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ENGLISH AS AN
INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE
Presented By: Rika Diana & Sitti Fatimah Saleng
A.
The History of
English Becomes an International Language
The fact that English is now the
main international language is indisputable. In all aspects of international life
– trade, science, diplomacy, education and travel – the common language is
English and has been for decades. There are two main reasons why English is the
current lingua franca; colonialism and economics.
First, in the seventeenth and
eighteenth century, English was the language of leading colonial nation –
namely Britain. This is why so many ex-British colonies now have English as the
national language, with many of their people speaking English as a first
language or second language.
Second, a further reason for the
spread and of English is economics. In the late nineteenth century and early of
twentieth, it was the language of leading economic power-USA. As a result, when
new technologies brought new linguistic opportunities, English emerged as a
first-rank language in industries which effected of aspects society-the press,
advertising, broadcasting, motion pictures, sound recording, transport and
communication (Crystal, 1997:110-111 in McKay, 2002: 16). By being the global superpower,
these two countries also became the leading trading nations and many countries
and territories needed to learn English in order to trade with them. The United
State of America is currently a major trading partner with almost every other
country on the planet due to the size of the consumer economy. This explains
why in many countries, English is a compulsory subject in all levels at
school.
B.
Varieties of
English
English in every country is unique and it depends on
the community. Kachru, (1989) in McKay, (2002) maintains that the various
roles English serves in different
countries: inner circle, outer circle, expanding circle.
English
was fueled primarily by speaker migrations from the United Kingdom, resulting
in the development of inner circle
of varieties of English (norm-providing speech communities). The current spread
of English as international language has occurred through macro acquisition of
English by existing speech communities in outer circle countries. Whereas many outer circles (norm-developing)
countries have developed new standards of use, each country in the outer circle
exemplifies a distinct historical, inquisitional, and cultural context in
reference to spread of English. Hence, the use of English in each of these
countries is unique in the extend of change that has occurred and the manner in
which the local community has accepted their changes. In the expanding circle, where English does
not have an official role, it used should be (norm dependent) since there is no
regular internal use of language.
C.
Factors that may
Impede the Spread of English
·
There is little incentive for
individuals, particularly in expanding circle countries, to acquire more than a
superficial familiarity of the language.
·
It may lose its prefer status as
required foreign language.
·
Technological factors lead a decline in
to use of English as the creation of new technologies make translation more
efficient and language computability on the internet possible.
D.
Negative Effects
of the Spread of English
1.
The threat to the existing languages
It has been argued that the spread of
English reduces the role of existing languages, in some cases leading to their
eventual extinction in support of this claim, Swerdlow, (1999) in McKay,
(2002), for example, points out that whereas today more than 6.000 languages
exist, some linguists project that by the year of 2100, the number of languages
could drop to 3.000. Krauss, (1992) in McKay, (2002) predicts that the coming
century may see the death of 90% of the
world’s languages, many from Asian Pacific Countries. Although not all of these
languages are being replaced by English.
2.
The influence on cultural identity
The replacement of local languages with
English raises important issues regarding the relationship between language and
cultural identity. It has been argued that the spread of English has led to
local traditions being replaced by largely western-influenced global cultures.
Indeed today, one can witness the celebration of Halloween in Chile, the
lighting of Christmas tree in Japan, and the sending of valentines’ card in
India.
The relationship between cultural
identity has also been raised in relations to encouraging a negative view of
non-western cultures. Here, colonialism is perceived as being instrumental in
promoting the spread of English and with it the devaluing of non-western
culture. For example, the Kenyan writer, in his book, decolonizing the mind: the politics of language in African literature,
assert that one of the most significant areas of domination promoted by
colonialism control through culture of how people perceive themselves.
3.
The association of the language with an
economic elite
Many concerns are
raised in relation to negative economics
repercussion of the spread of English. One of the primary concerns in this
regard is the strong relationship between economic wealth and proficiency in
the language, and the role that language education policy and practices play in
promoting this. Tollefson, (1991) in McKay, (2002), for example, notes that
because English is typically acquired in school context, this situation can
lead to significant social in equalities. As he puts it,
Those people who
cannot afford schooling, who do not have to attend school who attended substandard
programs or who otherwise do not have access to effective formal education
maybe unable to learn English well enough to obtain jobs and to participate in
decision making system that use English.
(Tollefson, 1991 in
McKay, 2002)
E.
Standard for English
as an International Language
A
particular dialect of English being the only non localized dialect, of global
currency without significant variations, universally accepted as the
appropriate educational target in teaching English which may be spoken with
unrestricted choice of accent (Strevens, 1983:88 in McKay, 2002:51)
The
variety of a language which has the highest status in community or nation and
which is usually based on the speech and writing of educated speakers of the
language. A standard variety is generally:
a.
Used in the news media and literature
b.
Describe in the dictionaries and
grammars
c.
Taught in school and taught in
non-native speaker when they learn the language as foreign language (Ibid: 271
in McKay, 2002)
The other standard of English refers
to intelligibility (recognizing and expression), comprehensibility (knowing the
meaning of the expression), interpretability (knowing what the expression
signifies in a particular socio-cultural context).
F.
Teaching goals
for English as an International Language
1.
To ensure intelligibility
In
teaching of EIL, it is important to distinguish linguistics differences that
create problem of intelligibility from those that might engender negative
attitude, for example the pluralization of noun like equipments and evidences
will not cause the problem of intelligibility, however some may contend that
such references reflect a lack of competence on the part of the speaker and be
an indications of deterioration of language. Clearly, in teaching of EIL,
educators want to strive, to minimize the first type of differences.
2.
To develop pragmatic competence
Helping
the learners develop strategies to achieve friendly relations when English is
used with speaker from other cultures. Speakers who use English within their
own community have a sense of appropriateness as to when and how to do so in
this context. However, when they come to use language for cross cultural
purposes, they may need to learn some aspects pragmatic competence.
3. To
develop textual competence
One of the primary reasons to learn English is
to access and contribute to the large amount of information that is available
in language. This availability of information suggests that the primary goal of
many learners will be to develop reading and writing skills. Clearly, all EIL,
learners need to develop an awareness that cultural factors do play a role in
rhetorical development and that those text conform to their own rhetorical
patterns will be easier to process.
References:
McKay, Sandra
Lee. 2002. Teaching English as an
International Language: Rethinking Goals and Approaches. New York: Oxford
University Press.
www.writing.itu.edu.tr/ce2.pdf
