3. PROBLEM STATEMENT
Who is users of english?
How is using english?
How is the pedagogical implication?
4. *
*Literature on the spread of English has grown tremendously in the last 20
years. Scholarly discussions on the global use of English have produced
such terms as World Englishes (e.g., Brutt-Griffler, 2002; Jenkins, 2003;
Kachru, Kachru & Nelson, 2006; Kirkpatrick, 2007), English as an
international language (e.g., McKay, 2002; 2008), and English as a lingua
franca (e.g., House, this volume; Jenkins, 2000; Seidlhofer, 2004). Issues
surrounding the global spread of English have been discussed from
various perspectives. These discussions are often framed from a macro-
perspective, focusing on the social, political, and economic value of
English as a global language (e.g., Crystal, 1997), inequalities between
English and other languages as symbolized by linguistic imperialism
(e.g., Phillipson, 1992, 2003), and the ultimate loss of minority
languages described as language death or linguistic genocide (e.g.,
Nettle & Romaine, 2000; Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000).
5. Users of English
1 Bilingual Speakers
It is widely agreed that today there are more bilingual
speakers of English than there are first language
speakers of English. Currently it is estimated that
over 1 billion people are learning English world wide
and according to the British Council, 750 million of
these learners are what are traditionally
called English as a foreign language (EFL) speakers
while approximately 375 million are English as a
second language (ESL) speakers (Beare, 2010).
6. Economic Elite
In addition to most speakers of English today being bilingual,
many language learners come from privileged economic
backgrounds. Currently language policies enacted by the
Chinese Ministry of Education, for example, have tended to
promote English language learning for the elite in China. In 1978,
the Ministry of Education issued the first unified primary and
secondary curriculum for the era of modernization. The directive
mandated that efforts in promoting English language proficiency
were to be aimed at strengthening English language teaching in
elite schools, which were expected to produce the English-
proficient personnel needed to successfully undertake national
modernization. In fact, in 1985 the Ministry of Education
exempted poorly resourced schools from providing English
instruction (Hu, 2005).
7. Uses of English
the dominant language of the world’s greatest military power;
allocated (co-)official status in a third of the world’s countries;
used across a wide range of ethnicities and nationalities;
employed for every conceivable literary genre;
the basis of the world’s biggest language industry;
the most common second language;
more widely taught as a foreign language than any other;
the most valuable linguistic component of human capital;
the foremost language of international scholarship;
the language most connected with others by means of bilingual
dictionaries;
involved in more language-contact situations than any other
language. (p. 225)
8. Access to Jobs
The centrality of English in transnational corporations and
outsourcing is an indication of changing work categories. Reich
(1991, as cited in Warschauer, 2000) categorizes the present work
force into three categories:
Routine-production service workers include factory workers but
also routine information workers, such as data processors and
payroll clerks.
In-person service workers include workers such as janitors,
hospital attendants, and taxi drivers.
Symbolic analysts spend much of their time analyzing symbol-
based (numerical and textual) information. These workers
include software engineers, management consultants, strategic
planners, lawyers, real estate developers, and research scientists.
(pp. 517–518)
9. Communication
Central to the spread of English is its role in
providing a means of communication for a
variety of purposes—scientific
advancements, advertising, education,
diplomacy, entertainment, and so on. We
will consider some of these roles as a way of
illustrating the centrality of English today in
accessing and sharing information.
10. Research and Publishing
In many fields, but particularly in scientific fields, there
is pressure for scholars to publish in English. Phillipson
(2003) points out the negative effects of such a policy:
…the pressures to publish “internationally” rather
than locally are intense, and are seen as applicable to
all scholars. This can lead to a neglect of local or
national topics. It can also lead to a false sense of
priorities when posts are filled, if writing for an
“international” journal is assumed to imply better
quality than in a national one. (p. 81)
11. Diplomacy
International diplomacy is another area in which
English is becoming essential. Many foreign diplomats
are under pressure to learn English to keep their job.
For example, an article in the Jakarta Post, entitled,
“No English, no diplomacy,” argues that foreign
diplomats in Indonesia and other countries must
increase their skills in English or they will risk
“humiliating the country” and decrease the chances of
the country winning more foreign investments
(Khalik, 2010).
12. Information Sharing on the
Internet
Information sharing on the Internet is still dominated by
English websites though Chinese websites are close behind.
According to the Internet World Stats, the number of
English websites is currently 27.3% while the number of
Chinese is 22.6%. Each of the following languages have less
than 8% of websites today in decreasing percentages—
Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Arabic, French,
Russian, and Korean (Internet World Stats, 2010). Such
percentages, however, may mask the predominance of
English on the web. Crystal (2003), for example, points out
that many websites in other languages provide an English
translation of their site.
13. Pedagogical Implications
What does the above discussion on the
present-day users and uses of English
suggest for the teaching of English? The
intention of the following discussion is to
highlight some of the major ramifications of
these features of English on EIL pedagogy
and to set forth principles that we believe
should inform a socially-sensitive EIL
pedagogy.
14. A Pedagogy That Resonates With the
Local Linguistic Landscape
Rather teachers need to consider factors such as the
following in making pedagogical decisions.
What languages are used in the local linguistic landscape
and how are they used?
What are the learners’ attitudes toward these languages?
What standards are adhered to in the local linguistic
landscape?
What are the major purposes the learners have for
acquiring English?
What is the proficiency level and age of the learner?
What are features of the local culture of learning?
15. A Respect for and Promotion of
Multilingualism
five tenets that Britain argues developed from colonial
history and presently inform the English teaching profession.
Tenet one: English is best taught monolingually.
Tenet two: the ideal teacher of English is a native-speaker.
Tenet three: the earlier English is taught, the better the
results.
Tenet four: the more English is taught, the better the
results.
Tenet five: if other languages are used much, standards of
English will drop.
16. Language Awareness Courses for All Students
The fact that English is currently being used in such a diverse
array of bilingual and multilingual contexts suggests the
importance of integrating language awareness activities in all EIL
courses. Discussing the teaching of English as a lingua franca,
Seidlhofer (2004) offers a bold proposal to replace English as a
school subject with language awareness which would focus on
the awareness of English as a lingua franca, including
communication strategies and accommodation skills through a
multilingual approach. The course could include strategies such
as “drawing on extralinguistic cues, identifying and building on
shared knowledge, gauging and adjusting to interlocutors’
linguistic repertoires, supportive listening, signaling
noncomprehension in a face-saving way, asking for repetition,
paraphrasing, and the like” (Seidlhofer, 2004, p. 227).
