All over the world, English is considered an international language, it is the bridge among the countries. In Viet Nam English has become essential and mandatory communication language since the opening of its doors to the world in 1986. There are many companies from all over the world started coming to invest in Vietnam. This has motivated Vietnamese to learn foreign language especial English to facilitate efficient and effective communication among their counterparts. Understanding the importance of English in the developing process in Vietnam, the Vietnamese Prime Minister issued Decision “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Formal Education System in the Period 2008 -2020” to promote the study of English further and
In addition, many English teachers usually use traditional methods to teach vocabulary, such as translating, repeating the new words and reciting the new words. These methods of learning and teaching English vocabulary are intentional learning, in other words, explicit learning. Furthermore, Viet Nam is not an English-speaking country and its cultural background, and educational philosophy is totally different from the English speaking countries. Students in Viet Nam only study and use English in the classroom environment and they have to learn the vocabulary mechanically. Thus rote learning is common and popular in Viet Nam. These are the reasons why most Vietnamese students afraid of reading in English and they cannot acquire the knowledge naturally. However, many researchers found that “many native speakers acquire 70% of their native language incidentally as they meet with new words in the speech and writing of others.” (Gui, 2010. (as cited in Read, 2000) ). This means incidental learning is one of the useful ways for language acquisition. According to Gui “Incidental vocabulary learning means learners acquire vocabulary unconsciously when they are using language for the communicative purpose.” (as cited in Schmitt, 2000: 120) . Furthermore Hunt and Beglar (1998) (as cite in Zarie &
Last point is that English is the most common international language which helps people from different countries to communicate easily . Also because of the difficult economic status in some countries, many candidates around the world aim to study, work and live in foreign countries because it offers better life environment and in fact those countries are encouraging people to settle in . This can be fulfilled only through learning English.
In your company, a position that pays a higher salary and has more regular work hours opens up so you decide to apply for the job. Your supervisor tells you that you cannot be considered for the position because although you are fully fluent in English, you have a Vietnamese accent. Instead, another employee who speaks with a British accent is interviewed for the position. In Myriam Marquez’s article “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” and Amy Tan’s article “Mother Tongue” we get a taste of what it feels like to be linguistically impaired and discriminated against. Through exploring Tan’s and Marquez’s articles, one can see the importance of learning a certain amount of English so one can get far in life and not be taken advantage of,
People utilize this language not only to communicate with the different people from the distinct countries but also to apply in their daily life needs. Indeed, we can see this popular language at all countries we arrive; therefore, it is exact to say that learning and being proficient in English is crucial in the 21st century. If people are not good at English, they can encounter some problems; such as giving or acquiring the incorrect information, missing the useful inventions, or losing the opportunity to gain the proper
The purpose of this essay is to show why and how learning English is important. English is in our lives everywhere, we can find it when we read a blog, a magazine, a book or the news paper, when we watch videos or movies, when we hear music, when we send an e-mail, English is present. When you travel to different countries you realize that English is the main language spoken around the world. This is important because it helps you understand the diversity of different cultures and to find interesting places.
Over a billion people throughout the world are learning or speaking English (Pike, 2013). Plenty of people share their opinions in English on social media. International conferences are usually held in English, ranging from education, technology and entertainment. Recent years, the governments throughout the world have tried to create an environment to allow young people begin to study English in elementary school. Now, it is easier to see the importance of English.
