Fears and hopes: globalization and teaching of the international auxiliary language

Fears and Hopes: Globalization and The Teaching of The International Auxiliary Language Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew While it is a familiar phenomenon for one language to serve as a lingua franca over a large área of many languages, for example, Sanskrit, Greek, Latín, Arable, and French, what is unusual, however, Is that never before has a single language spreadfor such purposes over most ofthe world as English has done in this century. This article examines the fears and hopes associated with the globalization of the foremost International auxiliary language, namely English, and recounts its main implications for language teachers and the classroom. As we near the year 2000, political scientists speak of a "New World Order". Many dramatic changes have happened intemationally. Who would have dreamt that the Iron Curtain would come down so quickly? The end of the Cold War and the relaxation of East-West tensions are unsettling national stabilities in several countries. Even the United Nations is finally gaining prominence in world events. It may be observed that with the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992, the world moved towards a stronger acknowledgement of it global finitude. At this point of time, it is obvious that globalism has not as yet assume transcendency since nationalism is still the banner which every country still ascribe to. However, while global thinking is certainly not new, it is gaining recognition and acceptance. And while nationalism has traditionally been a dominant forcé in social identity, it is losing strength. Just as environmentalists encourage people to think globally and act locally, countries are beginning to juggle global concems with national issues. Suddenly, the rise of the big blue marble as the backdrop to televisión news, as the logo for intemational conferences, sports events and commercial enterprise is discemible in every comer. Whether we realise it or not, it has become the icón of the age. This world icón has come to represent a sign or symbol that not only denotes a set of ideas pertaining to globalism but also connotes, at one precise strike, such emotions as reverence, conviction and inspiration. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N^ 4 (1997) 81 Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew Until the second world war, the tallest buildings in any city or town provided stark witness to the leading belief systems. For many years, churches were probably the tallest buildings in any town. Only in the last few decade, have banks and office buildings come to domínate the urban landscape. The western world has moved through a variety or religious, emotional and social mindset. In the western world, Christianity has long been the dominant mind set. For many centuries, there was a pervasive use of crosses and other religious symbols. There are, of course, people who still continué to make the sign of the cross and wear crosses round their necks but this is no longer fashionable. A more predominant symbol since the 1950's has been the frightening and fatalistic image of the mushroom-shaped cloud of the atomic bomb. An atomic mushroom has consistently, if not consciously, ruled International relations and stimulated personal fears. Foliowing this and perhaps as a result of the terror, or an effort to countermand that deep fear, we have just completed an era where the coca-cola sign was identified as the most widely recognised trademark. This image of consumerism, with its swirls and bubbled letters, has been surveyed as the most readily recognised symbol throughout the world. Lately, however, a new symbol has entered our coUective consciousness. The graphic portraits of the Earth could only be imagined until the 1960's. A satellite photo of the Earth first gained prominence at Expo 67. This image of the earth has since then penetrated every aspect of culture and media. The big blue marble icón is now pervasive. As with previous icons, the satellite picture of earth is now increasingly used as a motif on clothing and accessories, posters and in advertisements. This icón, symbolic of a new consciousness, proposes the important economic, political and social concems that must be addressed in world shifts from the dominant paradigms of capitalist economies to a global (named in this case "environment") mindset that supersedes global limits in relation to conventional capitalist guidelines for economic development. In the past, it was possible for people to be bom into a family, to remain within the clan, live in a small community, work in a pre-assigned 82 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N° 4 (1997) Fears and Hopes: Globalization and The Teaching of The International Auxilian/ Language occupation, and die without much accomplishment beyond having survived harsh conditions. Even today, masses of humanity are still living under such circumstances. Nevertheless, there is ampie evidence that the situation is changing. The technological advances that have greatly facilitated the movement of people and ideas have removed the barriers that have kept people apart and ignorant. Whether we hke it or not, the era of isolation has come to an end. The global village heralds the dawn of association and integration. Whenever there is change, there is resistance. Therefore, it is not surprising that we are also witnessing a huge world-wide increase in nationalistic and ethnic fervour in the world. These developments are the final efforts of various segments of humanity to establish and affirm their respective identities. From a psychological perspective, this is an essential aspect of the development of human societies, as well as human individuáis. By some stroke of its own sheer good fortune, the English language seems to be bound up in the phenomenon of globalism. One of the essential tenets of globalism is the emergence of an International auxiliary language. Each world war and technological development seem to propel it forward. Today, English is the indisputable language of International communication. It has official status in 60 countries and a prominent place in 20 more (Johnson 1996). It is the main language of books, academic joumals, the media and International sports and entertainment. It does not appear to have any cióse rival and seems positioned to grow even stronger. While it is a familiar phenomenon for one language to serve as a lingua franca over a large área of many languages, for example, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Arable, and French, what is unusual, however, is that never before has a single language spread for such purposes over most of the world as English as done in this century. Not surprisingly, it was only a matter of time before the moral and cultural implications of the phenomenal spread of English after the Second World War began to be questioned not just by philosophers or politicians but by language professionals themselves. By the eighties, more and more concems began to surface regarding the theoretical, methodological, ethical and professional issues related to global spread and use of English' Researchers Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N° 4 (1997) 83 Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew began to question the spread of English as being "natural" and "neutral" and attempted to deconstruct "English" and "EIL". 