This headline appeared on BBC tv tonight-"Up to half a million pupils are in schools without permanent heads".
We all go to London tomorrow. We will stay at the Grange Fitzrovia Hotel -for just £50.We should have time for some sightseeing.Teosdee and Jack fly on Sunday morning.I only need to work next Thursday, as Monday is May Day and we are on strike on Tuesday and Wednesday. The local elections are on Thursday, not sure who I will vote for.If there is a party that will impose a curfew on anyone under 25 years old after 6pm,ban cars, and shoot any bus driver more than 10 minutes late, they will have my vote. Joseph and I will fly on Saturday.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
dahab
It was a shame to hear about the bombings in Dahab in Egypt. I had the pleasure to stay there 14 years ago.At that time it was basic to say the least. There were no hotels at that time, I slept on the floor inside a building more like a stable.It remains the hottest place that I've visited, 52c. I spent my days sitting on futons near the beach drinking coca-cola and smoking the 'peace pipe', dressed in arab garb with my jesus sandals on.The breeze from the red sea coming across from Saudi Arabia, was a hot,hot wind, jumping into the sea was the only relief-or hiding in the stable. Dahab was one of my earliest backpacking experiences and still one of the best. Bali,London,Dahab-tourists are an easy target for these cowards.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
storm clouds are a brewing...
7pm sunday evening, the sun is still shining here.i have just come in from the garden-sunbathing in my jeans and wooly jumper.As I speak there is a red rainstorm warning in HK, and an almighty thunderstorm on Hk island,give me the rain and thunder anyday.
I spent 6 hours in the garden studying today.Yesterday, i had 2 tutorials at the same time-so i had to excuse myself from the the first halfway through and interrupt the second, half way through.The other students think i'm mad to attempt both at the same time. When i'd had enough of studying today, i grabbed another chair and put my feet up ,switched up the tunes, closed my eyes and savored the sunshine. i was transported back to a distant time, again with my feet up on a chair, enjoying the sunshine.That time was 5 years ago almost to the day. I sat on my balcony in Pui O-Lantau, eyes closed , sun shining, with an endless supply of cans to keep me company. That was 2 weeks before Joseph was born-in the Philippines.I sat on that balcony for 3 days pretty much. As I sat in my garden today, Jack kept on climbing up on my legs and playing horsie.They are here now- wrestling with each other, less than 2 feet away. Jack gives as good as he gets, he often wins!Every fve minutes or so, one of them comes over and gives me a kiss.Teosdee is cooking-fresh salmon tonight, a whole salmon from ASda only £6.
The visa application for Teosdee takes up to 13 weeks.It must be done from a country where you are legally resident.Her HK residency visa needs to be renewed before that-that is why I need to go back to Hk.It could be October before they(Teosdee and Jack) can get back here. I am now certain that we do actually fulfill the criteria needed to get her visa- it will not be a problem. we have been married for 6.5 years, have 2 kids, I have a job here, we have a house(rented), joseph goes to school here...etc
As well as a spouse visa, Teosdee will be given Indefinite Leave to Remain, meaning that she will not have to go through a probationary period of 2 years before being given a permanent visa-if you have lived as man and wife for 4 years it's not necessary.
The only spanner in the works is that, i will not spend another winter here.
I spent 6 hours in the garden studying today.Yesterday, i had 2 tutorials at the same time-so i had to excuse myself from the the first halfway through and interrupt the second, half way through.The other students think i'm mad to attempt both at the same time. When i'd had enough of studying today, i grabbed another chair and put my feet up ,switched up the tunes, closed my eyes and savored the sunshine. i was transported back to a distant time, again with my feet up on a chair, enjoying the sunshine.That time was 5 years ago almost to the day. I sat on my balcony in Pui O-Lantau, eyes closed , sun shining, with an endless supply of cans to keep me company. That was 2 weeks before Joseph was born-in the Philippines.I sat on that balcony for 3 days pretty much. As I sat in my garden today, Jack kept on climbing up on my legs and playing horsie.They are here now- wrestling with each other, less than 2 feet away. Jack gives as good as he gets, he often wins!Every fve minutes or so, one of them comes over and gives me a kiss.Teosdee is cooking-fresh salmon tonight, a whole salmon from ASda only £6.
