JEDDAH, 9 May 2008 — If you can read this and English is not your fist language, there is a good chance that you owe your facility in some measure to the work of John Haycraft.
Haycraft, in the world of teaching English to foreign learners, was a charismatic and hugely influential man. In the early 1950s, by pioneering lively new ways of teaching language, it was he who changed the methods of language teaching from the didactic to the learner-centered and communicative, which is today the basis of most English language teaching worldwide.
Haycraft detested the narrowness of nationalism and saw the learning of languages as an essential vehicle to world understanding. Although his main effort went into teaching English, he was equally concerned that the British acquired other tongues. He spoke six languages himself.
Haycraft wanted to be a writer and went to Spain with his Swedish wife Brita to establish himself. There he planned to earn a living by teaching English. He and his wife set up the first modest school in Cordoba. Typical of his world vision, he called it International House.
So successful was his somewhat theatrical method of teaching, which was radically different from what he believed were the stilted and archaic extant methods, that in 1959 Haycraft transferred his venture to central London, starting a small International House there. There he set about training new teachers in his methods.
In London, Haycraft pioneered “teaching theater,” with actors performing little plays as part of the learning process. Students did similar role-playing sketches. Haycraft collaborated with the BBC World Service’s English by Radio. He rapidly took the best of new technologies, first language laboratories, later videos and computers. Haycraft also put stress on social and cultural activities, on music, discussions, parties and outings.
The rest is historical record. English was fast developing as a world language and there was a huge demand for new schools. Affiliated schools were opened all around the globe — from Estonia to Argentina — although International House itself owned only its London premises.
Popular his methods may have been, but accreditation was vital if they were to become mainstream. Hazel Orchard, former deputy director of the RSA Examination Board, which she described “as an anarchic and disputatious group,” said regarding the time when Haycraft was pestering the board to certificate his one-month intensive course, “This meant we had a big battle on our hands. After all, at the time there was no final written examination, no externally assessed practical test and no conventional syllabus. Nevertheless, we persevered and eventually won through.”
Orchard recalled that the universities were worried about the growth of the International House Diploma and were trying to convince the British Council not to recognize it when recruiting. “A university representative said, ‘Give me an employer who would appoint someone with the RSA Diploma rather than with an MA in Applied Linguistics.’ ‘I would,’ John replied simply,” said Orchard.
Thirty-five years on, the British Council, along with hundreds of universities and academic institutions, not only recognize it, but also make the Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) — which is the modern morph of Haycraft’s Cert. TEFAL — the entry-level qualification to the EFL profession. What began as an innovative and controversial approach to teaching teachers and language learners has become a benchmark teaching qualification that has proved its worth time and again.
In late June, the British Council in Jeddah is to run its first CELTA course in Saudi Arabia. As with every Cambridge approved center, the British Council in Jeddah underwent a rigorous approval process and a Cambridge assessor will visit every course run there.
“The CELTA course,” said Helen Glenn, the Women’s Center manager at the council, “provides expert instruction in methodology and language analysis and includes practice teaching with real classes of language learners. It’s going to be tough but very rewarding for the trainees.”
The courses and trainees are assessed by independent auditors from Cambridge.
“Only those who reach a good standard of teaching ability will get certification,” she said.
Glenn pointed out that the course, as well as providing a qualification that, with a degree behind it, would provide an internationally recognized qualification, also had hidden benefits.
“Trainees develop presentation skills, an understanding of language and tremendous communication skills,” she said. “Even if they never teach, they will have better communication skills and a deeper understanding of how English works.”
Open initially only to women the course, say the British Council, could be offered to men should demand warrant it.
Haycraft’s dream, to have people able to communicate freely with others — not necessarily just in English — has matured. Haycraft died in 1996, the year his original diploma took on its new designation of CELTA and finally became firmly established as the industry standard in English.
The course will begin on June 28 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and will cost SR6,000. For further information telephone: 02-6670186 or visit: www.britishcouncil.org/me