1. The "Worldliness" of English In 1991, Tollefson (1991), argued that language education had become increasingly ideological with the spread of English. He showed how language is one criteria for determining which people would complete different levéis of education. In other words, whenever people had to leam a new language to have access to education or to understand classroom instruction, language became a factor in creating and sustaining economic división.. In 1992, Phillipson's (1992) book Linguistic Imperialism, an extensive study of "North-South inequalities and exploitation", received a lot of attention when it first appeared.^ Quoting an English language entrepreneur who said that "once we used to send gunboats and diplomats abroad; now we are sending English teachers," Phillipson advanced the idea of "linguistic imperialism", that is, that the spread of English was a post-colonial plot on the part of the core-English-speaking countries, which hoped to maintain their dominance over "periphery" (mostly developing) countries. Another term introduced by Phillipson was "linguicism", a situation where the imposition of a language, in this case, English, was equated to the imposition of the cultural, social, emotional and linguistic norms of the dominating society onto the dominated society to maintain an unequal allocation of power and resources. Other researchers worried that the dominance of English, if allowed to foUow a natural course, would not only diminish the use of minority languages but replace them entirely (cf. .Shannon 1995, Sonntag 1995). The study of "languages in contact" became increasingly to be viewed as "languages in competition" (Fishman 1991, Pool 1991). Skutnabb-Kangas and Cummins (1988) described the phenomenon of linguistic hegemony ' For example, at the 26* Annual Convention of TESOL held on March 3-7, 1992 at Vancouver, Canadá, there was a colloquium on Partnership and patronage in ELT Development to explore the methods, motives and effects of ELT in the countries of the Commonwealth and Eastem Europe. ^ The book was immediately reviewed by five professionals in World Englishes, 1992, 12, 3, pp.335-373. 84 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N^ 4 (1997) Fears and Hopes: Globalization and The Teaching of The International Auxilian/ Language in the case of languages achieving the status of "dominant" or "prestigious" or "inferior" as a result of competition with other languages. Once a language achieve hegemonic status, dominated languages became more easily perceived as inferior and their speakers internalise their lowly status. Consequently users abandon their language for the dominated one. Throughout the world, similar scenarios have been played out between dominant and dominated languages, some examples being French vs. Bretón, Turkish vs. Kurdish and neo-national vs. indigenous language. Pennycook (1994) takes the argument of linguistic imperialism a few step further. He uses theories of post-modemism to deconstruct the discourse of English as an International Language (EIL), English, and indeed language, itself. His argument is that one can never just "teach a language" since it is bound up with its own worldly ideology. Pennycook develops the notion of the "worldliness of English" and devotes two central chapters to case studies of this phenomenon in Malaysia and Singapore. For Pennycook, English is a remnant of western imperialism, operating globally in conjunction with capitalist forces, especially in the operations of multinational corporations. Besides being the language of science and economic advancement, it is also the language of unequal distribution of wealth. 2. A Case Study It is my view, however, that the fears of "linguistic hegemony", "linguistic imperialism", and "worldliness of English" ascribes too much power to the language, as opposed to the language policy makers and the language users. I will use the republic of Singapore as a case in point to illustrate how the dominance of English early in its history has come about not so much as a result of linguistic imperialism but through a conscious decisión on the part of its leaders and populace, after the careful consideration of world trends and local conditions. The implementation of a national education system with English as the médium of instruction carne about through a "bottom-up" rather than a "top-down" process and was attained relatively easily— without strong controversy or bloodshed. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N4 (1997) 85 Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew Like the world at large, Singapore has many distinct races and cultures and is a multi-cultural community possessing extreme multilingualism, both individual and societal. It is also a unique country in the sense that is a place where the term "bilingualism" is not associated simply with minority groups, or with migrants, but one in which knowing and using several languages is expected. