ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE part 1

ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE To be considered an international language, a language cannot be linked TO ANY ONE COUNTRY OR CULTURE; rather, it must belong to those who use i

ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

Part 1

 Sandra Lee McKay: Teaching English as an

International Language

ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE

To be considered an international

language, a language cannot be

linked TO ANY ONE COUNTRY OR

CULTURE; rather, it must belong

to those who use it Hence, the

typical relationship that exists btw

culture and language needs to be

re-examined

This relationship needs to be

examined with reference

- to the teaching of discourse

competence

- The use of cultural materials in

the classroom

- The cultural assumptions that

inform teaching methods

 The question of whose discourse

rules to apply in the use of EIL will

be problematic Some of the central issues are:

-SHOULD THOSE WHO USE EIL BE ASKED TO ACQUIRE NATIVE SPEAKERS’ STANDARDS IN BOTH SPOKEN AND WRITTEN

INTERACTIONS?

- SHOULD THEY EMPLOY

STANDARDS CONSISTENT WITH THEIR OWN CULTURE?

- IF ENGLISH IS APPROACHED AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE, WHOSE CULTURE OF LEARNING SHOULD BE USED?

Cultural topics

Currently, many ELT materials use cultural topics related to native English-speaking countires on the grounds that learning English should entail knowledge of native English-speaking cultures

Is such an approach appropriate in the teaching of an international language?

What do you think?

1 ENGLISH AS AN

INTERNATIONAL

LANGUAGEDEFINING AN INTERNATIONAL

LANGUAGE

For some, an international language is

equated with a language that has a

large number of native speakers.

the 5 most widely spoken mother

tongues in the world today, might be

considered international languages

However, only if spoken by a large

number of native speakers of other

languages, the language can serve

as a language of wider

communication

English is, in this sense, the international language par excellence.

A language achieves global status when it develops a “special role that is recognized in every

country” and this special status can be achieved either by :

a)making it an official language

of the country or

b) by a country giving special priority to English by requiring its study as a foreign language

Crystal (1997): Some countries that give special status to English:

L1 337,407,300 L2 235,351,300

Categorisationa of countires in which English is used:

(Kachru)

INNER CIRCLE L1

OUTER CIRCLE

Studied as a foreign language

EXPANDING CIRCLE

Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles

 Inner Circle: e.g USA, UK, Austarlia (320-380 million)

 Outer Circle: e.g India, the Philippines, Singapore

(150-300 million)

Expanding Circle: e.g China, Japan, Germany

(100-1000 million)

The roles English

serves

countries of the world are best conceived of in

terms of three concentric circles:

of the country

language in a multilingual country, and

as a foreign language.

Features of an international language

 “International language” – the language which is used by

people of different nations to communicate with one another

 Important assertions regarding THE RELATIONSHIP OF AN

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE AND CULTURE:

- Its learners do not need to internalize the culutral norms of

native speakers of that language

- The ownership of an international language becomes

- The educational goal of learning it is to enable learners to

communicate their ideas and culture to others

English as an international language

As an international language, E is used both in a global sense for international communication btw countries and in a local sense as a languge of wider communication within

multilingual societies.

The use of E is no longer connected to the culture of Inner

Circle countires.

In a local sense, E becomes embedded in the culture of the

country in which it is used.

In a global sense, one of tis primaary functions is to enable

speakers to share with others their ideas and culture

…an international language

spreads not by speakers of

that language migrating to

other areas but rather by many individuals acquiring the

language

Reasons for the spread of English

acquiring the language

development of largely monolingual English-speaking

communities (US, New Zealand, Australia)

Macroacquisition, in reference to Englsih, has occurred largely

in Outer Circle countries but even in some Expanding Circles countires The result is not monolingualism but rather large- scale bilingualism

Microacquisition and its implications

First, it means that the study of E as an

international language must involve an

investigation of bilingualism in both Outer and Expanding Circle countires, rather than on

LANGUAGE SHIFT (moving to the Inner Circle countries);

Second, because the current spread of E entails macroacquisition, the focus of investigation must be on bilingual E speech communities rather than on individual language learners

Urban areas are typically the focus for linguistic change

They are also important points for language contact and diversity, and they encourage the growth of a middle class who become

consumers of the global material culture

URBANISATION has importan effects on language demography New languages emerge, others change, some are lost; new patterns of English uses will arise among second-language speakers

3 MORE REASONS FOR THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH – past and present

a) IN THE PAST

Colonialism, speaker migration, and new technology

- 19th and 20th century British and American coloialism and

the migration of English-speaking individuals to other areas

- Briatin becoming the world’s leading industrial and trading

nation (beginning of the 19th century)

b) CURRENT SPREAD AND THE MICROACQUISITION

OF THE LANGUAGE WITHIN EXISTING SPEECH

COMMUNITIES

The current uses of Englsih in various intellectual, economic, and cultural arenas:

in the Union of International Associations’ Yearbook, 85% make official use of E.

world film market.

NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH

 The threat to existing languages

 The influence on cultural identity

 The association of the language with and economic elite

CONCERNS:

The dominance of E:

many individuals learn E because they want access to such things as scientific and technological information global economic trade, and higher education

Many concerns are raised in relation to the negative economic repercussions of the spread of English One of the primry concerns in this regard is the strong relationship btw

concerns in this regard is the strong relationship btw

economic wealth and proficiency in the language, and the role that language education policy and practices play in promoting this

otherwise do not have access to effective formal education may

be unable to learn E well enough to obtain jobs and to participate

in decision-making systems that use E

Because education is a major concern of the state, this fundamental shift in the manner of acquisition means that state policies play a decisive role in determining who has acess to the institutions of the modern market and therefore to political power This shif to school-based language learning is a worldwide phenomenon, and

so language policy plays an important role in the structure of

power and inequality in countries through the world

…“Knowing English is like possessing the fabled Aladdin’s lamp, which permits one to open, as it were, the linguistic gates to international

business, technology, science and travel In

short, E provides lingustic power.”

Check your

understanding

 What is necessary for a language to be an international language?

 Who does an international language belong to?

 When does a language achieve a global status and how is it achieved?

 The categorisation of the countries where E is spoken is…(Kachru)?

 What is the role of E in those countires?

 What are the features of an international language?

 What is the educational goal of learning it?

 What is EIL in a local and global sense?

 What is a language spread by migration?

 What is a microacquisition?

 What is a language shift?

 What is urban migration?

 What are historical and current reasons for the spread of English?

 What are the negative effects?

 What are the concerns raised in relation to the negative economic

repercussions of the spread of English (Tollefson) – explain!?