5 Reasons Language Schools Refuse To Change

Why do language schools keep using methods that don't work — even though the research has been clear for decades? I spent 14 years inside the system. Here are the five real reasons: Nobody knows the theory. CELTA courses don't mention Krashen. Directors don't know the difference between "acquire" and "learn." You can't question a system you've never been told exists. The publishers won't touch it. Textbooks are built on grammar syllabi because that's what sells. A CI-based curriculum can't be packaged into a $60 workbook with answer keys. Grammar teaching is performative labour. A teacher at a whiteboard looks busy. A teacher facilitating a discussion looks lazy — even when the second one is doing the real work. Grammar tests produce numbers, fluency doesn't. 28/40 fits a spreadsheet. "She sounds more fluent now" doesn't. Institutions prefer the appearance of rigour to actual evidence. The identity problem. Tell a teacher who's been drilling the present perfect for 15 years that it never helped anyone — you're not critiquing their method. You're threatening their entire professional identity. If you're a language teacher or learner who's ever felt something was wrong but couldn't articulate it, this is for you.