The role of English in the modern world

Globalisation and the spread of English in the modern world

Cultural topics

Currently, many ELT materials use cultural topics related to native English-speaking countires on the grounds that learning English should entail knowledge of native English-speaking cultures.

Is such an approach appropriate in the teaching of an international language?

What do you think?

English is international language

• about 300 million native speakers
• another 350 million use it as a second language
• more than 60 countries

Features of an international language

• “International language” – the language which is used by people of different nations to communicate with one another.
• Important assertions regarding THE RELATIONSHIP OF AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE AND CULTURE:
• Its learners do not need to internalize the culutral norms of native speakers of that language
• The ownership of an international language becomes

“de-nationalized”

• The educational goal of learning it is to enable learners to communicate their ideas and culture to others

English in numbers

Categorisation of countries in which English is used: Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles

• Inner Circle: e.g. USA, UK, Austarlia (320-380 million)
• Outer Circle: e.g. India, the Philippines, Singapore

(150-300 million)

• Expanding Circle: e.g. China, Japan, Germany

(100-1000 million)

The roles English serves

• The various roles English serves in different countries of the world are best conceived of in terms of three concentric circles:
• A) the Inner Circle, where E is the primary language of the country
• B) the Outer Circle, where E serves as a second language in a multilingual country, and
• C) the Expanding Circle where E is widely studied as a foreign language.

Reasons for the spread of English 1 MACROACQUISITION