Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Language and
Culture in Asia
Advances in Sociolinguistics
Series Editors:
Professor Sally Johnson, Professor of Linguistics, University of Leeds, UK
Dr Tommaso M. Milani, Senior Lecturer, University of the Witwatersrand,
South Africa
Since the emergence of sociolinguistics as a new field of enquiry in the late
1960s, research into the relationship between language and society has advanced
almost beyond recognition. In particular, the past decade has witnessed the considerable influence of theories drawn from outside of sociolinguistics itself.
Thus rather than see language as a mere reflection of society, recent work has
been increasingly inspired by ideas drawn from social, cultural, and political
theory that have emphasised the constitutive role played by language/discourse
in all areas of social life. The Advances in Sociolinguistics series seeks to provide a snapshot of the current diversity of the field of sociolinguistics and the
blurring of the boundaries between sociolinguistics and other domains of study
concerned with the role of language in society.
Discourses of Endangerment: Ideology and Interest in the Defence of
Languages
Edited by Alexandre Duchne and Monica Heller
Linguistic Minorities and Modernity, 2nd Edition: A Sociolinguistic
Ethnography
Monica Heller
Language, Culture and Identity: An Ethnolinguistic Perspective
Philip Riley
Language Ideologies and Media Discourse: Texts, Practices, Politics
Edited by Sally Johnson and Tommaso M. Milani
Language in the Media: Representations, Identities, Ideologies
Edited by Sally Johnson and Astrid Ensslin
Language and Power: An Introduction to Institutional Discourse
Andrea Mayr
Language Testing, Migration and Citizenship
Edited by Guus Extra, Massimiliano Spotti and Piet Van Avermaet
Multilingualism: A Critical Perspective
Adrian Blackledge and Angela Creese
Semiotic Landscapes: Language, Image, Space
Edited by Adam Jaworski and Crispin Thurlow
The Languages of Global Hip Hop
Edited by Marina Terkourafi
The Language of Newspapers: Socio-Historical Perspectives
Martin Conboy
The Languages of Urban Africa
Edited by Fiona Mc Laughlin
Globalization of
Language and
Culture in Asia
The Impact of Globalization
Processes on Language
Contents
Notes on Contributors
1.
2.
Global Mandarin
Goh Yeng Seng and Lim Seok Lai
3.
4.
5.
6.
vii
1
14
34
61
82
106
7.
120
8.
139
9.
161
180
Contents
11.
vi
206
Index
231
Notes on Contributors
Notes on Contributors
viii
Notes on Contributors
Radha M. K. Nambiar is an Associate Professor with the School of Language Studies and Linguistics, FSSK, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
Her research interests include the area of academic literacies, learning
strategies and language acquisition. She is especially interested in
understanding how learners learn and what can be done to make learning more efficient and effective.
Kaushalya Perera is a Lecturer at the English Language Teaching Unit,
University of Kelaniya in Sri Lanka. She has a B.A. in English Literature
and Language, and an M.A. in Linguistics. Her research interests are in
language planning and policy and reading in a second language.
Viniti Vaish is Assistant Professor at Singapores National Institute of
Education, Nanyang Technological University where she is affiliated
with the Centre for Pedagogy and Practice and the English Language
and Literature Department. She has published in World Englishes, Linguistics and Education, Language Policy and numerous other journals.
Shouhui Zhao is professional language teacher. He has taught Chinese
language and culture at seven universities and in five countries for the
past 22 years. His recent work was published by Springer (2008) and
Cengage Learning (2010) and his papers appear in Current Issues in
Language Planning, Language Policy, Asia-Pacific Education Researcher
and Pedagogies: An International Journal and many other journals.
ix
Introduction: Globalization
of Language and Culture
in Asia
Viniti Vaish
Introduction
Introduction
Globalization in Asia
We now turn to the heart of the matter: what exactly are the unique
aspects of globalization in Asia that sets this part of globe apart from the
rest of our world? The first, I think, is the resilient and strong nationstate model. Secondly there are challengers to global English like
Mandarin, Hindi and Arabic not only in the number of speakers but also
in the cultural and spiritual capital that is associated with these languages. Thirdly, aspects of Asian culture like Bollywood and Japanese
anime are spreading across the globe with consequences in the way
that Asians perform identity. And finally the Western economic model
of unbridled, unregulated capitalism is under serious attack due to the
global financial crisis of 2008 which is making the Asian Financial
Crisis of 1998 look like a ripple compared to a tsunami.
The processes of globalization are supposed to weaken the state
and Appadurai is convinced that the nation-state, as a complex modern political form, is on its last legs (1996, p. 19). Even in his later
work, Appadurai (2001) insists that I am among those analysts who
are inclined to see globalization as a definite marker of a new crisis for
the sovereignty of nation-states (p. 4). However, countries like Singapore and Malaysia, both of which get a high rank in the A. T. Kearney
5
Globalization index, are reputed to have a strong state with tight regulations in most sectors including the economy and mass media. These
highly globalized Asian countries have put paid to Appadurais view.
Singapore and Malaysia are environments of dirigisme where governments exercise considerable control on the economy, mass media, education and language planning. According to Gopinathan (2008) the East
Asian developmental state is still the model that Singapore follows, as
do the countries of Taiwan, South Korea and Hongkong, in which the
state governs the market instead of being governed by it. Singapore has
also aligned itself to the view that the neo-Confucian ideology is a sensible alternative framework for socio-economic and political organization
(Gopinathan, 2007, p. 59), which is an ideology in which discipline and
hierarchy play a key role in peoples behaviour towards the state.
Goh Yeng Seng and Lim Seok Lai in this book raise awareness about
the increasing numbers of Mandarin learners in the United States of
America. Though the number of Mandarin speakers in the world outnumber native English speakers (as do the number of Hindi speakers ) they
point out that Mandarin may not be considered global because the bulk
of Mandarin speakers live in and not out of China. However, the impact
of the large number of Mandarin speakers can be seen on language use
on the internet, which has led Dor (2004) to speculate that in future English will be surpassed by other languages on the internet. I surmise that
as languages like Arabic, Mandarin and Hindi become more computerfriendly, there will be an increasing number of users who google, game
and blog in these languages rather than English. Saeda Buang in her
chapter in this book explores the religious importance of Arabic in South
East Asia, a topic rarely seen in Applied Linguistics journals. Through
primary and secondary research she documents that though English and
Malay have changed their roles, Arabic has held its status as the language
of immense spiritual capital for Muslim people. In addition its domains
are expanding as it becomes the language in which business is done with
the Middle East. A similar claim for the entrenchment and preservation
of Arabic is documented ethnographically by Rosowsky (2006). In this
study of a South Asian Muslim community in the UK, the spoken language at home is Mirpuri Punjabi, with English and Urdu as languages
of literacy. Arabic is the language of liturgical literacy being acquired in
mosques by adults and children. In this community language attitudes
favour the learning of Arabic over that of learning Mirpuri Punjabi or
Urdu thus affirming the importance of Arabic and religion.
That English is a world language because of its econocultural properties and the agentive acceptance of the colonies (Brutt-Griffler, 2002) is
yet another triumphalist view. The term econocultural for English is
problematic: I do not see that that world economy is linked via English.
6
Introduction
What about the Chinese, German and Japanese economies? Are these
linked via English? And I do not believe that there is such a thing as
world culture. The gaze in applied linguistics and related fields needs
to shift from English to new ideas like the increasing numbers of
Mandarin learners, how Arabic unites Islamic peoples as a global language and the entrenched nature of Hindi in India despite the fact that
English is its co-official partner.
Though the spread of English is written about ad nauseum, the
entrenched nature of Hindi and its resistance to the spread of global
English despite a rapidly globalizing India has gone unnoticed. A
look at the figures for Hindi in the census of India from 1971 till 2001
shows that the number of Hindi speakers is rising at an average of about
25 per cent every decade. There are currently about 422 million Hindi
speakers and if the trend continues this number will surpass the half a
billion mark by 2011. The decadal increase in Hindi speakers existed
before India started globalizing in 1991 and is continuing, thus showing that globalization has not affected India with the penetration of
English as it has in certain other parts of the world. One of the reasons
for this is that globalization is about multinationals penetrating large
local markets through local languages, a strategy that supports additive
bilingualism (Vaish, forthcoming). Quite simply, if the COKE Company
advertises in English in India it will reach 2 per cent of one billion people; if it advertises in Hindi, nearly half a billion.
A similar sociolinguistic situation exists in Japan. Masakazu Iino in
his chapter in this book documents two phenomenon happening simultaneously. The first is the spread of English in elementary schools as
a compulsory subject even though English is not really used by the
Japanese for communicative purposes. The other is the teaching of
Japanese to inbound immigrants and their children who are increasing
in number and are being encouraged to become the residents of Japan,
an immigration policy which is resulting in a disturbing rise in national
pride. Thus the examples of India and Japan show the entrenchment of
languages despite, or because of, globalization.
Cultural globalization has numerous nodes in Asia like Bollywood
movies made in Mumbai, the Japanese anime cartoons and Kung
Fu movies made in Hong Kong which are subtitled in as many as
17 languages and distributed to specific diasporas. These cultural
spaces, which are dominated by languages like Hindi, Japanese and
Mandarin, ignore and challenge the spread of English. Vaish (2007) has
shown how Chinese and Indian children in Singapore are networked
into the pan-Chinese and pan-Indian culture through their engagement with Canto-pop music and Tamil movies respectively. She thus
empirically challenges the idea that Asian youth are passive victims
7
of cultural globalization, or what Brutt-Griffler (2002) calls world culture that emanates from the West.
Finally, we come to the global financial crisis of 2008 which has
upstaged the Asian financial crisis of 19971998. It is not my area of
expertise or the purpose of this introduction to give an economic interpretation of these crises. More importantly, having lived in Singapore
through both these crises, I want to point to some cultural impressions
of the same. In 19971998 the International Herald Tribune and the
Economist magazine carried numerous articles which berated the crony
capitalism of East Asian countries and held it responsible for the near
collapse of countries like Indonesia. There was a sense that the Western
capitalist model had been imperfectly supplanted in East Asia, thus
resulting in the crisis. The global financial crisis of 2008 has, ironically,
made Asian economies look better, though they are by no means totally
unaffected by the crisis. However, the protectionist policies of governments in developmental states, which earlier were berated as part of
a patriarchal neo-confucianist system, are now considered sensible as
they have prevented banks from collapsing. Once again the gaze is on
Asia, this time on nationalized banks and businesses, which are part
of a patriarchal culture in which the government controls the market.
Now the unbridled market capitalism of the West and the mythical selfcorrecting nature of this market are under attack.
Introduction
Introduction
Conclusion
On 31 January 2009 the title of the BBC show Newsnight was globalization in retreat. The program showed Joseph Stiglitz, the famous
economist, saying that though Americans hate the n word, there will
be a move to nationalize American banks. The anchor went on to comment that this was one of the steps of deglobalization taking place due
to the world financial crisis of 2008. What the effect of deglobalization
will be on language and culture remains to be seen.
Before I close, a few words about the contradictions between the
stances and/or theoretical foci of the contributors and their styles
are in order. The chapters bring diverse perspectives to globalization:
some authors see it as a benign process, others as the ideology of neo-colonialism. There are postcolonial theory buffs here and those who find this
theory dated. Many of the chapters do not conform to the strait-jacket of
sub-headings imposed on us by journals: methodology, data-collection,
discussion, etc. I have not insisted on this as I want to privilege national
scholars who might not, as yet, have started on the treadmill of producing text for journals. Thus the book promises theoretical promiscuity,
contradictory views of globalization, and unpredictable styles.
References
Appadurai, A. (1996), Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
(2001), Grassroots globalization and the research imagination, in
A. Appadurai (ed.), Globalization. Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 119.
Bhagwati, J. (2004), Defense of Globalization. Oxford: OUP.
Blommaert, J. (2003), Commentary: a sociolinguistics of globalization, Journal
of Sociolinguistics, 7 (4), 607623.
Bruthiaux, P. (2002), Hold your courses: language education, language choice,
and economic development, TESOL Quarterly, 36 (3), 275296.
(2008), Dimensions of globalization and applied linguistics, in P. K. W.
Tan and R. Rubdy (eds), Language as Commodity: Global Structures, Local
Marketplaces. London: Continuum, pp. 1730.
11
12
Introduction
13
Global Mandarin
Goh Yeng Seng and Lim Seok Lai
Chapter summary
Due to the emergence of China as an economic powerhouse,
Mandarin, as the officially recognized standard language of mainland
China and Taiwan, and the lingua franca of the overseas educated
Chinese diaspora, is widely believed to be the most likely candidate among the worlds languages to attain the status of a language
second only to English. This chapter explores the following issues:
1. defining the global status of a language, 2. the impact of Chinas
resurgence, 3. the global spread of Mandarin, 4. the current status
of Mandarin, 5. defining Mandarin: problems of nomenclature,
6. barriers to the spread of Mandarin, 7. teaching Chinese as an
international language and 8. future prospects: challenges and
opportunities.
Along with the economic rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs)
in the new millennium, the ecology of world languages is undergoing
a major restructuring, with Mandarin competing alongside Spanish,
HindiUrdu and Arabic for global language status after English, the first
acclaimed world language. As noted by Crystal (2003: 9), A language
does not become a global language because of its intrinsic structural
properties, or because of the size of its vocabulary, or because it has
been a vehicle of a great literature in the past, or because it was once
associated with a great culture or religion. It also has little to do with
the number of native speakers who speak it.
To progress as an international medium of communication, a language needs to have a strong power-base, be it political, military or
economic. Examples are numerous throughout the history of mankind.
Languages such as Greek, Latin, Chinese and Spanish spread to the
Middle East, Europe, Japan, Korea and Vietnam and America during
different periods in history for the same reasons: the political, military
or economic might of their native speakers. English, the first acclaimed
global language, spread around the globe in the nineteenth century as a
result of British colonial imperialism and continued its global presence
when America emerged to become the de facto superpower by the end
of the twentieth century.
14
Global Mandarin
Global Mandarin
As its economy grew and its people became wealthier, China, with its
population of 1.3 billion, gradually morphed from the factory of the
world into an enormous world consumer market. Over time, backed by
a booming economy, local manufacturing made tremendous progress
and Chinas position shifted swiftly from a technology-import nation to
a product-export nation, further promoting its economic impact worldwide. In recent years, fuelled by a large-scale expansion of foreign
investments overseas, Chinas economic supremacy has been widely
acknowledged and the resulting massive economic growth has led to a
stronger than ever Renminbi (RMB), the official currency of China. As
observed by Crystal in the case of global English (ibid.: 10), Any language at the centre of such an explosion of international activity would
suddenly have found itself with a global status. The current economic
rise of China has indeed laid a solid foundation for its language and
culture to flourish globally.
Expanding circle
Outer circle
Inner circle
Zhongyuan
Zone
Overseas Chinese
Zone
Foreign Language
Zone
Global Mandarin
Jacques also pointed out that China is already a global power and is still
developing. And as its rise continues, as Chinese worldwide interests
grow exponentially, the Chinese diaspora is likely to expand greatly.
Due to differences in the historical development of overseas Chinese
communities in the provision of Chinese education and their degree of
closeness with the Inner Circle, Mandarin now plays a very diverse role
in these multilingual settings and the level of mastery of their speakers
varies accordingly.
In overseas Chinese communities in the USA and the European
countries, Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and other territories
where Mandarin is not the dominant language of their countries of residence, the use of Mandarin is typically confined to the home domain
or within the Chinese community itself. Chinese language classes are
not included in the main-stream education system and are conducted
mainly on a voluntary basis in Chinese schools set up by non-official
organizations outside curriculum time. Teaching materials are usually
provided by overseas Chinese organizations and the contents are either
inclined towards Taiwan or mainland China.
In states such as Singapore and Malaysia, where Mandarin is a common language within the Chinese community, the teaching of Chinese
language is either fully administered by a government ministry (e.g. the
Singapore Ministry of Education) or by a non-official independent local
federation of the Chinese community (e.g. United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia). Emphasis is placed on the transmission of Chinese culture and traditional values rather than the mastery
of linguistic skills.
Within the Inner Circle, Singapore stands out as the only nation that
places a lot of emphasis on the teaching and learning of Chinese language. In Singapore, Mandarin enjoys the status of an official language
alongside English, Tamil and Malay, and is made a compulsory academic subject for ethnic Chinese students from primary up to secondary
or pre-university level for a span of 10 to 12 years.
19
Global Mandarin
22
Global Mandarin
Mass media
Mandarin TV channels
Since the 1990s, as part of its concerted effort to exert its influence
over various regions, beginning with South East Asia and later moving on to Africa and beyond, China has been making its presence
felt through the infiltration of its soft power, a term coined by Joseph
Nye in the late 1980s, which was subsequently used widely in academic and political circles. On the basis of Nyes discussion, Joshua
Kurlantzick (2006) examined the growth of Chinas soft power in a
broader manner and defined it as Chinas ability to influence by persuasion rather than coercion. According to Kurlantzick, China crafted
a more nuanced strategy reinforcing the concept of peaceful development through efforts like the establishment of Confucius Institutes,
expanding CCTVs international broadcasting and increasing the
provision of Chinese language teachers to the region (http://www.
carnegieendowment.org/files/PB_47 retrieved on 10 January 2009).