The visa application for Teosdee takes up to 13 weeks.It must be done from a country where you are legally resident.Her HK residency visa needs to be renewed before that-that is why I need to go back to Hk.It could be October before they(Teosdee and Jack) can get back here. I am now certain that we do actually fulfill the criteria needed to get her visa- it will not be a problem. we have been married for 6.5 years, have 2 kids, I have a job here, we have a house(rented), joseph goes to school here...etc
As well as a spouse visa, Teosdee will be given Indefinite Leave to Remain, meaning that she will not have to go through a probationary period of 2 years before being given a permanent visa-if you have lived as man and wife for 4 years it's not necessary.
The only spanner in the works is that, i will not spend another winter here.
Friday, April 14, 2006
If you can't take the heat...
I sat out in the garden today, catching up with my studies. It was 12c...but sunny!
I will work tomorrow-Easter Saturday,I swapped with a colleague so that I can take Teosdee to the airport in 2 weeks.
Shortly after arriving in the UK last July, I had to go to the Liverpool Dental hospital to have a tooth taken out. I could not find a dentist who was taking new patients.During the last 8 months I tried again periodically as and when i passed a dentist-but to no avail.
On Monday one of my front teeth cracked and fell out-I was devastated. I called 20 dentists and was told "there is a 5 month waiting list" "we haven't taken new patients for 10 years" ...and lots of other similar excuses.
I was told to call the local Primary Care Trust-the local NHS. After a few hours they called me and gave me the number of a dental surgery which was taking new patients. They gave me an appointment for Wednesday.I swallowed my pride and went to work on Tuesday with my speech impaired.
On Wednesday, as I sat down in the dentist's chair the c##t of a dentist said " I can only treat you today as a private patient" After arguing with him that i had registered and booked an appointment as an NHS patient, he took a look at my non existing tooth and told me if I paid or not he could not treat me as he was going on paternity leave!
As i stood in the reception to re-book my appointment and being told that the next available appointment would be a week on Thursday I nearly lost it.The problem was, that after not being able to see a dentist for 9 months-and their attitude being "you can always try somewhere else" I could not lose it. I had to be cool and polite-even though I had taken the day off for a non-existent appointment and would have to wait another 8 days, and even then they would not fix my toothless(not quite) grin.
Last month here, people queued around the block to register at a dental clinic which had opened up it's register. My tooth will probably still be missing by the time i get to Hong-Kong in May.
For me it is just another nail in the coffin of my chances of staying here for any length of time. Not sure if i can still sing House of the Rising Sun with one front tooth-must practise.
I will work tomorrow-Easter Saturday,I swapped with a colleague so that I can take Teosdee to the airport in 2 weeks.
Shortly after arriving in the UK last July, I had to go to the Liverpool Dental hospital to have a tooth taken out. I could not find a dentist who was taking new patients.During the last 8 months I tried again periodically as and when i passed a dentist-but to no avail.
On Monday one of my front teeth cracked and fell out-I was devastated. I called 20 dentists and was told "there is a 5 month waiting list" "we haven't taken new patients for 10 years" ...and lots of other similar excuses.
I was told to call the local Primary Care Trust-the local NHS. After a few hours they called me and gave me the number of a dental surgery which was taking new patients. They gave me an appointment for Wednesday.I swallowed my pride and went to work on Tuesday with my speech impaired.
On Wednesday, as I sat down in the dentist's chair the c##t of a dentist said " I can only treat you today as a private patient" After arguing with him that i had registered and booked an appointment as an NHS patient, he took a look at my non existing tooth and told me if I paid or not he could not treat me as he was going on paternity leave!
As i stood in the reception to re-book my appointment and being told that the next available appointment would be a week on Thursday I nearly lost it.The problem was, that after not being able to see a dentist for 9 months-and their attitude being "you can always try somewhere else" I could not lose it. I had to be cool and polite-even though I had taken the day off for a non-existent appointment and would have to wait another 8 days, and even then they would not fix my toothless(not quite) grin.
