Why the world is learning English...

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 00:19:46 +0200

In our lifetime we have witnessed an explosion in the use of technology. This has powered a virtual shrinking of our planet, so that now, with the advent of improved transport, formerly great distances can be covered at lightening speed, and digital communication means information, including voice and images, may be conveyed instantly, not only to every square centimetre of the globe but, even into space! Moreover, currency may be effortlessly transferred internationally without resort to paper. This phenomenon has been labelled ‘globalisation’.

There is endless debate regarding the benefits of and/or problems with globalisation but some things are very clear. By changing the way governments, corporations and individuals interact internationally, globalisation has driven an incalculable exchange and growth of wealth. Of course, the opponents of globalisation argue that this has stripped from others, less fortunate, both their previously known prosperity and opportunities to build future wealth.

However, if there is any doubt about its influence, decaying border guard posts now stand abandoned throughout Europe as a testimony to the effects of globalisation.

Regardless, one only needs read a daily newspaper in any country, to recognise the mercurial nature of modern corporate capital and this phenomenon inexorably demands mobility from, or at least transportability of, its workforce. Effectively, it means that we may witness opportunities evaporate before our very eyes, whilst risks to our future security abound.

So that we are not left behind to stand silently on the side of life’s highway - like a former border guard post - we must prepare and equip ourselves to generate the individual power required to manoeuvre efficiently amongst our international peers and to successfully compete with our challengers.

In order to drive one’s own future, by capitalising on opportunities and minimising risks, it will become increasingly important for individuals, corporations, communities and governments to work not only productively and efficiently but collectively and collaboratively.

Given the significance of international markets to our individual and national futures, not only for sales, but resources, supplies, research, development, finance etc, then effective communication is the key to all our negotiations. As the international business language of choice (or chance) the English language has emerged as the clutch and gears, which synchronise, harmonise and empower our vehicle. Proficient use of the English language therefore, might be seen as the cruise control, delivering a safer and more comfortable journey into the future.

Without the means to efficiently communicate with people with whom we want to do business, those potential clients are likely to regard us essentially as mute. How can one hope to sell anything unless we can effectively communicate in the language of the local market, unless, of course, one speaks English.

English has become the common linguistic denominator. Whether you're a French executive on business in Shanghai, a German ‘Eurocrat’ drafting laws in Brussels or a Swedish biochemist at a conference in Brazil, you're probably speaking English.

Just one hundred years ago, the ability to speak French implied rank, education and prestige and French was an essential skill in international circles. Today, despite France's annual $1 billion budget to promote French internationally, the language ranks 11th in terms of number of speakers and is flagging. Though it is still the primary language at international institutions like UNESCO, Interpol and the European Court of Justice — and a working language at a score of others — English dominates international diplomacy and business. As Jacques Bille, a professor of business communication at the Sorbonne said: "A lot of people in France just can't accept that English is the working language of Europe." Globalisation has surely further dampened the influence of the French language but it has been since the end of WWII that the growing allure of American cinema and popular music, have made English both practical and cool. More recently it’s the influence upon one’s career that has made English a must for anyone hoping for a work beyond one’s own nation’s borders or seeking a higher paid profession within one’s own borders that has driven the explosion in interest in learning English.

About 380 million people speak English as their primary language and more than 250 million as a second language, versus 113 million and over 60 million respectively for French. According to a recent report from the British Council, within a decade, 2 billion people will be studying English and some 3 billion people - about half the world population - will speak it!

Technology has played a huge role in global expansion of the English language. Eighty (80) percent of the information stored electronically in the world is in English and 66 percent of the world's scientists read in it, according to the British Council. English is the language used on 52% of all websites; just 4.6% are in French. Across the E.U. (and excluding the U.K.), 92% of students choose to study English as a foreign language, compared to 33% for French and 13% for German.