23
Global Mandarin
Global Mandarin
barriers can only be removed via a political solution which entails tactful negotiations between mainland China and Taiwan.
Secondly, unresolved external issues arising from the standardization of the regional varieties of Mandarin in the Outer Circle have
given rise to hurdles in the path of global Mandarin. The formation of
regional varieties is the inevitable result of a languages spread to nonnative environments, giving rise to both a variety of forms and a diversity of cultural contexts within which the language is used in daily life.
Regional varieties arise out of differences in social lives and are sometimes a result of differing social ideologies. Take the naming of traditional
Chinese music in different territories as an example: in China, it is
termed minyue (ethnic music); in Taiwan, it is called guoyue (national
music); in Hong Kong, it is referred to as zhongyue (China music) and
in Singapore, it is known as huayue (Chinese music). Another oftenquoted example is the varying names used in different regions for the
term taxi. In Taiwan, it is known as jichengche (calculate-distance-vehicle); Hong Kong and Singapore each coined a translated version based
on its English pronunciation and call it dishi and deshi respectively; in
China, it is either called mianbaoche, which literally meant bread-car
or chuzuche (rent-car, a term which is used to refer to rental car in
Singapore!), and the act of taking taxi is referred to as dadi, a newly
emerged term which is difficult to comprehend in both its spoken and
written forms. As is evident from the above examples, these regional
variations, if left untackled, can pose difficulties in cross-border communication and language learning. However, as language is known to
be closely tied to territory, and to cultural identity, the standardization
of regional varieties has long been a contentious issue that has proven
to be easier said than done. As is the case for English, the attempt to
fix and ascertain the English language began as early as the eighteenth
century but was never entirely successful (Graddol, 2000).
When dealing with the standardization of regional varieties of
Mandarin, the conflicting issue of national loyalty versus international
intelligibility needs to be carefully considered and tactfully dealt with.
However, one developing trend worth noting is that the forces of globalization are challenging the long existing close bond between language,
territory and cultural identity, making a significant impact on the global use of a language. Modern communicative tools such as the internet have made it easier for language users from all regions to overcome
geographical barriers and come into frequent, wider and closer contact.
Over time, as the identity of global citizens gradually evolves and territorial differences diminish, it is possible that the regional varieties of a
language will slowly go through a process of self-adjustment and eventually coalesce to become a hybrid language that supersedes all regional
28
Global Mandarin
varieties and is commonly accepted and widely used in the global community. The possible emergence of such a hybrid Mandarin, which may
seem idealistic at this juncture, will help to eradicate territorial and
identity barriers and serve as the driving force behind its global spread.
The third barrier that needs to be overcome relates to a set of teething problems currently faced by the global Mandarin language service
industry, in particular, insufficient quality control over CFL courses
and the professional quality of Chinese language instructors, as well
as the lack of a set of common guidelines and international standards
in the administration of Chinese language proficiency tests. The CFL
teaching industry, which is still in the early stages of development, has
been caught unprepared by the sudden surge in demand. As a result,
there is a worldwide shortage of qualified instructors to effectively run
CFL courses. Due to the absence of an independent professional body
to monitor the Chinese language service industry, the quality of courses
varies greatly and so does the learning outcome. If left unchecked, this
might have a negative impact on the learning of the Chinese language
and impede the global spread of Mandarin.
Apart from conducting Chinese language courses, service providers
around the world are also competing intensely in the administration
of Chinese language proficiency tests. These tests, which aim to assess
the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers, usually form
part of the requirements for college admission or employment. As it is a
newly explored avenue which is capable of generating substantial revenue, a growing number of organizations and universities are designing
and administering their own version of Chinese language proficiency
tests, some of which are listed in Table 2.1 below:
Without a set of internationally recognized standards to fall back
on, the assessment criteria and grading systems adopted by the various
organizations vary considerably. As a result, the tests are somewhat
localized in nature and their results are usually recognized only in the
country or region where they are administered. From the perspective
of CFL learners, the lack of a widely accepted proficiency test like
the TOEFL test for the Chinese language is a great drawback in the
globalizing world where movement across different lands in search of
better education or job opportunities is quickly becoming a norm. In
order to clear the path for Mandarins spread, common guidelines and
internationally accepted standards need to be set.
Acronym
HSK
SAT II
AP Chinese
CPT
Organization/Country
International Baccalaureate
Chinese
Chinese Proficiency
Test Japan
IB Chinese
Test of Communicative
Chinese
TECC
CPTJ
Global Mandarin
as there was plenty of out-of-classroom language input as well as authentic situations for conversational practice. Blessed with such favourable
conditions, the learning outcome was, more often than not, favourable.
As China continues its economic expansion in the twenty-first century, the status of Mandarin rises accordingly and is creating strong
demand for Mandarin courses in the Outer and Expanding Circles.
TCFL has shifted from the qingjinlai welcome era to the zouchuqu
venture out era. The international market for the teaching and learning of CFL, as discussed earlier, is indeed a massive one. However, it
must be strongly emphasized that as the make-up of learners, and the
learning conditions and social environments of the various Circles are
distinctly different, the successful teaching and learning experiences of
CFL conducted in the Inner Circle might not be directly relevant to that
of the Outer and Expanding circles.
Take the teaching and learning of Chinese language in Singapore for
example. As a result of the successful implementation of educational and
language policies, Singapore despite being the only multi-ethnic nation
with a Chinese-majority population in the Outer Circle has undergone
a massive language shift over the past 4 decades. English has emerged
as the dominant language in all formal domains of daily life and is fast
becoming the dominant language in many homes (MM Lee Kuan Yews
speech on 17 March 2009, www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_
releases/agencies/mica/speech/S-20090317-1). Under the bilingual education system of Singapore, all ethnic Chinese pupils regardless of
their home language backgrounds are required to study the Chinese
language for a minimum of 10 years right from the day they enter primary one. As about half of todays primary one school cohort comes from
English-speaking homes (Singapore Ministry of Education Press Release,
11 February 2008), when teaching the Chinese language, teachers inevitably have to deal with the issue of language interference and negativetransference from English. In addition, as Chinese Language is the only
major academic subject that is taught using Mandarin as the medium
of instruction, there is insufficient exposure to the language as well as
limited scope for its use. This is made worse by the fact that the social
environment is English-dominant. Chinese teachers informally surveyed
have expressed concerns over the declining proficiency levels of their
students. They are also facing new challenges in the classrooms as children from English-speaking homes who are handicapped in Mandarin see
little relevance in mastering the language and are often unmotivated.
It can thus be concluded from the experience of Singapore that the
outcome of teaching Chinese language in foreign lands is dependent
on a range of factors which differ from one place to another. Transferring the teaching and learning experiences of CFL in the Inner Circle to
31
the Outer and Expanding circles might not produce the expected positive outcome. It is thus absolutely vital for educators and curriculum
designers to explore and design different learning packages that share
a common core curriculum and yet also take into consideration various regional social and communicative differences, and apply learning
strategies which will suit the varying needs of different types of learners under different circumstances.
References
Albert Keidel (2008a), Chinas economic rise fact and ction, Policy Brief,
no. 61, at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/les/pb61_keidel_nal.pdf
retrieved on 25 June 2009.
Albert Keidel (2008b), Chinas economic rise a technical note, at http://www.
carnegieendowment.org/les/Technical_Note.pdf retrieved on 25 June 2009.
Crystal, D. (2003), English as a Global Language (Second Edition). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
32
Global Mandarin
Dor, Daniel (2004), From Englishization to imposed multilingualism: globalization, the internet, and the political economy of the linguistic code,
Public Culture, 16, 97118.
Dou, Delong (2008), Kongzixueyuan zai haiwai heyi fazhan Xunsu (Reasons
behind Confucius Institutes speedy expansion overseas) (in Chinese),
Jiefang Ribao, China, 13 February, at http://kbs.cnki.net/forums/45205
retrieved on 10 January 2009.
Graddol, D. (2000), The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting thePopularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. London: The
British Council.
Guojia Yuyan Ziyuan Jiance yu yanjiu zhongxin (Chinese Linguistic Resources
Monitoring and Research Centre) (eds) (2006), Zhongguo yuyan shenghuo
zhuangkuang baogao 2005 (2006), Language Situation in China Report:
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Hancock, John (1999), The language of success, Director, 53 (4), 3536.
Kachru, B. B. (1989), Standards, codication and sociolinguistic realism:
the English language in the outer circle, in R. Quirk and H. G. Widdowson
(eds), English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and
Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1130.
Kurlantzick, Joshua (2006), Chinas charm: implications of Chinese soft
power, Policy Brief, 47, at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/les/
PB_47 retrieved on 25 June 2009.
Martin Jacques (2008), Chinese diaspora exes its muscles worldwide, China
Daily, China, 18 June, at http://chinadaily.cn/opinion/2008-06/18/ retrieved
on 25 June 2009.
Ministry of Education, Singapore (2008), Enhanced programmes by Special
Assistance Plan Schools to enrich students learning of Chinese language
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National Bureau of Statistics of P. R. China. (2008), China Statistical Yearbook
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Rogers, J. (2007), A Bull in China. New York: Random House Publishing Group.
Yuan, Jiahua (ed.) (1960), Hanyu fangyan gaiyao (An outline of Chinese
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Online resources
(retrieved on 25 June 2009)
http://hanban.edu.cn
http://www.internetworldstats.com
http://www.news.gov.sg/public/sgpc/en/media_releases/agencies/mica/
speech/S-20090317-1
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Overseas_Chinese
http://www.ris.gov.tw/version96/statis_111.html
33
Chapter summary
This chapter is about the socio-historical development of Malay,
English and Arabic languages in Muslim education and its polemics and paradoxes in relation to globalization. Though I explore the
politics of all three languages, my focus is on the reemergence of
Arabic as the new global language. A survey of the madrasah system in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia will be presented as a
case study to analyze the re-(de)positioning of the curricular content of the madrasah schools in the face of their ever-increasing
micro and macro challenges. I argue that the more prominent use of
English language in religious education does not necessarily mean
the devaluation of Arabic language in the madrasah education system, although the same cannot be said about the Malay language.
Arabic language in the madrasah schools, whether for Islamization
of knowledge or to serve growing socio-economic demands and
pragmatism, has outgrown its main religious domain in the face of
globalization.
Introduction
My topic requires specific qualifications of terminologies to avoid misinterpretations, misdirected discourse and conclusions. First, I wish to
differentiate between two imperatives which are extensively used but
not interchangeably in our discussion, namely, Islamic education and
Muslim education. While Islamic pertains directly to the faith and its
doctrines a realm of ideals and theory, Muslim refers to the interpretive works and acts by followers of Islam in approximating those ideals
(Douglas and Shaik, 2004).
34
To go a step further, Muslim education may also entail the education to, for, of and by the Muslims. Rukhsana Zias (2006) attempt,
for instance, to study general education for the general population
Muslims and non-Muslims inclusive made available by Muslim leaders in Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia, Turkey, Iran and
others may be categorized under the more general term of Muslim education. However, due to the scope of this chapter, I limit my discussion
to the Muslim educational institutions, namely the madrasah, loosely
defined as Muslim religious schools, and to a certain extent the pondok
and pesantren, in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for the Muslim
community in the said countries. In a nutshell, I am looking at the education provided by the madrasah which is traditionally known for its
strong religious curriculum inclusive of Arabic language, and its development in the face of globalization in Southeast Asia.
Based on the statistics of the three countries, the madrasah students
constitute a small fraction of the total student population in relation to
those attending national schools. There were 4,148 full-time madrasah
students in 2007 (Singapore, Education Statistics Digest, 2007), constituting about 21 per cent from the total Malay/Muslim students
(Primary, Secondary and Pre-University/college levels) or 0.77 per cent
out of the total student population in Singapore. Madrasah students in
Indonesia were estimated at 5,995,191 or 16.4 per cent in contrast to
their 36,522,648 counterparts in national schools in 2006 (Department
Pendidikan Nasional, Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan, Pusat
Statistik Pendidikan, 2005/2006). Out of this figure, it was estimated
that 2 million children were studying in the countrys 11,000 to
14,000 pesantrens (South China Morning Post, 31 October 2006; The
Advertiser, 11 August 2007). There were about 65,087 madrasah students in Malaysia in 2005 attending Sekolah Agama Negeri (states religious school) or SAN and Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan (government
aided religious school) or SABK at the Primary and Secondary levels,
or 2.9 per cent of the total student population in that country (Ministry
of Education, Malaysia, 2007). The madrasah figure in Malaysia is very
modest if we were to consider the presence of 126,000 students attending
500 Sekolah Agama Rakyat (Peoples religious schools, which are privately run) or SAR in 2003 alone (New Straits Times, 22 January 2003).
In the beginning of 2005, as many as 94 SARs (Primary and Secondary)
were re-registered as SABK following a decree by the Malaysian government (Ministry of Education, Malaysia, Pelan Induk Pembangunan
Pendidikan 20062010; 2006: 21) but I suspect that many more remained
outside SABK and are not captured in the statistics.
The socio-religio-historical background of the Muslims that has
shaped the objectives, content and pedagogy of Muslim education
35
curriculum needs to be briefly discussed to set the stage for our discussion on the positioning and re-(de)positioning of the said three
languages. I approach globalization as a continuum of mans sociopolitical experiences and historical narratives. I focus on four significant socio-religio-historical experiences of the Muslims in this region;
viz. the coming of Islam; the rise of the reformist movement; the Islamization movement, and the postmodern era that witnesses wide-spread
phenomenon of globalization. The impact of colonization, education
policies of the three countries and global events are discussed as integral parts of the said socio-religio-historical experiences. The positioning of Arabic, Malay and English languages along, against and during
the said four major events is the main discourse of this chapter.
It is also the city states official language (that is used in its government
and administration), alongside Mandarin, Tamil and English.
Al-Attas (1972: 5) reports that Islam came to the Malay Archipelago3
couched in Sufi metaphysics and that it was through tasawwuf (metaphysics), the highly intellectual and rationalistic religious discipline,
rationalism and intellectualism were imbibed into the Muslim minds.
The Muslims in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are largely Asharis
adherents, who uphold Shafii fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence and followers of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah, or the Sunnis, indicating those
who follow the way (sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad and hold
fast to the unity of Muslims (jamaah). These theological perspectives
shaped the religious orientation of the Muslims and consequently, the
curriculum content of the early Muslims education in the region.
Theology as a primary science constitutes the depth and breadth of
the curriculum adopted by the Muslims in early-nineteenth century
and supported by auxiliary sciences that promote moral values or adab.
Essentially, the curriculum was based on the notion of taxonomy of
knowledge, where disciplines are stratified or given differing status
according to their assumed importance, usually from the perspective of
religion. Consequently, in communities where multiple languages are
available as media of instruction for these disciplines, these languages
are also consciously or subconsciously stratified. Due to the extensive
influence of the taxonomy of knowledge on religious orientation of
the Muslims and the status of the languages, a brief discussion on this
aspect is necessary.
the land for imperialism. It was unthinkable therefore to use the imperialists language to decode Islamic texts at that time in the history of
the Malay Archipelago. Except for one Malay-vernacular school, English was not even included in the syllabus of the colonial-sponsored
Malay vernacular schools until 1950s (Frisby, 1950: 12).
rest reported that they used both Malay and Arabic languages. The six
madrasahs are Aljunied, Alsagoff, Al-Marif, Al-Diniah, Hidayah and
Sekolah Rayat Bustanul Arifin. Instead, Malay language was predominantly used as the medium of instruction for many subjects, other than
Diniah. For example, Malay language was utilized more frequently by
55 per cent of madrasahs as the medium of instruction in relation to
Arabic (40.3 per cent) and English language (4.7 per cent) for the eleven
subjects offered. Out of eleven subjects, as reflected in Figure 3.1, Malay
language was chosen by 24 madrasahs as the medium of instruction for
9 subjects, while Arabic was exclusively utilized by only 6 madrasahs for six subjects. Taking each subject individually, 6 madrasahs or
50 per cent of madrasahs offering History used Malay language, while
13 out of 15 madrasahs offering arithmetic employed Malay as the
language of instruction. Out of 6 madrasahs offering Geography, 5 or
83.3 per cent taught the subject in Malay. Malay language was solely
used to instruct less popular subjects such as Hygiene, General Knowledge, Physical Exercise and Sewing.
G.K
P.E
Sewing
19
15
25
Arabic instruction
30
Malay instruction
24
English instruction
30
30
12
43
emergence of Malay language as a tool to heighten nationalism, nationbuilding and socio-political unification among many races and tongues
in both countries. The rise of Malay language phenomenon that occurred
in both countries was also evident in religious educational institutions
in Singapore. Based on the same survey, I observed that 19 madrasahs
or 65.5 per cent offered Malay language but under a different name, viz.