Last month here, people queued around the block to register at a dental clinic which had opened up it's register. My tooth will probably still be missing by the time i get to Hong-Kong in May.
For me it is just another nail in the coffin of my chances of staying here for any length of time. Not sure if i can still sing House of the Rising Sun with one front tooth-must practise.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
April fool
The title refers to me. It is -2c as I am sitting here. Today is the 9th of April!
Why the hell did I come here? It has rained, hailed and snowed this weekend. I am desperate for some warmth.I want to go outside again.I want to walk. I have put on loads of weight-and it is not through drinking, it's because I get no exercise anymore, no walking, no teaching, no dancing.
Only 3 weeks until Teosdee and Jack go to Hong Kong. I told her that we would have to start sorting out our papers and things, just in case she wont be able to come back. I tried to get a current account this week, but was knocked back. I am working full time as a civil servant and have not paid a bill late since I got here- telephone,tv license,water,electric,gas,council tax,internet, cable, and I put my name on the electoral register.They said i don't have a long enough credit history!! Not being able to use a debit card here is hard. The trip to Hong Kong will not be a problem,getting them back may be. I have arranged some teaching work in Sai Kung during my time in Hong Kong, I am really looking forward to teaching again.
I now know for sure, I will not spend another winter here.Teosdee and the boys may well spend one more year here, but not me-not a bloody chance.
I am going to pray for warm weather tonight
Why the hell did I come here? It has rained, hailed and snowed this weekend. I am desperate for some warmth.I want to go outside again.I want to walk. I have put on loads of weight-and it is not through drinking, it's because I get no exercise anymore, no walking, no teaching, no dancing.
Only 3 weeks until Teosdee and Jack go to Hong Kong. I told her that we would have to start sorting out our papers and things, just in case she wont be able to come back. I tried to get a current account this week, but was knocked back. I am working full time as a civil servant and have not paid a bill late since I got here- telephone,tv license,water,electric,gas,council tax,internet, cable, and I put my name on the electoral register.They said i don't have a long enough credit history!! Not being able to use a debit card here is hard. The trip to Hong Kong will not be a problem,getting them back may be. I have arranged some teaching work in Sai Kung during my time in Hong Kong, I am really looking forward to teaching again.
I now know for sure, I will not spend another winter here.Teosdee and the boys may well spend one more year here, but not me-not a bloody chance.
I am going to pray for warm weather tonight
my essay
U210-TMA01 05/03/2006
The increasing use of English by non-mother tongue speakers with reference to David Crystal -The English language today(1988) .
Why is English being increasingly used by speakers of other languages? What are the consequences of this, for both English and other languages? I will attempt to look more closely at these complex questions and their possible answers, beginning with reference to David Crystal (1988)I will also attempt to draw upon other sources to come to a more complete understanding of the issues that he refers to.
To begin I think we must first look at who uses the English language. The first group that springs to mind must of course be ‘native’ speakers as they are termed today. These are users whose 1st language is English-their ‘mother’ tongue. I have best heard this described as the language that you dream in. Native speakers of the English language are not just comprised of those from the UK, but also from Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa .According to David Crystal( 1988) these speakers number just 100 million, the UK population this year reached 60m for the first time, so I think this figure must be fractionally higher by now. This number is dwarfed by the number of speakers in the USA which Crystal puts at 239m(1985) , this figure is now 300m, but there is some doubt how many of these speak English as a first language. All of this notwithstanding Crystal quotes estimates of around 300m.
These are not the speakers that we are concerned with though, we are looking at English as a second language and English as a foreign language. David Crystal looks at the definition of these and the numbers they encompass.
English as a second language is used by people in countries where English has an official or semi-official status. People are taught English as a matter of course in school, and generally must excel in English to progress academically or in the workplace. David Crystal uses India, Ghana and Nigeria as examples. Some others may be Singapore, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Crystal estimates the number of these as 300m-in 1988! As he says a lot of these countries are in Africa and Asia and their populations must have grown considerably by now.
