Asignatura Datos del alumno Fecha

Advanced Didactics of Apellidos: Rozados Varela

17/12/2023
the English Language Nombre: Belén

Task: Should English be taught as a global

language?

According to David Crystal, English will be a global language as long as the United
States is the world's economic empire.
The moment these changes, and the economic empire becomes another country,
English could cease to be the lingua franca and the language of the new empire
would be promoted as the new global language. Which leads me to think that
economics is what determines the importance of a language. In the end, money is
king.

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of teaching English as a lingua

franca?
Being a lingua franca means that a language is used as a vehicle for
communication in a place where more than one language exists.
For example, in Spain, Spanish would be the lingua franca of the whole of Spain,
but there are other official languages such as Galician, Basque, Catalan and other
dialects. And thanks to Spanish we can all communicate.
So, in my opinion, the fact that English is the lingua franca of Europe and we can
use it as a common language to communicate, I think, is a great advantage.
Because to be able to have cultural exchanges between countries without each
one losing its own characteristics is beneficial for everyone. And it creates a
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tolerant society.
The disadvantage could occur if the lingua franca were to override other
languages, because cultural diversity would be lost.

Unit 6. Practical cases 1

 Asignatura Datos del alumno Fecha
Advanced Didactics of Apellidos: Rozados Varela
17/12/2023
the English Language Nombre: Belén

 Is English threaten other languages? How? Why?

I believe that English is not a threat to other countries, at least at the moment.
Even though there is a lot of English vocabulary that society uses and takes as its
own words, they do not lose their origins, they do not stop using the mother
tongue, they just include those terms within it. For example, the terms
cybernaut, spam, wiffi, post, gamer, etc. These are new words almost always
related to new technologies, which in general all languages include them as their
own.
However, the advanced of English in the world has set the alarm for many
languages and cultures. But having a lingua franca does not imply the
disappearance of other languages. Although sometimes it happens.
When a language dies, the culture attached to it declines and fades away.
Spanish was the world's first lingua franca between the 16th and 17th centuries,
and no language disappeared as a result.

 Is there any other language which deserves the status of “global”? Why?
I think Spanish deserves to have the status of a global language, because it is
spoken in many countries. There are currently 22 countries that have Spanish as
an official language. These are: Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile,
Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic,
Cuba, Equatorial Guinea and Spain.
But it is not comparable to the 67 countries where English is the official language,
nor to the 29 countries where French is the official language.

© Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR)

 Which variety of English should we learn/teach?
This question is for me an inner debate. Because I have friends from Ireland who
study South American Spanish, then I get indignant because in Spain only
Cambridge level certificates are valued, we always study British English. There is

Unit 6. Practical cases 2

 Asignatura Datos del alumno Fecha
Advanced Didactics of Apellidos: Rozados Varela
17/12/2023
the English Language Nombre: Belén

even a lot of emphasis on phonetic transcription, which is only valid for British
English, without taking dialects into account.
That is why I believe that a language is not like mathematics, black or white.
Languages are open, there is room for different pronunciations and accents, and
that does not make some better than others.
 Is it important to be aware of different accents or just teach the standard
variety?
It is always important to know the standard variety, as it is the mother tongue
from which the other varieties are born.
Nowadays we live in a globalizing world, and in the classrooms there are no
children of a single nationality like 25 years ago, now in each class there are 12,
15 or more different nationalities and there are children who have learned
another variety of English at school , like the Hindus. So what? We tell them that
it is wrong as they say it, that they should forget it, only British English is valid?
Well, unfortunately it is something that I saw during my practicum at primary
school.

 Talk about your experience as a learner and as a future teacher.

My experience as an English student has gone through several phases.
In kindergarten it was fun and entertaining to learn the language, singing and
dancing.
Later, in primary school it was all about writing grammar, vocabulary,...book,
book and more book. Suddenly there were no songs, no dancing, no fun
activities.
At the institute the situation was worse. And when I started working in a hotel
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my love for English began. I was trying to talk to customers, and the error
method was my best school.
But currently at the university, planning for the mention has disappointed me,
because I thought it was going to improve my English, quite basic, to be honest,

Unit 6. Practical cases 3

 Asignatura Datos del alumno Fecha
Advanced Didactics of Apellidos: Rozados Varela
17/12/2023
the English Language Nombre: Belén

and it is quite the opposite. Specifically, phonetics is disappointing me because it

is focused on making transcriptions, never we practise speaking or listening, and
it seems to me to waste time transcribing a text phonetically.
If I finish my university studies, I am clear that the important thing is that
students have fun with English. Playing is the best learning, we never forget what
we learn by having fun.

 Bibliography

Interesante, M. (1999, diciembre 1). David Crystal: “Más de 3.000 lenguas y

dialectos desaparecerán en los próximos cien años”. Muy Interesante.

https://www.muyinteresante.es/curiosidades/25810.html

La Historia, E. C. [@escritoresconlahistoria8621]. (2021, noviembre 3).

HISPANIDAD 2021. “El español, primera lengua franca del mundo”. Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTZksyOHBk

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Unit 6. Practical cases 4