Philippine Freelance-Education Industry and Globalization: a case study on the State of Freelance Filipino ESL Educators Teaching Chinese Students Online

Abstract

Technological advancement in the recent century has led to the proliferation of ComputerMediated Communication (CMC). This gave birth to the concept of freelancing in an attempt to simplify the delivery of services; creating independent entrepreneurs who sell their labor or “product” through Online Labor Markets (OLMs). There are different freelancing fields, one of which is the Tutorial Services industry. Freelancers under this genre are English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers that aim to improve the vocabulary range, grammar, and fluency of non-English speaking students. Though Online Language Learning (OLL), majority of Filipino ESL freelance-educators teach Chinese students from Mainland China in preparation for their Zhao Kao and Gaokao exams which, culturallyspeaking, determines their “success” in the future. Which begs the question... How is the condition of Filipino ESL Educators related to the world-wide phenomenon of globalization in the Philippines? So far there is hardly any literature about the Freelance-Education Industry in the Philippines. In order to scientifically answer this question, it was important to analyze the state of Freelance Filipino ESL Educators using critical theory, dialectical materialism, and historical materialism as its theoretical framework. Specifically, seeing the role of Filipino labor in the international arena and contextualizing their situations, providing an in-depth information about the industry. The study was purely qualitative. The situation of Filipino ESL Freelance-Educators, Chinese ESL Students, and the interrelation of globalization and the freelance-education industry requires in-depth interviews with qualified respondents based on the established criteria. The researcher interviewed a key-informant who specializes in Online Language Learning (OLL) and 15 in-depth interview respondents, composed of 10 Filipino ESL Teachers, 5 Native English Speaking Teachers (NEST), and 3 Chinese Students. The researcher used document review and discourse analysis, converting oral communication into objective data. From the data gathered OLL businesses are moving away from NEST to Filipino ESL Teachers because they are cheaper. The increasing demand of Chinese parents motivates these OLMs to hire more teachers. Filipino teachers face strict rules and regulation inside the company. There is no clear employee-employer relationship between the employee and the company blurring the latter’s obligation to the former.