EduCareer StaffBlog"Rinjin Blog" | "EduCareer"Supporting your career in English teaching in the Japanese school system

ESL vs EFL

2010/11/09

If you come into the world of English teaching, you hear the terms "ESL" and "EFL" used often. Texts, tests, and qualifications will usually be labeled as geared towards one or the other. But what do these terms mean, and how do they affect your classroom?

ESL stands for "English as a Second Language". It refers to students learning English in an English speaking country, usually for children of immigrants.

EFL stands for "English as a Foreign Language". It refers to students learning English in a country where English is not a national language.

ESL students are usually under a lot of pressure to pick up the language quickly, due to a need to be able to function in the English-speaking country (and for school-age students, a need to get up to grade level to participate in their other subjects). ESL students may have varying levels of literacy even in their native language but have a learning advantage with listening and speaking as they are now immersed in an English environment.

EFL students usually study English as part of their academic coursework or for business. Their level of motivation can vary greatly depending if they are choosing to study the language or being forced to learn it. Students studying EFL often have a lot of practice with input skills such as reading, but lack in output skills such as speaking and writing because of their limited chances to use English.

Because of these differences, materials geared towards ESL may not always work for EFL, and vice-versa. But for people who enjoy teaching English, both paths have advantages and there are a large number of ESL teachers who come to teach EFL in Japan, and teachers who find they enjoy EFL in Japan and go on to ESL in their home countries.

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