Learning English, learning through English

Chapter 3By Ann Hewings

The Politics of English (Book 2)

IntroductionWhat is TESOL

TESOL refers to the Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages.The chapter will discuss: The impact on people of learning the English language and/or learning

other subjects through the medium of English What reasons are there for the use of English in education in non-

English dominant countries How do history and politics influence English learning in countries with

an English-colonial heritage? What tensions does that give rise to? Why should places with no prior ties with English language be

investing in it? Lastly, what are some of the characteristics of English as a language of

study at university level (EAP – English for Academic Purposes)? (see pp.93-4)

Learning English, learning through EnglishThe range of situations where English is used as a the language of

instruction

classes in Inner Circle countries (e.g. New Zealand, USA, Australia) which may contain a mixture of monolingual speakers of English or speakers of English as a second or third language.

Classes in the Outer Circle countries (e.g. Indian, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia) with a British colonial heritage of using English in education.

Classes in the Expanding Circle countries (e.g. Finland and Chile) where there has been no colonial history of English, where English is a foreign language and most pupils share a first language (L1).

Schools in which pupils have different languages and in which English is used as the language of education (e.g. some international schools)

Universities in countries around the world that teach subjects through English to students with a variety of L1 backgrounds.

The roles of history, politics, economics and educational policy are threaded together. Learning English in different schools, universities, different countries and at different educational levels has both similarities and differences. Each context has attitudes towards and arguments for or against the teaching of English that can be extended to similar contexts and to your own, or to contexts you are familiar with (Hewings 95)

Learning English, learning through English:English-medium education in bilingual and multilingual settings

Classroom language has its importance in learning for all learners. Students tend to learn the conventions of a classroom before they start learning about the

content subjects, such as raising one’s hand before you speak in a classroom(Hewings). A teacher and his/her students engage in a long conversation and develop a sort of a

discourse community . “As teacher and a class engage, day by day, in various activities… the role of language is crucial. Teachers and learners can talk about what they have done, what they are doing and what they will do next; and as they do so the talk can thread together experiences over long periods of time” (Neil Mercer, 2007, in Hewings 96)

For some, the language of the classroom may be one of a number of languages in a country, for others it may be English, perhaps chosen for or imposed on them.

How does using a language that may be one of two or three that you know and perhaps on the one you know best, affect the creation of the shared experience described by Mercer?

Learning English, learning through English:A postcolonial case study: Malaysia

The history of colonization What other languages are spoken in Malaysia? Malay people who make up 60% of the population and speak Malay, Chinese 25% who speak a variety of Chinese dialects, and Indians 7%, who speak mainly Tamil or Panjabi. Ambivalent feelings by the colonizer about the influence of

English on other languages spoken in Malaysia. - a civilizing force, allowing access to literature and culture- a potential threat to indigenous cultures, and in the case of

the Malays, to their lifestyle as farmers and fishermen (Pennycook in Hewings 97). Independence of Malaysia from Britain in 1957

Learning English, learning through English:A postcolonial case study: Malaysia

Malay is a national language – English and Malay are side by side English relegated status of second language, following riots between Chinese and Malays in 1969- Resources were accorded by the government to the teaching of Malay and of the English language in rural area schools - Changes in language policy influence access to political and economic power. Privileging Malay as a medium of instruction

may be understood as disadvantaging other groups. 2002 Mahathir Mohammed, previously great advocate and supporter of Malay as a national language, was responsible for a

reversal of the policy when English was introduced in primary schools as medium of instruction for maths and science. (See p. 99) for rationale and logic behind this reversal, as well as reaction towards it. Disquiet about the use of English in the rural areas was mainly on the premises of learning subjects in a completely foreign language:

- they were unlikely to have access to English language books- their parents, having been educated through Malay, would have little knowledge of English- for teachers too it was often a struggle to teach specialized subject matter in English- there were many who felt it was a return to the colonial times

(So this had both practical and identity/ emotional obstacles)

As national test results at the end of 2009 showed decline in the Malay children’s performance and this was attributed in part to using English as a teaching medium, demonstrations went out in protest. The reasons against the use of English stressed :- Educationalists’ emphasis on advantages of learning at primary levels in the child’s main language- The lack of adequately trained teachers to undertake teaching through English- An opportunity to reiterate people’s opposition to English. Support for the use of English came mostly from the urban areas from parents and the students who already had access to English .

Learning English, learning through English:A postcolonial case study: Malaysia

Peter Martin’s Reading A: Tensions between language policy and practice in Malaysia

(See comment pp.103-4 + reading pp.122,125,126 {tensions})

Learning English, learning through English:English in European Education

Emphasis on communication and “the production, transfer, acquisition and application of knowledge, for employment and economic performance” (105)

Encouraging ‘plurilingualism’ English is a first foreign language Positive views of bilingualism (Danish-English for example) but also an

overall decrease in linguistic diversity and increasingly discriminatory attitudes towards minority languages spoken by immigrant communities.

Focus in Europe on intercultural communication and motivation because of war-torn European history for people who have not just different languages, but different histories, social outlooks values and behaviors to talk to each other by learning each others’ languages.Content and language integrated learning (CLIL)Result has been dominance of English as the main addditiona language learned

Learning English, learning through English:English as an additional language in English dominant

countries

• Inner Circle contexts • Different directions including (English first)

policy in the USA• Attitudes towards it and analysis of its effect

(Ofelia Garcia p.107)• Reading B : Additive bilingualism and subtractive bilingualism(see pp. 129-131 + 135)

Learning English, learning through English:English in Higher Education

• The different contexts of using English as a medium of education at university levels (Examples of Cape town, South Africa & Valencia, Spain)

• Ideational functions of webpages in English• Interpersonal functions

Learning English, learning through English:English for academic purposes

• Differences at the level of :- Lexis- StyleBased mainly on subject matter, domain, or discourse communitySee p.118 ,119 for features of Academic EnglishLearning the language of the discipline is one part of the learning of a new identity ( 120 )