This book investigates the relationship between English and personal and national development, as this is both discursively promoted (particularly through language policy) and practically realized in developing societies. It addresses the effects that the increased use of English and the promotion of English-language education are having in developmental contexts, and their impact on broader educational issues, on local language ecologies and on questions of cultural identity. It investigates these issues by drawing together a series of original examinations and case studies by a range of leading scholars working in this burgeoning field. The chapters focus on a variety of contexts from around the world, and the volume as a whole surveys and critiques the positioning and influence of English as a catalyst for development in the 21st century.
This book investigates the relationship between English and personal and national development, as this is both discursively promoted (particularly through language policy) and practically realized in developing societies. It addresses the effects that the increased use of English and the promotion of English-language education are having in developmental contexts, and their impact on broader educational issues, on local language ecologies and on questions of cultural identity. It investigates these issues by drawing together a series of original examinations and case studies by a range of leading scholars working in this burgeoning field. The chapters focus on a variety of contexts from around the world, and the volume as a whole surveys and critiques the positioning and influence of English as a catalyst for development in the 21st century.
English and Development: Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization
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Overview
This book investigates the relationship between English and personal and national development, as this is both discursively promoted (particularly through language policy) and practically realized in developing societies. It addresses the effects that the increased use of English and the promotion of English-language education are having in developmental contexts, and their impact on broader educational issues, on local language ecologies and on questions of cultural identity. It investigates these issues by drawing together a series of original examinations and case studies by a range of leading scholars working in this burgeoning field. The chapters focus on a variety of contexts from around the world, and the volume as a whole surveys and critiques the positioning and influence of English as a catalyst for development in the 21st century.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781847699480 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Multilingual Matters Ltd. |
| Publication date: | 05/16/2013 |
| Series: | Critical Language and Literacy Studies , #17 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 296 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
About the Author
Elizabeth J. Erling is Lecturer of International Teacher Education at the Open University and her research explores topics in world Englishes, language policy, teacher professional development and English for academic purposes. She has published papers in journals such as World Englishes, English Today, Language Policy and Innovations in Language Learning and Teaching.
Philip Seargeant is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics in the Centre for Language and Communication, The Open University. He is author of The Idea of English in Japan (Multilingual Matters, 2009) and Exploring World Englishes (Routledge), and editor of English in Japan in the Era of Globalization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and English in the World: History, Diversity, Change (Routledge, 2012, with Joan Swann).
Elizabeth J. Erling, PhD, works at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her research explores issues of equity in language education, particularly with regard to multilingual students from a migration background.
Philip Seargeant is a Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Open University, UK, where he teaches and researches language and communication. He is the author of The Art of Political Storytelling (2020, Bloomsbury) and has published widely on topics ranging from World Englishes, language and social media, to language and creativity. He is a frequent contributor to publications including Wired, The New European, Prospect, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post and The Independent.
Read an Excerpt
English and Development
Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization
By Elizabeth J. Erling, Philip Seargeant
Multilingual Matters
Copyright © 2013 Elizabeth J. Erling, Philip Seargeant and the authors of individual chaptersAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84769-948-0
CHAPTER 1
English, Development and Education: Charting the Tensions
Gibson Ferguson
Introduction
As one might expect, given divergent perspectives on the global diffusion of English (see e.g. Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 2000), the relationships of English to development are contested and controversial. On the one hand, an almost unanimous community of applied linguists see the continued use of English as a medium of education in primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa, and elsewhere, as impairing the quality of education, and hence as holding back development. On the other hand, there are abundant official discourses that portray English-language skills as essential for economic competitiveness, for entry into the knowledge economy and for access to foreign investment and technology. Not uncommonly such views are buttressed by development experts who argue the benefits of widespread English-language skills. An example would be Green et al. (2007: 218), whose report for the UK Department for International Development (DFID) concludes:
Are there any straightforward lessons to be learnt regarding the benefits of promoting particular kinds of skills through education? Two points seem to emerge clearly from our analysis.
First widespread fluency in English language has proved to be a considerable asset in many developing countries, especially for the growth of service industries, as India is now finding. Some successful developers, like Singapore and Hong Kong, had this advantage built into their education systems through colonial inheritance and public policy decisions from the start since English was a major language of instruction....
