Comments on: English for everyone is unfair

By: Access denied | Language on the Move

Access denied | Language on the Move — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 22:50:51 +0000

[…] for all’ educational policies entrench inequality rather than alleviate disadvantage (e.g., here or here). But how does this play out in the real-life experiences of real people? Today I would […]

By: Sinjoro ENG

Sinjoro ENG — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:14:45 +0000

The English native speakers will be left to 300 million or less by 2020.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1582954/English-will-turn-into-Panglish-in-100-years.html

By: Bruselo

Bruselo — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:14:08 +0000

LINGUISTIC JUSTICE FOR EUROPE AND FOR THE WORLD – ISBN 978-0-19-920887-6

In this book, published in 2012 in EU prof. Philippe Van Parijs (°1951, univ. UCL, Havard) he discusses besides Esperanto also the possible economic compensations non-Anglophone communities should receive in exchange of a general use of English: language tax, English texts be free of copyright,… utopia or ever a reality ?

Here are some of his arguments to explain why the adoption of one natural language as the lingua franca is unfair. The resulting linguistic situation is arguably unfair in three distinct senses.

Firstly, the adoption of one natural language as the lingua franca implies that its native speakers are getting a free ride by benefiting costlessly from the learning effort of others.

Secondly, Anglophones gain greater opportunities as a result of competence in their native language becoming a more valuable asset.

Thirdly the privilege given to one language fails to show equal respect for the various languages with which different portions of the population concerned identify.

By: Is English improving lives in a remote Indonesian village? | Language on the Move

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:38:09 +0000

[…] In a recent post, I reviewed language policy research that shows how compulsory English in China has…. In that context, compulsory English language learning is problematic for reasons of practical feasibility, allocative effectiveness and distributive justice. That macro language policy perspective is complemented by a school ethnography of English language learning in a small village in Indonesia. The study was conducted by Nicolaus Pasassung in 1999-2000 and has unfortunately never been published but the PhD dissertation it resulted in has now been made available here on Language on the Move. […]

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:35:39 +0000

I look forward to reading the article – it’s one of the most sensible recommendations I’ve heard in years!

By: Nikhil Sharma

Nikhil Sharma — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:22:47 +0000

I agree, learning English is good but is not necessary. As Guo Jian said it could force languages to become extinct. It’s happening already, local languages are becoming endangered due to the Globalization of the English language, glad you wrote about this topic!

Very interesting read.

By: Guo Jian

Guo Jian — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:40:09 +0000

It is said that the number of Chinese people who learn English is even bigger than that of the native English speakers.

English is an international language and it is quite useful. But it is really not necessary for every Chinese to learn it.

In fact,Many Chinese can speak fluent English while knowing a little about our own Chinese culture. I’m afraid if this compulsory English policy keeps to function,may be Chinese is going to extinct someday.Oh, please NO!!

Moreover, it’s pathetic to be an international citizen without any ethnic characteristics. The English business is driving us crasy and making fool of so many of us.

Anyway, I believe It ‘ll make a difference as long as more people are aware of this problem and try to make an effort.

Thank you so much for your post and your deep concern.

Love you,Dear Professor!!

By: Christof Demont-Heinrich

Christof Demont-Heinrich — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 03:03:11 +0000

Very eloquent and forceful analysis Ingrid! Enjoyed reading it — sorry I’m late to doing so, and commenting.