English Teachers Agents On Linguistic Imperialism

[Rhys]

Greetings it is almost that time of year... Rereading some old articles..

Came across a theme of the 1980s.. In a strong L-1 country as an English teacher are you an agent of linguistic imperialism...

LET it rip guys..

[Phatcharanan]

Huh ????

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Troll

[Scott]

I don't have much of a handle on the topic, but let's see if something worthwhile transpires. I've not run into too many people who make accusations of linguistic imperialism. I've heard it mentioned before and in other countries, but not in Thailand.

Of course, I'm talking to people who have mastered the language somewhat and seem to be pleased with their own personal accomplishments!

[aussiebebe]

I see English teachers more as by-products of economic imperialism after the US established itself as the world's sole superpower. The foreign policies of most Western nations are based primarily around financial rather than linguistic subjugation.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

I see English teachers more as by-products of economic imperialism after the US established itself as the world's sole superpower. The foreign policies of most Western nations are based primarily around financial rather than linguistic subjugation.

Funny, because I work for a UK company and part of my job is ensuring that all communications are not only legally sound, but are also exhibit a professional tone and are grammatically correct. I don't see the use of the English language as being a consequence of US economic imperialism, but rather a compromise for a universal international language for business. After all, do we want industries like international airlines having pilots and air traffic controllers that can only speak their native tongues? After all, it was the British and French who colonized most of SEA, and not the US (with the exception of the PI). So, who truly had imperialistic intentions? Edited November 12, 2010 by zaphodbeeblebrox

[Xangsamhua]

One can certainly make a case that TEFL teachers are agents of English language hegemony, and Robert Phillipson in Linguistic Imperialism (1992) made an articulate case to that effect, suggesting it dates back to a conference of post-colonial education commissioners, directors etc at Makerere University in Kampala in 1961, organised by the British Council. Policy to make English the dominant language in schooling in postcolonial Africa was framed at the conference while the BC and publishers salivated at the thought of all the influence they'd have and texts they'd sell as a result. This and similar policies extended to other parts of the postcolonial world.

Phillipson's work was followed up in a number of challenging though very readable texts by Alistair Pennycook (in part based on the now widely contested theses of Edward Said) and a seminal one by Suresh Canagarajah, based on his PhD researched and partly written while dodging bombs and strafing as a lecturer at the University of Jaffna. George Braine, another Sri Lankan, and others have extended the discussion into advocacy for the role and status of NESB teachers of English.

I read up on this stuff when preparing a literature review for a still uncompleted doctorate in the early 2000s and it was a central theme at the first Language, Education & Diversity international conference in Hamilton, NZ in late 2003, where Robert Phillipson and his somewhat fanatical wife, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, ("Blessed with Bilingual Brains" t-shirt and all) both gave keynote addresses.

"Linguistic imperialism" is obviously a highly emotive and loaded term. Whether every ESL teacher is de facto an agent of the British Council, Longman Pearson, the CIA or whatever is pretty questionable, and even those like Phillipson and Pennycook (especially the former), who have tended to suggest that, have not recommended we stop teaching the world English or that all our work is underhanded in some way. The NESB TESOL writers, like Canagarajah, Braine and Kumaravadivelu, I think are less concerned now about "imperialism", or even native-speaker hegemony, than about acknowledging the diversity of English and giving it space and traction in English as an International (rather than just Second) Language teaching and writing. This may be difficult in Thailand where English still lacks the depth for any credible Thai English to be asserted.

Incidentally, one of the early and convincing critiques I read of communicative language methodology as orthodoxy was in Canagarajah's Resisting Linguistic Imperialism. There is considerable evidence that, if any kind of "imperialism" is being spread abroad by native speakers of English it may well be "cultural imperialism" in the form of Western methodologies, perhaps well suited to teaching English to immigrants in the US, UK, etc, but less appropriate in countries where traditional values, behaviours and pedagogic expectations are still important, class sizes are large or very large, and so on. Canagarajah was very critical of the cultural bias he discerned in the Kernel Lessons texts students in Jaffna were using and wrote eloquently of the ways in which students resisted this by "Tamilizing" some of the characters and dialogues in the texts. Angel Lin (who wrote Bilingual Education: Southeast Asian Perspectives: 2009) did something like this in Hong Kong where she observed and recorded Cantonese-speaking reluctant English learners "subverting" the native-speaking teacher's efforts by "Cantonising" them. I have a copy of her paper on this if I can find it.

Wikipedia has an article on Linguistic Imperialism, which I've just found and haven't read yet. There's a stack of material available on the linguistic imperialism theme, but I don't know if it's still a hot topic.