At the popular level, meanwhile, there is a seemingly insatiable demand for English-medium education and/or the early introduction of English as a curricular subject (see e.g. Trudell, 2007; Muthwii, 2004; Probyn, 2001, 2005; Annamalai, 2004; Nunan, 2003 with respect to Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, India and East Asia). And this pressure has been reflected in policy: for example, in the drift to English-medium education in South African schools despite official multilingualism (Kamwangamalu, 2004), in the ever earlier introduction of English as a curriculum subject in East Asian countries and in the rapid growth in private English-medium schools in India, Tanzania and elsewhere (see e.g. Graddol, 2010; Lassibille et al., 1999).
If the relationships of English to development are controversial, they are also complex and difficult to ascertain reliably. One reason lies in the very variable relationship of education, hence of English, to development across different societies with different economies and labour markets, different education systems and different sociolinguistic ecologies. The failed neo-liberal 'Washington consensus' approach to development, positing (almost) universal recipes for economic growth, has long since given way to more nuanced understandings of development, and of the role of local factors – governance, social cohesion and social capital, culture, equality, etc. – as conditioning the potential for, and the pathways toward, development (see e.g. Robertson et al., 2007). Thus, there are likely to be few policy prescriptions that are universally applicable, and the relationship of English to development is not a constant across societies.
Another source of complexity lies in the very definition of development. Narrow economic conceptions seem to have given way to broader conceptions that embrace improved governance, security, better health, social cohesion, environmental sustainability and so on. Similarly, poverty can be defined from various perspectives – narrowly as a lack of income, or more broadly as a complex of multiple, interlocking deprivations – as precarious livelihoods, isolated places, hungry and sick bodies, low physical security, disrespect by the powerful, discriminatory social relations and disempowering institutions (see Narayan et al., 2000: 2). Our purpose here, however, is not to interrogate these definitions – there is insufficient space for that – but rather simply to note them, and observe that if development is indeed multifaceted, it is possible that English relates to the facets in varying ways – perhaps advancing development in some directions while thwarting it in others.
It is apparent already, then, that in discussing English and development one enters a terrain bestrewn with tensions, even contradictions – for example, between access and quality, equity and efficiency, educational research and public pressure, aspiration and economic reality. This chapter explores some of these tensions. Our focus is mainly on Sub-Saharan Africa, but because English-language skills are typically acquired through the formal educational system, it is useful to first briefly review what is known about the relationship between education and development generally.
Education and Development: The Wider Context
For many years, influenced substantially by human capital theory, education has been seen as having positive benefits for development. A historically influential methodology for probing the economic benefits of education has been rate of return analysis, a form of analysis that matches life-time earnings against the cost of education. Broadly speaking, these analyses indicate positive social and private returns to investment in education at all levels (Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2002), especially at the primary level. This finding, in combination with the rise of the poverty reduction agenda (see Robertson et al., 2007) and the international adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has led to a particular investment focus on the basic education sector, a key driver, so it is thought, of poverty reduction. Meanwhile, alongside the putative economic benefits, there are claims of indirect benefits: for example, education has been linked to enhanced agricultural productivity, better maternal health and reduced child mortality (see e.g. World Bank, 2005a; King & Palmer, 2006b).
However, while there is a broad consensus that education is positively associated with development, there remain uncertainties around the precise nature of this association, three aspects of which can be singled out for comment. The first is methodological, and concerns the reliability of the data on which rates of return analysis are based, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (see e.g. Bennell, 1996). Samples may not be truly representative of the populations under study (Psacharopoulos & Patrinos, 2002), and the methodology is limited in not taking account of the non-economic benefits and costs of education. Thus, while rate of return of analysis may be one useful tool for guiding investment decisions, it generally needs to be supplemented by other methodologies.
A second area of uncertainty concerns the precise components of education that contribute most to poverty reduction and development: literacy, general analytical abilities, or specific technical skills (inclusive of language skills). Answers are elusive, however, not just because of the methodological challenges but because such contributions are likely to vary across locations, and, most pertinently, across time. Palmer et al. (2007), for example, suggest that information technology skills and scientific literacy may become more economically relevant due to globalisation, the rise of knowledge-based economies and the onset of rapid technological change. One might also speculate – no more than that – that the same economic changes may be increasing the economic utility of English-language skills, a point of view that Green et al. (2007) in the quote at the beginning of the chapter seem to endorse. That said, the dearth of tracer studies and of rates of return analyses for English-language education means that we lack detailed empirical evidence of how English functions for individuals in terms of life-outcomes, and of its benefits and costs for society as a whole.
