objective of thisconference: examine generalquestions
TRANSCRIPT
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CONFERENCEKYOTO NOTRE DAMEUNIVERSITY
FEBRUARY 1,2020
ENGLISH AS A BOOSTER OF MULTILINGUALISM?SOCIOLINGUISTIC DEBATES ON THE INTERNATIONALISATION
OF EDUCATION
Objectiveofthis conference :Examinegeneral questions
with afocusoneducational issues
• Havean‘objective’lookat thesituationofEnglishindaily life
&morespecifically educational systems• Movebeyond theemotional andmilitantdiscourseontheposition/roleofEnglishintheworld
• Provide abird’s eyeview ofthespreadofEnglishinsome countries
• Championtheidea that Englishcan servemultilingualism
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Disclaimer:
Expect nopedagogical miraclefrom thisconference!
J
Chapter 1.Firstofall,afewdefinitions…
1.1.Bilingualism andother …isms
• Bilingualism:severalapproaches:o A psycho-cognitiveapproach:2ormorelanguages=‘multi-’isavariantof‘bi-’
o Asociological/sociolinguisticapproach:2languages.oMostsociolinguists now insist onthe‘multi-’dimension,though,claiming that most socialactors aresurrounded bymultilingual practices&encounters
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1.2. Multilingualism vs Plurilingualism
• Multilingualism :– societal,organized,engineered,promoted(=dejure)• Eg :India,Luxemburg,NewZealand,Belgium,Bolivia,Singapore
–Unmanaged,notnecessarily promoted,sometimes discouragedbytheState…• Eg:USA,Germany,Singapore...
Sowhat is PLURILINGUALISM exactly?• Arecent concept• Theterm is common neither inEnglishnor inGerman (‘Mehrsprachigkeit’)
• Used often inacademic circles inFrance/French-speaking countries
• Promoted bytheCouncilofEurope&theCEFRLatthebeginning ofthe2000s.
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• Refers toindividual skills : ability touselanguages tocommunicate tosome extentindifferent languages andinteract culturally
• Does notimply complete knowledgeofthelanguages : plurilingualism is « imperfect »(=unbalanced)bynature–Skillsmay only cover oralcompetence,orinclude reading only,orevenintercomprehension• (eg.airline pilot vsofficesecretary vstourist)
• Entails that plurilingual peoplepossess arepertoire inwhich they draw languageitems (e.g.lexicons,phonemes,writingelements)–They arenotnecessarily polyglots–Their skills arenotnecessarily native-like
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Thereforeallthis means that languages donothavetobe aspartitioned/separated aswe think
– Linguists andteachers keepthem apart for(supposedly)scientific &heuristic purposes• (fear ofconfusion, interference,hybridization…)
–Andsome people(orsome peoples)separatelanguages fornationalistic reasons• (cf.Hindi/Urdu ;Macedonian/Bulgarian;Indonesian/Malay ;Serbian/Bosnian/Croatian…)
Chapter 2.Sowhatisorcouldbethe
place/roleofEnglishinallthat?
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2.1.Estimates
English:Anextraordinary language inthecontemporary world
• Estimates aresomewhat vague(cf.D.Crystal)
=Around 380million native(N)speakers
• But4to5timesasmany non-native(NN)speakers:–Those who speak it asasecondlanguage• (eg.Malaysia,Philippines,India…+Scandinaviancountries?)
–Those who learn it asaforeign language• (eg:morepeoplelearning EnglishinChinanowadays than NEnglishspeakers!)
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• Between 1.5and2billionpeople« speak »English(D.Crystal’s estimates)– ie :use, read,havesome knowledge ofit
• Its growth intherecent decades :consequence ofChina’s&India’sincrease inpopulation
Buthowever impressivethestatistics may be
• Let’s remember that about¾oftheworld’spopulationdonotspeak English
• Andthat despite its initialspreadviatheinternet,it hasserious competitors nowadays(Seargeant 2012):– Between 2000&2010,theuseofinternetgrewby444%,while theinternetuseof• English= +281%• Spanish = +743%• Chinese = +1277%• Arabic = +2501%
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2.2.Onsome perceptionsofEnglish• TheissueofEnglishasanint’l language (EIL)is often dealt with
- inanemotional way- inanaxiological way(good, bad,evil,beautiful…)
• Totheextent that some scholars areinvolvedinananti-Englishcrusade :– Afewexamples inFrance
è Emotional,alarmist rhetoricFrenchAcademy renownedHistorianHélèneCarrèred’Encausse,2013:
« Itcannot be denied that Englishthreatens ourlanguage,butit is everyone’s responsability thatinstead ofreplacing ordegrading it,Englishmaybecome anasset forthedevelopment ofcommunicationbetween human beings.InQuébec, theCharterfortheFrenchlanguage,also called Bill101,adopted in1977,hasresultedinremarkable respect forandpurity oftheFrenchlanguage.