English as a foreign language, includes those who learn English in countries where it has no official status. These people learn English in school or educational establishments, such as evening schools or even through self-study. In the UK people will often choose to learn French, German or Spanish as a second Language-with wide varying degrees of success. The same can be said for English in non-native speaking countries. David Crystal refrains from giving his estimation for the numbers who are ‘foreign’ speakers at least not in this article. Others do make attempts: “ Today, English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to 1 billion” (McCrum et al.,1992,pp9-10- English: History,diversity and change 2005 p12). Some attempt to describe it more creatively “English is a language-the language-on which the sun does not set, whose users do not sleep.(Quirk, 1985,p.1- English: History,diversity and change 2005p12) This last one could probably be said to be true of any of the major languages, so doesn’t really help us determine the true number of English speakers. David Crystal does actually estimate the total number of English speakers (A-Z of English 2006) at the following: Mother tongue-350m, Second language-350m, Foreign-700m. This tallies with an estimate by the British Council-“Worldwide , there are over 1,400 million people living in countries where English has official status. One out of every five of the world’s population speak English to some degree of competence. Demand from the other four fifths is increasing…..By the year 2000 it is estimated that over one billion people will be learning English” (British Council English 2000-Global Consultation report.,1995-David Graddol-1997) Put simply, English is the dominant language at this time in the world. Chinese remains the largest ‘mother’ tongue, used by over a billion native speakers. English is the world language, the world’s language, so let’s look at the reasons for this.
English as a mother tongue was spread by the movement of people throughout the world often at the expense of aboriginal languages, cultures and people-Australia, New Zealand and Ireland immediately come to mind. In the USA and Canada ,English fought with other European languages before becoming the main language-except for parts of Canada, where French remains the mother tongue. English was less successful in South Africa, losing a lot of ground to Dutch, and so we now have Afrikaans, and a large number of indigenous languages sharing official status, but English lives side by side with other mother tongues here. We could of course look at the origins of the English language itself at this point, as it became the language it is today through the movements of people-but that is not relevant here.
That English as a second language was spread by British colonialism-(India, Nigeria, Hong-Kong, Malaysia and Singapore to name but a few) is an inescapable fact. As David Crystal points out, ex-colonies of European countries invariably have that country’s language as an official language-shared or not. These countries have continued to use English long after the ‘English’ left. Even the Philippines, controlled by Spain for 450 years followed by the USA for a mere 48 years until it’s independence in 1946, retains not Spanish but English as an official language alongside Filipino (Tagalog).
This raises the question as to why English continues to have such a major role in far flung non-native English speaking countries. The following is a job advertisement from a Hong Kong newspaper, where 95% of the population are Native Chinese(Cantonese) speakers(CIA WORLD FACTBOOK-4.03.06-http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/hk.html#People)
Training Manager (Specialty Restaurants) (Ref.: HRD/TM
Responsibilities
- Formulate staff training and development strategies to align with the company goals……..Requirements
- Degree holder, preferably in Training…
- At least 5 years' experience….
- Hands on experience in program design and delivery
- Polished communication and interpersonal skills
- Good command in both spoken and written English & Cantonese……. ( South China Morning Post 4.03.06 –online http://www.classifiedpost.com/jsregular.php?adjobid=0366438&jobno=K01&lcid=HK.EN&comid=1652)
This job would not logically require the applicant to have a knowledge of English, being a fast food restaurant - ,with a working class clientele, and Chinese staff ,but yet English is still required. Here, English is needed more to show that the candidate has attained a certain level of education, which by definition must include English. I personally taught English (as a second/foreign language) in Hong Kong for 12 years. Five years of this included teaching civil servants English for interviews. Specifically a 3 day interview held in English for junior police officers hoping to become inspectors. With just 5% of the population not ethnically Chinese and less than 1% being native English speakers this seemed extreme. The reasons being, once again to show a candidates ability to attain a high level of education-this being measured by their English proficiency.
