English-language voluntourism is a practice in which young, often uncredentialled and inexperienced, Inner Circle (Kachru, 1997) speakers teach English in the Global South on a short-term basis. This paper examines how language immersion is used as a dominant linguistic ideology within these programs and with what effects.
English-language voluntourism is a practice in which young, often uncredentialled and inexperienced, Inner Circle (Kachru, 1997) speakers teach English in the Global South on a short-term basis in the name of economic development. Within English-language voluntourism, teaching stints can be as short as one week, and volunteers are not required to have educator credentials or prior instructional experience. English-language voluntourism programs are generally operated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which use global citizenship and humanitarian discourses (cf. Jefferess, 2008) in their marketing materials. Volunteer tourism as a whole has been charged with Orientalizing local people (Crossley, 2012) and failing to deliver substantive material change to host communities (Butcher & Smith, 2015). Critiques of English-language voluntourism, specifically, however, remain few. This paper attempts to addresses this gap, and it reports on a study of English-language voluntourism and its attendant ideologies. Research questions included: How are English language teaching and learning discussed within English-language voluntourism? What instructional methods or pedagogical techniques do NGO sponsors promote? What ideas or images about effective language teaching circulate within English-language voluntourism? Drawing upon data collected through a content analysis of 20 NGO sponsors' websites, I argue that English-language voluntourism utilizes “language immersion” as a dominant linguistic ideology. In doing so, these programs reify and extend Phillipson’s (1992) native speaker fallacy, or the idea that any Inner Circle English speaker is also a natural and effective language teacher. English-language voluntourism’s stress on immersion also bolsters the idea that among vulnerable people in the Global South, English language competency can be easily attained through casual conversation with short-term, visiting volunteers. This oversimplification of language teaching and learning implies that poverty, too, is amenable to a quick fix, as NGO sponsors frame English “skills” (Urcioli, 2008) as a confirmed solution to widespread unemployment and uneven educational opportunities.