Writing and Grammar (see Figure 3.1). The content of the syllabus was
very much fashioned after the teaching and learning of the Malay language in Malay schools then (including using similar textbooks). Thus
Malay language was gaining more prominence at both the academic and
functional levels (as a formal academic subject and medium of instruction); a direct contrast to its early position in the nineteenth century, in the
realm of religious education as a direct or/and indirect result of nationalism and political independence. Although offered by only 6 madrasahs
(20 per cent), which indicates that the functional role of English language
for socio-economic progress was dismal, English was increasingly recognized by the madrasahs. At any rate, such a small step reflects the changing perception of madrasahs fraternity towards the language.
As a result of the liberal democracy movement in Indonesia, from
1950 onwards, a decree was passed by the government to replace Dutch
language with Malay or Bahasa Indonesia as the language of instruction in all vernacular schools, except those special schools attended
specifically by Dutch children (Redja Mudyahardjo, 2001: 388). The
repositioning of Malay and English languages was strengthened in
this instance, but the curriculum space of religious subjects reduced
due to the imposition of another new education policy. For example,
during the reign of New Order under the leadership of Suharto in
1966, in Indonesia, the minimal percentage allocation of 30 per cent
secular subjects and 70 per cent religious subjects for all madrasahs
was decreed leading to the shrinking of curriculum spaces for religious subjects. Nonetheless, such policy changes did little to dent the
Arabic languages long-established socio-religious domains. At least in
one study on the significance of Al-Azhar University of Cairo in the
religious development in Indonesia (Abaza, 1993: 23), the presence of
a large number of Egyptian Azharites, a title given to the graduates,
students and academics of the Al-Azhar University, who were sent as
missionaries, teachers and preachers in 1989 in Indonesia, as well as
the thousands of Indonesian students studying in the said university,
indicated that the positioning of Arabic as the super-H language in the
religious domain was maintained.
In the case of Malaysia, under the National Education Policy, two
major initiatives were introduced which changed the position of Arabic
language and consequently, weakened the madrasah (Rosnani Hashim,
44
1996; Hassan Langgulung and Che Noraini Hashim, 2005: 10). One initiative was the use of Malay language or national language instead of
Arabic as the medium of instruction for religious and non-religious subjects. The second was the introduction of more non-religious subjects
such as Malay language, English, Mathematics, Geography, History, and
General Science, thus displacing religious subjects to make room for
new non-religious subjects. Unlike in Singapore where the madrasahs
are private institutions with their own set of curricula, most madrasahs
or Sekolah Agama Rakyat (peoples religious schools or SAR) in Malaysia have been under the official purview of the government since 1930s,
and therefore, directly impacted by the Policy. The Education Act of 1961
which was based on the Razak Report (1956) and Rahman Talib Report
(1960) issued directives for the inclusion of Islamic religious subjects
and moral education in the national schools from 1962 onwards. With
these initiatives, the madrasah was seen to be relinquishing its power
as the sole supplier of Islamic knowledge and Arabic language. English
language was offered as a compulsory subject, but its position remained
a status quo, viz. peripheral in the realm of religious curriculum.
However, all was not lost for Arabic from this change of events. While
the central positioning of Arabic seemed weakened and taken over by
Malay language due to the undercurrent of nationalism, the importance
of religious knowledge was elevated to an exceptional height both by
general and madrasah education in order to produce a wholesome
man, as reflected in the newly formulated educational philosophy:
Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually, spiritually,
emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious, based on
a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is designed
to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are responsible and capable of achieving a high level of personal well being as
well as being able to contribute to the harmony and betterment of
the society and the nation at large. (Malaysia, Ministry of Education, Curriculum Development Centre, 1983; quoted from Rosnani
Hashim, 1996: 150)
region of the globe has been seen as another wave of globalization that
has affected significantly the economy of most nations. It poses a set
of new challenges for madrasah education which is perceived by the
Muslim community as a threat to morality and religious values, along
with the re-expansion of economic bullying by wealthy nations over
poor and developing states. At the same time, many acknowledge that
globalization necessitates the teaching and learning of new and relevant
knowledge to get one ready for the knowledge-based economy and fluidity of information in a fast-paced and borderless world (Kamar Oniah
Kamaruzaman, 2005; Saqib, 1981; Ali Riaz, 2008). The influx of information is seldom apolitical, or acultural, and its negative influences on
the Muslims captures the imagination of Muslim educators.
Madrasah education faces globalization at two fronts: economy and
values-orientation. The national schools in Singapore, Malaysia and
Indonesia that offer general, technical and/or vocational education
were more than ready to absorb the impacts of globalization on the
economy and knowledge development by reconstructing their curriculum to include knowledge and skills on information technology
with equally up-to-date school infrastructure. Muslim education, on
the other hand, tackled the issue and challenges of globalization by
taking a more philosophical stance and approach, viz. via Islamization
of knowledge.
using the filter of Islam. Islamization of knowledge requires the reinterpretation of knowledge from the perspectives of Islam.
b. Pragmatism and the reforms in curriculum content
The 6 surviving full-time madrasahs 6 in Singapore, regardless of the
Islamization of knowledge blueprint, made a pragmatic calculation and
went ahead to reconstruct their curriculum content to replicate that
of the national schools that have long been preparing its students for
knowledge-based economy and globalization. Since 1971, madrasahs
took the initiative to prepare their students in subjects such as Mathematics, Geography, English language and Malay language for the nationalstandardized examinations, the General Certificate of Education
O (Ordinary) and A (Advance) level examinations as private candidates. With good nationally and internationally recognized academic
qualifications, the madrasahs realized that their graduates stand a
good chance in the competitive labour market. Majlis Ugama Islam of
Singapore (MUIS), a central governing body of Muslim affairs in Singapore, spear-headed the efforts to equip madrasah students with
information technology skills by implementing the Information Technology Master Plan (ITMP), including the setting up of IT infrastructure
in madrasah, the creation of IT culture via an IT resource centre and
integration of IT into the madrasah curriculum, and the wide-based
application of IT skills by teachers and students teaching and learning
(Warita Kita, NovDec, 1998).
The Compulsory Education (CE) Act which was enacted by the parliament in Singapore in 2000 had directly or indirectly reconstructed
the madrasah curriculum further. Under CE, 6 years primary education in national schools is mandatory for all Singapore citizens and
who are residing in the country. Six full-time madrasahs, and a San
Yu Adventist School, were exempted from the Act so long as their
affected cohort of students achieves the average aggregate score in
the national-standardized examinations: The Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE).7 The traditional allocation of curriculum period
of 3070 for Primary level (30 per cent non-religious subjects and
70 per cent religious subjects) was abolished to make way for more
instruction in Mathematics, Science, English and Malay, in keeping with the number of curriculum hours allocated by the national
schools for the said subjects. In the case of Singapore, pragmatism and
externally coerced measures had affected changes in curriculum content that led to the reduction of religious subject instruction, at least
at the Primary level where the allocation of 3070 or even 5050 can
no longer hold.
47
vastly observed by 92.4 per cent of the students (See Figure 3.2). Significantly, my findings demonstrate that such percentage is relatively
higher than the national census figure of 91.6 per cent (in 2000), and
even higher than the Ministry of Education Survey in 2005 that records
71.4 per cent of Malay students using Malay as the dominant language
at home (Singapore Ministry of Education Survey, 2005).
It is evident from Figure 3.2 that Malay still stands as the most frequently
used dominant language at home by 92.4 per cent of students in relation to
English (5.3 per cent), Arabic (1.8 per cent), and Urdu/Tamil (0.5 per cent).
I confirmed the findings by asking 50 parents whose children participated
in the survey to indicate their dominant language used at home. The findings are similar. Malay as the dominant language is also observed by 81 per
cent of parents, followed by English (15 per cent), and Arabic (4 per cent)
(Saeda Buang, 2009: 290).
Conclusively, the use of English as another dominant language at
home is on the increase within the Malay community as shown by
the National Census 1990 and 2000. Based on such calculation, MUIS
believes that English language in the realm of religious education
would be more readily accepted by the majority of madrasah students
and hence, helpful in increasing their level of comprehension in and
appreciation of religious knowledge. Rules of pragmatism also drive
the decision which MUIS hopes would enhance students mastery of
English and improve the performance of Malay children in academic
subjects and examination performance.
Impressed with the balanced curriculum designed by MUIS and
its emphasis on English, a deal was reached between the Yayasan
100
80
60
40
20
0
Primary
Secondary
Pre-U
Total %
Malay
35.7
33.5
23.2
92.4
English
1.8
1.5
5.3
Arabic
Tamil/Urdu
1.8
0.3
0
0.2
0
0
1.8
0.5
Figure 3.2 Distribution of dominant languages used at home, by level, in percentage. N = 287 students. Source: Students survey, 2005/2006 (Saeda Buang,
2009)
49
effectively for religious education, higher studies, socio-cultural interactions or/and future careers.
In Singapore all studies mentioned earlier in this chapter converge on
the idea that English language is encroaching into the realm of religion
and slowly, yet persistently taking over the position of Malay language
as the medium of instruction for Islamic knowledge, and that Arabic
language remains relevant and important in the study of religion.
However, globalization has brought changes to the way people perceive the domains of Arabic language. Audi Yudasmara (1999/2000: 53)
discovers that a growing number of parents 9 are sending their children
for Arabic lessons due to reasons other than religious, such as to gain
knowledge and travel, other than instrumental and integrative-related
orientations such as the desire to belong in the ummah (Muslim global
community). The trend of using Arabic beyond the sphere of religion
and madrasah classrooms and premises is increasingly observable particularly in the domain of the economy. Realizing the importance of
Arabic in the sphere of economic growth, Ministry of Education, Singapore has included Arabic in its third language programme as one of the
options (The Straits Times, 8 March 2007). The option was taken up by
30 students from government-run schools, a majority of whom are nonMalays, in the following year.
A keen interest in the language, outside the realm of religion and in
this case in socio-educational sphere, was also demonstrated in a letter in a local daily (The Straits Times, 24 September 2007). The writer
of the letter went a step further to propose that each university in the
country should set up Middle East studies, inclusive of Arabic, Farsi
and Urdu, as a strategic move to liaise with businesses and schools in
this large part of West Asia and North Africa. Such pleas will no longer
be necessary when the National University of Singapore launches its
Modern Standard Arabic as a foreign language modules for its undergraduates beginning from January 2009.10 Earlier, a plan was drawn
by the Singapore government and the Arab Association in Singapore,
supported by Yemen, to start an Arab cultural heritage centre whose
main function is to teach contemporary Arabic language, and also to
host cultural events and be a hub for research on the Hadhrami diasporas (The Straits Times, 26 May 2007). Separately, an Arabic language
centre will be set up in 2008 by a local organization, Jamiyah, with
help from the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(ISESCO) based in Morocco. The new centre hopes to train aspiring
Arabic language teachers from South-east Asia and to deepen links
with the Middle East (The Straits Times, 26 June 2007). Such a pragmatic, calculated move which is driven by economic returns in relation to the study of Arabic is expected when Singapore, and for that
53
Conclusion
The development of languages on the basis of their changing functions
and domains of usage characterizes the four significant socio-religiohistorical events and the educational experiences of the Muslims.
Malay language positions itself from strength to strength from the language of religious instruction since the coming of Islam on the shores
of the Malay Archipelago, to a tool for nationalism, social reunification and socio-economic progress in modern Malaysia and Indonesia.
Although the rise of the Malay language has its spill-over effects in
Singapore education in general and the madrasah in particular, mainly
at the onset of the countrys Independence, the language faces a downward turn in the face of globalization that champions English language
as a widely accepted universal language. Although Malay language is
important in preserving and transmitting Malay culture and values, at
least in Singapore, English language looks set to seize the traditional
role of Malay language as medium of instruction for religious education. Globalization cannot be denied as one of the key players to have
de-positioned Malay language that is inching towards the periphery of
Muslim education in Singapore.
In contrast to the fate of Malay language, Arabic is re-emerging
strongly to become another valuable commodity, in the domains of
economy, education and socio-cultural ties. But the rise of one language does not necessarily mean the descending of another, as I have
presented in the parallel developments of both English and Arabic.
Essentially, the growing relevance of Arabic and for that matter English, in non-traditional language domains is the critical factor that leads
to its prominent position. Arabic has outgrown its religious domain.
Such realization has brought the madrasah and Muslim education
to reemphasize their position as the repository of Arabic language by
54
Notes
1. See Abdullah Zakaria bin Ghazali (1979: 196238). The author has listed
257 titles pertaining to works on the origin and development of Islam in
Malaysia, which includes its neighbouring countries such as Singapore,
Brunei and Indonesia as well.
2. Resident population comprises Singapore citizens and permanent residents. See Singapore residents by age group, ethnic group and sex, end
June 2007, Monthly Digest of Statistics, Singapore, at http://www.singstat.
gov.sg/pubn/reference/mdsaug08.pdf retrieved on 19 July 2008.
3. The Malay Archipelago arbitrarily constitutes the territories of Indonesia; Luzon, Mindanao and Visayan islands of the Philippines;
Singapore; Brunei; Malaysia; East Timor and most of Papua New
Guinea. For more details, please see Britannica Online Encyclopedia
at
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/359679/MalayArchipelago#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Malay%20
Archipelago%20-%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia retrieved
on 19 July 2008.
4. Levant, which simply means East or the land of the rising sun, covers the
eastern Mediterranean nations of Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Palestinian
territories, Iraq, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey and Egypt.
5. Jamaluddin al-Afghany (18381897), Muhammad Abduh (18491905)
and Rashid Rida (18651935) are among Middle Eastern most inuential
reformist gures whose modernist ideas have impacted the religious and
socio-political views and practices of the local reformers.
6. There were 69 full-time madrasahs recorded up to 1966 in Singapore.
Currently, there are only six surviving full-time madrasahs. See Saeda
Buang, 2009: 392393.
7. The pace-setters for the madrasahs are Malay students in the national
schools studying English, Malay, Science and Mathematics.
8. Instances of the integration are the combination of aqidah, qh and akhlaq
studies; and sirah and hadith studies. Islamic social studies and Quranic
Studies are still taught individually. With the new syllabus, to a certain
extent, curriculum substance and practice of religious education has
diverged from the traditional contents learned and disseminated from the
pre-twentieth century to the early twenty-rst century, while preserving
the core content knowledge traditionally learned in fard ain. Under the
thematic study of the Quran, the following syllabus was offered: Islam,
Quran, Iman (faith), Arkan, Ulum al-Quran (for Primary Five); personal
development, communication with others, development and nurturing of
the Muslim community, the human family, shura or mutual consultation,
55
and rights and responsibilities of a Muslim towards neighbours, community and country (for Primary Six).
9. No specic gures are given by Audi Yudasmara.
10. The course is conducted by the Centre for Language Studies, National
University of Singapore. Please see http://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/cls/Job/
LECTURER_ARABIC.pdf retrieved on 20 June 2008.
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web.lexis-nexis.com.libproxy.nie.edu.sg/scholastic/doclist?_m=7aeeb5c865
0c7200837c7e1b0104ee29&wchp=dGLzVlz-zSkVk&_md5=2b3784e689e537
f0079a3cb8c1133463 retrieved on 1 August 2008.
26 August 2008, Spore Islamic school in Java tie-up; madrasah teams up
with Muslim boarding school in Indonesia to boost education quality, at
http://web.lexis-nexis.com.libproxy.nie.edu.sg/scholastic/doclist?_m=7aee
b5c8650c7200837c7e1b0104ee29&wchp=dGLzVlz-zSkVk&_md5=2b3784e6
89e537f0079a3cb8c1133463 retrieved on 4 January 2009.
20 November 2008, Spore rms urged to expand into Abu Dhabi, at http://
web.lexis-nexis.com.libproxy.nie.edu.sg/scholastic/doclist?_m=7aeeb5c865
0c7200837c7e1b0104ee29&wchp=dGLzVlz-zSkVk&_md5=2b3784e689e537
f0079a3cb8c1133463 retrieved on 4 January 2009.
Zaba (2002), Ilmu mengarang Melayu (Techniques of Malay writing). Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
60
Chapter summary
Globalization of economic, political and cultural activities is further
accelerated by recent emerging economies of two most populous
countries in the World; China and India. The increasing mobility
of human resources and flux of information and commodities
within the Asian region is inevitably affecting various aspects of
behaviours of more people in every day life, including their use of
language. Although it is unquestionable that English is playing a
larger role as a lingua franca in the Asian region than ever before,
not only in the former British colonies but also among other parts
of the region, educational policies and peoples attitudes towards
English in each country/region have been rather ambivalent. In the
Japanese context, where its identity as a leading economic power
in Asia has been shaken in the past decade under its sluggish economy, discussions on English have been embracing both nationalism
and globalism. Idealistic/conservative movements to defend and
purify Japanese language and realistic/progressive movements to
respond to strong demand for English have been simultaneously
propagated in academic and political discourse. This chapter will
examine recent language attitudes of Japanese people by analysing discussions on the policy change regarding the introduction of
English language education in Japanese elementary schools. Such
discussions represent multi-dimensional ideological orientations
on language and culture in globalization.