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«Who knows that ‘tunnel’(our charmingtonnelle),‘corner’,‘coach’,‘tennis’or‘bacon’arenotonly loanwords from Britain?Buttoday,it is notthese travellingwords whichthreaten our language, it is theunstoppableimportofEnglishwords which,whensubstituting themost frequent Frenchones,make them disappear forever. »
FrenchphilosopherMichelSerres,2009,l’Humanité (daily newspaper)
« They aremoreEnglishwords onthewall ofParisthan there ever wereGermanwords
under theWW2Occupationperiod »Striking comparison⇒ Rhetoric of - invasion,occupation,
- dominance,symbolic violence
+often : - substitution,degradation,impurity,hybridity
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Thecomparison equates thefollowing imagesLille,France(Photo:GF- 2016
NaziGerman occupationofFrance
1940-1944
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2.3.Multilingualism everywhere!Aquickvisual introduction
Language usebe it orally
(eg.when theexpression ‘Ohmy God!’ is used byFrenchyounsters)
orinits written formshavetwo essentialsemiotic functions :
1- Itconveys alinguistic message2- Itconveys asymbolic message
Let’s start with afewimagesfromLinguistic Landscapes
–Englishasa‘foreign’language inourdaily environment
–Diversity oflanguages inourenvironment
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ParisSubway
Photo:É.Kasazian(2013)
LillePhoto:GForlot (2016)
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KyotoPhotoGForlot(2020)
When Englishis there, though invisible!RomePhoto :GForlot (2012)
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LilleRailwaystationPhoto:GF- 2016
Even ifsome ofthese bi-multilingual signsaresometimes puzzling! LilleRailway station
(PhotoGForlot (2013)
‘Drop-offarea’vs
‘Kiss &Ride’
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KyotoPhotoGForlot(2012)
HongKong(Photo GF,2016)
Singapore (PhotoGF,2014)ê
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Beijing Kyoto2019 2020
PhotoGF PhotoGF
Hiroshima(Photo GF,2020)
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’H asafake Englishgenitive markerStOmer,Northern FrancePhotoGF,2016)
Andsometimes,signage playswith multilingualpractices
LondonKing’s Cross,Sept.2015(photo:GF)
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3.Contemporary controversies onthespread ofEnglish
A.ð Thecolonialcelebratory position- Teaching Englishasacivilizingmission- Neo-colonial orpseudo-colonialconceptionoflanguage development
- Englishis here presented asa2nd language,notasaforeign language (EFL=ESL).
Ex.:BritishCouncil &BritishUniv (1950s)Ex.:Singapore’s celebration ofEnglish(« GoodEnglish »)
B.ð theliberal ‘laissez-faire’approachØ Wait-and-see stancetowards thespreadofEnglish
Ø Finding theproper balancebetweentheneedsforthelocalandthenecessitiesoftheglobalÄ eg.findingways toneutralize language issuesin
ethnically diversenationsvs
Imposing Englishtopromote int’l intelligibility &communication
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C.ð Thelinguistic imperialismperspective
ê
Languagesaredivided into twogroups:dominantlanguages
&dominated languagesThelattereventually recede anddisappearØ Generates theunequal distributionofpowerØ (re)produces theneed for/dependence onEnglØ created forms of‘linguicide’
(cf.Y.Tsuda ;R.Phillipson ;T.Skuttnab-Kangas)
D.ð theecological perspective
Ø Preservation oftherighttospeak one’slanguage inpublicspaceØ Justiceforallalso entails therighttospeak one’s languageØ Protectionofidentities andlanguages intheir originalforms &shapes (??)
