L201 B Chapter 13 summary notes

Learning English, learning through English

by the Course Chair Dr Hayat Al-Khatib

Why do people study in English?
 The reasons for teaching English in countries where it’s the first language most people
grow up with good is that communication skills are an essential part of many jobs and
people need to be literate to play a full part in society.
 English is also learnt and used in education in non-English dominant countries, which
raises other questions: how do history, politics and economic considerations influence the
practices of English teaching and learning, in both English-dominant countries and
countries with an English-colonial heritage? What about the role of language for migrants:
is learning English part of learning how to ‘be’ British?
 The position of English as a global language relies on and encourages the teaching of the
language in a variety of contexts to monolingual or multilingual students.
Learning English

 Learning English in order to study through the medium of English, to live in an English-
speaking country, and/or to work through the medium of English. For young children
learning English as new arrivals in the UK or another English-speaking country, there is
little choice if they are to succeed in a monolingual education system. For adults, the
motivation may be to secure citizenship, improve chances of promotion, or because
employers insist on their learning English. In some settings, where students have a variety
of language backgrounds, English is used as an academic lingua franca.
 English as necessary for economic or social advancement and therefore governments insist
that it be used in classroom settings.
 Contexts of learning English
 English is used as the language of instruction in many different contexts, including:
 Classes in Inner Circle countries (e.g. New Zealand, USA, Australia) which may contain a mixture of
monolingual speakers of English and speakers of English as an additional language
 Classes in Outer Circle counties (e.g. India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Malaysia) with a British colonial heritage
of using English in education
 Classes in Expanding Circle countries (e.g. Finland, Chile, Lebanon) where there has been no colonial history
of English, where English is taught as a foreign language and most pupils share a first language (L1) but
where the development of English language competence in a variety of domains is seen as adding educational
value
 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 using English as the medium of instruction
(EMI) to students with a variety of L1 backgrounds
 Adult education classes (usually for migrants) in English for speakers of other languages in English-dominant
countries where passing an English proficiency test is typically required to gain citizenship.
 English is also taught in commercial settings such as private language schools, and through institutions such as
the British Council.
Learning through English in English-dominant
countries
 The dilemma over the use of English in classrooms in Outer and Expanding Circle
countries has pedagogical, economic and ideological aspects.
 Similarly, approaches to migrant education in Inner Circle, English-dominant countries
have been subject to different political and educational forces and these inevitably impact
on teachers’ and learners’ language practices in the classroom.
 In the USA a shift towards an ‘English first’ monolingual ideology has been blamed by
teachers and researchers for low academic attainment and high dropout rates among
migrant groups (García, 2009; García and Kleifgen, 2018).
Subtractive bilingualism

 There are those who believe that a student’s ‘other’ language(s) should be kept out of the
classroom so that they are exposed to English only.
 The outcome of this ‘sink or swim’ approach is termed subtractive bilingualism.
Subtractive bilingualism is when individuals learn a second language at the expense of the
first language: the child’s first language is effectively displaced by the second and
sometimes even lost altogether, as frequently happens within a few generations amongst
migrant communities.
Additive bilingualism

 Where there is a positive attitude to bilingualism and the aim is to expand the child’s
repertoire whilst maintaining and fostering their first language, the desired outcome is
referred to as additive bilingualism. Additive bilingualism would indicate a process in
which the home language is maintained as the dominant language is learned.
 In England, the Department for Education produced a policy on the education of English
as an Additional Language (EAL) and bilingual learners in which they stated:
 Bilingualism confers intellectual advantages – once children have developed cognitive and
academic language, they can transfer much of this learning to additional languages.
Children benefit enormously if they are given opportunities to continue to develop their
first language alongside English.
Dynamic bilingualism and trans-languaging

