|
|
 Programme
10
Click
here for audio version
 Development is .....a
fair distribution of opportunities for employment and for participation
in politics
"English
is an international language - part of having a good future"
Jamilla Mahaboof, Pakistan
QUESTIONS
Is English important?
Does a knowledge of
English open doors to better opportunity?
Is it essential to
compete in a global economy?
Are there problems
to teaching children in a language that isn't their own?
What are the downsides?
Has it lead to increased
pressure on children to achieve?
Is a knowledge of English
essential to compete in the global economy?
Are non-English speakers
excluded from the global economy?
SUMMARY
The main
thrust of this week's programme is whether or not a knowledge of
English will increase development. Two strands emerge from the
discussions- firstly, whether it will enable people to take part in the
global economy and secondly, whether teaching children through the English
medium is beneficial to their chances of furthering development.
In many
countries, parents and children believe that a knowledge of English is
one way of giving them a better chance in life, and fair access to opportunities
is what you could call the Development Dream. 430 million
people speak English as their mother tongue, a further
1.5 billion speak it as a second language.
This is twice as many as Mandarin speakers who are the largest single
language speaking group in the world. English is the language used by
all the multilateral organisations, the financial community, some 400
of the most powerful trans-national corporations and the Internet.
At a global
level, therefore, it is a huge influence, and in Professor Geof
Wood's view it certainly helps people access higher levels of the labour
market, enables them to be a stronger citizen, connects people to broader
themes of global citizenship and rights to participate in broader political
processes. With a knowledge of English, people can connect
to new global technologies which in turn gives them greater access to
wider sources of knowledge in contrast to the older traditional
monopolies of knowledge, held for example, by the elders in their
village.
At a regional,
national and local level, however, its significance diminishes
- in South America, Spanish and Portuguese are the main languages of the
region and very little English is either spoken or understood. In the
Middle East, Arabic is the most important language. Dr Tove Skutnub Kangas
of the organisation, Terralingua, maintains that there are many millions
of people in the world who participate internationally with no knowledge
of English. She also goes on to say that, whilst it will be important,
a comparison can be drawn between the issue of literacy for Europe at
the beginning of the 20th Century. Yes, it is important, but for true
progression and advancement, or 'development' - something more is
needed.
The issue
of how this knowledge of English is obtained is, however, in contention.
For most people in developing countries who have access to learning English
means going to what is termed an English Medium Schooll,
which is where all the lessons are taught in English. Dr Tove Skutnab
Kangas believes that, while children should learn English, to teach every
subject in English is wrong and actually hampers their general advancement,
as they learn better in their mother tongue. It is this higher level of
advancement that will equip them with the qualifications they can use
in the labour market.
Professor
Keith Watson agrees that it is far from ideal for people in developing
countries, and cites four main problems:
·
It leads to elitism. The top English medium schools are
the elite schools that cost more
· This perpetuates and exacerbates divisions in society
· It increasingly leads to standardisation, destroying
local languages, communities and cultures.
· The biggest downside is that it is leading to a new colonialism
- an economic penetration followed very closely by language
Tove Skutnab Kangas also believes that English is a passport for a few
to an elite situation which is not good for development
and not good for democracy in the world. So, whilst it includes
a large number of people onto the global stage, it must by the same token,
exclude others. Geof Wood raises the problem of poverty.
With these opportunities being confined to a middle class, this has widespread
ripple effects in society.
He cites
the example of lower middle class families on the edge of coping with
present day living requirements, who see those far wealthier than them
having an English education and their children accessing higher education
and going on to strong careers. By the same token they see themselves
denied this process which has them reaching for some alternative identity
- such as a connection to fundamentalism - which rejects globalisation
and those opportunities they are unable to take advantage of. This leaves
them alienated, frustrated, and suffering a lack of self-esteem.
Keith Watson
presents a simpler view and maintains that not everyone is affected in
this way. Life is hard and for many it is more a question of surviving
- they do not have time to feel frustrated - especially at subsistence
level when the crops have been poor or the rains failed. The real concern
is feeding the family, not being resentful that you cannot learn English,
as learning English does not guarantee food at the table.
It is interesting
to note, that whilst the academic community above see many problems, for
those whose reality it is, they see nothing but benefits. Mohammed, from
the village of Morekalan in Pakistan, has six children and sends all of
them to English language school. His reasoning was that the government
run schools are bad and his children were not doing well. They are now
in private school and doing much better. He feels that it is absolutely
necessary to learn English because the whole country operates
in English and if they do not have a knowledge of it, he is afraid
that they will not succeed. He says that his children enjoy it because
they know it will open up opportunities for them.
For Jamilla
Mahaboof, the opportunities also far outweigh the costs.
As a parent, she is having to sacrifice at the moment, but it is an investment
in the future she feels is well worth doing. She sees it
not only as a question of getting good jobs - if her children don't have
an English education, they would not even be able to compete with others.
She does accept that it puts greater pressure on the children to achieve,
but as they have been studying in this way, in English, since nursery
she does not consider it a problem.
