The Brits tend to use the term EFL (English as a Foreign Language) regardless of the settling. Americans, perhaps a tad more concerned about political correctness and not wanting to label, say, Bangladeshi immigrants to America as "foreigners," or to treat English as a "foreign" language in the American context, tend to divide up the world of teaching English, literally:

In American education jargon, if you go and teach English in a country where it is not a native language, this called EFL. But if you teach English in an English-speaking country, this is called ESL (English as a Second Language). Both terms are clasped together as ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages).

Ay of these terms--EFL, ESL, ESOL--can be futher jargonized by placing a T (for Teaching) in front of it. So if you venture into teaching English to non-native speakers, you can be an EFL, ESL, ESOL, TEFL, TESL, or TESOL teacher, depending on the place and context.

In addition to all of these, there are some terms that can specify the type of English you are teaching, or the type of students to whom you are teaching it. A few of the more common ones are:

EAP (English for Academic Purposes): English for people who want to study in an English-speaking country, or who need English to keep up with their academic field. This can include everything from doctors needing to read the Journal of American Medicine to students who have a passionate interest in the novels of Ernest Hemingway.

ESP (English for Specialized Purposes, or English for Specific Purposes): This can mean a variety of different things, but is often used for industry-specific teaching of English. For instance, call center workers in India may take classes to learn the kind of language they need in handling complaints about your Dell laptop, but not the kind of English you need to draft business letters or analyze Wuthering Heights. Many industries have created a demand for ESP, particularly the hospitality and airline industries. When I was doing training in New York, I had a student whose goal in learning English was to work in a casino in his home city of Macao.

The most amusing form of ESP I have heard of it what is known in Japan as EFS, English for Shopping--basically, teaching pampered Japanese executives' wives how to buy Hermes scarves and Chanel handbags on their next trip to New York or London.

EPP (English for Professional Purposes): Like ESP, but not as limited. In many fields, fluency in English is a prerequisite for climbing the corporate ladder. The scope of teaching for EPP students will not be as limited as in ESP, and it may be easier for a teacher to convince someone whose job now requires only the ability to speak English on the phone in limited contexts that he should extend his vocabulary and knowledge of grammar to the point that he can write, say, a business proposal.

ENOP (English for No Obvious Purpose): Basically, English for people who have no particular goal or purpose for learning English. In my CELTA training (more about CELTA later), my instructor talked about his mother, who was taking a French course for no reason that he could see. She had no prospects of going to France, was not trying to read French literature in the original, or anything of that sort.

From what I gather, ENOP learners tend to fall into two groups. The first consists of retirees who use English classes as a form of entertainment or to create some sense of purpose for themselves in retirement.

The second--and larger--group, however, consists of people taking English for the same reason that denizens of the Upper West Side of Manhattan take classes in French cooking or pottery. I can't say how many shidduchim (matches) have been made in ESOL classrooms, but what little anecdotal evidence I have suggests it is high. This is particularly true since, in many countries, a knowledge of English carries a certain prestige and is indicative of high educational attainment, high economic status, or both.