[MLE] Article "Linguistic imperialism alive and kicking"
The British Council, as well as some US agencies, are active in south Asia and other places promoting the use of the English language in the classroom. A recent article by Robert Phillipson in The Guardian titled "Linguistic imperialism alive and kicking" is criticising this as "undermining multilingualism and education opportunities". Some quotes:
The myth is the belief that studying English is all you need for success in life. Policies influenced by this myth prevent most children from accessing relevant education.
Is Anglo-American expertise really relevant in all such contexts? In fact educational "aid" worldwide does not have a strong record of success. There is scholarly evidence, for instance from Spain, that primary English is not an unmitigated success story: quite the opposite.
Governments have tended to clutch at a quick fix, such as importing native speakers, or starting English ever earlier, either as a subject or as the medium of instruction, in the hope that this will make the learning of English more effective. Such demands should be challenged by ELT when both the demand and the response are unlikely to be educationally, culturally or linguistically well-informed.
As many states in India are pushing for English, this is a very relevant debate.
Regards,
Karsten
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