This phenomenon is repeated throughout the world, India as mentioned by David Crystal springs to mind, where English is used as the language of government, education and finance. S.K. Verma (2006) also explains how English is vital in India for career advancement. The difference between Hong Kong and India though is that Hong Kong has a mother tongue language in Cantonese, whereas India has many different mother tongues. The Indian situation is more representative of English as a second language, retaining English as a common tool for communication between its many people. Hong Kong has retained English possibly because of its status as a world finance centre and more recent colonial past.
Globalisation rather than colonisation could be one of the reasons for the profligacy of English as a foreign language .From Mcdonalds to Disney, and from ET to CNN , American companies(films,culture,media,music) have extended their reach far and wide around the globe. The USA’s influence during the last century rivalled none. This may have been purely due to America’s abundance of resources and wealth, whilst the rest of the planet heaved to and fro due to war and fundamental changes in their societies. This has meant that English was given a head start ahead of Spanish, German and French due to advances in technology, science, medicine,and commerce, increasingly being published in English. As David Crystal tells us, the statistics are indeed impressive “ Over two thirds of the world’s scientists write in English. Three-quarters of the world’s mail is written in English.” Apparently 80% of the content on the internet is in English (A-Z of English 2006), although with recent advances in both internet access and complex translation software I do doubt the high percentage of this figure. It is due to all of these incredible statistics that we believe that so many people have chosen to study the English language. Either to enable them to communicate with their fellow scientists, doctors, engineers, and just about anyone outside their own language group. Of course this doesn’t count the multitudes of people who study the language purely for pleasure. David Crystal mentioned the popularity of an English language TV programme in China-that was in 1988. I can personally, and so can any visitor to China tell you about people’s fervent interest in learning English. People of all ages stop foreigners on China’s streets to practise their English language skills. There are many people who study English purely as a hobby.
With so many people using and studying English , where does this leave the language itself? Does English still belong to the English?
The reality is of course that English has not belonged to the English for a very long time. The language that we use in the UK today has been heavily influenced by American English as well as borrowing from other languages(de rigeur, hari kari, doppelganger ,gung ho).This of course works both ways. The French language has taken steps to slow the march of ‘Franglais’ (Marie-Noelle Lamy 2006).France instigated legislation to ensure that French remained free from borrowed words. Not all nations have taken such a strong stance, code switching (into English) is evident all over the world. English is used differently by different people in different places . There are now what has been termed as world Englishes from pidgins i.e (Papua New Guinea) , to creoles i.e. (Jamaica) to Singlish and Chinglish (Singaporeand China).
The question has now arisen to which English should be used and taught. Some believe that a ‘standard’ English should be adhered to (Quirk 1990) by following set grammatical rules of a standard English. This contrasts with S.K. Verma (2006) who believes that Indian English should be respected in its own right. Other forms of English have been formalised, one of the first attempts being made by Noah Webster(1789) who tried unsuccessfully to reform English spelling to differentiate American English from British English (especially away from Samuel Johnson’s prescriptive dictionary and reform spelling to more accurately reflect actual sounds.( English: History,diversity and change 2006p91). Literature in local dialects and creoles has become more widely accepted. Indian and African English literature has excelled over recent years. There are still many who believe that Received Pronunciation(RP) should be taught and followed. I taught for a school called ‘Standard English Tuition’ and another one called ‘Modern English Tuition’ in Hong Kong in the mid 90’s-their success coming from their names , and their belief in RP. These schools are still operating today in Kowloon.
A much more enlightened view is given by Catherine Lim who used the term ‘New Englishes’ much like born again Christians, she believes that English is a “born again language” .As a writer from Singapore, she describes an “exhilarating sense of creativity when we use English”( A-Z of English 2006) . I believe her view to be shared by many writers from Asia , Africa and South America who feel that English is the world’s language, theirs to do with what they want.
