This essay describes the global spread of English, its advantages and disadvantages, and its’ affects on language from my perspective as an ESL/EFL teacher at the Shanghai Singapore International School (SSIS) located in the outskirts of Shanghai. SSIS differs from other international schools in Shanghai due to its’ large Asian student population . As a Singaporean international school, many places are given in preference to Singaporean students irrespective of their level of English . This policy has caused differentiated levels of English in the classroom - from students who do not speak English at home to those who are fluent English speakers, and has opened the door to other Asian students who have low English levels who struggle through the curriculum under their parents’ belief that their future success lies in being able to communicate in English. In this context many of the students are learning English at the expense of their first language. Parents, pursuing future economic success for their children, choose to educate them in schools where English is the medium of instruction instead of their native language. This is a reaction to the growing dependence of trade from China which has seen a necessary increase for communication – either the west learns to speak Chinese or the Chinese will have to learn English to do trade (Phillipson 2008, p. 37). This results in a monolingual language policy that glorifies and allocates resources to learning English and renders other languages invisible (Phillipson & Skutnabb-Kangas 1996, p. 437). My personal narrative in this essay includes my own background and how it has influences my observations of my students in watching them struggle to gain knowledge through their second or thi... ... middle of paper ... ...2005, p. 41; Rajagopalan 2004, p. 111). DY’s context epitomizes Phillipson’s (1996) ‘ecology-of-language’ over the ‘diffusion-of-English’ paradigm, English speakers are able to understand non-standard British and American English and cope with a variety of accents, pronunciation, and dialects in English. A further issue to be considered is of what may lie in the future for DY when she leaves this community and experiences a monolingual environment of standard English where she may be seen as threatening to the linguistic power structure, or stigmatised through ‘linguistic prescriptivism’ (Kachru & Nelson 1996, p. 89) because of her dialect of English and nationality. Under the World English paradigm, Kachru & Nelson (1996) state that it is important to overcome monolingual views of people, language, cultures, and boundaries to give way to a broader view of English.
Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it
English as a communication tool holds prominent position in Chinese curriculum (Liu, 2012). Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) has seen its boost in China (Qiang & Wolff, 2007). Mastering English is an asset for students in job hunting and further education. As academic achievement is highly valued in Chinese culture, students are expected to achieve high marks in English tests (Liu, 2012). University students need to pass National English proficiency examinations, which are the part of the evaluation for obtaining degrees (Wolff, 2010). Students attend after-school English courses for enhancing their English because of the pressure (Liu, 2012). The majority of ELL students aim at improving the international English proficiency tests results, such as International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). ELL students are more motivated in the after-school English courses because of the high-target learning environment. However, the teacher-centred learning procedure neglects the long-term enhancement of students’ English level. The ignorance of the long-term development is due to less student involvement during the teaching procedure (Mo, 2012). Some Chinese ELL students choose to attend ESL courses abroad. The reasons are that they can have a better language environment (Wolff, 2010) and can engage more in the learning procedure (Smith & Hu, 2013). The aim of the study is to compare the teacher-centred teaching in China and student-centred teaching in Canada and to examine efficient teaching methods for Chinese speaking ELL
Another difficulty cultures deal with is language and the way people speak. In some cases, people struggle to belong by making changes in the way they speak the English language just to be assimilated. They attempt to use words and letters, as well as body language that fit in the norm; all in an attempt to denounce their original intonation and style of pronunciation. One ...
Robert McNeil's effectively uses expert opinions, personal anecdote and metaphors to inform how and why American English is evolving and proves to instructors, linguists and researchers that these changes are beneficial allowing a more diversified English language to emerge.
The diction that one uses can provoke a varied response, as seen in articles by Amy Tan and Firoozeh Dumas. Tan’s work, “Mother Tongue”, reminisces several anecdotes related to her mother’s “broken English” and the negative reactions by advanced English speakers. Tan recognizes her own tendency, when at home or with family, to slip back into the
DeFrancis, J. (1994). On Degendering English. Biography, Volume 17, Number 3, 1994, pp. 296-300 (article) University of Hawaii Press DOI: 10.1353/bio.2010.0312.
I did not read this short narrative just to read it. What I began to do was put myself in the shoes of the student whom
Language has been said to effect culture and a person’s way of thinking; in addition to culture effecting language. Throughout the last 100 years there have been apparent and subtle changes in the English language. The changes an English speaking person may see throughout their life time are different catchphrases, the way language is written, the type of formality used, and how deeply English is affected by cultures; as well as how it effects other cultures around the world.
Goodson & Gill (2011), believe when narrative learning is acknowledged and these techniques are “carried out with the full awareness and respect through collaboration” between the educator and the adult learner, “it brings about important shifts in self and motivations, and even a reflection on their places in the world can occur” (p.
Sharma, B., 2008. “World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, and English Pedagogy”, Journal of NELTA 13 (2), pp. 121-130. Available from
The spread of English where it used as a foreign and/or a second language may be compromised if it is replaced by another language such as Chinese or Spanish. For example, if China continues to gradually dominate the world economically, politically and technologically, its language could replace English as the major foreign language taught and learnt in various countries’ education systems because they b...
English is an international language that is considered as a language of business and worldwide communication. Therefore, many countries have been influenced by it and have adopted English as a medium of instruction. There have been many debates on whether English as a medium of instruction has a good or bad impact on those countries where English is not the first language. Some people claim that English is one of the ways of development, while others clearly states that English as a medium of instruction may have some negative impacts on non-English speakers. The essay will clearly show that the usage of English as a medium of instruction may create some difficulties for students in learning effectively and for the countries to promote its
English language has become the common international language and has become the lingua franca. In addition, English is frequently the language of international interaction (Su, 2006). In relation, instruction of English as a second language is preferred. Furthermore, English has reached the position of being an international language which has led to important consequences for its teaching in an educational system.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Teaching world Englishes. The other tongue: English across cultures, 2, 355-366.
English spreads widely in each countries, no matter the area of region or information transfer, English becomes an important position in global language. As the specification of a global language, it essentially refers to a language that learned and spoken internationally, so English can be the most out-standing. According to the number of English-speaking calculations, English is the official language used by most countries, English is the most widely used second language in the world, and the percentage of web pages with English content is estimated to be over 50% (Crystal, 2003). Meanwhile, the history and usefulness cause English to be a global language, and they mainly influence to spread English faster in China and to bring convenience