Private Tutoring: A Global Phenomenon in ELT

This introductory chapter sets the scene for English private tutoring (EPT) in the global context of English language teaching (ELT). It commences with the expanding definition of private tutoring and its metaphor of shadow education and a discussion of a variety of vocabularies and parameters such as “private tutoring in English”, “English private tuition” and “private English education” across different contexts. It then reviews the current situation in EPT, including its scale, intensity and nature in a wide range of English as a first language and English as an additional language countries. The chapter ends with an overview of the collection in this volume from the 13 selected countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America, including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Morocco, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.