Bibliography/references
Book Title Author Editor Year Chapter Publisher edition Article/reading page
English:
History, diversity and change David Graddol,
Dick Leith and Joan Swann 2005 1 Routledge 6th Reading A-The English Langage today-David Crystal
Reading B Franglais-Marie Noelle Lamy 29-32
32-37
The English Language:Past Present and Future-Study Guide 1 2005 1-5 Open University
English:
History, diversity and change David Graddol,
Dick Leith and Joan Swann 2005 1 Routledge 6th Reading c-Language varieties and Standard language-Randolph Quirk 37-41
Describing Language David Graddol,Jenny Cheshire and Joan Swann 1994 2nd
Language and creativity:The Art of common Talk Ronald Carter 2006 1 Routledge 2nd introduction 2
The Art Of English:Everyday creativity Janet Maybin, Joan Swann 2006 1-3 Palgrave Macmillan 1st
OED online
http://dictionary.oed.com/ 04.03.06 Oxford
U210 Audiocassete 1 Band 1-2 Introduction
An Indian Guide at work
U210 Audiocassete 1 Band 1 Shivendra K.Verma
U210 TV1
A-Z of English
( South China Morning Post 4.03.06 –online http://www.classifiedpost.com/jsregular.php?adjobid=0366438&jobno=K01&lcid=HK.EN&comid=1652
British Council David Graddol-1997 British Council English 2000-Global Consultation report.,1995-
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 4.03.06-http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/hk.html#People)
The increasing use of English by non-mother tongue speakers with reference to David Crystal -The English language today(1988) .
Why is English being increasingly used by speakers of other languages? What are the consequences of this, for both English and other languages? I will attempt to look more closely at these complex questions and their possible answers, beginning with reference to David Crystal (1988)I will also attempt to draw upon other sources to come to a more complete understanding of the issues that he refers to.
To begin I think we must first look at who uses the English language. The first group that springs to mind must of course be ‘native’ speakers as they are termed today. These are users whose 1st language is English-their ‘mother’ tongue. I have best heard this described as the language that you dream in. Native speakers of the English language are not just comprised of those from the UK, but also from Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa .According to David Crystal( 1988) these speakers number just 100 million, the UK population this year reached 60m for the first time, so I think this figure must be fractionally higher by now. This number is dwarfed by the number of speakers in the USA which Crystal puts at 239m(1985) , this figure is now 300m, but there is some doubt how many of these speak English as a first language. All of this notwithstanding Crystal quotes estimates of around 300m.
These are not the speakers that we are concerned with though, we are looking at English as a second language and English as a foreign language. David Crystal looks at the definition of these and the numbers they encompass.
English as a second language is used by people in countries where English has an official or semi-official status. People are taught English as a matter of course in school, and generally must excel in English to progress academically or in the workplace. David Crystal uses India, Ghana and Nigeria as examples. Some others may be Singapore, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Crystal estimates the number of these as 300m-in 1988! As he says a lot of these countries are in Africa and Asia and their populations must have grown considerably by now.
English as a foreign language, includes those who learn English in countries where it has no official status. These people learn English in school or educational establishments, such as evening schools or even through self-study. In the UK people will often choose to learn French, German or Spanish as a second Language-with wide varying degrees of success. The same can be said for English in non-native speaking countries. David Crystal refrains from giving his estimation for the numbers who are ‘foreign’ speakers at least not in this article. Others do make attempts: “ Today, English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue. Some estimates have put that figure closer to 1 billion” (McCrum et al.,1992,pp9-10- English: History,diversity and change 2005 p12). Some attempt to describe it more creatively “English is a language-the language-on which the sun does not set, whose users do not sleep.(Quirk, 1985,p.1- English: History,diversity and change 2005p12) This last one could probably be said to be true of any of the major languages, so doesn’t really help us determine the true number of English speakers. David Crystal does actually estimate the total number of English speakers (A-Z of English 2006) at the following: Mother tongue-350m, Second language-350m, Foreign-700m. This tallies with an estimate by the British Council-“Worldwide , there are over 1,400 million people living in countries where English has official status. One out of every five of the world’s population speak English to some degree of competence. Demand from the other four fifths is increasing…..By the year 2000 it is estimated that over one billion people will be learning English” (British Council English 2000-Global Consultation report.,1995-David Graddol-1997) Put simply, English is the dominant language at this time in the world. Chinese remains the largest ‘mother’ tongue, used by over a billion native speakers. English is the world language, the world’s language, so let’s look at the reasons for this.
