Page 10 - ELG2102 Feb Issue 474

NEWS .

British Council’s PRELIM project to support

developing countries teach English

By Melanie Butler
On New Year’s Day 2021, a radical education-
al experiment began as 17 language centres, TRAN PHU ON UNSPLASH
all members of the English UK association,
began to run virtual English language classes
for teachers across 20 developing countries,
from Afghanistan to Zambia.
The PRELIM project – short for Partnered
Remote Language Improvement – is the
brainchild of the British Council’s English for
Educational Systems team and is funded by
the UK government grant money earmarked
for work in the developing world during
the financial year ending 1 April 2021. It is
designed, according to sources close to the
project, to help centres diversify in preparation
for the post-pandemic recovery, “because
we think the future will not just be business
as usual”.
This is not the first time the British Council
has put such a project out to tender, but apart
from the big teacher-training operators, such
as Bell and NILE Norwich (see opposite Vietnam is one of the countries that will bene!t from the PRELIM project
page), few private language schools have the
experience to make a successful bid. Seeing UK-based EFL forged a cross-sectoral alliance teachers, subsidised to study English as their
an opportunity to train up more schools to which stormed the world with its then school’s teachers adopted CLIL methodology.
carry out aid work, the Council partnered revolutionary communicative methodology, in Many language schools in the UK and Ireland
with the language centre association, English recent times the industry and the profession have welcomed European teachers looking to
UK, to recruit members to make bids and have largely drifted apart. In the whole of the do the same.
employed NILE as management consultants UK, only Scotland and the North of England Perhaps the middle-income countries will
to run a community of practice to support have local teachers’ associations affiliated take a leaf out of their book and switch from
participating centres. with iatefl. spending money employing inexperienced
Seventeen English UK members put in Perhaps the most groundbreaking move native-speaking teachers in their government
successful bids, ranging from university behind PRELIM is the stepping away from schools and invest it instead on sending
language centres, like Sheffield, to boarding methodology as the answer to improving their teachers abroad to improve their
schools, like St Clare’s; and from big-name English teaching in disadvantaged countries, language skills.
school chains, like Oxford International, to along with the recognition that local In the near future, the biggest market for
small boutique language schools, like Peartree teachers’ language levels are one of the main a declining adult sector may well be teaching
Language in Cardiff. barriers to student language attainment in English teachers and teachers who need to
“It’s a very cool project,” says English UK’s primary and secondary schools. Also, that teach in English.
Tim Barker. “We’ve never done anything local teachers, many of whom may not have
like this before, but we hope the experience studied English at university, gain confidence
will lead to more major tenders being broken as teachers. Participating English teachers’
down into smaller components like this and Iatefl’s chief executive, Jon Burton, said: associations are:
encourage our members to diversify.” “Language proficiency is an important Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh,
Brazil, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba,
In another break from business as usual, requirement for language teachers and a lack Georgia, Guinea Bissau, Honduras,
the British Council devolved the choice of of it can affect teachers’ confidence.” India, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Pakistan,
countries and type of projects to the iatefl- The success of PRELIM, which is being Palestine, Serbia, Thailand, Uzbekistan,
affiliated teacher associations around the measured carefully, will be judged on its effect Vietnam and Zambia.
world. Twenty member associations, from on teacher confidence which, studies show, is
Argentina to Uzbekistan and the Cote closely correlated with teacher efficacy. Participating English UK members:
University of Shef!eld ELTC, St Clare’s
D’Ivoire to Vietnam, successfully bid to take Of course, the importance of teachers’ Oxford, New College Group, Bell
part and each successful association was language levels has not gone unnoticed in Educational Services Ltd, CELT Centres
allocated one English UK language centre to recent years, with country after country for ELT Cardiff, Language United Ltd, IH
work with in designing the project and rolling testing its teachers’ levels and often failing to Bristol, IH London, Inlingua Cheltenham,
it out. see much progress. Countries in the developed Lewis School of English, Anglia
This triumvirate of the Council, iatefl world, especially Europe, have turned to Ruskin University, Oxford International
and English UK stands out as one of the private language schools, either local or in Education Group, Peartree Language,
few examples of co-operation between the the English-speaking world, to boost their LILA Liverpool, Centre for English
industry-focused language school sector and teachers’ levels. Studies, Wimbledon School of English,
the professionally focused teachers’ association Indeed, Spanish language schools report a and Celtic English Academy.
for 20 years. While in the 1980s and 1990s, large market among secondary school subject

10 February 2021