Hold the phone: Globalization, call centers, and English teacher preparation in Costa Rica Janet...

Hold the phone: Globalization, call Hold the phone: Globalization, call centers, and English teacher centers, and English teacher

preparation in Costa Ricapreparation in Costa Rica

Janet Blackwood

February 2012

Introduction

February 2012Globalization, call centers, and English teacher preparation in Costa Rica

I’m interested in…


What is the history of call centers in Costa Rica, especially with regard to English teaching and learning?

How do call centers appear to be impacting English teaching and learning in Costa Rica and to what extent? Are those same impacts also being seen elsewhere and if so, are they being managed and how?

What are the implications for English teacher preparation programs at universities?

What may be the long-term implications?

The literature says…


…very little Literature which exists focuses on

development and globalization, but does not address the impacts on English teaching and learning

management aspects of running this type of business, but not on the impacts on English teaching and learning

teachers reasons for leaving the teaching profession, but appears to only indirectly address some of the issues raised by professors and students in Costa Rica related to call centers

Accent reduction for non-native speaker employees in call centers, or on the choice of accent or identity by employees (Indian and the Philippines)

There is no research on the impact call centers have on English teachers or English teacher preparation.

Data collection


Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)

Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNA)

Professors & Administrators (individual interviews)

12 13

Students (focus group interviews)

3 groups (13 students)

3 groups (14 students)

In addition, newspaper articles from English and Spanish newspapers in Costa Rica and government reports.

From Bananas & Coffee to Microprocessors and Call Centers



Globalization has always been on the minds of our

people. Last century, we became global by being one of

the first nations to install electric lights…We will continue

to be global into the next millennium by putting computers

in every classroom, and teaching English to our younger

generations, to equip them with the knowledge and skills

necessary to become citizens of the world.

~ Minister of Public Education Eduardo Doryan,

National Conference of Teachers of English (NCTE), 1997

(Escalante, 2001, p. 13).

In the news


March 3, 2008 – La NaciónSYKES OFRECE 500 PLAZAS, PERO SOLO PUDO LLENAR 100 Falta de bilingües frena expansión de ‘call center’ [SYKES OFFERS 500 POSITIONS, BUT IT CAN ONLY FILL 100. Lack of bilinguals halts expansion of call center]

June 2, 2008 – La NaciónPROFESORES DE INGLÉS CAMBIAN AL MEP POR EMPRESAS PRIVADASHay riesgo que más se vayan[ENGLISH PROFESORS LEAVE MEP FOR PRIVATE FIRMS. There is a risk that more will leave.]

Preliminary Findings Good News/Bad News


I wouldn’t want them [the students] to end up in a call center. I always tell (them) this is a…huge effort, you have to take like really demanding classes and if you’re going to be four years here and then you’re going to end up at a call center that’s not like really worth it… ~ UCR Professor



Call centers pull university students away from the degree program and English teachers away from their classrooms.

I know that some teachers who are like, they are tired of, this pressure and they feel frustrated because they haven’t been able to put into practice everything they know and to do all the activities they plan and everything so they just quit…they quit and they prefer you know to look for a job in a different place, in a call center…

…that is actually one of the problems we have not everybody graduates because as soon as they have a good enough level of English they get a job and then they start working without finishing the degree,



I had the some classmates, they had like three courses left, to

graduate and they never finished because they started working

…they do it [work in a call center] for a while and then they just do

something else, probably not teaching, but I don’t know something

in…related to English like tourism or…you know even translation is

more profitable

If they leave, they don’t usually come back to English education



…he [Leonard Garnier, Minister of Education] said if I provide training

for them [English teachers] …with what I pay them, they are going to

go…to the call centers and he said that, which is very sad…

This professor refers to a television interview on Teletica. This same

statement was made by Garnier at the UCR auditorium as part of

his report in November 2010 on the results of the Costa Rica

Multilingüe project.

It limits the training the government can give the current teachers.



Provides an incentive and an opportunity to increase oral language skills

…that it is like a cultural thing that if you work for a call center you have to speak in English to your co-workers even if your, during breaks or in the way home or in the way to your office…

…mainly they kind of improve their oral skills…oral and listening skills cause they have to, you know, be talking all the time…

…one reason for not losing their English is to go into these call centers, so they can continue using English all the time…

if they are two or three or I don’t know how many hours they work there… listening to American people and imitating the sounds and speaking and, I mean that’s, they are gonna have a very good fluency.



Provides funding for students’ education

I did it myself while I was studying I started working at a call center but then I knew that it was not a, like a long term job for me. It was just in order to pay my accounts and my bills and stuff in here and then in order to graduate.

they see that just as a job, a temporary thing so they’re really looking forward to graduating, and becoming professors, and all that, so that’s just like, let’s say like a tool, for them.



Has forced the Ministry of Education (MEP) to increase teacher pay

…the Ministry of Education they, a couple of years ago, they started increasing their [teachers’] salaries, so salaries are very good, I would say, very competitive

It is unclear exactly how competitive salaries actually are. Typically beginning teachers earn the same or less than someone working at a call center, but those teachers who teach longer and who receive “tenure”, may receive as much as double what a person working in a call center can earn. Both positions earn significantly more than the salary of an average worker in Costa Rica.

Possible Implications


Increased salaries for teachers may provide more incentive for higher enrollments in teacher preparation programs and increase professor work loads.

The overall language proficiency level of English teachers in primary and secondary schools may decrease as those with the highest proficiency levels leave to work in call centers. This may impact learning outcomes and affect teacher morale.

Teacher preparation programs may be restructured [or eliminated] to take into account the need/desire of more students to be trained to work in call centers.

The Ministry of Education may reduce or eliminate additional language training for English teachers.

Future directions in research


Do teachers return to the classroom after working in a call center? If so, why and what impact does this have?

What percentage of English teachers are leaving teaching to pursue employment in call centers? What are their reasons?

Does English improve in significant and specific ways from working in a call center?

What long-term impacts to English teaching and learning might result from the establishment of call centers?

How does what is happening in Costa Rica compare or contrast to other locations where call centers have been established?

Summary & Conclusion


There are conflicting views regarding how call centers are impacting English teaching and learning and English teacher preparation and also regarding the possible extent of the impact. There have clearly been implications for Costa Rica, both positive and negative. It is difficult to foresee what the long-term implications may be, but additional comparative research may provide some clues.

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Hold the phone: Globalization, call centers, and English teacher preparation in Costa Rica Janet...

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