Introduction
Globalization of economic, political and cultural activities in the past
few decades has brought about high mobility of people around the
world, the scale and speed of which seem unprecedented in history.
Emerging economies in Asia, in particular, are further accelerating this
movement. The increasing mobility of human resources along with the
61
expansion of information and commodities is inevitably affecting various aspects of peoples behaviours, including the use of language. When
people move, their languages and cultures are not left behind. Japan,
contrary to the long-held homogeneity myth, is not an exception. The
ideology of a single Japanese ethnic group intentionally ignored the
existence of minority groups and their language use in the past (Noguchi
and Fotos, 2001; Weiner, 1997). This chapter will illustrate recent language issues in Japan Japanese language itself, English language education for Japanese people, and migration and language, focusing on a
new policy proposal of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party, the current
ruling party) committee on migration issues, in order to develop a contemporary picture of the Japanese language environment and discuss
its future direction. These issues are situated within the processes of
globalization, specifically the processes regarding migration leading to
a perception of a threatened nationalism.
foreign language (Butler and Iino, 2005). After Japans victory in the
JapanSino War (18941895) and the JapanRusso War (19041905),
an emerging nationalism suppressed interest and education in foreign
languages. In the early 1900s, foreign texts and foreign teachers were
gradually replaced by Japanese texts and teachers (Kitao and Kitao,
1995). English was learned as an academic pursuit mainly as a tool of
screening processes for elite education where practical communicative
needs were not perceived as the goal of education.
After World War II, the modern Japanese education system was
established by the US occupation government, in which English was
introduced as a subject in the educational reforms of 1947 and the communicative aspects of English were reinstated. However, as the competition to enter prestigious Japanese universities intensified during the
economic recovery period, English was once again regarded as an academic measurement rather than a tool for communication. The Action
Plan of 2003 (a 5-year plan to cultivate Japanese with English abilities;
MEXT, 2003) was proposed in response to the strong demand by industry to produce more communicatively competent English speakers and
thus to be more competitive in the age of globalization (see Butler and
Iino, 2005).
As briefly outlined above, internationalization for Japan after the
Meiji era was synonymous with Westernization. Although Chinese
civilization had played a far more significant role in building foundations for Japan in the past, the discourse of datsua nyuou (leaving Asia
and entering Europe) became dominant in transforming Japan into a
modern European-style nation in the Meiji period. In fact, the resulting advances in technologies and industrialization have led Japan to
become a major economic player in the world. After Japans defeat in
World War II, the United States of America came to be seen as a model
country for many multinational companies and countries. The introduction of democracy together with the influx of American products
reinforced the Japanese young populations image of the United States
of America as a destination for Japans future. All the cultural products
including food, sports, movies and music that attracted many Japanese
youth and textbooks of English reflected images of middle-class American lifestyle.
However, the trend seems to have changed after the late 1980s when
the exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the US dollar was substantially modified in the Plaza Accord to reflect Japans economic
growth. In the 1990s and 2000s after the end of the Cold War, symbolically marked with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the EU integration
enhanced by the adoption of the Euro in 1999, the US 9/11 disaster in
2001, and the recent emergence of new economies in Asia have all led
63
many Japanese people to view the relative status of the USA as less
dominant. Losing the idealized model and suffering from an economic
downturn together with an ageing population, Japan is now facing a
major challenge the third kaikoku (opening of a nation) after the Meiji
restoration and World War II.
reduce the number of kanji in the near future for the sake of building a
democratic nation through mass education. In 1965, Morito, the chair
of the Council, made an announcement that the council would continue discussions based on the assumption that Japanese language is
written with a mixture of kanji and kana (phonogram used in Japanese,
i.e., hiragana and katakana) and would not consider abolishing kanji
(Nomura, 2006). Since then, the movement to eliminate or reduce kanji
gradually faded out. In 1981, the new joyo-kanji list (commonly used
1,945 kanji, about 96 per cent of daily-use kanji, Nomura, 2006: 266)
was introduced as a guideline for use in public domains.
Later, the so-called IT revolution, at its early stage in the 1980s, was
expected to eventually eliminate the use of kanji because keyboard
input devices for computers were not adequate for non-phonological and non-alphabetical writing systems (Unger, 1987). Contrary to
Ungers projection, computers have made advances to allow easy conversion from roman-alphabetically typed Japanese sounds into kanji.
The unintended consequence was that people started using more complicated kanji which could not be easily written by hand. The computer can now display 11,223 kanji according to JIS (Japanese Industrial
Standards). In 2000, the 1,044 hyogai-kanji list (kanji beyond the joyokanji list) was announced by the Council to reflect the demand from
the media which claimed that these hyogai-kanji are easily produced
by computers and more easily recognized by the readers. In 2004, the
number of jinmeiyo-kanji (kanji to be used for names in koseki, family
registers, controlled by the Ministry of Justice) was increased from 285
to 983. Currently, in 2008, the Council is discussing creating a new list
of joyo-kanji, possibly adding more kanji for recognition only, the conclusion of which will be announced in 2009 for public comment. The
current trend seems to be that the Japanese language is adding more
kanji to be used in official and public domains in order to authentically
reflect the original kanji of proper names, resulting in an expansion of
once-controlled kanji. Kanji kentei (examination for kanji certificate),
Nintendo games to learn kanji, and books on kanji are now attracting
more and more people in Japan.
Along with what I call the kanji boom, the utsukushii nihongo
(beautiful Japanese language) movement represents another recent
purification/idealization trend in Japanese corpus planning. This trend
coincides with the beautiful Japan movement proposed by former
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (20062007) who succeeded Junichiro
Koizumi (20012006), both known as nationalists. Komori (2002)
observes that sales of books on Japanese, in particular, guides to correct
usage, tend to increase during economic recession because people seek
for a substitute for pride as well as nostalgia (cited in Gottlieb, 2005:
65
93). The Council members, including scholars of classical Japanese literature, artists such as poets, traditional theatre performers and writers,
have been discussing reintroduction of classical language arts in the
national curriculum from the elementary school level. From 2003 to
2006, the National Institute for Japanese Language also proposed that
words of foreign origin borrowed into Japanese written in katakana
should be translated into newly fabricated kanji-based Japanese words
(e.g., infoomudo konsento (informed consent) became nattoku shinryo, which literally means medical treatment upon agreement). One
of the rationales for this move in corpus planning was to avoid misunderstanding across generations, as elderly Japanese people tend to
use less katakana words as compared with the younger generation.
Creating new Japanese words relying on kanji, while controlling the
influx of foreign words (Kaiser, 2003) and corresponding new concepts
represented by katakana, is based on the assumption that language
use can be, and should be, controlled by the government rather than
being propagated freely among the civilians. The normative concept
of utsukushii nihongo undermines sociolinguistic values of vernacular
Japanese, regional dialects and the creative vitality of language itself by
labelling them midare (Gottlieb, 2005; Jorden, 1991) or ozomashiki
nihongo (deviant and fearful Japanese). Such purist corpus planning
contradicts the real picture of the linguistic landscape in Japan, and
reinforces the inferior status of deviant language use as well as the
speakers of it.
education; (4) the role of English as a measure of ones academic abilities within the Japanese educational system; (5) the role of English
as a political tool to attract votes for some local government officials;
(6) the role of English as an attractive selling point for certain schools
under the school choice system in selected areas; (7) the (unwarranted)
perception of English as a potential solution for communication-related
behavioural problems; and (8) growing concerns about ensuring equal
access to EES (English at elementary schools) in different regions and
among different socio-economic groups.
On the other hand, opposing opinions regarding the effectiveness
of EES include ideological, cognitive and pragmatic reasons such as
positioning of English in the context of the multilingual and multicultural ideology of Japan, the cognitive importance of the native language
(Japanese) foundation, and readiness of teachers and teaching materials. In addition, a new type of cultural nationalism, as also seen in the
debate over the idea of officializing English as Japans second language
around 2000 (Funabashi, 2000; Iino, 2000; Iino, 2002), fostered a belief
that expanding larger domains of English use in Japanese society would
result in chasing out pure language and culture in the form of linguistic
and sociolinguistic alteration (cf. Inoue, 2001).
Despite the fact that the introduction of EES has been debated for
almost two decades and the outcome has been so limited in scale, in
tertiary education, some universities have inaugurated programs where
English is the medium of instruction for both Japanese students and
international students during the early 2000s. For example, while
Jochi University (Sofia University) and ICU (International Christian
University) in Tokyo used to be among the few universities in Japan
which have carried out English medium programs in the past, in 2000
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, in 2004 the School of International
Liberal Studies of Waseda University (cf. Gourd and Iino, 2006) and Akita
International University were established where almost all the subjects are
conducted in English. GP (Good Practice government funding to educate
Japanese people to use English in work) funding was awarded to these
new programs. After completing the goal of accepting 100,000 foreign
students in 2003 (the goal was set in 1983 under the Nakasone administration), Japan is now undertaking a new goal. The former Fukuda administration proposed to increase the number of foreign students to 300,000
in the next 5 years and the LDP is discussing further increase to reach
1 million by 2025. Waseda University, for example, is planning to increase
international students up to 8,000, about 20 per cent of its enrolments, in
5 years. Thus implementations of new language policies at private institutions are moving at a much higher speed than the national curriculum for
elementary and secondary education.
67
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
Number of Children in
Compulsory Ed. Age,
55566
100000
0
1971
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
(Year)
Figure 4.1 Japanese overseas residents and their children (compulsory education level). Source: MEXT (2006)
68
(People)
25000
Asia, 21954
N. America, 20218
20000
15000
Europe, 11231
10000
5000
Pacific, 2394
C&S America, 1225
Middle East, 713
Africa, 569
0
1971
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
(Year)
(People)
(%)
2,500,000
1.80
Registered foreign nationals
Percentage of the total
Population
1.63
1.50
2,000,000
1.55
1.40
2,084,919
1.45
1.40
1.33
1.18 1.20
1,500,000
1.60
1.57
2,011,555
1.23
1,973,747
1.20
1,915,030
1.12
1,851,758
1.08
1.00
1,778,462
0.71
1,000,000
0.69
0.70
1,686,444
1,556,113
0.87
0.80
1,512,116
1,482,707
0.60
1,415,136
782,910
751,842
500,000
1,362,371
1,075,317
850,612
0.40
708,458
665,989
0.20
650,566
0 641,482
0.00
1995 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 (Year)
Figure 4.3 Changes in the number of registered foreign nationals and its percentage of the total population in Japan. Source: Ministry of Justice (2007)
70
(People)
800,000
681,838
700,000
688,144
Korea
666,376
638,828
677,959
625,422
613,791
607,419
598,687
598,219
600,000
519,561
560,741
China
487,570
500,000
462,396
424,282
400,000
Brazil
300,000
272,230
222,991
268,332
274,700
286,557
302,080
312,979
Philippines
193,488
Peru
195,334
222,217
200,000
137,499
176,440
185,237
199,394
53,649
55,750
169,359
187,261
147,803
100,000
84,397
62,218
74,297
105,308
38,925
0
18,897
2,135
553
1986
14,528
4,121
1989
31,051
1992
36,269
1995
41,317
1998
51,772
2002
2003
2004
57,728
2005
58,721
2006
(Year)
Figure 4.4 Changes in the number of registered foreign nationals by major nationality (place of origin). Source: Ministry of Justice (2007)
71
Discussion
Japan is now experiencing a major transition, as it did in the Meiji restoration and post-World War II, which is often called the third opening
of the nation (kaikoku). In the first wave of kaikoku during the Meiji
era, the import of Western technologies was the first priority, resulting
in an emphasis on European languages such as English, German and
French in elite education. In the second wave, the purpose of kaikoku
was to export Japanese products to the world to establish its economic
power, with strong emphasis on English as a lingua franca for international trade. English has become the lingua franca in Asia, not only in
the former British colonies, but also in north Asia. In a more extreme
view, English and local languages in Asia are seen as a case of diglossia
74
(Fishman, 1972, 1980) in the language environment of many multinational companies; English being the high variety, while local languages
are the low variety. If the current transition is defined as the third wave
of kaikoku, it is important to examine what the goal is and what language policy should be implemented to deal with such a worldwide
social diglossia (Wright, 2004: 14).
First, the ideological conflict regarding the spread of English and
multilingualism must be critically revisited (cf. Fairclough, 2006).
These sociolinguistic phenomena correspond to two-language policy
options the diffusion-of-English paradigm and the ecology-of-language paradigm in the globalizing world (Tsuda, 1994; Phillipson and
Skutnabb-Kangas, 1996). While the former looks at English as a driving
force for globalization, closely associated with capitalism, economic
neo-liberalism, modern science and technology, the latter puts more
emphasis on the human rights perspectives and promotes the maintenance of local languages and cultures. Since Japanese is a vital and
major language, JapaneseEnglish bilingualism is assumed to be the
solution for communication problems associated with globalization.
However, what appears salient from the statistics shown in the previous section is its deeper integration with the Asian region, involving
large-scale diasporas (Appadurai, 1996: 154), both the outbound and
inbound flow of people. Although English is playing an important role
as a lingua franca in Asia, it is also important for Japanese people to be
more exposed to Asian languages in educational settings.
The role of language education to cultivate globalized citizenry is
yet to be discussed. With regard to this point, Malaysian former Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad once said:
Learning the English language will reinforce the spirit of nationalism when it is used to bring about development and progress for
the country . . . True nationalism means doing everything possible for the country, even if it means learning the English language.
(Mahathir Mohamad, The Sun, 11 September 1999; cited in Gill,
2002)
We believe that a nationalist is someone who has acquired all the
knowledge and mastered all the skills and is capable of contesting
against the rest of the world. But they (some Malaysians) think that
just being able to speak Malay makes you a nationalist, and that is
wrong. (Mahathir Mohamad, New Straits Times, 29 December 2000;
cited in Gill, 2002)
Based on Mahathirs pragmatic views of English as an instrumental language, Malaysia implemented a new language policy in 2003
to introduce English as a medium of instruction for maths and the
75
sciences at all levels (cf. Gill, 2006; Tay, 2007; Iino, 2008). Mahathirs
pragmatic ideas correspond to the ideology of wakon yosai (Japanese
spirit, Western style) held by Japanese during the Meiji era when the
nation-building effort was the highest priority. The English boom seen
in China, Korea and Taiwan in recent years appears to be in the same
vein of the language-as-instrument view represented by Mahathir.
In other words, such pragmatic views see language as commodity,
displaced from its historical situations, a tool to be developed for particular national interests (Ricento, 2005). After the so-called lost decade (Hashimoto, 2007) of Japanese economic depression, a series of
political and governmental scandals, and the declining safety myth
in the 1990s and early 2000s, Lebra (2004) pointed out that many
Japanese are in a depressive mood, feeling that their country is collapsing (cited in Hashimoto, 2007). History tells us that such social
anxiety can be exploited leading to harmful nationalism by boosting
peoples egos, and that most nationalist movements in the world view
the language of their group as a key marker establishing the groups
boundaries (Arel, 2002: 92). Many people in the industry are well
aware of the economic and political crisis that Japan is facing and they
are calling for a more pragmatic solution as seen in the Action Plan
2003 (cf. Butler and Iino, 2005) or the recent migration proposal by the
LDPs committee. Inward-looking nationalism, giving the essentialist
linguistic and cultural norms paramount status and resisting the reality of pluralism, is not only unproductive but also dangerous for the
society.
Second, the Japanese language itself needs to be revisited by Japanese people. Japanese has been taught for the use of Japanese people
themselves. The concept of Kokugo (national language) as a school
subject includes not only the Japanese language but also teaching of
Japanese history, morality and arts as necessary literacy to become a
genuine Japanese person. Kokugo includes kanbun (classical Chinese
poems and literature, as read in a classical Japanese style), kobun (classical Japanese literature), and shigin and shiika (classical poetry) which
are reminiscent of the high variety of the diglossic (Ferguson, 1959)
Japanese language. Belief in the superiority of the elite variety is even
viewed as a conspiracy of the elite establishment to maintain power
(Spolsky, 2004: 27). The dualism of kokugo and nihongo is reinforcing
the ideology of the uniqueness of Japanese language and culture shared
among Japanese people.
Japanese language constantly requires maintenance to be userfriendly and to be functionally efficient to meet the changing language
environment. Japanese as a second language or Japanese as a foreign
language for non-native speakers should receive more focus and be
76
Conclusion
Facing globalization external and internal to Japan, Japan is now struggling to find its own way to cope with language issues. Systematic and
strategic language policy for Japan is yet to be discussed. Any language
policy and planning should be realistic to serve and benefit users of
languages, not turning users into servants of the language. Language
has so much to contribute to creating a new direction of social integration of others in Japanese society, calling for a departure from the
idealism of moulded traditional norms to a more organic integration
77
References
Appadurai, Arjun (1996), Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press.
Arel, D. (2002), Language categories in census: backward-or forwardlooking?, in D. I. Kertzer and. D. Arel (eds), Census and Identity: The
Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Language in National Censuses.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bhabha, H. K. (1994), The Location of Culture. New York: Routledge.