Therefore, we should not ignore the problem of English. There is a solution to alter this critical situation as it is always worth repeating the importance of English Language. There are initiatives and programmes can be done to amend the limited English proficiency problem. One of the programmes is called English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes can be offered locally. According to The Star, (November 15, 2015), Philippines needs to concentrate on the issues of ensuring the quality of ESL schools and the qualified ESL teachers. In order to strengthen and arrest the diminishing grade of the language, the representatives of the academe should focus on professional and materials development, knowledge sharing and highlight the requirement for skills in differentiated instructions. This can actually help to boost the English competency in the nation. On the other hand, the government of Malaysia has introduced the Dual Language Programme and the Highly Immersive Programme with a budget allocation of RM38.5 million. Therefore, there would be around 300 schools will be identified for this project to help the youngsters to increase the level of English proficiency. This is vital because according to Jobstreet.com, English was the official business language on the 91 per cent of the companies surveyed. In order to stay in the competitive global environment, everyone should take the initiatives and motivation to keep themselves moving forward to decrease the disappointing level of English command among
It develops alongside other languages. The purpose of teaching an international language is to facilitate communication of learners’ ideas and culture in an English medium. However, with English what culture should provide the norms for using the language – Inner Circle countries or Outer Circle countries like Singapore and India. Some linguists contend that it is impossible to teach a language without teaching about the culture of that language. However, it is very difficult for English to determine what culture should be associated with English or can several cultures be associated with it. Features of an International Language (Brutt-Griffler, 2002)A ttributes of an International Language (Smith, 1976) An international language becomes “de-nationalized.” There is no necessity for L2 speakers to internalize the cultural norms of L1 speakers of that language. The purpose of teaching an international language is to facilitate communication of learners’ ideas and culture in an English medium. The spread of English is encouraged by the growing number of speakers of English, the economic power associated with English, the amount of information stored in English, and a belief in the power of
In some countries, English is a very common tool with higher status over the other local languages. With the rising power of English, many languages are facing extinction and the diversity of cultures in the world is full of challenges. In Singapore,
Various studies have observed the impact of incidental learning vs. intentional learning. As expressed in Schmitt´s (2008) review, although learners acquired new vocabulary it was at the expense of acquiring adequate knowledge of
If a person knows more than one language, it is an advantage for him/her to come forward in future compare to the others who only know minimal languages. English language has been spread in Malaysia since the colonization period and it plays a dominant role in the administration, government and commerce (Subramaniam, 2003). Even now, Malaysia had introduced vast programmes to build up and strengthen the usage of English starting from the younger generation. Most recent is ‘Upholding the Malay Language and Strengthening the English’ (MBMMBI) policy that aims to strengthen the English language so that this international language could be mastered and enable Malaysians to venture in multiple fields and compete globally (Hamidah Yamat, Fisher & Rich,
The present paper attempts to find out the importance English enjoys in India in the present scenario. It tries to examine the back drop in which English [just one of around 6000 languages of the world and 780 in India alone]1 assumes such a significant stature. It deals with the status of English at present: it is the generally accepted language of the graduates; it is the window of opportunities; it improves our languages; it acts as a link among various fields etc. Moreover it is a powerful integrating factor that has compensated for the great language divide existing in our country.
First of all, English is becoming an international language nowadays, and it is shared by people all over the world instead of only belonging to those who are native speakers of English. Swann (2001) classifies languages into four groups, which are called local languages or peripheral languages, central languages, super-central languages, and hyper-central languages respectively. English, in fact, is the only hyper-central language among all kinds of languages as it is spoken in almost any country for various purposes and it is taught in most countries all over the world. As a result, English has become a global lingual franca, not only used
One way to decrease the problem is to help students in becoming independent learners during the process of second language vocabulary learning (Maleki, 2010). This could be achieved through instructing learners to use vocabulary learning strategies as effectively as possible. Rivers (1981) suggests that “vocabulary cannot be taught. It can be presented, explained, including in all kinds of activities, but it must be learned by the individual” (p.110). She continues, “As language teachers, we must arouse interest in words and a certain excitement in personal development in this area” (p.
“We tend to look through language and not realize how much power language has.” This famous saying by Deborah Tannen, an American sociologists shows how strong the impact language actually has on our life. Most people, especially Malaysians tend to overlook this matter because they believe that graduates who learned language could not benefit in a way a medicine or an engineering graduate does. This is where they are wrong. What they actually failed to realize is that language is an essential tool in helping oneself to advance for the greater good. You can’t just simply claim a debater as an expert in their field if they have a poor grasp of language? What is the point of having a loud and clear voice but you incorrectly form sentences? You
English is an international language of communication (Nunan, 2003). So that English is a necessary basic skill for human. For instance, we meet lots of people who came from different countries in our daily life. Since our mother language is different, we can use English to be a lingua franca to communicate with them and try to understand their culture easily.