English as a Global Language: Good or Bad?

In order to address the issue of whether English as a global language is good or bad, one needs to assess its claim to this pole position. How does a language qualify to earn a global status?

A language achieves a genuinely global status when it develops special role(s) recognized in every country. One of these is that large numbers speak it as a mother-tongue. English language is one of a few several languages that many countries use as mother-tongue: It occupies this role in USA, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa. Spanish is also spoken as mother-tongue in twenty countries other than Spain, but mostly in Latin America.

English occupies the distinct fame of being the only language which has approximately 260 million non-native speakers( compared to 873 million mostly native speakers of Mandarin, 178 million native speakers of Chinese, and 70 million non-native speakers of Spanish) spread across the globe;from Fiji and Hawaii in the Pacific, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean to St. Hellena in the Atlantic.

Seventy countries in every continent of the world, have given it the official language status- the language of government, courts, media, entertainment and education. As these functions are very important, English is learned or taught from an early stage. Thus, it has become the second language in majority of these countries.

Arguably it is the language of education and research in nearly all well known universities of the world.

Due to its central position in many countries,serious questions have been asked by sociolinguists whether its influence is really a plus, vis-a-vis the roles, and advancement of native languages in certain parts of the world. It has been dubbed the Language of imperialism. Phillipson(1992) calls the dominance of English language, linguistic imperialism.His arguments are supported by those who say that English language has maintained an assertive structural, and cultural dominance over native languages. In comparison native languages are deemed to be inferior to it.

However, judging by its role in world politics,research, media and entertainment it is hard to see any negativity in this. Again,interest in learning English as a foreign language(EFL), second language(ESL) and as an international language(EIL) has grown by leaps and bounds, in populous countries like China.

Thus it seems that English language, rather than being a tool of imperialism, is
factually the language of advancement.

References:
Crystal, D.(2003), English as a Global Language; Cambridge: CUP Phillipson, R.(1992), Linguistic Imperialism; Oxford: OUP Centre for Economic and Policy Research(www.cepr.org/press/DP2055PR.htm)

ESL Teachers Critiqued

Few professionals are at cross-roads as Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. Entangled in a web of controversy by researchers, and the demands of their learners and policy makers, all they can do is to concede to the fact that it is the piper who calls the tune.

As most learners of EFL still aspire to achieve the competence of a native speaker of English, adverts for EFL still carry the caption: MUST BE A NATIVE SPEAKER. This demand has fuelled the speculation that there are many ‘unqualified’ personnel with native accents, who are successfully doing business in the field of ESL/ESL at the expense of qualified personnel whose only handicap is that English is not their native language.

This, notwithstanding some researchers’ agreement that accents do not necessarily affect intelligibility and comprehensibility of the speaker.A small, but strong lobby of native English teachers are also claimed to be pushing for the socio-cultural norms, and values of an English speaking country, in the learning of English.

However, the market forces of supply and demand for ESL teachers have ensured that it is business as usual, whilst there is a raging debate as to whether ESL/EFL fall within the framework of a career or profession. With varying needs of language learners, it is argued, it is unrealistic to insist on universal qualifications for tutors when in some cases all learners need are a few phrases for use when on tour abroad.

Furthermore, it is possible that learners’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for language learning is motivated by the teachers’ communicative style.

As all this is going on, a number of scholars acknowledge the world wide growth of what some call World Englishes. In recognition of the outcrops of a variety of English dialects across the globe, they advocate for teaching of English in relation to the realities of the language’s current spread and use.

In the meantime, even as the demand for learning English grows, many questions still abound as to whether the future of ESL as a professional career is bright.