Butler, Y. G. (2007), Foreign language education at elementary schools in
Japan: searching for solutions amidst growing diversication, Current
Issues in Language Planning, 8 (2), 2007, 129147.
Butler, Y. G. and Iino, M. (2005), Current Japanese reforms in English
language education: the 2003 ACTION PLAN , Language Policy, 4 (1), 2545.
Chosun
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Coulmas, F. (2002), Language policy in modern Japanese education, in
J. Tollefson (ed.), Language Policies in Education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, pp. 203223.
Fairclough, N. (2006), Language and Globalization. London: Routledge.
Ferguson, C. (1959), Diglossia, WORD, 15 (2), 325340.
Fishman, J. A. (1972), The Sociology of Language. Rowley, MA: Newbury
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(1980), Bilingualism and biculturalism as individual and as societal phenomena, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1, 315.
Funabashi Y. (2000), Aete eigo kouyougoron (dare to make English as an
ofcial language). Tokyo: Bungeishunjuu.
Gill, S. K. (2002), Language policy and English l anguage standards in
Malaysia: Nationalism versus pragmatism, Journal of Asian Pacic
Communication, 12 (1), 95116.
(2006), Medium of Instruction Change in Higher Education in Malaysia: The
Reality of Attitudes and Implementation. Focus paper presented at Invitational Symposium on Language Issues in English-medium universities
across Asia, 89 June 2006, University of Hong Kong.
78
79
80
81
Chapter summary
This study has as its subjects, Korean and Chinese (PRC) study
mothers in the Republic of Singapore, known in their respective
countries as wild goose mothers (kirogi omma) and study mothers (pei du mama). What is the nature of linguistic migration who,
what is involved and how and to what extent is the English language involved in this? What are the sociolinguistic circumstances
behind the buying and selling of linguistic capital? This chapter
explores answers to these questions on the basis of interviews with
15 Korean and Chinese mothers who are in Singapore for the education of their children. Following Bourdieus (2001) metaphors,
this chapter is segmented into The sellers: strategies, The buyers: linguistic motivations and The costs and rewards of linguistic migration. The specific aspect of globalization that this chapter
addresses is the transnational family. The split-household transnational family, is a novel family type that has emerged as a result of
the rise of English in the globalized economy. As globalizing forces
become even more acute, enfranchised mothers will begin increasingly to vote with their feet and in so doing spawn multifarious
and novel sociolinguistic practices within the realm of the family.
Introduction
While technological inventions and new communications media such
as the smart phone and the internet contribute to the death of distance
and bring people together in a global village,1 one significant fact
emerges and that is, as the world shrinks, people are thrown together
more and more, necessitating the need for a lingua franca. Globalization
is intricately intertwined with the emergence of international auxiliary
languages such as English, Mandarin and Arabic. Foremost amongst
these emergent global languages is English for while it is a familiar
phenomenon for one language to serve as lingua franca over a large
82
area of many languages, for example, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Arabic and
French, what is unusual, however, is that never before has a single language spread for such purposes over most of the world as English has
done in this century. According to a British Council Report, 3 billion
people, or just under half of the worlds population, will be able to
speak English in 2015 (quoted in the Straits Times, 10 March 2004).2
The widespread use of English has also resulted in its increased
commodification, as is evident in the vast numbers of people who leave
their country temporarily or for good for the primary reason of mastering
it. For Bourdieu (2001), capital takes three principal forms: economic
capital which creates and maintains wealth and which is immediately
convertible to money and property; cultural capital such as educational
qualifications, which entails accumulated knowledge and skills which
are potentially convertible into economic capital; last but not the least,
social capital which is made up of group membership, social obligations or group connections, also potentially convertible into economic
capital. In this study, language may be regarded as linguistic capital
which possesses value and is a means by which people (and nations)
may achieve varied goals relating to research, finance, manufacturing
and public relations. The language with the highest currency today may
be said to be English since it is not only intimately linked to modernity,
technology, economic and scientific know-how but also manifested
in the service, fashion, advertising and entertainment industries. Like
styles of dress, dance, sports and music, English is part of the upmarket
design and the brand associated with niche marketing and customer
service (Wee, 2006).
While linguistic capital is a much desired commodity, unfortunately
for most, it is not usually available in the aspirants own country and
has to be sought across the seas hence I put forward the concept of
linguistic migration, an increasingly common phenomenon in a globalized world. Before, the pursuit of capital was directly linked to business and commerce; today however, capital is acquired more indirectly,
usually through the prior possession of a premium language, which is
then exchanged for economic capital. In the global context, migration
is also both quantitatively and qualitatively historically different from
what it was before. Quantitatively, there is much more migration today
as evidenced in the well-targeted remittances, investments by migrants,
the diasporas of refugees and the emergence of transnational communities globally (Levitt and Nyberg-Sorenson, 2004). Qualitatively, the
numbers of transmigrants, that is, people who stay or work in a country
temporarily, outnumber significantly the number of migrants (Yamanka,
2005). These transmigrants frequently cross national boundaries to
work and build their lives in several places beyond their country of
83
Review of literature
Despite increasingly vast numbers of linguistic migrants, only a handful
of studies have examined this recent phenomenon.3 Published materials on linguistic migration are mainly centred on marketing strategies,
catering to the profit-driven global education industry (cf. Collins, 2008).
There have been some notable studies on astronaut husbands (professional parents who sought to relocate their families in safe havens
such as Canada and the United States) and satellite kids (children who
remain in the host country even when their parents have returned to
country of origin) as a means of attaining economic and social capital
for the family by Waters (2003, 2005), Salaff et al. (2007) and Matthews
and Sidhu (2005). However, these studies are on economic migration
rather than linguistic migration per se; and are more concentrated on
the geographical aspect of spatial dislocation and on the cosmopolitan
84
Methodology
I drew on four focus group discussions (hereafter, Groups 1 to 4) conducted at the end of 2007 of 8 Korean and 7 Chinese mothers aged
between 28 and 46 with their average age being 38. Between them, they
had 21 children in Singapore from ages 8 to 16. I asked the 15 mothers
to narrate, discuss and reflect on their own migratory and childrearing
experiences. These stories, which were told in Korean and Mandarin
respectively, were tape recorded, translated, transcribed and analysed
using thematic and narrative analysis. There were four separate groups.
While members of each group knew one another, each individual group
did not know the other groups. Hence, 4 focus group discussions on
four different occasions each lasting an average of 2 to 3 hours were
conducted. Total recording time was slightly over 11 hours. Each of the
85
In the small group discussions, participants were allowed to interrupt each other whenever they wished or to nominate alternative topics. They were invited to speak in a round-table fashion which was
semi-structured by the following questions:
Getting to know your questions
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
What languages did you speak in (a) home country (b) Singapore; to
whom, where and when?
What are the language strategies that you and your child employ with
regards to English, Singlish and Mandarin?
Recount some memorable conversations you had with your child(ren)
in Singapore?
come if their supervisors and managers can only guess what our workers are saying. It will be hard for Singapore to be a financial center.
TV programmes and films will be difficult to succeed because foreigners do not understand Singlish this will affect the first-world economy
we hope to achieve (Goh, 2000). Colonel Wong, Chair of the SGEM in
2000 reiterated: It is important that while we develop a brand of English which is uniquely identifiable with Singapore, it should not be a
Singlish type (Straits Times, 31 March 2000).
This perception ties in neatly with the aspiration of the study
mothers:
We discourage our children from speaking local forms of English
although we hear it around us so one reason why my child is in
international school. (Korean, Gp 1)
We understand the value of Singlish in Singapore but certainly not
what we want. (Chinese, Gp 3)
89
The high standards are maintained in part by the Confucian state ideology which places family and examinations, the competitive ranking of
schools and the ability-grouping of children at an early age as important measures of excellence. Singapore students are ability-grouped
first at the end of their fourth year and again at the end of Grade 6 when
they sit for the nation-wide primary school leaving exam. In secondary
schools, the more able pupils are placed in 4-year special or express
courses while the remaining pupils are put into 4- or 5-year normal
academic course. The Confucian emphasis on rigour and education
also adds to Singapores appeal:
I go to Singapore and not Australia because there is more homework here so more similar (to my home country). (Korean, Gp 1)
In addition, there is a bonus for the linguistic migrants the widespread use of Mandarin a language which also commands a high premium due to the recent emergence of China as a super power (Chew,
2007). This, what I would call a buy-one-get-one-free phenomenon,
places Singapore in an advantageous position compared to other English-exporting countries such as Australia and New Zealand. As China
is Koreas top trading partner, there is also a desire for Koreans to master Chinese:
spending half of my income on tuition in Seoul and not getting
much results, I desperately want to improve . . . (Korean, Gp 2)
Korea have branches or regional offices abroad (Ok, 2005). The IMF crisis
of 1997 also saw many Korean banks bought over by foreigners which led
to the end of Korean insularization, as evident in the subsequent introduction of the global language English in elementary school (where
before it was only introduced in middle school). Similarly, in China,
most if not all of the worlds 500 largest corporations have obtained a
foothold there and these multinationals want employees who speak
English. Many businesses, especially export-oriented ones, require candidates for the most sought after positions to have top grades in English
and to complete job interview in English. Even in the most isolated rural
communities, parents understand that the study of English is crucial to
childrens social mobility. See note #5 at the end of the chapter.
Another push factor is that education is highly prized in these Confucian-based societies and economic success closely affiliated to educational success. Children have been and still are regarded primarily
as the wealth of the family and part of the familys economic capital.
For example, South Koreas private tuition market is estimated to be
33.5 trillion won (SGD 54.3 billion) about 4 per cent of the nations
gross domestic product fuelled by families who spend 700,000 won
a month on tuition (Lee, 2007). As educational opportunities in Korea
have expanded universities churn out 530,000 graduates but there are
only about 400,000 new jobs the pressure on middle-class families to
succeed in the local education system has correspondingly increased
(Jeong, 2004). Competition to get into the best schools and the best universities is fiercer than ever before. In a calculated gamble to possess
linguistic capital, our respondents admitted to spending a large chunk
of their disposable income on their children: the hiring of tutors, enrolling in supplementary classes, purchase of extra guide books and making
sure that children structure their lives around school and schoolwork
(Kim, 2007). East Asian parents have a tradition of prizing childrens
achievements highly, with the low birth rate, with the only child syndrome in both societies upping the stakes.
Despite their difference in social and economic background, the two
nationalities spoke the common language of mothering which is to
make a good living for our children:
Our children have similar standards of Maths and Science back
home but we do not have English; which is necessary if our children are to do well in the university. (Korean, Gp 2)
result, they were toying with the idea of moving to another school or
country (Malaysia and/or Philippines) in the hope that the changed
environment (and in the case of the Chinese mothers lower cost of
living) would provide a solution to their problem.
The high success rate resonates with reports that while foreign students make up zero to 20 per cent of educational institutions, they are
disproportionately visible in their achievements in and out of the classroom, for example, 6 out of the top 17 Primary School Leaving Examination candidates were born in China (Nirmala and Soh, 2004: 23).
Similarly, in local universities, although foreign students comprised
less than 10 per cent of the course enrolment, 30 per cent of the Honours class was foreigners (Quek, 2007). In the GCE 0 levels examinations, half of the 25 students who scored 9 A1s were foreign students,
particularly, from China (ibid., 2007). This is something worth further
investigation in view of the fact that current research views the switching of the medium of instruction to English as a costly and dangerous remedy that ignores the research of educational linguistics and the
clear evidence that students require 6 or 7 years to reach a level of
proficiency in a new language that will make teaching and learning efficient (Spolsky, 2008: 98). Hence, the so-called wild geese phenomenon
is ill-advised popular demand and one that will lead to detrimental
academic and emotional performance overall (ibid.).
When mothers were asked to share the study strategies that could
have led their children to receive acceptable grades in school despite
their lower competencies in English compared to Singaporean students,
the following are typical comments:
My son spent his first month in Singapore when he was 15 memorizing all the vocabulary. He had a notebook and everywhere
he went, he would take down notes. He also joined all kinds of
activities and clubs so that he would be forced to learn and use
English. (Her son scored an A2 for O-level English within 2 years.)
(Chinese, Gp 4)
We have always realized that this is a swim-or-sink situation.
(Korean, Gp 1)
We dont have families here, so we can give our total commitment.
(Chinese, Gp 3)
Studying is not a burden because back in China, we study everyday
from 7 am to 7 pm. (Chinese, Gp 4)
The study mothers and their children live seemingly harmonious and
ordered lives, organized around the strong focus of study and social
mobility:
96
My childrens hours are full and ordered. They are in school from 8
am to 3 pm. When they come back they usually do homework until
10 pm. English and Maths tuition takes place from 4 pm to 6 pm.
On weekends, they attend Korean classes and in these sessions, we
keep us with news from home. (Korean, Gp 2)
My child studies past midnight every day there is no rest day.
(Chinese, Gp 4)
98
represent, and about other cultures around the world? Study mothers
are only one small aspect of todays varied discoursal communities
which are identified with atypical linguistic resources and social strategies in their efforts to learn and use language. In this sense, Jenkins
(2007) attempts to find a pedagogical core of phonological intelligibility so as to prioritize features which are more relevant and realistic to
learning targets becomes increasingly relevant in a world where sellers
are non-native and where the majority of transactions in English take
place entirely between non-native speakers rather than between native
and non-native speakers.
Notes
1 Global village is a term coined by Wyndham Lewis in his book America
and Cosmic Man (1948).
2 English is rapidly becoming integrated so deeply into the curriculum that it
will cease to be a foreign language for many, perhaps, most, of the worlds
citizens (quoted in the Straits Times, 10 March 2004).
3 For example, more than 40,000 South Korean school children are believed
to be living outside South Korea with their mothers in what experts say
is an outgrowth of a new era of linguistic migration (Lee, 2008b).
4 The China State Information Center considers those earning 50,000 yuan
(USD 6,227) per year to be middle class,see at http://www.wikinvest.com/
concept/Rise_of_Chinas_Middle_Class retrieved on 19 September 2008.
5 In July 2008, Singapore students clinched a total of 17 medals at four International Olympiads for Science and Mathematics, see at http://feeds.feedburner.com/singapore-education/press retrieved on 4 October 2008.
6 See http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,3,1,143,3 retrieved on
10 December 2008.
7 Singapores population hit 4.84 million in June 2008, a 5.5 per cent
increase from the 4.59 million in 2007, despite a resident total fertility rate of only 1.29 in 2007 attributed mainly to more PRs taking up
Singaporean citizenship (Dept. of Statistics, 2008).
8 It is estimated that in 20 years time, Singapores population will increase
to 6.5 million (See Singapore gearing up for 6.5 million population; Straits
Times, 20 February 2008).
9 See Scholarships for foreigners we take some, we give some. Straits
Times, 27 March 2008.
10 See http://www.country-stdies.com/sinapore/population.html retrieved
on 9 September 2008.
9 See http://app.ica.gov.sg/serv_visitor/student_pass_app.asp retrieved on
9 September 2008.
11 See http://english.people.com.cn/92824/94785/index.html retrieved on
9 September 2009.
12 Assuming that China grows at 10 per cent per year (triple the US growth
rate), as it has done in the past decade, it will be second only to the United
101
States in 2020 (Canton, 2006: 304). Using this as a benchmark, China could
have over 600 million middle-class citizens by 2015.
1 Blooomberg news report Boom time for private education in China, Straits
Times, 14 March 2007, p. 12.
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105
Chapter summary
English teaching has been a site of friction in Sri Lanka from the
time it became a British colony. In the last several years, English has
become the focus of language policies, both planned and unplanned,
resulting from increased globalization. Many universities in
Sri Lanka have undertaken ESL courses geared towards the employment sector while private companies have become more involved
in ESL education in the country. Public discourse about education
is increasingly centred on the role of English as paving the way
to professional development and a tool for accessing the global.
In this context, we will examine the motivation behind increasing
interest of private (and sometimes international) organizations in
ESL teaching for an ideology that ties English with globalization.
While globalized organizations (such as privately owned corporations) invest in ESL courses, ground level organizations are necessary for such implementation. The tension arising from a conflict
in the ideologies between these two levels will bring out important
findings on pedagogical intervention, social reproduction and linguistic resistance.
Introduction
Language planning and policy endeavours are generally talked about
at the macro-level by many scholars. Literature in the fields of ELT
as well as in minority language education has concentrated on the
powerlessness of the individual or the community in decision making (see Phillipson, 1992; Ricento, 2006). However, such a deterministic perspective was not always reproduced in colonial subjects, since
there were also situations where the subjects engaged positively with
both the local and the colonizing languages (Canagarajah, 1999). Such
instances which were called instances of resistance showed the
need for micro-level analyses through grounded theory (Canagarajah,
106
1999: 5). In his text, Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching, the second author of this chapter uses the example of English Language teaching in the Tamil community in northern Sri Lanka as a the
case study to put forward his proposal for a theory grounded by the
lived experiences of the community.