(cf.T.Skuttnab-Kangas ;P.Mühlhäuser ;R.Phillipson ;N.Ostler…)
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E.ð Superdiversity &critical sociolinguisyicsapproaches
(cf.cf.StephenVertovec’s conceptofsuperdiversity)
E1è Transcultural perspective (Pennycook 2001- 2007)
Ø Era of‘trans-’rather thanmulti/inter-transcultural,translinguistic…
Ø Languages&culturesareintrinsically-plural&hybrid-local,even though they’re global-dynamic &unstable…
ForAlastairPennycook
ð Englishis embodied inrenewed forms:‘GlobalEnglishes’ :
i.e.bitsandpieces ofEnglishtravellingandbeing reinvented locally
� Transcultural flows� Globalandlocalcreativity
• Cf.Hult (2012)onSweden:– ‘Englishis alanguage ofSweden’
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Related tothis :
• E2è Thesociolinguistics in globalisationperspective (Blommaert2005,2008,2010)Two paradigms :i.Thetraditional,Saussurian approach :• Static• Language-focussed one• Language seen anindependent object&treated ‘horizontally’–=a‘sociolinguictics ofdistribution’
ii.Apresent-day approach taking globalizationinto account:– Dynamic &mobileapproach– Language-as-a-resource focussed =languageseen asamobileresource
– Languagepracticeshavetobe treated ‘vertically’aswell (‘scales’)• Unequal access tothe resources• Some ofthese resources provide power• language practicesindexessocialstatus
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Chapter 3.ENGLISH:theendofmultilingualism?
3.1.Remember that spreadanddominancedonotnecessarily mean substitution
3.2.However,Englishpossess legitimacy andarethought togrant increased capital toitsspeakers…Butso doother languages :Chinese,andtospme extent Japanese,Korean…
3.3.Contemplate thepossibility thatEnglishmay also contribute to• Buildingindividual plurilingual repertoires
LearningEnglishatschool =being onone’s way tomultilingual practices
• Stabilizing societalmultilingualism (Brutt-Griffler
2002) actingas– Aneutral language inmultiethniccontextCf.formerBritishcolonies:Singapore,Malaysia,Nigeria+Belgium…– Aninternationaldoor-opener (‘Aladin’s Lamp’)
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3.4.Let’s lookatfacts &statsA.Englishinthelinguistic landscapes (cf.earlier)B.Englishintheeconomic landscapeExample :2airline companies– AirFranceFrequent flyerprogrammeFréquencePlusð Flying Blue(after AirFrancemerged with KLM)– Belgian airline company SABENAwent bankruptin2001ð BrusselsAirlines
(after it was purchased byVirgin)
C.EnglishintheEducational Sphere
– English-ESL is now compulsory inItalian,Spanish,Chinese (etc.)primary schoolcurricula– 99%ofFrenchpeoplecurrently graduatingfrom Secondary school havetaken someEnglishat school– 87%ofSwedish PhD theses arewritten inEnglish (Norrby 2014)– 65%ofMaster’s Degrees programmes inSweden areoffered inEnglish (ibid.)
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InFrenchUniversities (SourceCampusFrance)
• 424Master’s Degree programmesareofferedentirely inEnglish
Inthe782Japaneseuniversities (Sources:Ohki &Nishiyama 2015a&2015b&MECSSTJapan)
• ENGLISHis taught in736universities
So…
Thereareindeed signs andfiguresshowing
that Englishis everywhere,that it is thedominantlanguage,that is reigns unchallenged…
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Butother signs callforcaution(asthings aremorecomplex
than they appear…)
Let’s gobacktothefacts &stats forafewexamples…
A) If99%ofFrenchpupils learn English–avastmajority ofthem (79%) alsolearn a2nd language :• Spanish (47%ofthetotal)• German (15%)• Italian (4%)…
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–And7% ofthem learn a3rd language(inadditionto/replacementoftheir 2nd language)• Italian (39,1%orthe7%learning a3rdlg)• Chinese (16,6%)• Russian (5,5%)• AFrenchregional language (4,8%)• Portuguese (4,1%)• Arabic (4,0%)• Japanese (3,2%)
Sohere is themainstream profile ofaFrenchgraduating secondary school student:
L1:French(oramigrantlanguage)L2:Often English(butnotalways)L3:German,Spanish,Italian,Russian,Chinese…L4,possibly:x…+Lofinstructionatschool :French
Which,however,tellsusnothingoftheir languagecompetencies,
butjust that theyhavesome levelofmultilingualismaka« Plurilingualandpluriculturalcompetence»)
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B) If87%ofSwedish PhD theses areindeed written inEnglish,–Thisis bynomeans arecent phenomenon:• In1960=70%• And…in1920=15%!
