Practice Activities – M&R

SUBJECT PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:

ENGLISH IN THE COMMUNITY

Name and surname(s):

Jaminton Mosquera

Group:

fp_tefl_2017-10_unini

Date:

October 7th, 2018

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 Practice Activities – M&R

Index
Pag.
No.

1 Task 1 ……………………….………................................................................... 3

Graddol (2006, p.14) states as a key trend to be expected “the rise and fall of
learners”.

2 Task 2…………………………............................................................................ 5

the updated figures in table form comparing them to Graddol’s statements and
own figures.

3 Task 3 ……………………………….................................................................... 6

An own claim to the future development of English as a Foreign Language.

- Bibliography and References……………………………………………………….... 8

- Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Practice Activities

Graddol (2006, p.14) states as a key trend to be expected “the rise

and fall of learners”. That is, he claims that “a massive increase in

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the number of people learning English has already begun, and is

likely to reach a peak around 2 billion in the next 10-15 years.
Numbers of learners will then decline.” (ibid, p.14)

Bearing in mind this statement, complete the following tasks.

Task 1 - (1 page)

More than 10 years have gone by since the original statement. Find updated
figures supporting or refuting the hypothesis. If possible, find sources for the
last five years.

The number of non-native speakers of English has come in a large increase to the
point that, the number of people who speak English as their first language has been
exceeded and according to the British Council latest research predicts that the number
of people actively learning English around the world is set to exceed 1.9bn by 2020. As
of the year 2000, there were 750 million English as a Foreign Language speakers, and
in addition, there were 375 million English as a Second Language speakers. As of
2014, this number has increased to 1.5 billion total English learners worldwide.

There is a difference between the two groups amounts to English as a Foreign

Language speakers using English occasionally for business or pleasure, while English
as a Second Language speakers uses English on a daily basis; these impressive
numbers are driven by adult speakers around the world who use English to
communicate in the workplace.

According to a 2006 research conducted on behalf of the British Council by the applied
linguist David Graddol: “A massive increase in the number of people learning English
has already begun, and is likely to reach a peak of around 2 billion in the next 10–15
years.”
The increase in this figure can be analysed from the great positioning of English
within three concentric circles, according to Kachru (1985): The inner circle, the outer
circle and the expanding circle. (appendix in figure 1), as a language that facilitates the
daily relationships between different countries in their purpose of being competitive
locally and internationally.

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Globalization has brought with it the use of English language to carry out the first
publication of developments and discoveries in global issues such as: science,
medicine, international relations; commerce, technology. In addition, university
professional training at the best universities is based on the use of English as the
language of instruction.

According to Weber’s (1997, p. 22) there are six categories affecting influence of a
language. In Figure below, we show the top ten most influential languages according
to Weber’s calculations based on his list of the six criteria
1. number of primary speakers (native or home speakers)
2. number of secondary speakers
3. number and population of countries using the language
4. number of major fields (science, diplomacy etc.
5. economic power of countries using the language
6. social literary prestige

In this globalized world, the number of English learners around the world is only
expected to further grow. In fact, recent predictions expect that the number of those
learning English as a Second or Foreign Language will double by the year 2020 to
nearly 2 billion people. Beare, Kenneth (2018)

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Task 2 - (1 page)

Present the updated figures in table form comparing them to Graddol’s

statements and own figures. Analyze the evolution and state whether Graddol’s
hypothesis has been sustained or refuted. Bear in mind:

- How do you define English learners.

- How do your figures count English learners.
- Where do your sources come from (remember Task 1).
- Whether the trend has stop growing or not yet.

When comparing Graddol’s hypothesis with the current trends of English learning
we can realize that the increase of English learners around the world is increasing and
will continue since, the use of English has been playing an important role in most of the
social fields of every corner in the world. Being proficient with the mastery of English
language leads to greater job and academic opportunities worldwide.

David Graddol argues in his book “English Next”, that we have reached such a
moment in relation to the status of Global English, where the world of language has
changed and will never again be the same. With so many people in so many countries
learning English for the purpose of communicating with other non-native English
speakers, it is not going to be just ‘more of the same’.

In the exposed figures we took into account all those learners who are acquiring
English through a conscious process of accumulation of knowledge of the vocabulary

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and the grammar of the language to communicate assertively with all those people who
make use of it.

