Publisher's Synopsis
This is a unique applied linguistic study which demonstrates that the history of TEFLers is very different from the history of TEFL. Instead of studying theories of language learning and teaching, it explores the experience of being a TEFLer through the ages, using a wide range of fictional and fictive sources: novels, plays, biographies, memoirs, essays, and poems. Part One considers the present and recent past through an analysis of 15 fictional works and five memoirs. Part Two is concerned with the experiences of some historical iconic figures from the world of TEFL, beginning with the sixteenth century and ending with figures associated with the British Council and International House. Along the way one meets Victorian governesses, Berlitz teachers, and literary figures from the inter-War ‘Golden Age’ of travel. Interposed are some of the experiences of the author garnered during his long and varied career as an expatriate TEFLer.