The necessity for critical and contextualized accounts of globalization and what it entails has similarly been elaborated by the second
author and other scholars (Canagarajah, 2005b). He points out that local
knowledge is denigrated as descriptions of phenomena move away
from the details thickness of local texture (2005a: 5). Not only the
global, but the local is also constructed fluidly, making a collection of
articles such as Canagarajah (2005b) where scholars contextualize globalization by focusing on phenomena that have changed the course of
languages in various communities important. The specificities of the
language policy changes in Malaysia (David and Govindasamy, 2005)
and the tensions between expert knowledge and local knowledge in
ELT in Brazil (Rajagopalan, 2005) resonate particularly well because
they deal with stresses that are common to the South Asian context
as well.
For many nation-states English is the colonial linguistic inheritance, initially learnt for and by the exercise of power. Robert Phillipson
(1992) demonstrates how English language teaching (ELT) disguised
in acronyms such as TESL, TESOL, TEFL, ESL, EAP, ESP 1 has been
fed by transcontinental economic (and other resource) flows to the postcolonial developing world (1992). Other scholars have shown that this
rise in the status of English would not have been possible without the
collusion of local communities (Canagarajah, 1999; Dharmadasa, 1996).
Many nation states are still trying to reconcile the status of English
with their other languages. It appears, therefore, that there is a certain
tension in the relations among globalization, English and education in
the local contexts. Sri Lanka is a particularly good example in which to
situate the analysis of these tensions.
Most definitions of globalization focus on the imbalance in goods,
services and funds, benefiting certain states and communities but not
others. While these definitions think of globalization as the carrier of
ideologies, it would be more fruitful to concur with Guillen that globalization is an ideology in itself (Guillen, 2001). It is a system of beliefs
about the social and political realities that are entailed by the word globalization, including a vision of development relating to technological advancement achieved through a linguistic tool English. English
is the medium of the exchange. The World Bank, one of the biggest
supra-state actors and almost synonymous with globalization in certain
domains, has become a key figure in English language learning (and
107
100 million (= US$ 1 million) (Ministry of Tertiary Education and Training, 2003).
As of June 2006 the education sector of Sri Lanka maintains a credit
nearing US$ 200 million (Sri Lanka Country Overview, 16 May 2007).
The World Bank supports 3 projects targeted to improve the school
education system: First General Education Project, Teacher Education and Teacher Development Project and Second General Education Project. These three projects were given a credit amount totalling
US$ 183.4 million (Ranaweera, 2000: 191). These Projects are mainly
supposed to build infrastructure and enhance the training of teachers. It is clear that these large credit amounts by the World Bank are
given with the explicit expectation that education moves towards
more economically fruitful reforms as defined by globalizing agencies,
i.e. employable presumably by the corporate sector. The language used
in these documents make it clear that English and Science/Technology
(especially ICT) are to all extents and purposes the building blocks
of the proposed educational reforms. By coupling these two subjects,
the World Bank has already decided that English is the medium of
globalization, and as an extension, that other languages of Sri Lanka
are not suitable for science, technology and the globally connected
world.
Increased attention on South Asia by the United States of America
was seen in 20062007. The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka has stated
this explicitly in an interview held in 2007 with a local television
channel when he said our universities are like our corporations
in that they are awake to the opportunities present in investing in
Sri Lankan higher education (MTV Interview, 2007). This is only making explicit the similarities between higher education institutions and
corporations, as can be seen from this excerpt of another speech by the
Ambassador:
Preparing Sri Lankas education system for the twenty-first century
will require, in my view, a four-pronged approach: Enhancing
the role of private universities in Sri Lanka; Expanding Englishlanguage training; Training teachers to teach the skills employers
really want; and the important alternative of study abroad. (Blake,
2006, emphasis added)
This help and World Bank resources are given with the express purpose of Increasing equitable access to basic and secondary education,
whereby the schools in rural and estate areas will be reformed . . . to
increase equity of access to the full school curriculum, especially science, English and technology subjects (World Bank, emphasis added).
The terms equitable, relevance, and quality are insistent concepts
in World Bank literature in relation to education grants, making it
appear that the reforms initiated by the state at this stage will be universally relevant when it becomes obvious that with these reforms in
education are geared towards a narrow and myopic end which will not
be universally applicable to all students or their diverse aspirations.
Local responses
The colonial encounter with the British and the munificence of the
World Bank are not sole factors in the present hunger for English in
Sri Lanka. Similar to many other countries, Sri Lanka too has been
swept along in the worldwide desire for English. In addition to the
institutions that Ashley Halpe mentions (2007) universities, media,
school system we can mention the myriad private tuition classes for
spoken English, the number of speech instructors running elocution
classes, as well as code-switching billboards and TV shows which use
code switching, as signifiers of the desire for English.
The most noticeable trend in education at present is the reversal to
English medium education, which can be seen as a local response to
the management of global capital. As we have shown above, English
is a compulsory subject in the public school system. In the national
school system English is not taught in Grades 1 and 2. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that urban schools like to include English in
their pre-Grade 3 syllabi as well. Tertiary education, however, has had
to bear the brunt of the need for English medium education. The IRQUE
funding projects can be seen as a prime example of how universities
have succumbed to the need for English medium education in tertiary
education, as a large part of their funding goes towards improving English under the guise of improving relevance and quality.
There is a consensus being built by a sizeable portion of the society
that English equals quality education. Recently, the Director of a think
tank on education policy and research reminisced that
A right to education then [colonial days] meant that an education
in the local languages was available free to all but a quality education in the English medium was available only to the children of the
elite and a handful of the talented poor. (Gamage, 2008: 1, emphasis
added)
112
Though by making sure that all entrants have access to English, universities are aiming for equity, it is also a fact that by this move towards
English medium education and the hype surrounding it, there will
be less demand for tertiary education in the local languages. It is also
problematic that a language is seen as the purveyor of professionalism
and quality because it lowers the value put on Sinhala or Tamil medium
education. Local languages are here held up as the foil to English
medium education in this excerpt, which is considered to be of a qualitatively higher nature. It can be argued that in a state which offers
tertiary education in the English medium only (as it used to be immediately after independence) it was considered necessary to offer an
option of secondary education in English. However, for a long time
now, Sri Lankan universities have been offering education in the local
languages as well, and the profile of the present-day Sri Lankan nonurban undergraduate is that of a Sinhala/Tamil educated person. Even
though acquisition planning development has been ongoing in Sinhala
and Tamil to deal with previously untaught subject matter in universities, the present discourse on university education tells us that we
have regressed to an ideology that English is the only language that will
enable people to take part in modernity and development. In this context, the urge to have English medium education goes back full circle
to colonial times.
Two of the leading universities in Sri Lanka recently proposed
starting or promoting English medium lecture sessions and examinations. The Department of Commerce, Finance and Management at a
long-standing national university started teaching in English medium
from 2006 onwards, accepting that students who are poor in English
skills might lag behind or in worst cases drop out of the degree (IRQUE
proposal for English course, emphasis added). By teaching in English
even with the realization that they are putting at risk students with
low English proficiency, the university recognizes that English and
business opportunities will be limited to those with higher English
proficiency, i.e. from a middle-class, urban, English-speaking home
environment.
The introductory paragraph in the IRQUE website represents this
class ideology best:
In the early years of university education in Sri Lanka, there was
a good education, numbers entering the university were small and
they came from the upper strata of society, English was the medium
of instruction, funds were available, and good job opportunities
were available in the Government sector. Today the situation is
very different. Much larger numbers of students are being admitted
and they come from all backgrounds, Sinhala/Tamil is the medium
113
It is not only the subtle coercion from World Bank or the availability of funding to teach English that is driving the reforms. It is also
the nostalgia to get back to a past when undergraduate education was
good that is colluding with the changes that are being put in place
enthusiastically. This excerpt also brings up the earlier upper strata/
English speaking/employable students as polar opposites of the all
backgrounds/Sinhala- or Tamil-speaking/unemployable students of
the present day.
Note the use of the adjective good to emphasize the deterioration of
quality in the products of universities, which appears to be related to
issues of social class and availability of funding. Additionally, the discourse surrounding the plight of graduates of these universities and the
quality of their education emphasizes words such as professionalism,
modern, global outlook and most importantly, private or corporate
sector. It seems, that professionalism is a concept aligned with the corporate sector. It is this context that must be taken into account when we
think of the mounting concern over the English language proficiency
of these graduates. Their inability to express themselves in English is
often cited as a major reason for their unemployability. This could be a
reason for the vast amount of funds that have been borrowed from the
World Bank and other funding agencies to develop education in the
country.
In addition, in post-2003 selected schools started teaching subjects
such as Mathematics, Social Studies and, most notably, Science and
Technology in English from Grades 610 (Ministry of Education, 2003b).
This is a direct step backward in terms of corpus planning (and status
planning) as students had been taught Mathematics, Science and Technology for the past several decades in the national languages Sinhala
and Tamil. Additionally, textbooks, teaching guides and study guides
had necessitated the development of a linguistics word base on these
subjects in Sinhala and Tamil as well. Besides, the lack of resources
for English teaching makes this an ambitious task. As a consequence of
the change in language policies, there has been a dearth of proficient
English speakers in the school teaching profession from the 1950s. At
present, any individual who has obtained a credit 4 for English language in the Grade 10 national examination is qualified to be an English teacher. Even so, there is a lack of English teachers in the education
system. Given this situation, attempting to teach other subjects in English will be a Herculean, and disastrous, endeavour. However, the fact
that the state is still going ahead with its plans is proof of the power of
114
Conclusion
The DETE is an instance of the appropriation of a globalizing agencys
agenda to suit the specificities of local requirement. The vast amount
of money that was made available for universities in Sri Lanka would
not have been possible outside a context of coercion by the World Bank
and other interested parties (such as the USA) to regress to English
Only education in a multilingual country. The constant pressure to produce an English-speaking work force creates the necessary compulsion
to accept the World Banks loans in fashioning an educational sector
that is relevant to the programmes of the agencies. However, global
116
Notes
1. TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), TESOL (Teaching English as a Second or Other Language), TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign
Language), ESL (English as a Second Language), EAP (English for
Academic Purposes), ESP (English for Special Purposes).
2. The statement that colonialism took away other forms of education should
not be taken to also mean that we romanticize the problematics of previous
education systems, such as a bias for males of higher caste in South Asian
learning communities.
3. International schools function outside the purview of the Education
Ministry, range widely in terms of quality of education and facilities
offered, and offer both national and foreign secondary school examinations. Since there is no provision to found new schools under state
law, the international schools are instituted under the Companies Act of
Sri Lanka and come under the purview of the Board of Investments.
4. The highest grade which can be obtained is a D (distinction; 75100 points),
which is the grade above a C (credit; 6075 points).
5. The students of the DETE course will hereafter be termed participants, to
prevent confusion between the teacher-students of the course and the teachers on the course.
117
References
Blake, R. (November 2006), The United States and Sri Lanka, Mutual
Strategies in Development and Security, Sujata Jayawardena Memorial
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Canagarajah, A. S. (1999), Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English
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pp. 324.
(ed.) (2005b), Reclaiming the Local in Language Policy and Practice.
London and New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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Resources Development, Education and Cultural Affaires, Battaramulla,
Sri Lanka.
David, M. K. and Govindasamy, S. (2005), Negotiating a language policy
for Malaysia: local demand for afrmative action versus challenges from
globalization, in A. S. Canagarajah (ed.), Reclaiming the Local in
Language Policy and Practice. London and New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, pp. 123146.
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English language, Dialogue (NS), 34, 105109.
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Sri Lanka: Educational Publications Department, pp. 1535
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Language Australia.
118
119
Chapter summary
This chapter, based on a critical ethnography, analyses the processes and outcomes of recent ELT policy in India: English medium
education for the urban disadvantaged in government schools. It
points to the shortcomings of the postcolonial lens in analysing ELT
in India, a theoretical argument outlined in the introduction to this
book. Based on evidence from a government school in Delhi the
author shows the strengths and weaknesses of ELT pedagogy while
emphasizing the former. She explores how culture can impede pedagogical reform and how some students overcome this impediment.
The chapter takes a positive stance towards the way globalization is
manifested in the lives of the community in focus.
Introduction
The processes of globalization were unleashed in India in 1991. According to Das (2002) that was the year that P. V. Narasimha Rao, Indias
Prime Minister, implemented policies to restructure the economy
from a socialist model to a more market-driven one. An indirect consequence of this is that now there is a tremendous demand for English
linked to new sectors of employment emerging in metropolitan areas.
Key among these sectors are those related to types of Business Processes Outsourcing (BPOs), like call centres, which are proliferating all
over Delhi and its satellite cities. The demand for human resource in
these sectors far exceeds supply consequently they are trying to recruit
English-educated bilinguals from all social classes including the urban
disadvantaged.
The surging demand for English has brought about a bottom-up
change in the traditional Three Language Formula (TLF), Indias language in education policy. The TLF mandates that all school-going
children will learn three languages: their mother tongue, English, and
either a classical language (e.g. Sanskrit) or another regional standard
language which is not the mother tongue of the child. Instead of offering
120
changes taking place in India and, to put it simply, just moving on.
As the economist Gurcharan Das (2002) points out, one of the main
contributions of globalization is that it is increasing the size of the middle class by including more English-knowing bilinguals from disadvantaged sections of society.
What remains a challenge is improving the quality of education so
that students can truly benefit from the extra 6 years of ELT. Hannum
and Fuller (2006) show that in the field of the Sociology of Education
there are studies demonstrating that social class and not school reform
is the main reason for differential academic achievement and life pathways. However they also emphasize that there are equally convincing
studies that point towards school reform that can break the deterministic constraints of social class. This chapter is a story about how students are trying to break this cycle of social reproduction.
Data collection
I collected data from the RSKV from January 2000 till December 2006.
The data consist of observations of 26 lessons in all the grades for a varying number of hours (a double period is nearly 2 hours; revision classes
dont have a set time). As least one English language lesson in each of
the grades from 112 was observed. In addition there are 30 interviews
with parents, teachers, students, policymakers, and agents/management
in one call centre, each ranging from half an hour to about 1 hour. The
data are in the form of audio and video files, field notes, photos, literacy
artefacts in and out of the classroom, training materials from the call
centre, and text books with students notes written in.
Presentation of transcripts
My method of transcription is based on Johnstone (2000) in that I look
at broad patterns in teacher and student talk. Johnstone (2000: 115)
calls this the play script way of transcribing where the minutiae of
conversation like overlaps or latching have been omitted. Transcription
is always a partial representation of talk because it involves choices
on both practical and theoretical bases. This way of transcribing the
excerpt makes it look as if one person had spoken at a time, waiting
to start until the last person was finished and there was a pause
(Johnstone, 2000: 115). The reason for this choice in transcription is
because the focus of my attention is on broad patterns in pedagogy
discernable from large data sets for which, as Johnstone emphasizes,
microscopic Conversational Analysis is not suitable. In each of the
three transcripts that follow Hindi is transliterated in italics, English
is shown in standard font and translations are in brackets. The reader
should keep in mind that transliteration of Hindi in Roman script is not
standardized. All names are pseudonyms.
who has been selected for the school play but falls sick before the final
performance.
1
Mrs. Amarjeet
Class
Mrs. Amarjeet
I have
Class
I have
Mrs. Amarjeet
Good news
Class
Good news
Mrs. Amarjeet
Mrs. Renu
125
Class
Mrs. Renu
Mrs. Charu
Student
Mrs. Charu
Class
Mrs. Charu
Class
To kya kar rehaa hai? Ek word use kia hai usne. Lekhak
ne ek word use kia hai. Startingwith s.
(So what is he saying? He has used a word. The writer
has used a word. Starting with s.)
Silence: 5 seconds.
Top line mein word hai. Kya word hai?
(In the top line. What is the word?)
Sarcasm
Mrs. Charu
Student 2
Gussa, naraazgi
(anger, anger)
Mrs. Charu
127
Translation
Simultaneous translation is central to pedagogy in the primary classes.
This practice changes in the higher classes showing a systematic developmental sequence. In Transcript 1, turn 7, Mrs. Amarjeet interrupts
the rhythm of the recitation and translates what the children have
just recited. Mrs. Amarjeet has already assured her class in turn 1 that
Main Hindi mein bhee boloongi meaning I will also translate/speak in
Hindi. Throughout this lesson Amarjeet keeps interrupting the recitation to translate.
Ramanathan (1999) has pointed out that the pedagogy of translation disenfranchises students as it inhibits communicative competence
which is a requirement of the workplace. Though this argument is
borne out my research, the situation is complex because the pedagogy
valorizing translation is the result of culturally contextualized teacher
belief. The following comment by Mrs. Dhingra, a high school English
teacher, elucidates this:
129
Here Mrs. Dhingra explains why she uses the translation method. She
says that students find it easier to go from the known which in this
case is Hindi, to the unknown English. Her view of rote learning is
that it can aid in simple communicative events. However if the student
is asked a why question, which is a more challenging communicative event, rote learning is not adequate. Here translation can be quite
helpful as the student can think through the answer in Hindi and then
translate. This is the pedagogy of postmethodism in which teachers
develop their own pedagogical paradigms given the cultural contexts
within which they have to work (Kumaravadivelu, 1994). More importantly postmethodism ruptures the role relationship between theorizers
and practitioners by . . . encouraging teachers to theorize from their
practice. . . (Kumaravadivelu, 2002: 56), which is what Mrs. Dhingra
is doing.
