“There is no up!” A corpus-assisted, critical thematic analysis of perceptions of teachers in the privately-run english-language teaching sector in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

This study focusses on primary themes arising from interview and survey data discourses of English Language Teacher (ELT) participants. It reflects their evaluations and perceptions of privately-run, Irish-based, ELT school workplaces, as well as perceptions believed to be held of them by sector outsiders. Data are examined through a Corpus-Assisted, Critical Thematic Analysis lens. The research is undertaken against a backdrop of a global expansion of English as an international language, which has created increased demand for suitably qualified, experienced teachers. The ELT industry in Ireland is worth €2.3 billion per annum. Irrespective, Irish-based ELT teachers have, until recently, been something of a voiceless and invisible cohort within both ELT and the wider Irish, teaching profession. This mixed-methods study thus explores attitudes held by English-language teachers with direct experience of working in the Republic of Ireland, how teachers perceive their role within Irish-based ELT, and how workplace conditions impact this. Of key interest is metaphor that teachers use. Critical and corpus analysis of data saw motivation for entry to the sector emerge in a metaphorical ELT AS PATH, with a historical TEACHER AS BACKPACKER identity remaining pervasive in the contemporary, Irish ELT context. Thematic sector descriptions additionally found ELT AS PROFESSION consistently offset by ELT AS BUSINESS, necessitating a novel TEACHER AS ENTREPRENEUR identity. Finally, wider societal and ELT discourses saw cross-cohort language choices realised thematically and metaphorically in a sense of not being valued societally as a ‘real teacher’.