The
main thrust of this week's programme is whether or not a knowledge
of English will increase development. Two strands emerge from
the discussions- firstly, whether it will enable people to take part in
the global economy and secondly, whether teaching children through the
English medium is beneficial to their chances of furthering
development.
In many
countries, parents and children believe that a knowledge of English is
one way of giving them a better chance in life, and fair access to opportunities
is what you could call the Development Dream. 430 million
people speak English as their mother tongue, a further
1.5 billion speak it as a second language.
This is twice as many as Mandarin speakers who are the largest single
language speaking group in the world. English is the language used by
all the multilateral organisations, the financial community, some 400
of the most powerful trans-national corporations and the Internet.
At a global
level, therefore, it is a huge influence, and in Professor Geof
Wood's view it certainly helps people access higher levels of the labour
market, enables them to be a stronger citizen, connects people to broader
themes of global citizenship and rights to participate in broader political
processes. With a knowledge of English, people can connect
to new global technologies which in turn gives them greater access to
wider sources of knowledge in contrast to the older traditional
monopolies of knowledge, held for example, by the elders in their
village.
At a regional,
national and local level, however, its significance diminishes
- in South America, Spanish and Portuguese are the main languages of the
region and very little English is either spoken or understood. In the
Middle East, Arabic is the most important language. Dr Tove Skutnub Kangas
of the organisation, Terralingua, maintains that there are many millions
of people in the world who participate internationally with no knowledge
of English. She also goes on to say that, whilst it will be important,
a comparison can be drawn between the issue of literacy for Europe at
the beginning of the 20th Century. Yes, it is important, but for true
progression and advancement, or 'development' - something more is
needed.
The issue
of how this knowledge of English is obtained is, however, in contention.
For most people in developing countries who have access to learning English
means going to what is termed an English Medium Schooll,
which is where all the lessons are taught in English. Dr Tove Skutnab
Kangas believes that, while children should learn English, to teach every
subject in English is wrong and actually hampers their general advancement,
as they learn better in their mother tongue. It is this higher level of
advancement that will equip them with the qualifications they can use
in the labour market.
Professor
Keith Watson agrees that it is far from ideal for people in developing
countries, and cites four main problems:
·
It leads to elitism. The top English medium schools are
the elite schools that cost more
· This perpetuates and exacerbates divisions in society
· It increasingly leads to standardisation, destroying
local languages, communities and cultures.
· The biggest downside is that it is leading to a new colonialism
- an economic penetration followed very closely by language
Tove Skutnab Kangas also believes that English is a passport for a few
to an elite situation which is not good for development
and not good for democracy in the world. So, whilst it includes
a large number of people onto the global stage, it must by the same token,
exclude others. Geof Wood raises the problem of poverty.
With these opportunities being confined to a middle class, this has widespread
ripple effects in society.
He cites
the example of lower middle class families on the edge of coping with
present day living requirements, who see those far wealthier than them
having an English education and their children accessing higher education
and going on to strong careers. By the same token they see themselves
denied this process which has them reaching for some alternative identity
- such as a connection to fundamentalism - which rejects globalisation
and those opportunities they are unable to take advantage of. This leaves
them alienated, frustrated, and suffering a lack of self-esteem.
Keith Watson
presents a simpler view and maintains that not everyone is affected in
this way. Life is hard and for many it is more a question of surviving
- they do not have time to feel frustrated - especially at subsistence
level when the crops have been poor or the rains failed. The real concern
is feeding the family, not being resentful that you cannot learn English,
as learning English does not guarantee food at the table.
It is interesting
to note, that whilst the academic community above see many problems, for
those whose reality it is, they see nothing but benefits. Mohammed, from
the village of Morekalan in Pakistan, has six children and sends all of
them to English language school. His reasoning was that the government
run schools are bad and his children were not doing well. They are now
in private school and doing much better. He feels that it is absolutely
necessary to learn English because the whole country operates
in English and if they do not have a knowledge of it, he is afraid
that they will not succeed. He says that his children enjoy it because
they know it will open up opportunities for them.
For Jamilla
Mahaboof, the opportunities also far outweigh the costs.
As a parent, she is having to sacrifice at the moment, but it is an investment
in the future she feels is well worth doing. She sees it
not only as a question of getting good jobs - if her children don't have
an English education, they would not even be able to compete with others.
She does accept that it puts greater pressure on the children to achieve,
but as they have been studying in this way, in English, since nursery
she does not consider it a problem.
LINKS
Education
International Institute for Educational Planning
www.unesco.org/iiep
Institute of Education (University of London), Education and International
Development Department
www.ioe.ac.uk/eid/index.htm
African Virtual University www.avu.org
Second Language
Learning
"Bridging
the Gap between Theory and Practice in Second Language
Acquisition" Conference
November 2001 http://tesol-france.org
Terralingua:
Partnerships for linguistic and biological diversity
www.terralingua.org/
Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) www.cfbt.com
|
|