Edited November 12, 2010 by Xangsamhua

[Scott]

Wow, thanks for that extensive and informative post. I admit that I will have to re-read it this evening when I have time. I've met and heard Angel Lin speak, although not on the issue of Linguistic imperialism. The idea of subversion is interesting. I see some what I think is some of that here in Thailand.

As far as cultural imperialism, that I see as a bigger problem. There are schools that have great fear of these immoral Western influences. They want English, but nothing more. That would be OK, if teachers were left to just teach, but in many places they actively try to Thaiify them.

[Scott]

As a follow up, English had pretty well spread far and wide long before the economic imperialism attributed to the US. The days of the sun never setting on the British Empire had brought large swaths of the globe under the influence of the English language. The US, Australia, India (and now Pakistan), Burma, Hong Kong, Singapore and parts of Africa.

Trade with any or all of these countries was facilitated with a knowledge of English.

[Fookhaht]

I see English teachers more as by-products of economic imperialism after the US established itself as the world's sole superpower. The foreign policies of most Western nations are based primarily around financial rather than linguistic subjugation.

Incredible statement: So you see English teachers as "doing their linguistic-imperialism-thing" in Thailand only since about 1989 (fall of Soviet Union)?

What a lame, weak, tunnel-visioned argument! The poster is simply hi-jacking the thread to try to start an American-bashing feeding frenzy. Glad that more even-handed posters are not taking the bait.

Aussie's attempted rant is not even worth a reply. In fact, Mods, delete my post!

[Rhys]

Supermember... I read Phillipson, and was interested in (R.Cook, 1980 U of Hawai's assertion on linguistic genocide. Also I found (Canagarahah, 1999) insights on the topic interesting as a NEST. "Resisting Lingusitic Imperialism in English Teaching"

I suppose issues perhaps gives rise to World Englishes. Your thoughts?

[Rhys]

Troll

NADA...

[Rhys]

One can certainly make a case that TEFL teachers are agents of English language hegemony, and Robert Phillipson in Linguistic Imperialism (1992) made an articulate case to that effect, suggesting it dates back to a conference of post-colonial education commissioners, directors etc at Makerere University in Kampala in 1961, organised by the British Council. Policy to make English the dominant language in schooling in postcolonial Africa was framed at the conference while the BC and publishers salivated at the thought of all the influence they'd have and texts they'd sell as a result. This and similar policies extended to other parts of the postcolonial world.

Phillipson's work was followed up in a number of challenging though very readable texts by Alistair Pennycook (in part based on the now widely contested theses of Edward Said) and a seminal one by Suresh Canagarajah, based on his PhD researched and partly written while dodging bombs and strafing as a lecturer at the University of Jaffna. George Braine, another Sri Lankan, and others have extended the discussion into advocacy for the role and status of NESB teachers of English.

I read up on this stuff when preparing a literature review for a still uncompleted doctorate in the early 2000s and it was a central theme at the first Language, Education & Diversity international conference in Hamilton, NZ in late 2003, where Robert Phillipson and his somewhat fanatical wife, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, ("Blessed with Bilingual Brains" t-shirt and all) both gave keynote addresses.

"Linguistic imperialism" is obviously a highly emotive and loaded term. Whether every ESL teacher is de facto an agent of the British Council, Longman Pearson, the CIA or whatever is pretty questionable, and even those like Phillipson and Pennycook (especially the former), who have tended to suggest that, have not recommended we stop teaching the world English or that all our work is underhanded in some way. The NESB TESOL writers, like Canagarajah, Braine and Kumaravadivelu, I think are less concerned now about "imperialism", or even native-speaker hegemony, than about acknowledging the diversity of English and giving it space and traction in English as an International (rather than just Second) Language teaching and writing. This may be difficult in Thailand where English still lacks the depth for any credible Thai English to be asserted.

Incidentally, one of the early and convincing critiques I read of communicative language methodology as orthodoxy was in Canagarajah's Resisting Linguistic Imperialism. There is considerable evidence that, if any kind of "imperialism" is being spread abroad by native speakers of English it may well be "cultural imperialism" in the form of Western methodologies, perhaps well suited to teaching English to immigrants in the US, UK, etc, but less appropriate in countries where traditional values, behaviours and pedagogic expectations are still important, class sizes are large or very large, and so on. Canagarajah was very critical of the cultural bias he discerned in the Kernel Lessons texts students in Jaffna were using and wrote eloquently of the ways in which students resisted this by "Tamilizing" some of the characters and dialogues in the texts. Angel Lin (who wrote Bilingual Education: Southeast Asian Perspectives: 2009) did something like this in Hong Kong where she observed and recorded Cantonese-speaking reluctant English learners "subverting" the native-speaking teacher's efforts by "Cantonising" them. I have a copy of her paper on this if I can find it.