 García rejects the notions of subtractive and additive bilingualism on the grounds that both
are essentially monolingual in orientation and argues that we should replace these
conceptualisations with what she terms dynamic bilingualism, a concept that
acknowledges the reality that multilingual people in multilingual settings do not
naturally keep their languages apart but operate in much more fluid and complex
ways: in other words they engage in translanguaging – the everyday practice of
multilingual speakers drawing on all or any of the language resources available to them in
order to communicate
English in a postcolonial setting
 Studying the role of English in such a postcolonial setting reveals the complexity of
struggles around language and decolonisation.
 Many of the issues that arise in this Malaysian case study continue to have echoes in other
postcolonial contexts and in countries where English has risen to prominence as a result of
more recent social and economic changes.
 A UNICEF review of language policy in 21 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa
(Trudell, 2016), for example, showed that in 14 of those countries, English was a
designated official language at some level of primary school and there was evidence that in
other countries English was displacing other languages as the medium of instruction.
 English in a postcolonial setting: Malaysia (1/2)
 There are three main ethnic groups in Malaysia: Malays, who make up 69.3% of the population and speak
Bahasa Melayu (the Malay language); Chinese (22.8%), who speak a number of Chinese varieties,
including Mandarin and Wu; and Indians (6.9%), who speak mainly Tamil or Panjabi (Ong, 2020).
 During the colonial era there was ambivalence about education through English. On the one hand it was
seen as a civilising force, allowing access to literature and culture, but on the other it was seen as a
potential threat to indigenous cultures, and in the case of the Malays, to their lifestyle as farmers and
fishermen (Pennycook, 1994).
 At the time of independence from Britain in 1957, English and minority Malaysian language schools
existed side by side and all taught English to varying degrees. The new government took the step of making
Bahasa Melayu the national language in an effort to affirm the status of the dominant ethnic group and
create a sense of national identity (Rappa and Wee, 2006). English remained a compulsory school subject,
seen as essential for employment and higher education, and used as a medium of instruction in secondary
schools. However, following riots between ethnic Chinese and Malays in 1969, the government instituted a
new economic policy with greater affirmative action in favour of the Malays. The status of Bahasa Melayu
in schools was reinforced and English was relegated to the status of a second language, not used as a
medium of instruction.
 English in a postcolonial setting: Malaysia (2/2)
 While the Bahasa Melayu language was accorded national status, the government also put
additional resources into rural, predominantly Malay schools, to boost the level of English
knowledge as this was seen as necessary to enable access to higher education and for the country’s
economic development.
 Mahathir Mohamad, the prime minister announced that ‘learning English is important for your
children, but it doesn’t mean they are losing their national or religious identity’.
 Certain groups saw this as an opportunity to reiterate their opposition to English, the colonial
language, and to express fears that it would lead to the downgrading or eventual loss of their
national language Bahasa Melayu.
 In 2002, the Prime Minister and acting Education Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced that
science and mathematics would be taught in English: “It is very important that we give time for
English particularly in the learning of Science and Maths. Geography and History can come in any
language, but Maths and Science are not indigenous fields of knowledge (to us). It comes from
abroad. And most of it comes to us in English therefore we are going to use English in the teaching
of Science and Maths”.
The post-colonial context and learning English

 What emerges from this story of colonial and postcolonial struggles around language is the
complexity of the situation. The perception of the need for English conflicts with historical
and contemporary responses to the colonists’ language, Christian religion, Western
economic power, disparities in wealth and opportunities, ethnic rivalries, and national
politics. The competing pressures around the role of English must also be examined in
relation to educational practices and the shortage of teachers with the necessary English
language skills to teach mathematics and science.
English, research and international education

 As English has grown in importance as an international language, and international

education has grown as a means of earning foreign currency, more universities in non-
English dominant countries are also offering courses to international students through the
medium of English.
 In Denmark, for example, many university courses are now taught through English,
creating anxiety among some that Danish is under threat, especially in the domain of
scientific research (Siiner, 2010).
 The growth of English as the main language in much academic publishing means that
researchers around the world need to write in English in order for their findings to reach a
wide audience.
English for citizenship

 The UK, like many other countries, requires would-be citizens to pass a test, known as the
Life in the UK Test, to prove not only their proficiency in the English language but also
their readiness to be part of British society, to understand its values, customs and practices.
 Alongside learning vocabulary and grammar, migrant students also learn about how to ‘be’
in the country. This raises questions as to how far migrants are expected to assimilate (i.e.
to adapt to and adopt the cultural norms of their new country) or to integrate (i.e. to respect
the prevailing cultural norms whilst still retaining their own
 So as you can see language learning carries with it cultural values and affect learners’
identities and the way they perceive the world.