English as a mother tongue was spread by the movement of people throughout the world often at the expense of aboriginal languages, cultures and people-Australia, New Zealand and Ireland immediately come to mind. In the USA and Canada ,English fought with other European languages before becoming the main language-except for parts of Canada, where French remains the mother tongue. English was less successful in South Africa, losing a lot of ground to Dutch, and so we now have Afrikaans, and a large number of indigenous languages sharing official status, but English lives side by side with other mother tongues here. We could of course look at the origins of the English language itself at this point, as it became the language it is today through the movements of people-but that is not relevant here.
That English as a second language was spread by British colonialism-(India, Nigeria, Hong-Kong, Malaysia and Singapore to name but a few) is an inescapable fact. As David Crystal points out, ex-colonies of European countries invariably have that country’s language as an official language-shared or not. These countries have continued to use English long after the ‘English’ left. Even the Philippines, controlled by Spain for 450 years followed by the USA for a mere 48 years until it’s independence in 1946, retains not Spanish but English as an official language alongside Filipino (Tagalog).
This raises the question as to why English continues to have such a major role in far flung non-native English speaking countries. The following is a job advertisement from a Hong Kong newspaper, where 95% of the population are Native Chinese(Cantonese) speakers(CIA WORLD FACTBOOK-4.03.06-http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/hk.html#People)
Training Manager (Specialty Restaurants) (Ref.: HRD/TM
Responsibilities
- Formulate staff training and development strategies to align with the company goals……..Requirements
- Degree holder, preferably in Training…
- At least 5 years' experience….
- Hands on experience in program design and delivery
- Polished communication and interpersonal skills
- Good command in both spoken and written English & Cantonese……. ( South China Morning Post 4.03.06 –online http://www.classifiedpost.com/jsregular.php?adjobid=0366438&jobno=K01&lcid=HK.EN&comid=1652)
This job would not logically require the applicant to have a knowledge of English, being a fast food restaurant - ,with a working class clientele, and Chinese staff ,but yet English is still required. Here, English is needed more to show that the candidate has attained a certain level of education, which by definition must include English. I personally taught English (as a second/foreign language) in Hong Kong for 12 years. Five years of this included teaching civil servants English for interviews. Specifically a 3 day interview held in English for junior police officers hoping to become inspectors. With just 5% of the population not ethnically Chinese and less than 1% being native English speakers this seemed extreme. The reasons being, once again to show a candidates ability to attain a high level of education-this being measured by their English proficiency.
This phenomenon is repeated throughout the world, India as mentioned by David Crystal springs to mind, where English is used as the language of government, education and finance. S.K. Verma (2006) also explains how English is vital in India for career advancement. The difference between Hong Kong and India though is that Hong Kong has a mother tongue language in Cantonese, whereas India has many different mother tongues. The Indian situation is more representative of English as a second language, retaining English as a common tool for communication between its many people. Hong Kong has retained English possibly because of its status as a world finance centre and more recent colonial past.
Globalisation rather than colonisation could be one of the reasons for the profligacy of English as a foreign language .From Mcdonalds to Disney, and from ET to CNN , American companies(films,culture,media,music) have extended their reach far and wide around the globe. The USA’s influence during the last century rivalled none. This may have been purely due to America’s abundance of resources and wealth, whilst the rest of the planet heaved to and fro due to war and fundamental changes in their societies. This has meant that English was given a head start ahead of Spanish, German and French due to advances in technology, science, medicine,and commerce, increasingly being published in English. As David Crystal tells us, the statistics are indeed impressive “ Over two thirds of the world’s scientists write in English. Three-quarters of the world’s mail is written in English.” Apparently 80% of the content on the internet is in English (A-Z of English 2006), although with recent advances in both internet access and complex translation software I do doubt the high percentage of this figure. It is due to all of these incredible statistics that we believe that so many people have chosen to study the English language. Either to enable them to communicate with their fellow scientists, doctors, engineers, and just about anyone outside their own language group. Of course this doesn’t count the multitudes of people who study the language purely for pleasure. David Crystal mentioned the popularity of an English language TV programme in China-that was in 1988. I can personally, and so can any visitor to China tell you about people’s fervent interest in learning English. People of all ages stop foreigners on China’s streets to practise their English language skills. There are many people who study English purely as a hobby.
