FP013 – ENGLISH IN THE COMMUNITY

PRACTICE ACTIVITY
General information

The subject practice activities consist of doing in pairs three short exercises. The
document must fulfil the following conditions:

● Length: 3 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if there are any-).
● Font type: Arial or Times New Roman.
● Size: 11.
● Spacing: 1.5.
● Alignment: Justified.

Besides, the activities must be done in this Word template: leave the activities’ statements
where they are and just answer below them. In order to make the correction process
easier, please, do not write the answers in bold, and it will then be easier to distinguish
between them and the activities’ statements. On the other hand, the document must still
fulfil the rules of presentation and edition and follow the rubric for quoting and making
bibliographical references as detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the “Subject Evaluation”
document. Sending it to the teacher’s e-mail is not permitted.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be
found in the “Subject Evaluation” document.

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PRACTICE ACTIVITY

Graddol (2006, p.14) states as a key trend to be expected “the rise and fall of
learners”. That is, he claims that “a massive increase in the number of people
learning English has already begun, and is likely to reach a peak around 2 billion in
the next 10-15 years. Numbers of learners will then decline.” (ibid, p.14)

Bearing in mind this statement, complete the following tasks.

Task 1 - (1 page)

More than 10 years have gone by since the original statement. Find updated figures
supporting or refuting the hypothesis. If possible, find sources for the last five years.

· Justify the validity of your sources. To do so apply the CRAAP test proposed by
California State University, which can be found here

(https://library.csuchico.edu/help/source-or-information-good)

Task 2 - (1 page)

Present the updated figures in table form comparing them to Graddol’s statements and
own figures. Analyze the evolution and state whether Graddol’s hypothesis has been
sustained or refuted. Bear in mind:

· How do you define English learners?

· How do your figures count English learners?

· Where do your sources come from (remember Task 1)?

· Whether the trend has stop growing or not yet.

Task 3 - (1 page)

Based on the figures you had, propose your own claim to the future development of
English as a Foreign Language. Take into account the figures you found, the materials of
the class, the readings available in the campus and other external sources that you might
deem relevant.

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 PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:

ENGLISH IN THE COMMUNITY

Students’ full names:

Guardiola Bru, José Manuel

Siscar Ortola, Maria Consuelo

Group: 2022_02

Date: 26/01/2023

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INDEX

Task 1 Page 5

Task 2 Page 6

Task 3 Page 7

References Page 8

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 TASK 1:

First of all, it must be said that the English language is the most widely spoken in
the world. The reasons are obvious, since for any search on the internet, business,
tourism, it is the language that has become global. Graddol stated that globalization
accelerated English and English accelerated globalization (English Next, p.22) but he did
not assume that English learning would keep growing so strong throughout the world for
such a long period of time.

That is why we have done an exhaustive search on the speakers of the English
language. We have consulted various sources and here we can see some examples from
recent years:

A report presented by Kenneth Beare dated November 18, 2019 states that there
are 1.5 billion English-language learners worldwide, according to the British Council. The
article is titled "How many people learn English?" and can be found at
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-many-people-learn-english-globally-1210367
The report also confirms that one out of every four people on the planet speak English
according to the British Council's report, "The English Effect." The group estimates that by
2020, 2 billion people will be using the language.

Another report found is presented by Anil Yadav dated on January 10, 2023. This
article was written just a few days ago and it states that the English language is spoken
by 1,453 million (native + non-native), English is the most-spoken language in the world
by number of speakers. The report can be found at
https://lemongrad.com/english-language-statistics/

Furthermore, the source is Ethnologue, which was released in February 2022.

Ethnologue, in their own words, is an authoritative resource on world languages, trusted
by academics and Fortune 500 companies alike.

On the other hand, C.R.A.A.P test was applied to the data above, which were
extracted from different websites. Items such as currency, relevance, authority, accuracy
and purpose have been taken into account when searching and doing the activity. The
data on the websites are from 2019 and 2023 which makes it relevant and recent enough
for the purpose of this activity. Moreover, the information relates to the topic and answers
the questions proposed.

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 TASK 2:

To better visualise the data extracted from the different sources we have created a
table comparing the information. You can see them below:

AUTHOR English language speakers

Graddol (2006) 2 billion (english learners)

Kenneth Beare (2019) 1,5 billion (english learners)

Anil Yadav (2023) 1,453 million (native + non-native)

Educators use a number of different terms when referring to English language

learners. According to Jillian L. (2019) in her book called “Education in Urban Learning
Environments”, English language learner is a student who is in the process of acquiring
English and speaks another language than English at home.

In our figures we have observed that they count English speakers in a different
way. In the article written by Kenneth Beare, there is a distinction between learners of
English as a foreign language (750 millions) and English learners as a Second language
(375 millions). The difference between the two groups is that EFL speakers generally are
those using English for business or pleasure. On the other hand, ESL students use
English on a daily basis. What is more, the author has not counted the English Native
speakers.

Conversely, Anil Yadav has investigated the number of English speakers as

native people and English learners. However, the author has not made the distinction
between EFL and ESL learners.

To finish, Graddol in English Next (2006) asserts that people learning English will
reach its peak of around 2 billion. He makes emphasis on English language learners and
non-native speakers.

The sources of data come from an educational magazine and an English language
website to improve language. They helped us to examine and interpret the number of
people learning English around the world and understand its importance.

Although we can observe some differences between the data, there is one aspect
in common. The number of English learners around the world is expected to grow. There

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is an insatiable demand for learning English because of the necessity to accept one
common language to communicate in our global community. Thus, we can state that the
growth of English learners has not stopped.

TASK 3:

There is no doubt that the teaching of English has experienced tremendous growth
and expansion. Many people agree that knowing how to speak English has become an
important tool to our globalized world. When looking for work or traveling, the most widely
international language used is English. But in order to use it correctly, learners need to
acquire a communicative competence where the 4 skills are worked on: listening,
speaking, reading and writing.

The figures previously presented show that the number of English learners all over
the world will continue to increase. English is the language of choice in many areas such
as technology, international travel, business, education, science and communication.

It is the language required for global communication and economic development,

and, as Graddol states “English seems to have joined this list of basic skills. Quite simply,
its function and place in the curriculum is no longer that of “foreign language” and this is
bringing about profound changes in who is learning English, their motives for learning it
and their needs as learners (Graddol, 2006)”. In some countries, formal education of
English is still a work in progress which means, they are still developing the strategies and
approaches to fully integrate skills and competences for the acquisition of English as a
global language.

Thus, it is important to bear in mind that the competitive world tends to consider
the English language as an essential skill so that society can be better prepared for
interactions in its everyday life. Teachers should continue enhancing the learning of
English as a crucial element in our international world.

REFERENCES

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- Beare, K. (2019) “How many people learn English?”. Retrieved from:
https://www.thoughtco.com/how-many-people-learn-english-globally-1210367
- Graddol, D. (2006) “English Next”. British Council.
- Wendt, J. L. (2019) “Education in Urban Learning Environments”. University of the
District of Columbia.
- Yadav, A. (2023) English Language Statistics. Retrieved from:
https://lemongrad.com/english-language-statistics/