A related question has to do with the developmental contribution of the different levels of education. As noted previously, governments and donor agencies have historically tended to prioritise primary/basic education, and indeed this is enshrined in the MDGs. But such prioritisation, and the attendant dangers of an unbalanced expansion of one sector of education to the detriment of others, has recently received critical attention from a number of commentators (e.g. King & Palmer, 2006a; Palmer et al., 2007), and indeed the World Bank itself (World Bank, 2005b), who, noting the interlocking nature of different education levels, point out the essential contributions of secondary and tertiary education. There are, first of all, benefits for primary education in that the prospects of continuing to a higher level of education incentivise primary school completion (World Bank, 2005b). The secondary/tertiary levels also provide trained teachers for primary schools, not to mention trained health professionals, IT professionals, business leaders, scientists and the like. Studies also show a range of indirect benefits (externalities): for example, women with secondary education tend to delay marriage, have fewer children and experience lower child mortality (Benefo & Schulz, 1996); secondary school study is also associated with greater use of agricultural technologies and the creation of more profitable enterprises (Palmer et al., 2007).
Conversely, the limitations of an education restricted to primary level are becoming more apparent. A number of country-specific studies (Fryer & Vencatachellum, 2002; World Bank, 2004b) suggest that rates of return to primary education may be falling and those for secondary and tertiary on the rise, reasons for which include the very low quality of much primary education and the sheer numbers of primary graduates. At the same time, economic and technological change is altering the demand for particular kinds of skills, and in many places primary education alone confers little advantage in finding a waged job.
This growing appreciation of the contributions of secondary education (see e.g. King & Palmer, 2006a; Palmer et al., 2007) and the increased emphasis on the role of primary education as an essential preparation for further study is not without implications for English-language education. Secondary education, after all, is, in Africa, very much the domain of English-medium education, and thus the quality of instruction and the outcomes of schooling will be partly dependent on how well pupils and teachers are prepared for the use of this medium.
The third, and probably most crucial, aspect of the education–development association we focus on is the importance of context. It is now relatively well-understood that education can facilitate development (see e.g. King & Palmer, 2006b; Palmer et al., 2007) – but only in an enabling environment. Put simply, quality education can promote the acquisition of skills and knowledge but does not guarantee their purposeful utilisation. There is no direct causal pathway from education to development, as is perhaps illustrated by the case of Kenya, where despite considerable investment in schooling over the past 20 or 30 years, there has, arguably, been little impact on incomes or social cohesion (see e.g. Oketch, 2007: 137).
Disabling factors, ones that block the developmental potential of education, are various and include poor governance, weak institutional capacity, a stagnant macroeconomic environment that does not generate employment opportunities, a deteriorating ecology and a non-progressive, non-egalitarian political environment (e.g. arbitrary decision making, policy fluctuation, weak civil society). More specific factors may impede the realization of particular potential gains: for example, the benefits of literacy, whether in local languages or English, may be reduced if there is no literacy environment (e.g. few or no newspapers, books or printed materials, no electric light) to sustain literacy skills. The benefits to agricultural productivity similarly may not be realised if there is lack of access to credit, fertilisers, extension services, agricultural markets, etc.
If the above factors are part of the disabling/enabling external context, then the quality of education is surely one of the critical internal factors governing the relationship of education to development, and it is here that the applied linguistics literature on the effects of English-medium education in Sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere is especially relevant. Accordingly, it is to this that we now turn.
The Quality of Education and the Language of Instruction
It is now widely accepted, and has been for some time (UNESCO, 1953), that a local (or familiar) language is the most educationally effective language of instruction in early education and, indeed, possibly throughout primary education. The key arguments, briefly, are that cognitive development is best fostered in a language the child knows well. Instruction through a familiar language improves the quality of interaction between pupil and teacher, narrows the gulf between home and school, integrates the school better into the local community and gives recognition to the pupil's home language and culture (see e.g. Benson, 2000). It is also sometimes suggested, in line with Cummins's linguistic interdependence hypothesis (Cummins, 1979), that consolidation of academic literacy skills in the first language can facilitate subsequent acquisition of the same skills in the further languages learned.
