Private Language Schools' Discourse on the Net: For-profit Ideology and Claims to Educational Legitimacy

In today's globalizing world, English is a highly-valued asset. As a result, people worldwide are increasingly taking courses in English as a second language (ESL). This situation has been capitalized by private language schools promoting fun-and-fast ESL courses combined with other services not typical of education, such as adventure vacations; the Internet being a key tool for reaching a global clientele. The issue at stake is how to discern what objectives these schools seem to further discursively. This study examines how private language schools use discourse and visuals on their websites in order to portray a vested representation of ESL instruction. Current issues on the hegemonic status of English as well as widespread assumptions in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) are discussed. Selected private language schools' websites are scrutinized by using elements from Fairclough's approach to Critical Discourse Analysis and Kress and van Leuuven's visual grammar. This work should be useful for researchers working within a critical paradigm, and for anyone interested in taking ESL courses to make informed decisions about what private language schools have to offer.