–Thereis agreat difference betweenScience(94%)andhumanities (37%)
(cf.Kuteeva 2014)
(Sources:Ohki &Nishiyama 2015a&2015b&MECSSTJapan)
C)Ifindeed inJapan’s 782universities,ENGLISHis taught in736ofthem
• CHINESEis taught in621• FRENCHis taught in536• GERMANis taught in525• COREANis taught in450• SPANISHis taught in240• RUSSIANis taught in165
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In2015:atKyoto UniversitySources:Ohki &Nishiyama 2015a&2015b)
Outof30001st year students studying ENGLISH,–1176also took GERMAN–763also took CHINESE–549also took FRENCH–186also took SPANISH–115also took ITALIAN–67also took RUSSIAN–47also took ARABIC
D) Ifindeed inFrenchuniversities(sourceCampusFrance)
• 424Master’s Degree programmesareofferedentirely inEnglish
è Itis 424outof8608
Intotal: 455Bach.&Masterdiplomas outof12,928 aretaught entirely inEnglish,i.e.3,5%
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E) Andindeed,many Swedish universityprogrammesareoffered inEnglish,but…
–Coursesandlecturesaretaught inamultimodalway,with tools invariouslanguages (incl.EnglishandneighbouringScandinavian languages):• readings,• slideshows,• classesareoften multilingual (Kuteeva 2014)
InSwedishUniversities
–Evenwhen EMIis therule inaclass,teachers frequently switchfrom onelanguage totheother (Söderlundh 2010)
–Swedish is always dominantindailyuniversity interactions
–Even inEMIcourses,Swedish oftenbecomes themediumofinstructionwhen allstudents areSwedish-speaking(Norrby 2014)
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Allofthis confirms Swiss economist FrançoisGrin’s findings (2014)
Heshowsthat:èindeed,Englishhasbecome thedominantlanguage ofscholarly publication
èbuttheresearch process language ismost oftimethelocallanguagei.e.:German orJapanese biologists publish inEnglish,buttheir daily lab life&research is inGerman orJapanese.
Things havechanged…• Itis timewe shifted frommonolingual /monoculturaltomultilingual perceptions
• Reinterpret thetheold axiom1nation/1people/1country/1language
(=the‘static’approach)Moreoften than not,
Language practicesareplural
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Chapter 4EnglishinEducation
4.1.Taking 3typesofdatainto accounta.Thesocio-political andlinguisticdimensionofthedebateð Eg:IntheFrench-SpeakingWorld,thedebatehasstrong ideologicalunderpinnings
ð Thedebate is fed byemotional stances(thefear oflanguage loss, orloss ofquality ofalllanguages« contaminated »…)
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b.Thenatureofinteractionsin‘English(es’)ð N-N (Native-Native)
N-NN (Native-NonNative)
NN-NN (NonNative-NonNative)
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c.Thequestionofownershipð Does Englishbelong toanyone?IsEnglishonly ‘one language’?Where/what areitsboundaries?What can qualify as‘native’English?
ðWho can take advantage ofEnglish?CanNNspeakersclaimtobe ‘anglophones’?
ð IsNNEnglishalegitimate form ofEnglish?
EFLand/or ELF?(Englishasaforeign language /Englishasalinguafranca)
• Eis often thecontact mediumbetweenspeakerswho don’t share thesame languagesandthesame cultures (B.Seidlhofer)
• Eis often themediumofinterculturalcommunication (C.Meierkord)
• Thefact ofusing Einthose circumstancesimpacts its structural forms (J.Jenkins)
• Most interactions inEnglish intheworldare(probably)NN-NN
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Sowhat arewe tomake ofthis?• Atranscultural (ormultilingual) form ofEisreleased from the‘oppressive’and‘stigmatizing’modelofNativeEnglish (cf.Kachru)
• Teaching/learning practices can be gearedtoward therealneeds:alanguage resourcethat can be mobilized insocial interaction
ie : Language asacommunicationtoolvs
Language asanacademic discipline
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• Transcultural Emay become thegatewaytowards other languages/language learning
• Take into account thelearners/speakersthemselves,who aretheessentialagentsofthespreadoflanguage forms
(bottom-upmovement ;cf.J.Brutt-Griffler 2001)
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4.2.Create pedagogical opportunities
ie.Englishservinglanguage education,teaching &learning
=canwe even imagineEnglishasABOOSTER
ofmultilingualism?
Butundoutedly,there arechallengesandhurdles along theway!
