English as a second language (ESL)

The world population stands at 7.5 billion today. 94% of this population i.e. 7.05 billion don’t

speak English as their first language and 75% of this population i.e.5.625 billion don’t speak English at all. 1.7 billion (22%) of the population is learning English today. This is forecast to increase to 2.5 billion (30%) soon.

These staggering statistics explain the burgeoning market for ESL providers. The size of the ESL industry stands at the US $63 billion today. There are well over 30 companies in this market and this number is increasing by the day.

Statistics notwithstanding, there are many factors responsible for the growth of the ESL market. Let’s discuss a few key factors-

1 – Ubiquity of the internet

In 2010, 1.8 billion people were connected to the internet. This number grew to 4 billion in 2018. This has grown to almost 4.66 billion in October 2020 – 59% of the world population. As recently as in 2017, the forecast was that there would be 4.6 billion internet users in 2030!

2 – The burgeoning middle class

The world is seeing a burgeoning middle class which in turn is fueling gravitation to urban areas China, India & Africa are witnessing this growth in a big way. This growth is particularly due to their population growth.

3 – English - The global lingua franca

25% of the world population speaks English. It’s increasingly becoming the language of business, politics, diplomacy, science, technology, travel, information technology, entertainment and culture.

Governments all over have recognized the importance of English and announced initiatives to make their population more ‘English literate’. Some examples –

• Japan has made English an important subject in primary education

• The Russian government has mandated English as being a pre-requisite to becoming a civil servant

• Mexico, Vietnam and other countries have announced similar initiatives

Businesses, especially multinational businesses, have similarly mandated English to be the corporate language of choice.

4 – Migration

Many developed countries today have a very large percentage of migrants. The USA alone has 21% of immigrants who speak a language other than English at home

Likewise in The UK, the number of non-speaking school children has soared to 1.3 million, Australia is another such country where approximately 23% of the population don’t speak English at home.

5 – Demand for Officially Recognised ESL Exams

ESL skills are increasingly becoming a prerequisite for entry into top universities globally. And these skills are certified by globally recognized institutions like Cambridge Assessment, Trinity College London, TOEFL etc.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that global conversations of any meaning & substance are starting to be centred on English. Over the next few years, well over 3 billion new consumers will become part of this ‘global conversation’. Factors mentioned earlier in my article – the ubiquity of the internet, the growing middle class, migration etc. will give a huge boost to the ESL market.

This in turn has fuelled the demand for ‘native’ English speakers to take up ESL teaching. And being a native English speaker alone is not enough. It’s becoming increasingly important for aspiring teachers to get qualifications like TESOL, TEFL etc., to give themselves a stab at the ESL teachers market.