Page 5 - ELG1806 June Issue 458

WELCOME .
EDITOR’S LETTER
Living precariously.

The conditions that can lead to poor mental health are ripe in
English language teaching, argues Melanie Butler.
theteam

Sometimes work cracks me up – in more ways than one. Some years ago I got
so stressed, I began to lose the ability to speak English. I peppered my sentences MELANIE
randomly with bits of Italian and Spanish. BUTLER,
editor-in-chief,
Halfway through proof-reading an article I would stop and stare at a word: started teaching
‘congestion’, ‘token’, ‘subsidy’. The all looked familiar but I had no idea what they EFL in Iran in
meant. 1975. She worked
for the BBC
The neurologist diagnosed burn out. ‘It’s your brain’s way of telling you to stop World Service,
working.’ Mental illness can happen to anybody. But stress is often the trigger, Pearson/Longman and Modern
especially in education. English Teacher magazine before
As Mario Rinvolucri reminds us on page 26, anxiety about exams can blight a child’s future. It taking over at the Gazette in
1987 and also launching Study
happened to his brother. Travel magazine. Educated in ten
So imagine the stress of Greek nurse Foteini Kourakou who, as we report on page 11, consistently schools in seven countries, she
failed to hit the required grade of 7 in Ielts writing, required to register as a nurse in the UK. speaks fluent French and Spanish
and rather rusty Italian.
Thankfully, she was able to take the OET, the medical English test recently recognised in the UK.
She passed with flying colours first time. The pressure to reach native-speaker competence is an IRENA
BARKER,
additional stress for many learners of English. Not to mention a commissioning
Mental illness can waste of time, according to research into the syntax acquisition editor,
happen to anybody. But of native and non-native speakers of English. studied French
and linguistics at
It takes the average native-speaker of English 30 years to
stress is often the trigger, master the syntax, as we point out on page 7. Unless English Durham, UK and
especially in education. language learners start before the age of 12, they will never taught English in France for two
years. Her subsequent 15-year
Last year in the UK, 3,750 make it – they will simply run out of time. career in UK news journalism
Across the English-speaking world, teacher burnout is
includes reporting for local and
state school teachers a major concern. Last year in the UK, 3,750 state school regional newspapers, a news
were deemed medically teachers were deemed medically unable to do their jobs agency and a 10 year stint at the
Times Educational Supplement
unable to do their jobs because of work-related stress and mental illness, according to magazine.
the Guardian. But it doesn’t happen in ELT, does it?
because of work-related Except of course, it does, as Phil Longwell tells us on page FEDERICA
TEDESCHI,
stress and 12. Responses to a survey on teacher mental health showed senior reporter, is
mental illness teachers needed supportive employers to help them cope, a NCTJ-qualified
but fewer than one in four reported that line managers had
reporter who
received any training. gained journalistic
Is the only stress we recognise in EFL the one on the experience in
Malta, Italy and the UK. She holds
antepenultimate syllable? a masters in international relations
Surely, argue my friends in mainstream education, teaching EFL is from the University of Perugia,
less stressful than teaching in schools: smaller classes, less paperwork, Italy as well as a Celta from
less pressure on exam results, little chance of physical assault. Westminster College, London
and has taught languages at a
All true, but as Phil Longwell points out, across the English- university and schools in London.
speaking world, EFL is not only worse paid than mainstream education Federica, who also freelances in
but it is much more precarious. video production, is a member of
People employed on precarious contracts are 84 per cent more an NUJ committee.
likely to become mentally ill than those with the same income in the ANDREA PÉREZ
same industry who have a secure job, according to a 2015 report written by McMaster’s university in EGIDO, online
and production
Canada. So is there an end in sight to precarious contracts? manager,
Not in the UK or Malta. Despite a general rise in the market, long stay students are rarer than hen’s has a BA in
teeth, which means shorter contracts. Only Ireland seems to be bucking the trend. journalism from
But this doesn’t mean that employers can’t help staff with mental health concerns. Complutense
University, Madrid and a masters
Creating an atmosphere where people can talk openly about their mental health without fear of in corporate communications
discrimination or mockery would be a start. from Kingston University,
London. She previously worked
on the international desk at the
MELANIE BUTLER, Spanish newspaper La Razón.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF She joined the Gazette as online
and social media editor in 2015.

editorial@elgazette.com 5

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