Because…
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ØStrong socialpressuretounify andhomogenize languages&their practices
ØLong-standingutilitarian perceptionoflanguage(s):English,butalso Spanish,Chinese…
ØPublicdiscourse which sometimesdistorts thelinguistic realities ofwhat /where /when peoplespeak (=clichés&stéréotypes)
Andafter all…
ØWhy should we make aneffortifEnglishis enough?
(butis Englishreally enough?)
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Cf.BritishAcademy
BritishAcademyOnTweeter,15April2015:
ProfessorNigelVincentonBritishAcademylanguage work,'Why Englishis NotEnough’@stonybrookuhttp://bit.ly/1cvqfsD #languagesdebate
(cf.conference onYoutube)
Majorpedagogical problems:Language teaching is often ‘partitioned’
è Dolanguages need tobe learnedseparately?- Academic tradition(:purity,unity,separation)
- Disciplinary tradition(:language teachers arelanguage specialists)
- Fearoflanguagemixing*Cf.popular theory offalsecognatesEg.:Teaching DutchinNorthern France
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èDolanguages need tobe learned‘perfectly’?
- Perceptionthat language immersionisalways better
- Perceptionthat theaim oflanguagelearning is toreach native-like level- (cf.Abrahamsson &Hytenstam 2009)
Proposals
� Language teachingANDlanguage teaching=create partialLlearning inorder todiscover/access other languages
- linguistic(ie thestructuresofthelanguage)
- metalinguistic(howthelanguage works)
- cognitive&psychological(emotion,motivation,confidence…)
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Englishasacapitalintheserviceofotherlanguages?
ðMostpeopleshare some amount ofEnglish:What arethen thepossibletransfers?
ð Likely toproduce animpressionof‘déjà-vu’:‘already learned’,‘already understood’(cf.pedagogy ofintercomprehension)
Examples:
Dutch:‘sta op!’‘Ik doe dedeur open.Ennu,dedeur is open!’‘Datis demuur’
French:‘Leprésidentainvitésessecrétairesaudînerofficiel’
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But,oneway oranother,many languagesproduce thesame intercomprehensive effect :
‘Ik heb geen familialeverzekering’ (D<->Gm/E/F)
‘Kandusimeg/oss hvor vier?’ (Nor <->E)
‘Euvou comprar um livro sobrearevoluçãoindustrial naInglaterra’ (Por <->Spa)
+Japanese Kanjißà Chinese characters
Anexercise Igive my students
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List1 List2 List3friend hamburger governmentmore banana responsabilitytown tee-shirt contributionskirt facebook elementarybook taxi essentialhunt pizza remarkablecough hotel internationalbox dollar hypocricywrite internet domain
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Example ofChinese learners ofFrenchinChina(Cuet 2009;2011)
� Syntax:isolating,analytical language
�Morphology:Principle:Thelimited inflection systemofEnglish(-ed,-t,-s,-ing,-’s) is used asaway tointroducelearners tomoremorphologically complexsystems
�Morphology:Ä Declensions/conjugations/casesvery limited inEng.,non-existing inChi.
Ä Compoundwordsmorefrequent than derivedwords
Apple tree Plum tree苹 果 树 李 果 树píng guǒ shù lǐ guǒ shù
(=‘apple fruittree’) (=‘plum fruittree’)
Vs. Pomm-ier vs. Prun-ier
(+exceptions inFrench:‘pêcher’, ‘oranger’,‘noisetier’…)
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Apragmatic pedagogical project aiming to
- create acultureoflinguistic anddisciplinarydepartioning inlanguage learning
- turn Englishinto agateway languagetowards other language learning (amultilingualbooster)
- give Englishteachers anewstatus:couriers,carriers,messengerswith apivotal role
Soifindeed Englishis central nowadays
Itmay however produce some amount ofdecentering forlearners:
• Teach /learn newlanguages byexploitingtheir multipleanterior languageknowledge (Englishincl.)
• Create /value/enhance this cultureof‘déjàvu’(or‘déjàappris’=already learnt)
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However,some elements ofteachertrainingarerequired
• Training–Ontheimagesconveyed byEnglish
–Ontheimagesoftheother languagesatstake
–On‘plurilingualism’asanacquisitionasset,notasaform ofsemi-lingualismorinstrumentoflanguagemixing
–Ontheundertanding that learningEnglishmay just be astep ofmultilinguallearning–Onthefact that Englishis most ofthetimenotenough–Onthenecessity ofteaching languagesasinterconnected /articulated skills:
+++connecting language =teaming uplanguage teachers!