These arguments are increasingly bolstered by empirical evidence. For example, Williams (1996) shows that Year 5 primary pupils in Malawi, where Chichewa is the medium up to Year 4, have no worse reading abilities in English and better Chichewa/Nyanja abilities than Year 5 pupils in Zambia, where the official medium from Year 1 is English. Experimentation with local language or bilingual media of instruction in Nigeria, Mozambique and Burkina Faso has had broadly favourable results (see Fafunwa et al., 1989; Benson, 2000, 2002; Alidou & Brock-Utne, 2006). In a Botswana study, Prophet and Dow (1994) taught a set of science concepts in Setswana and in English. On testing they found that the class taught in Setswana outperformed a matched Year 1 secondary class taught in English, who also had difficulties in expressing their ideas in class.
Conversely, a body of evidence points to the weak performance of pupils in English-medium education in many African countries, especially where skills in the language are poorly developed through primary school and where there is little exposure to the language beyond the school. An illustrative, and much cited, early study here is that of Criper and Dodd (1984: 1) from Tanzania, who report that:
Most pupils leave primary school unable to speak or understand simple English. A selected few enter secondary school but they are so weak in English that they are unable to understand lessons or read textbooks in English. Teachers more often than not teach in Kiswahili and give notes in English.
If Tanzania, where Kiswahili is the medium throughout primary education, is a particularly severe case, similar problems have been reported elsewhere in Africa. Williams and Cooke (2002: 307), for example, report on adverse findings from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, Mauritius and Namibia.
Further studies implicate poor L2 English-language skills in patterns of classroom interaction that are not conducive to learning. A recent example would be Hardman et al.'s (2008) study of primary classrooms in Nigeria, which documents styles of classroom interaction – not unfamiliar from previous studies (see e.g. Brock-Utne & Alidou, 2006) – characterised by a teacher-centred, lecturing pedagogy with passive pupils offering very short choral (or individual) responses to teachers' questions. Meanwhile, Rea-Dickins et al. (2009) documents how pupils in Zanzibar are disadvantaged in maths and science examinations by having to process, and respond to, questions in English only, thus casting doubt on the validity and reliability of the examinations themselves.
There is, then, a body of evidence that English-medium instruction, in Africa, if not elsewhere, impairs the quality of education, and that education in a familiar language may be, as common sense would suggest, more effective. On this basis many commentators (e.g. Rubagumya, 1990; Arthur, 1994; Trappes-Lomax, 1990; Heugh, 2006) have argued, so far with little success, for a shift from 'early-exit' policies, under which pupils transition to English medium after perhaps three to four years of primary schooling, to 'late-exit' policies, allowing a considerably prolonged period of local language media of instruction up to and including secondary education.
(Continues...)
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Table of Contents
Introduction – English and development in a global world: Philip Seargeant and Elizabeth J. Erling
Chapter 1 – English, development and education: Charting the tensions: Gibson Ferguson
Chapter 2 – The political economy of English language and development: English vs. national and local languages in developing countries: Naz Rassool
Chapter 3 – Political perspectives on language policies and development in Africa: Eddie Williams
Chapter 4 – Grassroots attitudes to English as a language for international development in Bangladesh: Elizabeth J. Erling, M. Obaidul Hamid and Philip Seargeant
Chapter 5 – The relationship between English-medium instruction and examining and social and economic development: A Sub-Saharan case study: Pauline Rea-Dickins, Zuleikha Kombo Khamis and Federica Olivero
Chapter 6 – Proficiency in English as a key to development? Helping teachers to help learners to succeed: Martin Wedell
Chapter 7 – An invitation to the feast: Voice and choice in English as a lingua franca: Tom Bartlett
Chapter 8 – HIV/AIDS education, digital literacy, and English language learning in Uganda: Bonny Norton, Shelley Jones and Daniel Ahimbisibwe
Chapter 9 – Language policy in Singapore: Singlish, national development and globalization: Lionel Wee
Chapter 10 – English, scientific publishing and participation in the global knowledge economy: Theresa Lillis and Mary Jane Curry
Chapter 11 – Language in economic development: Is English special and is linguistic fragmentation bad?: Jean-Louis Arcand and François Grin