Learning languages to live (session 9/12/2016)

English as a global language

·        · Which factors do you think that make a language to be ‘global’?

            We think that ain order to label a language as ‘global’ it needs to have a large number of speakers, it must have an important presence in the media and of course, it has to be used by many cultural and social entities.

Moreover, it needs to have a simple grammar and vocabulary in order to make it affordable for new learners to improve quickly.

Finally, we believe that the language needs to be widely spread around the planet, as it happens with English.

However, even though it is a fact, we do not think that a global language needs to be spoken by the global powers.

·        What could be a definition of Global language?

   As far as we know, a Global language is a language spoken all around the world, present

in many countries and cultures, in the mass media, on the Internet, and easily accessible
for everyone. Moreover, it works as a link for everybody around the world.

·        · How does David Crystal define Global language?

     For David Crystal, there is a need for a lingua franca in our global society, and therefore a Global Language has to be one recognised in every country.

His arguments about how English has reached that label are based on the fact that it has always been spoken by powerful people and countries in different aspects: political, technological, economic and cultural.

        According to him, English may fragment at one level, since there are new varieties of spoken English around the world. Meanwhile, the ‘standard’ variety of English is untouchable and far from becoming fragmented. Thus, the spoken future of English is “one of mutually unintelligible Englishes – an English family of many languages.” (Crystal, 39)

·          · Do we need to the teach English as a ‘global’ language to learners? How can we do it?

        Yes, it is a fact that English is a global language, and that treat affects the language per se, so we cannot just avoid it. It is part of the identity of the language itself.

We need to expose students to the many different accents and ways of speaking English. Since only a small minority of the speakers of English use the RP or the standard.

·           · Should we focus on the receptive skills?

      According to Crystal, the main impact of Global English is in the teaching of comprehension (listening and reading). Thus, it is essential to expose the student to as wide a variety of non-standard variations as possible. It does not affect production, because you cannot produce all the varieties of English. Everybody has got to speak one accent and one dialect. It depends upon circumstances and does not really affect production but comprehension.

·          ·  Why?/Why not?

        Because most people in the world do not speak RP or General American, but different varieties, accents and dialects. Crystal states that the sooner that they realize that and get exposed to all these variations, the better. They just need to become familiar with the range of variation spoken on the street.

 Our opinion: English as a Global language

        Students of English Philology around the world celebrate the fact that it is global. We would not become English teachers if it were not a language needed to be studied all around the world. This is a chance for us to mix pleasure with work, and to enjoy our job more than anyone in the world.

        However, the causes for English to become global are far from being inoffensive. We all know that English has become such a powerful language because it has been spoken by the strongest power of the XIX and XX centuries. People from many territories have been forced to reject their own languages and cultures in order to adopt the English for their daily communication.

        Nowadays, the UK has ceased to be an imperialistic power, but the English is still the protagonist of linguistic imperialism. However, this linguistic imperialism does not necessarily have to be linked to the fact that it is a Global Language.

        As future teachers of English, we must present the language as Global, a way to link many cultures, as a way to communicate with the rest of the world and as a way of learning about the world that surrounds us. But, we must not, in any case, perpetuate the linguistic imperialism that we have suffered and use it in order to give a reason for students to learn it. We cannot say that English has to be learned because it is ‘important’, never. We have to argue that it gives us many opportunities, opens many doors to us and helps us in many aspects of our daily lives. Moreover, we cannot avoid that students will always give more importance to their own state/local languages, since they use it daily, for the communication with the people who are closer to them.

        As a conclusion, we stand up for an English taught as a Global language and the key to the communication with the rest of the world; while trying to eradicate the remainders of the imperialism that still makes the language an oppressing entity for the students.