By Dr Anthony Bynom, November 2001

In the latest issue of the IATEFL ESP SIG Newsletter, Bob Wilkinson puts forward the point that ESP is not a profession, therefore those that practice it cannot call themselves professionals. The main reason put forward to support this point of view are that as ESP is multidisciplinary it cannot be considered a profession since the paradigms of professionalism call for it to be a mono-disciplinary based academic discipline. Further, the characteristics pertaining to a profession include;

“autonomy, disinterestedness, self-governance, peer review, and non-transferability” (Wilkinson 2001)

The above being so, Wilkinson goes on, it follows that there is no such thing as an ESP profession and, following that point, there cannot be an ESP professional, or, indeed an EFL/TESOL professional. In fact the most we can hope for is to be called ESP practitioners. If we cannot be called professionals, where does that leave professional development?

As you are aware the EFL/TESOL industry is a dedicated follower of whatever fashion happens to be on vogue. We have had integration, communicative teaching, learner centred syllabi, and lifelong learning, to name but a few of the ‘buzz words’ of recent years. Of course, the one ‘buzz phrase’ omitted from the above is ‘professional development’. But, if we are not to be called professionals how can we develop professionally?

Now, Wilkinson bases his definition of a profession on Menand (1997). So perhaps the first thing to do is to check up on the meaning of ‘profession’. In the Oxford English Dictionary the definition given is;

“A vocation or calling especially one that involves some branch of advanced learning or science” (OED Compendium 9^th edition, C-D Rohm)

Once again we seem to fall a little short here, as in the UK one can take an intensive CTEFLA course without having first obtained a degree. So can that be called ‘advanced learning’? Of course, as Wilkinson goes on to say, what we are actually faced with is a situation in which individuals act as professionals and, as such can be amenable to developing as professionals.

So, we can indulge in professional development but here again we face a dilemma. What kind of adjective do we use before ‘professional development’? Do we want to take part in continuous professional development, personal professional development, continuous personal professional development or what? For example, someone may deem himself or herself a better person for being fit, so they take part in a fitness programme and become fitter. They feel better as a person. This ‘feeling better’ person then goes into class feeling better, more developed. Can we then call fitness programmes professional development? Maybe we can, for as Julian Edge tells us;

“There can be no really significant development of a persons teaching which does not also involve personal change.” (Edge, 1999)

In the same article, Edge goes on to say that our teaching expresses our values so any changes we make either inside or outside the classroom will affect those values.

So, how can those who manage in educational establishments handle opportunities for professional development that can be so far ranging, especially when there are no guarantees that the individual will develop along some pre-conceived, ideal pathway?

They should, of course provide wide-ranging opportunities without thinking that such opportunities actually define professional development. Finally, each individual must decide whether or not to avail themselves of such opportunities. There must be no compulsion.

Glossary

IATEFL, International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.

SIG, Special Interest Group.

ESP, English for Specific Purposes.

EFL, English as a Foreign Language.

TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

REFERENCES

Edge, J. (1999) Managing professionalism or ‘Hey, that’s my development. IATEFL Issues, 149. June/July 1999

Menan, L. (1997) The Demise of Disciplinary Authority. In: Kernan, A. ed. What’s Happened to the Humanities. Princeton: Princeton U Press. pp. 201-219

Wilkinson, R. (2001) What’s the good of an EAP/ESP professional? IATEFL ESP SIG Newsletter. 20. Sep. pp 25-30