Mainland gives Asia an English lesson

This is an article by Samantha Kierath from the South China Morning Post of Thursday, March 16, 2006.


The mainland is setting the pace of change for English learning in Asia as the language shifts globally from a foreign tongue to a lingua franca, according to a report commissioned by the British Council.

Applied linguist David Graddol has tracked the changes in how English is used as an international language and the demographic and economic factors driving the shift.

He has concluded that Asia, especially the mainland and India, "probably now holds the key to the long-term future of English as a global language".

In a report on his findings, Mr Graddol says one of the changes putting the mainland ahead of the pack in the region was the national decision in 2001 to make English compulsory in primary schools from year three.

"In practice, rural areas may not meet that target, while big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have already introduced English at grade one," the report says. "More people are now learning English in China than in any other country."

Mr Graddol says China's focus on English as a central part of economic development has flowed to other parts of the region where there had been signs of a decline in interest in the language.

By the end of last year, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan were all expressing concern about their national proficiency in English and announced several educational initiatives, the report says.

But Mr Graddol also says that as English becomes a near-universal skill, its competitive advantage is eroding.

"We have been living in a world ... in which having English is a very important competitive advantage to individuals, to organisations, to national economies," he says. "But now, with English becoming near
universal across the world, you no longer get competitive advantage by having it. It's now moving into a must-have rather than giving you some advantage."

He also has found that Putonghua is one of the languages mounting a challenge to English in some areas for "educational resources and policy attention."

Zhang Lianzhong , the director of the Foreign Language Education Centre at the Central Education and Science Research Institute, says English education on the mainland still has a long way to go.

Professor Zhang says language education reform has met great resistance, with educators concentrating on form rather than function.

"People are still more accustomed to teaching the language ... with focus only on the internal structure. You should not just focus on the language itself - it has to have something else," he says. "It's important to not just to know the rules but to know how to use the language."

Professor Zhang says English will still be regarded as the lingua franca for at least a few more decades and China needs to learn an international language. "English is not just a language, it is part of your national power," he says.