A generation ago, only elites like diplomats and CEOs needed English for work. Throughout organisations, more people need more English. Even French multinationals like Alstom and Vivendi have adopted English as the workplace language. English is also the working language of the Japanese, French and Czech staff at a new Toyota and Peugeot plant in the Czech Republic.

Recognising that along with computers and mass migration, the English language is the turbine engine of globalisation, governments all over the world are promoting English language learning. Parents also keen for their children to achieve are paying for tuition at English language schools. A growing number of parents are enrolling their preschoolers in the new crop of local English courses.

Linguistically speaking, it's a whole new world. According to one recent study, non-native speakers of English now outnumber native speakers 3 to 1. In Asia alone, the number of English speakers has surpassed 350 million. This is approximately the combined population of the United States, Britain and Canada.

To achieve fluency, non-native speakers are learning English at an ever-younger age. Last year primary schools in major Chinese cities began offering English in the third grade, rather than middle school. China's English fever was elevated to epidemic proportions by the country's accession to the World Trade Organisation and their hosting of the 2008 Olympics. There are now more Chinese children studying English - about 100 million - than there are Britons.

For the traditional custodians of the English language the British and, more recently, Americans and Australians- this provides an opportunity. The demand for native English-speakers is so huge that there aren't enough to go around; China and the Middle East are starting to import English teachers from India. The average price of a four-day business-English course in London for a French executive runs around €2,800.

Australia and Britain, in particular, have invested heavily in branding themselves as destinations for learning English. More than 400 foreign English teaching companies are trying to break into China. On a visit to Beijing whilst British Chancellor, Gordon Brown said the Chinese thirst to acquire the language was "a huge opportunity for Britain," which already boasts a 1.3 billion pound English-teaching industry.

This is the front line of a global revolution in which hundreds of millions of people are learning English, the planet's language for commerce, technology and, increasingly, empowerment.

To see big business in action, one need only walk down London's Oxford Street, where advertisements promote instant access to the language of success. Above premiere retail stores, burgeoning English-language schools are packed with eager young learners from around the globe. Should anyone ask - why such enthusiasm? Answer: jobs!

Governments, even linguistically protectionist ones, are starting to agree. Last year Malaysia decided to start teaching school-level mathematics and science in English. In France, home of the Académie Française charged with defending the sanctity of the French language, a commission recommended in 2004 that basic English be treated like basic mathematics, that is, as part of the mandatory core curriculum beginning in primary school. Although, the minister of Education did not agree, French students and their parents are evidently ahead of their government because 96 percent of school students already study an English elective subject.

Schools are becoming more and more creative. In 2004 South Korea set up its first English immersion camp, on a small island in the Yellow Sea and subsidised by the provincial government. The camp includes bank and airport sets, where students practice conducting all transactions in English. While courses like this one in South Korea sound simple enough, English and its teaching are inexorably becoming more complex.

In countries like Germany, where most children begin English as early as the second or third grade, the market for English studies is already shrinking. German language schools no longer target English beginners but those pursuing more-expert niches: business English, phone manners or English for presentations. Beginning-English classes are filled with immigrants from places like Turkey and Russia, eager to catch up with their native German counterparts. As with migrants the world over, they're finding that their newfound land is an English-speaking one.

All languages are works in progress and although there are those staunch defenders of national identities through national languages, the use of the English language internationally has surpassed the contention that nations should resist its utility. It is not about English language eroding or even swamping local identities. Rather, gaining proficiency in communicating in English as a second language is improving the efficiency of international communication. Ultimately, this has the potential to bring richly diverse nations and their people closer to mutual understanding and increases potential mutual symbiotic relationships in all manner of international affairs and creating new opportunities.

The English language has an intrinsic role in globalisation. Its growth in utility is unprecedented in the history of languages, and it is certain to revolutionise the world in ways we can only begin to imagine. It’s up to each of us to ensure that the power of this communication tool is harnessed so as to enhance the prospect that the incalculable shift in global economic activity is ultimately best shared by all.

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Why the world is learning English...