One of the challenges for this new English medium policy for
schools is the competence of the teacher herself. Though Mrs. Charu
has excellent fluency in Hindi and English, Mrs. Dhirgra is not so confident in English though both are Trained Graduate Teachers (TGTs).
Mrs. Dhingra admits:
Mein jhooth nahin boloongi. Kuch words mejhe bhi nahi samajh
mein aate. Antaryami to hum bhi nahin hain. I used to keep a dictionary with me. (March 15, 2005)
(I will not lie. Some words even I dont know. I am not the all
knowing. I used to keep a dictionary with me.)
However, even teachers who are fluent in English, like Mrs. Charu,
agree with the recommendations of Mrs. Dhingra about using the translation method.
documented by Bhattacharya et al. (2007). The easing off of simultaneous translation from primary to high school in the RSKV shows a
change in pedagogy as teachers try to match the enhanced listening
skills of the learner.
Teacher centredness
The teacher frontedness of these classrooms is apparent from the fact
that the students do not produce extended oral narratives, ask detailed
questions in either Hindi or English or control classroom talk. For
instance in Transcript 1 Mrs. Amarjeet controls and guides student
talk through choral recitation. In the interview soon after this class
Mrs. Amarjeet explains that after she has translated the entire lesson
in Hindi, she makes the children underline the difficult words, gives
them the Hindi meanings of the words and makes them memorize the
same. Thereafter she starts the question and answers. First she translates the question and supplies the answer in Hindi. Then she writes
the answers on the board in English and makes the children copy into
their notebooks. In this literacy practice the children make numerous
mistakes which she corrects. Finally Mrs. Amarjeet makes the class
memorize the answers (8 April 2004).
Similarly in the case of writing a composition Mrs. Renu has full
control. In Transcript 2 she tells the class how they must approach this
essay. In turn 1 the first point Mrs. Renu makes is about the writers
voice emphasizing that they must assume the persona of a reporter. She
goes on to write the main parts of the essay on the board which she has
already supplied to the class in the form of verbal inputs. In turn 2
Mrs. Renu explains what should be the parts of the essay down to the
minutest detail. She tells the class how they must write their name and
where they must draw a line. All this the class copies into their note
books. She emphasizes the marks for each part of the essay so that the
class can prepare accordingly.
This guided composition is very different from process writing
where the student has ownership and control of her writing. The reasons why process writing is not possible in schools like the RSKV were
explained to me by Mrs. Charu (October 18, 2006). Most of the composition topics that appear in the exam are available in the form of
readymade study guides, many of which are full of grammatical and
content errors. The students buy these guides where all the questions
are answered, then memorize and regurgitate them in the exam. Given
this literacy practice which is entrenched among students Mrs. Charu
prefers to do the guided composition in class. In this method though
all the key points in the content of the essay and the main vocabulary
131
content which was mainly in English though the instructor also used
Hindi when necessary. Vimlas income is currently nearly double that
of her father. She not only helps with the expenses of their house but
also bears the cost of educating her three younger siblings. Though
it is not possible to generalize from this one case, Vimlas story is an
illustration of the empowering nature of language policy in the RSKV
(28, 29 March 2005).
Dev, whose late father was an auto-rickshaw driver, is a computer
operator in the general office of a middle-class condominium in Delhi.
He graduated from the Government Boys Secondary School in Nandnagar. Dev always liked English; it was and still is his favourite subject.
He writes a personal diary in English, and reads The Times of India,
an English daily. As he was not satisfied with his spoken English Dev
joined an English-speaking class for 5 months in St Stephens Hospital where he had a part time job when he was in high school. In this
class he learned to speak English through a text book called English
in Context. Like Vimla, Dev reports that he improved tremendously
in spoken English during those 5 months. However in his current job
all the speaking is in Hindi, though most of his writing is in English,
thus his spoken English has deteriorated. Dev aspires to work in a
bank and is saving up money to take another English-speaking course
(24 September 2005).
Reforming pedagogy
The pedagogies of the RSKV emphasize choral recitation, translation,
the indirect method, and product-oriented literacy in a teacher-fronted
classroom. On the other hand the non-formal sector like The British
School of Language uses different pedagogies like topic-based group
discussions which provided Vimla with communicative competence in
English. There is, though, an issue with the sustainability of this new
found communicative competence because both Vimla and Dev report
that after their course they experienced attrition in their communicative skills.
Despite the fact that English is still largely learned for instrumental
purposes by Indians, its uses have changed. Tickoo (1996) comments
that English is a library language which prepares Indian students for
going on to tertiary institutes; this was certainly true in the previous
decades. As such the pedagogies of the RSKV were perfectly suited to
the students educational needs. However, in a globalizing economy
new employment sectors like Business Processes Outsourcing (BPOs)
and the fast growing fitness industry, all require communicative competence in English.
134
Conclusion
This chapter has shown how globalization, and its key sub-process for
Applied Linguists, increasing use of English as medium of instruction,
is manifested in the everyday lives of the urban disadvantaged. I have
pointed to the shortcomings of the postcolonial lens in analysing English language education in India because this lens tends to present a
doom and gloom view of the divisive nature of English in India. This
chapter has discussed some of the latest trends in ELT in India with
specific reference to the government school system which services the
urban disadvantaged, and indeed, the vast majority of Indian children.
The specific language in education policy of providing ELT in a dual
medium program in government schools from primary school onwards
is barely 10 years old. The pedagogies are culturally contextualized in
the linguistic ecology of the RSKV; however, the problem is that they do
not lead to the educational outcomes expected by the students and their
parents in terms of communicative competence in English. Graduating
136
References
Alexander, R. (2000), Culture and Pedagogy: International Comparisons in
Primary Education. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Annamalai, E. (2001), Managing multilingualism in India: political and
linguistic manifestations, in Singh and Dasgupta (eds), Language and
Development Vol. 8. New Delhi: Sage.
Bhattacharya, R., Gupta, S., Jewitt, C., Neweld, D., Reed, Y. and Stein,
P. (2007), The policy-practice nexus in English classrooms in Delhi,
Johannesburg, and London: teachers and the textual cycle , TESOL
Quarterly, 41 (3), 463487.
Canagarajah, S. A. (2002), Globalization, methods, and practice in periphery classrooms, in D. Block and D. Cameron (eds), Globalization and
Language Teaching. London: Routledge, pp. 134151.
Clark, P. (2003), Culture and classroom reform: the case of the
district primary education project, India, Comparative Education,
39 (1), 2744.
Das, G. (2002), India Unbound: The Social and Economic Revolution
from Independence to the Global Information Age. New York:
Anchor Books.
Dasgupta, P. (1993), The Otherness of English: Indias Auntie Tongue
Syndrome. New Delhi: Sage.
Delhi: Human Development Report 2006. New Delhi: OUP.
Delpit, L. D. (2001), The silenced dialogue: power and pedagogy in educating other peoples children, in K. Halasek and N. P. Highberg (eds), Landmark Essays on Basic Writing. New Jersey: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates,
pp. 83101.
137
138
Flows of Technology:
Mandarin in Cyberspace
Shouhui Zhao
Chapter summary
Since the mid-1980s a series of language planning (henceforth LP)
measures have been taken in the official discourse to make the
Chinese language (henceforth CL) and its writing system adaptable to the new technological environment. This chapter is about
the impact of globalization on the survival of CL and culture in
the digital era. It focuses on the Chinese governments efforts to
enable CL to keep up with technological developments and making
the traditional heritage, inherent in Chinese characters, flourish in
cyberspace. The outcome of these efforts will determine whether
CL reaches its potential as an international language. This chapter shows that, while on the one hand, globalization has brought
about an unprecedented potential for the spread of CL, on the other
hand, the information technology revolution, the major manifestation of globalization, has posed a serious challenge to CLs growth
in power and influence. Drawing upon the perspectives of LP,
I explore the socio-political and cultural implications intertwined
with the official efforts to tackle the conflict occurring between the
latest technological advances and the worlds oldest surviving writing system.
Introduction
Globalization is a highly complex process that has made an enormous
impact on multidimensional aspects of human life; one salient aspect of
these dimensions is linguistic life, as the strong globalizing and unifying tendencies of social and cultural life are bound to find their expressions in remaking the prowess of modern language. In this chapter, the
impact of globalization on the digital survival of CL is being examined
for two reasons. On the one hand, globalization has brought about an
unprecedented potential for the spread of CL and culture along with
Chinas rise as an economic and political power. This topic has been
discussed in detail by Goh Yeng Seng and Lim Seok Lai in another
chapter in this book. On the other hand, the technology revolution has
139
Mandarin in Cyberspace
During the 1980s and the 1990s, there were no less than half a million people engaged in devising input schemes, and every fortnight a
new scheme came into being, resulting in an effect of input scheme
pollution (Mair, 1991). As a result, consumers have to choose from a
bewildering variety of schemes if they want to type characters on their
PCs. Various self-defined standards of hanzi, pinyin (the official phonetic transliteration system of Chinese characters in Romanization) and
keyboard arrangements by maverick input scheme devisers have exacerbated public confusion and resentment. As pointed out by Zhao and
Baldauf (2008), it is not uncommon that the same character is described
in different ways in the classroom, in the dictionary and on the keyboard; or that the same hanzi component is named differently by different groups of people. Students feel particularly lost when they are
trying to reproduce characters on the computer with ideograph-based
input programs, because the operating procedure required by software
vendors is different from the writing knowledge and writing convention they were taught in the classroom. Even for more typical phonetic
input systems, or sound-based systems, users hit a snag, because of variability in pronunciation. Understandably, this chaotic state is blamed
on not having a standardized public norm.
This situation of a plethora of co-existing incompatible schemes, each
with its supporters and detractors, has created chaos in the IT industry.
After a confusing situation of nearly a decade during the 1980s and 90s,
the consensus is that without going through considerable optimization
and vigorous standardization, Chinese will not become compatible for
computers. In a digital society, information is seen as a kind of soft
power; language and script issues have never been as relevant to the
national fate as at present. Therefore, language policy that deals with
the standardization of characters has been both a tool and a target of the
nation-building and the modernization processes in China.
In order to combat technological challenges, a major restructuring of
the highest authority in the language administration was undertaken
during the 1980s1990s. A ministerial-level language agency, called
the State Commission of Language Work (SCLW), was established in
1986 to succeed its predecessor, the Commission of Script Reform
(CSR), that existed since the early 1950s. Subsequently, to give the
agency more executive power in enforcement and legislation, its affiliation was transferred from the State Council (Chinese Cabinet) to the
Education Ministry in 1998. Two specialist offices, the Department of
Language and Information Management and the Department of Social
Use of Language and Script, were added, charged with the task of carrying out the LP programs with computer-oriented script standardization
as its core task. Now it has come to a point where no major advances in
142
Mandarin in Cyberspace
within the polity borders, but also instant dissemination and comprehension in cyberspace. Furthermore, previous government-mandated
standards for hanzi were purely for human convenience. Some discrepancies and irregularities in the composing elements of hanzi are either
minuscule, undetectable differences to the human eye, or they made
no difference in recognition, thanks to contextual tolerance. Nowadays, the way that hanzi function as a written medium has changed,
communication has become less man-centred and more mechanical.
In other words, physical uniformity and stability are prerequisites for
the computer to process characters. As machines are sensitive and poor
at accommodating non-standard elements, they have zero-tolerance
towards divergences and deviations. Even the subtle variations in
hanzis physical make-up can easily result in either a recognition failure,
or create an unnecessary waste of valuable hardware space, essential
for developing stroke-based input schemes. According to statistics (Fei
and Xu, 2004), out of 7,000 characters listed in the Table of Common
Chinese Characters (1988), there are over 400 characters (6%) that need
to be re-standardized if they are to serve the IT industry well. Believing
that the obstruction to the countrys information industry can be partially corrected by linguistic solutions, the Chinese IT community has
been eager to have a table that can technically standardize all aspects
of hanzi, putting a straitjacket on the arbitrary treatment of hanzi structures by software developers.
The ongoing CTSC is actually a summary of the numerous tables and
lists of hanzi, consecutively promulgated by official LP authorities or
technical standard departments. The composition of a complete inventory of hanzi started in earnest as early as the 1960s, but yielded no
final result for the first two attempts due to political interference, and
this is the third time that it has been formally established as the key
LP research project at the national level. Being the foremost national
language task for many years to come, the plan has been implemented
according to well-defined research objectives, an overall framework
and fieldwork operational principles. Since its high-profile inception
in April 2001, task research teams have been in full operation. Nationwide conferences have been organized, pilot projects, such as hanzi for
personal names and geographic names (see Zhao and Baldauf, 2007),
have largely been completed and undergone the final approval process
after completion of opinion solicitation from the public. Furthermore,
a few draft tables of separate standards were presented to academics
across the country for comment (Research Team, 2006). However, the
projected completion by mid-2004 seems to be running much behind
schedule, showing that the difficulty of formulating such a sophisticated character table was much underestimated. This is understandable,
144
Mandarin in Cyberspace
given the complex nature of hanzi and the Tables significance in the
long term, for not only the graphic life in China proper, but also the
wider implications beyond the geopolitical borders.
The final products of the CTSC should be a complete table, stipulating
the fixed standards for the hanzi sequencing order, graphic shape,
pronunciation, stroke number and order, which are to be listed under
each character. The CTSC, the most significant LP undertaking since
the 1950s, was planned to be formally enacted by the State Council.
Presumably, when formally promulgated, all previous tables of various
standards in conflict with this master table, will become automatically
invalid. With the single clear aim to control the laissez-faire state of the
language-related software market, LP decision-makers hope the fullfledged enforcement of the CTSC is going to push hanzi standards to a
higher level, thereby greatly facilitating Chinese IT development.
Having discussed the Chinese governments dynamic participation
in preparing a computing environment for Chinese characters future
development in digital society through state power, I now turn to
another, even more ambitious LP infrastructure project the Corpus of
Whole Chinese Characters (CWCC).
Mandarin in Cyberspace
It is in this context that Li Yuming (2003), Director of the aforementioned Language and Information Management Department, conceived
projects with the aim of building a platform to standardize all Chinese
characters not included in the CTSC, to secure their place in the future
extension of Unicode. Zhao (2005: 365) has observed that the ultimate
aim of the CWCC is to
Assemble all signs and symbols that have ever existed, and then to
standardize them in a systematic framework. It is hoped that one
day, through the overhaul and integration into an international
standard, scholars will be able to turn all characters from oracle
bones, bronzes, silk and bamboo, into a magnetic and optical format of a Unicode system.
Exploring solutions
Unicode, which is rapidly becoming the internet standard, will be the
natural choice to spread these electronic products unrestrictedly. It has,
for the first time, brought all concerned together to work out an initial
agreement on the number and forms of hanzi, and the ways they should
be encoded. The difficulty is, on the one hand, that standardization
is the prerequisite for any script to be unicoded, that is, to establish
code points in Unicode a standardization-oriented overhaul is the
first step to transferring the paper-based data to a magnetic and optical
format (Jordan, 2002). On the other hand, as a pluricentric script, where
the same orthography serves as writing system in more than one polity
(Clyne, 1995), Chinese hanzi have grown into a huge and complex
writing system, used in different geopolitical regions of Asia. As will
be seen later, any proposal for standardization will end up nowhere
without regional and international collaboration and without coordination among all the interest groups and polities. Unfortunately, more
often than not, activities concerning script unification and encoding
standardization collapse into a political abyss, which is why so little
has been accomplished so far.
In light of what has been described above, it is pragmatic to think
that concrete measures must be taken to reach a consensus among the
concerned within China, including IT professionals, Chinese script
148
Mandarin in Cyberspace
researchers and software vendors. The first step is to study every character or symbol, regardless of whether it is paper-based or non-paperbased. The process involves identification, comparison, categorization,
verification and standardization for encoding purposes (see Liu, 2004).
Unlike the CTSC, which has been well-coordinated by a centralized
leadership and carried out by an ad hoc research team, CWCC, although
launched in 2004 as one of the working agendas of SCLW, seems to be
too ambitious to produce any concrete outcomes in the near future. The
relevant projects have been spread over a number of universities and
research institutions across the country, and they are being carried out
in a piecemeal manner by researchers with a range of academic backgrounds (Research Team, 2006; Liu, 2004). So far only Womens Script
and Taos (Taoism is an indigenous traditional religion of China) hexagram symbols (i.e., ) have been encoded in Unicode. The ambitious
plan of CWCC, characterized by its wholeness and inclusiveness of
marshalling all existing characters, has been conceived on the basis of
a large enough space provided by Unicode, with its new versions (last,
version 5.0) being expanded to a greater coverage of minority scripts
and historical characters.