With so many people using and studying English , where does this leave the language itself? Does English still belong to the English?
The reality is of course that English has not belonged to the English for a very long time. The language that we use in the UK today has been heavily influenced by American English as well as borrowing from other languages(de rigeur, hari kari, doppelganger ,gung ho).This of course works both ways. The French language has taken steps to slow the march of ‘Franglais’ (Marie-Noelle Lamy 2006).France instigated legislation to ensure that French remained free from borrowed words. Not all nations have taken such a strong stance, code switching (into English) is evident all over the world. English is used differently by different people in different places . There are now what has been termed as world Englishes from pidgins i.e (Papua New Guinea) , to creoles i.e. (Jamaica) to Singlish and Chinglish (Singaporeand China).
The question has now arisen to which English should be used and taught. Some believe that a ‘standard’ English should be adhered to (Quirk 1990) by following set grammatical rules of a standard English. This contrasts with S.K. Verma (2006) who believes that Indian English should be respected in its own right. Other forms of English have been formalised, one of the first attempts being made by Noah Webster(1789) who tried unsuccessfully to reform English spelling to differentiate American English from British English (especially away from Samuel Johnson’s prescriptive dictionary and reform spelling to more accurately reflect actual sounds.( English: History,diversity and change 2006p91). Literature in local dialects and creoles has become more widely accepted. Indian and African English literature has excelled over recent years. There are still many who believe that Received Pronunciation(RP) should be taught and followed. I taught for a school called ‘Standard English Tuition’ and another one called ‘Modern English Tuition’ in Hong Kong in the mid 90’s-their success coming from their names , and their belief in RP. These schools are still operating today in Kowloon.
A much more enlightened view is given by Catherine Lim who used the term ‘New Englishes’ much like born again Christians, she believes that English is a “born again language” .As a writer from Singapore, she describes an “exhilarating sense of creativity when we use English”( A-Z of English 2006) . I believe her view to be shared by many writers from Asia , Africa and South America who feel that English is the world’s language, theirs to do with what they want.
Bibliography/references
Book Title Author Editor Year Chapter Publisher edition Article/reading page
English:
History, diversity and change David Graddol,
Dick Leith and Joan Swann 2005 1 Routledge 6th Reading A-The English Langage today-David Crystal
Reading B Franglais-Marie Noelle Lamy 29-32
32-37
The English Language:Past Present and Future-Study Guide 1 2005 1-5 Open University
English:
History, diversity and change David Graddol,
Dick Leith and Joan Swann 2005 1 Routledge 6th Reading c-Language varieties and Standard language-Randolph Quirk 37-41
Describing Language David Graddol,Jenny Cheshire and Joan Swann 1994 2nd
Language and creativity:The Art of common Talk Ronald Carter 2006 1 Routledge 2nd introduction 2
The Art Of English:Everyday creativity Janet Maybin, Joan Swann 2006 1-3 Palgrave Macmillan 1st
OED online
http://dictionary.oed.com/ 04.03.06 Oxford
U210 Audiocassete 1 Band 1-2 Introduction
An Indian Guide at work
U210 Audiocassete 1 Band 1 Shivendra K.Verma
U210 TV1
A-Z of English
( South China Morning Post 4.03.06 –online http://www.classifiedpost.com/jsregular.php?adjobid=0366438&jobno=K01&lcid=HK.EN&comid=1652
British Council David Graddol-1997 British Council English 2000-Global Consultation report.,1995-
CIA WORLD FACTBOOK 4.03.06-http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/hk.html#People)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)