Wikipedia has an article on Linguistic Imperialism, which I've just found and haven't read yet. There's a stack of material available on the linguistic imperialism theme, but I don't know if it's still a hot topic.

Edited November 12, 2010 by Rhys

[Rhys]

Thanks for the Reference to Angel Lin, will look for her work.. any other suggestions.. This is for an MATEFL .. Cheers

[Xangsamhua]

Thanks for the Reference to Angel Lin, will look for her work.. any other suggestions.. This is for an MATEFL .. Cheers

The Wikipedia article has quite a good list of references. I wrote my literature review in 2001, so my references will be dated.

James Tollefson is another, not on that list. I see he and Amy Tsui from Hong Kong have recently co-edited a book on language, policy and culture in Asia: http://www.springerl...6262ru8428u658/

Incidentally, Amy Tsui took part in a 2005 discussion on CLIL (content and language integrated learning), which works very well in places like Finland and the Netherlands (and was subjected to a disastrous pilot project here in Thailand in 2006 (?) (the report has disappeared from the web). In the discussion, Amy Tsui expressed some reservations about English through content in Hong Kong, which were summarily dismissed (with some justification) as the result of poor teaching there. Nevertheless, it is worth looking at her comments as an example of how something that works well in some western contexts may not be readily transferrable to Asia. http://www.guardian....uardianweekly13 Angel Lin's book outlines the complexity and peculiar issues facing English-medium education in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is pretty messy, trying to keep the competing claims of English, Cantonese and Mandarin in the air.

[aussiebebe]

I see English teachers more as by-products of economic imperialism after the US established itself as the world's sole superpower. The foreign policies of most Western nations are based primarily around financial rather than linguistic subjugation.

Incredible statement: So you see English teachers as "doing their linguistic-imperialism-thing" in Thailand only since about 1989 (fall of Soviet Union)?

What a lame, weak, tunnel-visioned argument! The poster is simply hi-jacking the thread to try to start an American-bashing feeding frenzy. Glad that more even-handed posters are not taking the bait.

Aussie's attempted rant is not even worth a reply. In fact, Mods, delete my post!

Come on! I don't think my two sentences were really worthy of being described as an 'argument' or 'rant' as you put it, but I wasn't American-bashing. Far from it. I was rejecting the linguistic imperialism argument. Teachers aren't 'agents' - they ply their trade to meet demand, and that demand is people wishing to use English for their own purposes to increase and improve their economic situation. English because the US developed the world's largest, most powerful economy - the only superpower - hardly a criticism is it?

[mopenyang]

Any teacher who finds teaching English distasteful for any reason including being labeled an agent of "Linguistic Imperialism" need only stop teaching it and find another job.

Any student who feels compromised or victimized by learning English need only stop studying it.

This will 1) insure additional job prospects for the remaining ESL teachers while 2) letting the remaining ESL teachers focus on students who recognize the reality of the value and benefits of English language acquisition regardless of other tangential considerations.

[otherstuff1957]

I, for one, find these scholars who decry the use on English as Linguistic Imperialism to be a bunch of hypocrites. If they really believed that this is the case, they should publish their work in obscure endangered minority languages. By writing and publishing in English they are undermining their own arguments. (unless they use Pigeon English of course!)

[up-country_sinclair]

Any student who feels compromised or victimized by learning English need only stop studying it.

English courses are mandatory for all students at the university I teach at. Whether an Engineering or Pharmacy major, they all have to take a couple of terms of English. If they "stop studying it", they won't graduate.

And my understanding is that English is taught at primary and secondary schools. I can't imagine that the students in these schools can simply "stop studying it".

[PlanetX]

gematria in english is also an interesting (albeit occult) way of looking at its spread and push for universality

[mopenyang]

Any student who feels compromised or victimized by learning English need only stop studying it.

English courses are mandatory for all students at the university I teach at. Whether an Engineering or Pharmacy major, they all have to take a couple of terms of English. If they "stop studying it", they won't graduate.

And my understanding is that English is taught at primary and secondary schools. I can't imagine that the students in these schools can simply "stop studying it".

True, but at a certain point they can and should if they feel incredibly burdened, compromised and victimized by acquiring additional English learning.

[Captain Haddock]

Aren't we all Word Warriors of a sort?