Success of Language Schools Depend on Their Students Not Tanking Language Learning Seriously

The concept of an English-language school already puzzled me. These schools, privately run and often have no accreditation from government authorities in charge of regulating educational institutions, propose that students show up in a different, English-language country to learn the language through classes and immersion. Yet, with the tuition and living expenses high and the concept of scholarships nonexistent, students can ill-afford a full-time study lasting beyond a few weeks, especially considering that they cannot make money working on the side while enrolled.

Perhaps even more puzzling is what the students plan to do after finishing their short stints in the language school. Because the school is not accredited, students will not receive any certificate immediately recognized by employers and universities. Beyond what they can write on their resumes and brag about in interviews, students cannot prove that language school attendance will be valid evidence that they can better fit with further English-language learning or professional development. In other words, from an academic and professional perspective, a few weeks at a language school is a dead end.

Some nationalities clearly see through the pointlessness of joining these programs. These schools rarely attract students from China, not because the Chinese are fluent in English or have no money to spare. Instead, as the abundance of Chinese students in my current job suggests, many learn English with a proper plan to enroll in an English-speaking university, followed by the use of that university diploma to find an English-speaking job. They understand that language school does not help them do either, no matter how effective the classroom and immersive learning can be.

But language schools prove popular with other nationalities. The Japanese is a prominent example. Even here in Malta, by no definition close or cheap for Japanese students to come for a few weeks of English immersion, some schools have dedicated Japanese staff members. Whatever marketing efforts they conduct in Japan seem to be working well, as my recent trip to an international exchange event on the island found a disproportionate number of Japanese attendees, of all age groups, hailing from the country's various language schools. 

Why do they come, especially considering that, at least per online review videos, many profess to not be able to actually improve their English in such a short time? Perhaps learning English is the least of their worries. A short stint outside the country, even if pointless burning through savings in the eyes of others, could be considered a brief period of respite from the corporate world in the eyes of the Japanese attendees. With little savings and prerequisite skills, they cannot aspire to full-time English degree programs in universities. So why not just take a "study" vacation?

Behind the mentality is unspoken flippancy toward the very nature of learning English. Because the vast majority will simply head back to Japan for work after language school, they do not see the urgency of actually improving their language skills. After all, living and working in Japan, for the vast majority, does not require the expertise of any other language besides Japanese. With little ambition to work and live beyond the national borders for any purpose other than brief travels and language school attendance, they need not see their time in Malta as anything more than a vacation with no professional implications.

Privileged as they may be, the casual Japanese language school students may become a dying breed in the years and decades to come. Besides the continued demographic decline of the country that limits how many can show up, the Japanese language schoolgoers may also find the relative economic decline of their country both as a financial hindrance to attendance and impetus to rethink whether the weeks-long stints are actually worth the financial cost. After all, if Japanese companies are more dependent on foreign customers in years to come, English learning needs to be taken more seriously.

Language schools will need to keep up with those changing attitudes. No longer can they scrape by the idea that they can provide friendships, vacations, and intercultural communication with little correlation with workplace and academic needs. Instead, in a world where even the most insular Japanese students need to think about more globalized careers, language schools need to ensure, through changes in their curriculums, that they can offer students the professional-level English instructions and even international networking needed to thrive in the globalized economy. Can they? We will have to see.