English Pre-Service Teachers' Decisions on Working as Bilingual Agents at Call Centers and Their Perspectives for Future Employment

Abstract

Currently, there is a growing trend for pre-service language teachers to work as bilingual agents due to the increase in call centers as a means of customer service. This research investigates the reasons why pre-service language teachers, choose to work as bilingual agents in call centers instead of pursuing a career in education as teachers of foreign languages which is part of the essence of their professional training. The results indicate that the main reasons for their interest were related to payment, flexible schedules, opportunities to improve their communicative competencies in the target language and enhance their cultural awareness.  When asked about their future employment prospects, they expressed a desire to become language teachers. However, a significant group is uncertain about their decision to become teachers, and some are more interested in continuing to work as call center agents. Following a mixed research design, the researcher developed the present study integrating qualitative and quantitative data for more reliable results. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, surveys and focus groups. Participants were 55 pre-service language teachers currently working as agents at a call center. The data was analysed using thematic analysis to identify categories that emerged. In addition, the research is comprehensively discussed, and the conclusions of the study are presented. The results obtained provide an opportunity for discussion and reflection on the conditions of teachers in educational contexts compared to other job offers.