With an estimated 1.6 billion speakers world-wide, English has situated itself as a global language. While there may be competitors such as Chinese or Arabic, English dominates as a language spoken by different people, in different places, for different means. It is spoken on all continents and in most countries either in an official or unofficial capacity. It is the number one foreign language taught in most schools and dominates as a lingua franca in the realm of politics and commerce (Crystal, 2003; Eurobarometer, 2012). As a result, Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) has become a global industry. In 2012, it’s estimated that the English language learning market was more than $63 billion USD (GSV, 2012). To meet the demand, around 250,000 native English speakers work as English teachers abroad in more than 40,000 schools and language institutes around the world (Hoare, 2010). In trying to meet such high demand, the TEFL industry has encountered several critical issues in training, recruiting, and retaining teachers. For one, attrition is particularly high. One TEFL recruitment agency estimates that fifty percent of teachers remain at their school for a second year, dropping to 10 percent in the third year (International TEFL Academy, n.d.). Second, TEFL pre-service and in-service training is notoriously inconsistent. TEFL programs can be an online course or a Master’s degree programs. In fact, many schools even provide certification to teachers after they arrive and while they are teaching (Hobbs, 2013). Despite hurdles, there have been calls for improvement from within the profession. Many have argued for increased professional standards including increased regulation for certification, improved pre-service and in-service training, increased accountability, and better recruiting practices to battle high attrition rates (Rogers, 2010; Johnston, 1997). While there is a call for improvement within the profession, the details thereof largely remain vague particularly regarding teacher education. As such, the proposed research aims to shed light on the notion of 1) the ideal TEFL teacher and 2) the education and training necessary for one to meet or at least approach the notion of the ideal. As such, this research will interview TEFL teachers with several years of experience within varying teaching contexts. The purpose is to gain insight into professional needs and desires of those committed to the profession as well as the changes they wish to see for new teachers entering the profession.

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