4/3 Readings

            In Chapter One of International English in Its Sociolinguistic Contexts, McKay and Bokhorst-Heng introduce the principle argument of their book: while it is valuable to have an international language like English, the spread of it should be effected in such a way that it supports the development of other languages. The authors then give Scholte’s five definitions for globalization and identify the fifth as the one they have in mind. This definition is “globalization as deterritorialization – the change of social space so that space is no longer mapped in terms of territorial places, distances, or borders. McKay and Bokhorst-Heng also want to focus on the need to balance local and global concerns in globalization.

            Later, the authors summarize Pennycook’s description of the two basic attitudes scholars have of the spread of English. The homogeny position sees the spread of English as homogenizing world culture, and this is perceived by some as positive, by others, negative. The heterogeny position states that English has been localized, creating different varieties of English in different parts of the world. This is all very interesting, but I didn’t see any of it applying to what was discussed in chapters two or three. Maybe later. Anyway…

            Chapter One also discusses the role of colonialism in the spread of English, remarking on the Linguistic Imperialism of British and American colonialism in particular. The authors also summarize here the book The Alchemy of English, which comments on the power of English to open “linguistic gates to international business, technology, science, and travel” (7). They also mention a study that concluded that in general, youths around the word believe that English is the key to success, and they summarize the incentives for learning English. The economic incentives include the use of English in transnational corporations and the prevalence of out-sourcing. Education incentives include policies within educational institutions to offer classes in English and governmental policies. There are also mass media incentives: in advertising, products are promoted in English, and English is the dominant language in popular music and movies. All of this information more directly related to the ideas discussed in the chapters immediately following.

            In Chapter Two, McKay and Bokhorst-Heng describe the various contexts in which English is now being learned. They start by summarizing Kachru’s 1985 model of concentric circles. The

Inner Circle

refers to countries in which English is the primary language. The

Outer Circle

refers to countries in which English serves as a recognized second language. The

Expanding Circle

describes countries in which English is widely studied as a foreign language, though it may not be used widely in the country itself. (29)

            The authors go on to break down the English learning contexts into how they differ in each of the above-named circles. In the Inner circle, countries like the United States have a tendency to pull out ESL students from their general education classrooms, and this presents a serious danger to their social development. In addition, many teachers view their ESL students negatively, even as cognitively deficient.

I have to say here that even though I know this concept is based on research, I find it hard to believe, because of the experiences I have had. I have worked with many teachers, both gen. ed. and ESL, in many schools in many areas of Illinois, at a variety of grade and English-proficiency levels, and I have never seen any behavior or heard any comment that could be perceived as evaluating the student on anything less than their actual abilities. In fact, I have often heard such teachers remark on how smart their students are, not in a surprised way, as if ESL students shouldn’t be smart, but in a proud way, as all teachers are when they see their students understanding something. Again, I’m sure the statements made by these and so many other authors are based on research and evidence, but I’m saying that I haven’t personally seen evidence of this, and it makes me feel like teachers aren’t given enough credit, not only for their hard work, but for the enormous amount of understanding and personal interest they show for each student.

In their discussion of the learning contexts of the

Outer Circle

, the authors focused on South Africa as an example. In S.A., English is recognized as an official language, but among many others. However, many schools still use English exclusively, even though that is not the first language of many of their students. South African principals and teachers view English as prestigious and a vehicle for economic advancement, and view alternate languages as the opposite. Still, in some

Outer Circle

countries, there is widespread bilingual education, such as the Philippines, where English is used to teach Math and Science, and Pilipino is used to teach everything else.

In Expanding Countries, many students have no motivation to learn English, as there is no immediate application of it for them in their communities. This reminds me of high school, where I was required to take Spanish, as it was the only foreign language offered, but I was living in a very homogeneous, Caucasian community in which there was no opportunity for the use of the language I was learning. Although I didn’t see myself going into a career in the future in with a knowledge of Spanish would be particularly valuable, I felt plenty motivated to learn it, because I am fascinated by languages and thought it was fun. But I can see how many of my peers were not motivated at all, and it showed! So, in these Expanding Countries, students are often required to learn English, but they don’t really see the reason for it. This has been called TENAR, Teaching English for No Apparent Reason, as well as some other funny names.

Yikes! This is already ridiculously long! The second chapter also talks about Communicative Language Teaching, which is quite interesting. The third chapter focuses on disglossia, which is multilingualism in which one language, or form of a language, is use for formal situations, while another is used for informal situations, such as SSE (Singapore Standard English) and SCE (Singapore Colloquial English). The chapter also talked about India, in which members of the professional elite account for most of the five percent who speak English, further stratifying the elite from the underprivileged. It also summarizes the ways in which access to English is limited for lower-caste students who make it to college (a very small percentage). There is also an interesting section on Mother Tongue Maintenance, but I’m not going to go into it, because this is twice as long as it’s supposed to be.