Does the dominance of English Language mean that learning foreign languages is no longer essential for native English Speakers? Discussing the pro's and con's of language acquisition.

1. Does the dominance of
English mean that learning
foreign languages is no
longer essential for native
English Speakers?
Lisa Hearn and Elizabeth Shearer

2. The dominance of English Language?
Worldwide there are 1.4 Billion speakers of English
427milliion people are native English speakers, that is
only 6% of the worlds population
950million speak English as a second language
427million are native speakers of English (Raine,P. 2012)
In total 25% of the world’s population of approx.
7.5billion people, speak English.
(Raine,P. 2012)

3. http://static1.businessinsider.com

4. Social and
interpersonal
skills
Intercultural competenceLiteracy
Cognitive development
Mental Flexibility
Learning Strategies
Citizenship
LogicInternational
understanding
Creativity
Enjoyment
Cultural enrichment

5. *There has been a steep decline in those
applying to study non-European languages –
down 21%
*57% of pupils now take no languages at GCSE
*There has also been a decrease in the number
of students applying to study languages at A-
level
Foreign Languages and Education

6. * Financial burden?
*Britain’ s view of itself as part of the
international community? Elitist attitudes?
*Current educational government policy?
*The national curriculum in England Key
stages 3 and 4 framework document
* (Department of Education 2014)
Why has there been a decline?

7. *Monolingual – Knowing and using only one
language in speech and written texts.
*Bilingual – The ability to speak two languages
*Multilingual – To be capable of using many
languages
*Language is outside of temporal and geographic
boundaries.
Monolingual, Bilingual and Multilingual

9. *Provincialism – A process by which a linguistic community
remains faithful to its own language traditions. Promotes a
sedentary outlook.
*Intercourse – The opposing force, it encourages the involvement
of different linguistics traditions obliging physical and
physiological movement.
*Michael Hofmann, translator, argues that being monolingual is to
be enclosed in one cultural possibility – to be preordained to live in
the linguistic and cultural cage into which you are born. "If you
don't have another language, you are condemned to occupy the
same positions, the same phrases all your life,"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/05/will-hutton-learn-foreign-languages
Provincialism and Intercourse

10. *People often find their identity in their nationality,
culture and language.
*Two experiments were carried out with native Spanish speakers
with a high level of English proficiency.
*Results showed that native language speakers were more self-
bias indicating that identity and emotional attachment are
prominent factors in language learning and acquisition.
Language and Identity

11. * The Nuffield Enquiry report (1998) identified a shortage of useful
language skills in the UK workforce.
*Courses that emphasis the learning as foreign language as an
employment tool generally take a more experiential approach to
learning. – creating global citizens
*Language skills are becoming more recognised by employers as being
valuable
*Young people without languages are disadvantaged in Europe and the
global economy. (Regional Learning Capacity Assesment no date)
Language and the world of work?

12. Conclusion
Pro’s Con’s
Learning a foreign language opens up
business opportunities globally
Cost to students when learning
Provides cultural enrichment and
awareness.
Difficulty in retaining information
Allows communication with other
linguistic communities
Difficulty in changing attitudes and
perceptions of language
Strengthens individuals sense of identity
and belonging.
Reduces language barriers

13. * Hickey, T and Williams, J (1996) Language, Education and Society in a changing world.
* Hutton, W (2012) Why do we continue to isolate ourselves by only speaking English? Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/05/will-hutton-learn-foreign-languages
(Accessed: 12/1/16)
* Ivaz, L. Costa, A and Duñabeitia, J (2015) ‘The emotional impact of being myself: Emotions and foreign-
language processing.’ Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, Vol 42(3), Mar,
2016. pp. 489-496.
* Parker, L and Tinsley T (2005) Making the case for Languages at Key Stage 4. Edition 5. London: CILT
* Raine, P (2012) Why is English the dominant world language? Available at: https://blogs.jobs.ac.uk/tefl-
journey/2012/01/11/why-is-english-the-dominant-world-language/ (Accessed: 15/1/16)
* Sewell, C (2004) Language learning for work in a multilingual world. London: CILT, the national Centre for
Languages
* The Nuffield Languages Inquiry (2000) Languages: the next generation. London: The Nuffield Foundation.
* Department of Education (2014) The national curriculum in England Key stages 3 and 4 framework document.
London:
Phillipson, Robert (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford, England: Oxford UP.
Saville-Troike (2006), Muriel. Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UP.
References