Uneducated teachers

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bryant.english said:
Where do you get off saying this, it's simply not true.]

couldn't agree more! the HKG does indeed have something called a language proficiency test that language teachers must sit and meet a minimum requirement on before they are hired (if they are hired prior to meeting the requirement, these teachers must do so within the 1st year of their employment)...exceptions to this rule is if 1) you hold a degree in English language studies, literature, etc. AND 2) have experience teaching English as a second language at a school

for NET teachers - the job requirement is... 1) a degree in English language studies, etc. 2) have a recognized teaching degree in the equivalent age group you apply for 3) TESL qualification or equivalent.

it is stipulate that if applicants cannot be found with the above qualifications, the requirements are in fact lowered to the minimum of 1) teachers cert (that includes 2 year of full time study) and 2) TESL...these teachers though are NOT hired under the same package as though meeting the job requirements as stated in the first list of job requirements.

so - your pay reflects your standard of education (on paper at least).

it does in fact state on the education bureau's website that:

Non-native speakers of English, i.e. people who have not acquired the language in early childhood, are also suitable for employment as NETs if their English competence is not different from that of native-speakers in terms of fluency, accuracy and creativity in language use

it is perhaps the Chinese parents liking "gweilo" faces so that NETs hired are mostly caucasian or at the very least not people will black hair - even though they may speak fluent English and be brought up say in the US.
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bryant.english said:
Where do you get off saying this, it's simply not true!
Click to expand...

I think it's more accurate to say that 'it's simply increasingly not true'.

I know people (from AmyH's part of HK) who are native to non-English speaking countries in Europe who have NEVER lived in an English speaking country or educated in an English speaking institution but are Caucasians with a TESOL certificate (or without) who teach at a prominent language school for children, adults and those interested in pursuing TESOL as a career and are well paid!

Over the last 4 years, the situation has improved but to say that it doesn't happen any longer is not true.
 
Okay, I'm just going to add one more thing because threads like this upset me to be honest. I have lived in the UK, Denmark and Sweden and I can assure you that ESL is more widely taught by non-qualified teachers in those countries than it is here and that it is ESL that's being spoken about here, not general teaching. Please don't suffer from any delusions that the situation is worse here. Not saying it can't be better, just hate the way the OP started this thread and so many people who obviously don't know the difference between a school and a tutorial centre, a teacher and an ESL tutor - this makes a mockery of the bloody good teachers who worked hard for their qualifications working their butts off all over Hong Kong every day.
 
I have to say also that there are a lot of "qualified English teachers" in Hong Kong who are TERRIBLE at teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). You need SPECIFIC training and experience in teaching ESL to do well as an English teacher here in Hong Kong. There are many teachers who have teaching certificates and master's degrees and 20 years of experience who land here in Hong Kong to teach English and they are completely flustered by the system here because they have absolutely no ESL experience. The way one teaches English to non-native speakers is almost completely different than he or she would teach English in his or her native (English-speaking) country. So, these super qualified teachers come into the system here and try to do what worked back in their own country and meet with a lot of resistance if not failure. I've met teachers who come from these types of backgrounds who were indignant and angry because the government required them to get TESL-certified in order to keep on teaching in HK because they thought with all their years of experience they already knew how to teach. ESL is a completely different scenario, however.
 
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