In accordance with Kohl John R, there are some factors that are contributing to
English being chosen by the vast majority of learners:
- The current dominance of the English language in learning and communication
content on the internet (75%).
- The dominance of English in the recent wealth creating industries of computer
and information technology.
- It was and still is the language of the developed Western nations that the
developing world wishes to do business with.
- It is the official communication in Olympic sport, air-traffic and maritime control.
- All of the world’s major scientific journals are published in English.

Task 3 - (1 page)

Based on the figures you had, propose your own claim to the future development
of English as a Foreign Language. Take into account the figures you found, the
materials of the class, the readings available in the campus and other external
sources that you might deem relevant.

The policies of the current governments must articulate proposals that allow the
introduction of English language in the teaching curriculum to train students with the
knowledge that allows them to communicate in the international field, showing global
communicative competence in the use of English language and thus, be competitive in
an increasingly globalized and connected world. In addition, facilitating the
development of linguistic competences and the acquisition of knowledge from other
cultures, is to place citizens at high levels of competence in the management of all the
information provided in one of the main means of communication and learning “the
internet” in their context. To foster global communication in the different cultures,
citizens must be prepared to participate in the change of paradigm, making us swell the
number of people who learn English not as a foreign language to know its functioning
and the native culture, but people that use it as global English to acquire knowledge of
the own culture adjusted to the context with the use of English. that is to say, that within
the strategies to implement for the strengthening of communicative competences we
should include strategies that allow the teaching of content from various areas through
English with teachers trained for this purpose. So educational policies must contain in

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their structures mechanisms or tools for global relations. (Read the Recent policy
changes in the table of the appendix)

Besnier (2009) describes it as including the "micro-politics of each interactional

moment; the politics of local social structures; and the macro-politics of the global
condition" (p. 464). English is recognized as a communicative tool that belongs to all
who use the language, rather than owned or controlled by its "native" speakers, in
line with English as a lingua franca (ELF) studies (Dewey, 2007; Mauranen, 2003).

The number of people with interest in learning English as a foreign language will
decrease because EFL tends to highlight the importance of learning about the
culture and society of native speakers and emphasises the importance of emulating
native speaker language behaviour, not about the culture of the person who learns
it.
EFL approaches, like all foreign languages teaching, positions the learner as an
outsider as a foreigner; one who struggles to attain acceptance by the target
community, the target language is always someone else's mother tongue. The
learner is constructed as a linguistic tourist allowed to visit, but without rights of
residence and required always to respect the superior authority of native
speakers. Graddol, D. (2006)

It is essential that the teaching approach selected integrate not only the structure,
functionality and cultural aspects of the second language in learning, but also it should
facilitate the use of the second language as a means to acquire knowledge of our own
context to make them known in other cultures. In the figures found we can see that the
number of people learning English as international language will continue to increase
as it is a skill for international language of business, international travel, education;
technology, science and communication.

According to Graddol, D. (2006) in globalised economies, English seems to have

joined this list of basic skills. Quite simply, its function and place in the curriculum is
no longer that of 'foreign language and this is bringing about profound changes in
who is learning English, their motives for learning it and their needs as learners.
Therefore, “English as a Foreign Language' has been a dominant one in the second

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half of the 20th century, but it seems to be giving way to a new orthodoxy, more
suited to the realities of global English.”
It is important that governments stay committed to strengthening the teaching of
English as international language to achieve the active participation of its citizens in the
consolidation of global communication.

References,

Graddol, D. (2006). English Next. Great Britain: British Council.

Beare, Kenneth. 2018. "How Many People Learn English?" ThoughtCo, Jun. 27, 2018,
thoughtco.com/how-many-people-learn-english-globally-1210367.

Besnier, Niko. 2009. Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics. Honolulu:
University of Hawai’i Press.

Kachru, B. B. (1985) Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English

language in the outer circle.

Kohl John R. “The Global English Style Guide: Writing Clear, Translatable
Documentation for a Global Market”

Weber G. 1997, Top Languages: The World’s Ten Most Influential Languages, in
“Language Monthly” 3, pp. 12-18. Reprinted in AATF National Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 3
(January 1999) pp. 22-28.

Rixon S. 2013 British Council Survey of Policy and Practice in Primary English
Language Teaching Worldwide

Appendices

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Recent policy changes

It was expected that perspectives on changes over recent years in the situation of
English teaching to children in each context would emerge from responses to many
questions, especially in the free response comments, but it was also thought
appropriate to ask a direct free response question on the subject of deliberate policy
changes