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that while many countries try to teach their children to be literate in more than one language, Singapore tries to do it in reverse — it tries to edúcate an entire population so that everyone is literature in English and at the same time has a reasonable knowledge of his mother tongue (Pakir 1994). A study of Singapore is therefore a study of how English has edged its way to become the principal school language, a major workplace language, the language of govemment, an ethnic link language, as well as a native language for an increasing number of children. It must be ijoted, firstly, that it was a conscious cholee on the part of the Singapore govemment not to indulge in the linguistic nationalism of many postcolonial countries but rather to concéntrate on economic survival, which was invariably linked with political survival. hi 1959, at the point of independence, Singapore was segmented by deep ethnic and linguistic segmentation. It was poor, had a rapidly rising birth-rate and possessed few prospects for economic survival. Political identity was contested terrain and it was dependent laigely on extemal trade. To ensure its survival, it was deemed imperative that it should have a dominant language which would enable it to survive politically, socially and culturally. English was seen as the language which would attract foreign investment, and give the society the leading edge in education, academic achievement, International trade and business. The policy of economic nationalism, which had characterised many post-colonial states, was therefore eschewed for one of pragmatic viability in a changing world. The possession of "linguistic capital" (Bourdieu and Passeron 1977), for example, ownership of the world's foremost auxiliary language, was widely viewed as easily convertible into other forms of capital, such as educational qualifications and higher incomes. This belief was apparent in the large sums of money parents were willing to spend on language tuition for their children and in their personal cholee of enroUing their children in English-medium 86 Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N4 (1997) Fears and Hopes: Globalization and The Teaching of The International Auxilian/ Language schools so as to give them a "headstart".' Not surprisingly, enrolments in Chínese, Tamil and Malay-medium schools began to decline sharply in the 4 sixties and seventies. In the seventies, preference for enrolment into Primary One English-medium schools had risen to a ratio of 8:1. By 1978, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had to specially intervene through a series of extemal measures to save the best Chínese schools as well as the Chinesemedium Nanyang University. To ensure their existence, 13 Chínese schools were selected by the Ministry of Education to continué teaching Chínese as a first language, but their students also had to leam English as a first language. Similarly, to ensure its survival, Nanyang University was amalgamated with the National University of Singapore through what was known as the Joint Campus scheme of 1978/1979. The cholee of English over that of Mandarín, Tamil and Malay as the médium of instruction in schools was therefore a "bottoms-up" decisión by the populace, the defacto but "invisible" planner. While there has always been fears that the widespread adoption of English would lead to a loss of ethnic identity and more importantly, a loss of "Asian valúes", yet the populace voted with their feet where cholee of language-stream schools for their children's education were concemed. When it came to the crunch, they valued a situation of an ethnic culture open to risks and changes but with increasing material retums as one preferable to the full retention of ethnic culture and history but with diminishing material returns. There was a pragmatic realisation that their lack of a command in English would mean the continued marginalization of their descendants in a world that would continué to use the language in greater and greater amounts. It would also deny them access to the extensive resources available in English, resources which have developed as a consequence of globalization. While it has been argued that linguicism violates the human rights of speakers of dominated languages, however, paradoxically, the aim of ensuring ' The Census of 1980 showed English as a clear indicator of socio-economic status. Homes which declared English as a predominant household language had higher income levéis. "• With independence in 1959, Singapore decided to retain the system of four language-medium schools (English, Mandarín, Tamil and Malay) to cater to the needs of the different ethnic groups. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N4 (1997) 87 Phyllis Ghim-Lian Chew human rights is often used to persuade speakers of languages other than English, that they should adopt English as their dominant language because English is the key to modemisation and thus political and economic power and control. Where minority languages are concemed, research has also shown that it is not so much numerical domination which is responsible for minority status but linguistic diversity. Countries with the most linguistic diversities often have serious racial problems and a poor economy (Robinson 1993:52-70). In addition, Fasold (1984) and Pool (1991) has shown how multilingualism leads to slower economic development. Recently, after years of economic nationalism, Malaysia (Singapore's closest neighbour), has also been foliowing in Singapore's footstep by renewing an emphasis in the leaming of English in the hope of accelerating economic development for itself.' Bilingualism and biculturalism are also not seemed as necessarily linked. In Singapore, the position is stated very clearly "yes" to English and "no" to westem cultural valúes. Singaporeans like to think of their city as "modem" but not "western". Similarly, while English is the official language of ASEAN, ASEAN has not shown itself to be either pro-British or proAmerican. In Hong Kong, students and their parents state their preference in English but show very little interest in supporting the weight of British, European, Westem culture and civilisation. So although English is the world language, neither British and American seems able to use English to domínate International organisation or their policies as they might wish to. Perhaps there is a lesson for the rest of the world grappling with the issue of cultural identity and language maintenance. One of the unfortunate aspects of the world debate on culture is the emphasis which some people place on the preservation of culture, almost with the same attitude that one has towards the preservation of museum pieces. A "pragmatic multilingualism" (Pakir 1991), such as that observed in Singapore, view the study of cultures as important human endeavours as long as the profit and prestige involved in these activities do not become motivating forces blocking the progress of a whole people. Preserving one's culture does not mean clinging on to the past ' This retumed attention to English is also happening in Sri Lanka. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos N4 (1997)