Technically, the implementation of CWCC will present many unprecedented challenges to Chinese linguistic experts. The first will be what
kind of sorting rules should be applied to put such a large mass of unorganized aggregate signs and symbols into a meaningful framework, so
that they can be conveniently processed by computers. Clearly, there
is a necessity to analyse and categorize every character by application
of typology, which inevitably involves an in-depth investigation of all
stock of ancient texts, both paper-based and non-paper-based. In this
sense, the CWCC is indisputably the most important infrastructure creation ever done for the Chinese writing system.
Nevertheless, because of Chinese hanzis pluricentric nature, the
accomplishment of the standardization within a Chinese visual border is
only half the battle to guarantee trouble-free flow of online information
in Chinese characters. For most nation-based writing systems, standardization can be successfully done without causing much trouble in
relation to legitimacy and ownership, but in pluricentric languages, the
possibility for hostile confrontations arises because of inherent ideological antagonisms or historical complications. On the one hand, Chinese
is a pluricentric language with several interacting centres, each providing a national variety with at least some of its own (codified) norms. On
the other hand, as computer-mediated languages in a digitally designed
linguistic environment know no borders, Chinese character computerization has increasingly become a remarkably multi-national activity
and has reached a level that goes beyond the framework of any single
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Mandarin in Cyberspace
Regional disparities of hanzis shape in major hanzi-dependent polities are well-known. For instance, there are visible differences among
Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong/Macau on the one hand, due
to ideological reasons, and between these three Chinese-speaking polities and Japan and Korea on the other, because of the different linguistic environment. Apart from structural differences in hanzis physical
make-up (e.g., complex form vs simplified form), another important
difference lies in their handling of the several variant forms of the
same character having the same or similar meaning and pronunciation, known as yitizi. Absolute yitizi are purely duplicates without any
functional role in semantic and/or phonetic differentiation from their
standard counterparts; however, a large number of them were created to
signify discernible but subtle semantic or phonetic dissimilarities born
out of the requirement of meeting accuracy in expression. Therefore, as
Zhao and Zhang (2008) have argued, doing away with yitizi is in effect
a matter of striking a balance between the distinctness in meaning and
the cutback in number. Peoples perceptions and tolerance of yitizi can
contribute to the amalgamation/differentiation of yitizi, resulting in a
big difference in character set standards for information processing or
dictionary/character listing. In some dictionaries, yitizi can account for
40 per cent of the total. For example, of 47,035 characters in the Kangxi
Dictionary (1716), over 20,000 are yitizi. During the aforementioned
character optimization exercise in the 1950s, 1,053 carefully selected
yitizi were eliminated from the First Table of Variant Forms in 1956
(some 26 have been restored since then). In other polities, however,
language planners are very conservative in their treatment of yitizi as
compared to the radical view of their Chinese counterparts.
This kind of human attitudinal difference permits the development
of various character sets in cyberspace that are independent of each
other, with little mutual awareness of the problem in the different countries. GB231280 (official standard in China, 6,367 characters) and Big
Five (industry standard in Taiwan, 13,060 characters) are the two character sets for information exchange that are most used in the Chinese
world. Both were projected to serve the general public; however, the
latter features twice as many characters as the former, and the roughly
72,000 encoded unique ideographs constitute by far the largest chunk
of Unicode (Bishop and Cook, 2007).
From the 1980s to the 1990s, requirements from Unicode, concerning
the computer-designated standard, have spurred a flurry of activities in
formulating hanzi standard encoding sets from different governments
in adjacent countries in the East Asia region, including Mainland China,
Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Vietnam. They share, on the one
hand, commonalities in script issues and similar cultural backgrounds;
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Mandarin in Cyberspace
is derived). Ken Lunde (1999: 4953), manager of CJKV Type Development at Adobe Systems, gives the following example to illustrate
the separation rules: the Japanese character (ken in Japanese and
jian in Chinese) has five yitizi (variant forms): , each
having its own unique encoded position in JIS X 0208-1990 (one of
the above-mentioned 20 standards), and as such, they are not unified. Source separation ensures that the characteristics of any characters are not glossed over round-trip conversions for cross-locale
Unicode fonts.
Considering the immensity and complexity of the work to identify
and unify such a large number of characters from so many character
sets, it is not surprising that during the unification process problems
developed. Complaints about over-unification have been frequently
raised by users mostly by users and software developers from the
East Asian cultural hemisphere. Resistance to these changes remains
particularly high in Japan, as the subsequent discussion indicates. One
of the most acute problems is the inability of Unicode to address the
issue of the differences between character and glyph. Glyph is a term
used in typography, referring to a particular graphical representation of
the character; being an element of writing, it is a concrete unit of text
in typography. Unicode encodes characters rather than glyphs. This
means that Han unification unifies the codes for abstract characters
instead of the concrete characters per se (glyph), ignoring the fact that
although the original character in CJK languages may develop from the
same root, the glyphs in common use for that character may be different in evolution. A large number of new characters were independently
invented in each country, some stylistic variations in print or handwriting gradually crystallized into hard irreconcilable difference, as
Cook (2001: 4) observes.
Apart from the technological limitations of Unicode, the separation
rules are just a high conceptual ideal. Due to various reasons, their operating efficiency cannot always be firmly adhered to or strongly enforced.
For example, in many cases, the unification/separation is determined by
the sights of unifiers and the version of the standard used (Wada, 1991).
This means that the appearance of the character in the code tables of a
given version of standard sets plays a role in character identification.
As Zhao and Baldauf (2008) point out, despite the alleged involvement
of IRGs Asian members, the unification has been frequently criticized
for lacking native familiarity and orthographical comprehension of the
subtle variations by hawk-eyed native users. Because of constraints
within source separation rules, necessary distinctions, or variants of
the same characters at the glyph level, were typographically unified
and then rendered as one character, so that they could be assigned
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Mandarin in Cyberspace
application, not for domestic use (Wada, 1991: 2, 5). This implies that,
at least within Japan, all software made in Japan will be preinstalled
with a Japanese coding system; when Unicode has to be used, the
system will be operable only in an isolated environment. As the only
country in East Asia that has strongly resisted Unicode from the very
beginning, Japans negative attitude towards Unicode, at both governmental level and in industry circles, is in stark contrast with Chinas
enthusiasm for it.
In opposition to Japan, China, being the homeland of Chinese characters, is the most important stakeholder and naturally feels obligated
to play the leading role in this process. However, China did not draw
up its own big set of standards during the 1980s (the series of GB-2312s
supplementary sets were not put in use until much later). Taiwan had
developed good standards, but for political reasons it is clearly impossible to promote Taiwanese standards on the Mainland. Turning to
international ones, China prefers Unicode to the Japanese standard and
its TRON system. Zhao and Baldaufs (2008) study shows that Chinese
computer experts and language planners are strong believers in Unicode
and have vigorously supported Unicode promotion since the beginning
of the 1990s. China has spared no effort in striving to make its various
internal standard encoding sets compatible with Unicode conventions,
in order to push internationalization of the standard. Japan has been
very disappointed about Chinas extraordinary enthusiasm in promoting Unicodes spread outside the Unicode group (Wada, 1991: 1). As the
preceding discussions show, in an attempt to make Chinas rich traditional heritage globally digitally deliverable, China hopes that Unicode
will provide the platform for uploading its gigantic set of Chinese classic and archaic characters.
Unicode has also been widely adopted in academic and private
sectors in China. There have been serious commercial commitments
to the use of Unicode for encoding a good part of the Chinese classic
canons and ancient human knowledge with Unicode characters. For
instance, Siku Quanshu (1772), which has 79,337 volumes and is the
countrys largest surviving Chinese encyclopedia, has been unicoded
for a number of years using original character forms (Zhang, 2005). In
sum, the problems found with Han unification, continually encountered by its clients, confirm that the consensus must occur across
human communities before any unification in cyberspace can take
place. Over the last few decades, both IT professionals and language
planners across the world have gone to great lengths to build a unified
encoding platform around the Unicode, providing an enabling environment for cross-script information transmission through an international
network system, i.e. cyberspace globalization. However, the world has
156
Mandarin in Cyberspace
Concluding remarks
The electronic innovation we are caught up in is understood as the
third revolution in the use of language (in addition to the invention
of writing and printing), and the effect of this revolution on language
is very difficult to predict (Reid, 2003). Situated in this context, this
chapter has shown Chinas governmental efforts in enabling the historically attested writing system to keep up with technological advances.
In order to expand the traditional heritage in a new environment,
Chinese characters must survive in cyberspace, the emerging front in
the globalization of language and culture.
I first provided a short introduction to the development of Chinese
character computerization, which outlined the main problems encountered by Chinese IT professionals in their efforts to make ideographical
hanzi computable and compatible with modern computers. This was
followed by a section dedicated to the articulation of further problems
concerning the digitalization of visual cultural heritage, which highlighted the governments determination and participation in overcoming technological challenges through the modus operandi of LP. Two
ongoing LP undertakings, one concerning a series of script standardization activities, and the other a more ambitious venture aiming at
overhauling the whole set of characters, were described in regard to
ancient text and script verification. Since globalization is defined by
a borderless flow of information, a significant segment of this chapter
has been devoted to the international collaboration and competition in
cyberspace among the respective hanzi-reliant societies, with a focus
on Unicodes role in unifying a wide variety of existing information
exchange-oriented character sets. The chapter then concluded with a
brief revisit of the complex situation of hanzis difficult move towards
internationalization in the digital era.
Revolving around issues related to Chinese character computerization and the promotion of traditional culture, as well as its spread via
modern communication means, the chapter has examined the interacting dynamics between technological progress and traditional culture
157
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160
Chapter summary
This chapter demonstrates how the EPIK (English Program in Korea)
program is an example of Koreas active response to the globalization process through which Korea not only accommodates external
demands but also strategically pursues national interests through
equipping its citizens with the command of English and proving
its image in the world. Since the former president of South Korea,
Kim Young Sam, declared that the country had entered an era of
globalization in 1995, globalization has become a major topic of
discussion in South Korea. In the era of globalization, one of the
major challenges Korea faces is how to equip students with English
proficiency, since English is the language of international communication. The Korean Ministry of Education has implemented a series
of English language education reforms as a part of Koreas globalization policy one of which is the English Program in Korea. EPIK,
affiliated to the Korean Ministry of Education, was established in
1995 with the mandate to improve the English-speaking abilities of
students and teachers in Korea and to reform teaching methodologies in English. EPIK also aims to cultivate open-minded and wellrounded Korean individuals capable of advancing Korea, to foster
strong ties between Korea and other countries by developing cultural
exchanges, and to better Koreas image in the age of information and
globalization. After presenting an overview of EPIK, this chapter
highlights that the South Korean government has responded to and
actively participated in the global spread of English by adopting and
implementing the EPIK program. Furthermore, the ideology of the
native English speaker as the ideal teacher, readily adopted by the
Korean government and people does not grant native English teachers legitimacy as teachers in their everyday interactions with local
Korean teachers of English and Korean students. This chapter demonstrates that the dichotomy of native speaker of English as superior
teacher and non-native speaker of English as inferior teacher is too
simplistic to explain real life experiences of EPIK teachers.
161
Introduction
South Koreas wild geese fathers manage a reunion with their children, and often wives, just once a year after seeing them off for
study abroad, invariably to learn in English. They are, contends a
new government zealous to reform, symptomatic of a damaged state
education system that forces parents to throw money at private tuition and prevents Asias fourth-largest economy from leaping to
the worlds top league . . . South Koreans, anxious to ensure their
offspring are well-schooled, spend around $5 billion (2.5 billion
pounds) a year to educate them abroad equivalent to nearly 20
percent of the annual total allocated to education by the government. At more than 100,000, South Koreans outnumber any other
foreign student group in the United States . . . Kang Ji-hyun sends
her five-year-old to an English speaking kindergarten which costs
around $800 dollars a month for a three-hour day, which is fairly
average cost for a pre-schooler.
Methodology
The data presented in this section are mainly from my participation as
an observer at the 2007 EPIK reunion and are supplemented by subsequent interviews with EPIK coordinators and teachers in July and
August 2008. My participation in the EPIK reunion and interviews are
part of a large-scale ongoing investigation into the experiences and participation of native English teachers in East Asia. The study focuses on
the participation of native English teachers in three official Asian government-sponsored English language teaching programs, each of which
recruits, trains and administers native English teachers: the Japan
163
which the EPIK program is situated. Then, in analyzing the EPIK teachers position in ELT, I focus on globalization as a hybridizing process
and examine how, in the process of the particularization of the globally
circulating ideologies of English and native English speakers, these very
ideas and images of self and other are altered in specific contexts.
As one of the consequences of globalization, languages have been
treated as economic commodities (Block and Cameron, 2002). Heller
(2003) argues that in the new globalized economy language and identity become marketable commodities. English has the highest value as
linguistic capital among the languages of the world. Why and how has
English gained the status of a global language, an international language, or a lingua franca? There are different approaches to explain
the global spread of English, from an apolitical view treating English
as a neutral tool (Kaplan, 2001; Crystal, 2003) to more critical perspectives linking the global spread of English to linguistic imperialism
(Phillipson, 1992), linguistic neoimperialism (Phillipson, 2008), a threat to
linguistic human rights (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000), and colonialism/postcolonialism (Pennycook, 1994, 1998; Shin and Kubota, 2008). These
critical approaches have in common a conceptualization of the spread
of English, linked to wider political issues, as inherently problematic
and a perception that ELT practices are not value-free (Gray, 2002).
The values and discourses attached to English have been constructed
within specific historic and sociocultural contexts. In relating current
ELT theories and practices to colonialism, Pennycook (1998) argues:
The history of the ties between ELT and colonialism has produced
images of the Self and Other, understanding of English and of other
languages and cultures that still play a major role in how English
language teaching is constructed and practiced: from the native
speaker/non-native speaker dichotomy to images constructed
around English as a global language and the assumptions about
learners cultures, much of ELT echoes with the cultural constructions of colonialism. (p. 19)
been colonized by an English-speaking country, the neo-colonial influence of the United States of America on Korean history since the end
of Japanese colonial rule has made South Korea to some extent comparable to former colonies of English-speaking nations (Park, 2004; Shin,
2006). The US intervention started with its military governments rule
over South Korea between 1945 and the establishment of the Republic
of Korea in 1948. Justified by the military tension between North and
South Korea since the Korean War (19501953), the hegemonic role of
the US in the political, economic, and cultural spheres in South Korea
has continued up to the present (Park, 2004; Shin, 2006). The association of English with (post-) colonialism in South Korea is well-reflected
in the following commentary by Hea-chul Shin, a singer. It was made
on the policy proposal for English immersion education programs advocated by the then President-elect Lee Myung-paks transition team if
the government wants everyone to speak English, it would be better to
become the 51st state of the US or to become voluntarily a colony [of an
English-speaking country] (English to be used, 2008). Shins commentary raised a controversy, and many Koreans shared a similar negative
view of the governments plan. This proposal itself was later dropped.
In the process of the global spread of English, the nation-state is not
a passive victim of linguistic globalization but an active participant.
Although some theorists conceptualize globalization as an external
force which undermines national sovereignty (Sonntag, 2003), others
such as Cohen (2001) argue that globalization over the decades has
been the product of the actions of the state and the use of its sovereign
authority, not the cause of its demise (p. 80). Following the East Asian
model of development, which has resulted in the tiger economies,
Korea, as an agentive state, has been a successful and active participant
in the globalization process. In fact, South Korea, which took a clearly
interventionist role in economic development, was widely admired as
one of the most successful tiger economies of Asia (Kim and Hong,
2000). As South Koreas national economy has grown, so have the
South Korean governments expenditures on education (Shin, 2004).
South Korean education has been controlled by a state-led centralized
management system (Shin, 2004), and South Korean government has
considered education as a tool for the state to accomplish its own goals.
Therefore, I pay attention to the Korean governments role in the process of globalization and language education by creating and maintaining the EPIK program.
The following section surveys how the South Korean government has
responded to and thus participated in the global expansion of English.
The South Korean government has actively responded to globalization.
In 1995, the Korean government announced a strong drive towards
167
English language education, assisting in developing teaching materials, assisting with activities related to English language education and
other extracurricular activities, assisting Korean teachers with English
classes and/or jointly conducting English classes, and performing other
duties as specified by the host POE (Provincial Office of Education)
(ibid.). Salaries range from US$1,900 to US$3,000 per month, depending on the candidates eligibility, the location of the school, and the
contract period.
In situating the EPIK program within the processes of globalization,
I adopt Appadurais characterization of globalization as a network of
global flows of people (ethnoscapes), money (financescapes), technology (technoscapes), images (mediascapes) and ideas (ideoscapes). The
willingness of EPIK teachers, as guestworkers or temporary migrant
workers, to move to South Korea for at least a year and sometimes
longer makes the EPIK program possible. The very idea of temporarily working in a foreign country such as South Korea is facilitated by
the rapid flow of people who constitute the shifting world. The flow
of EPIK teachers is also influenced by financial flows. The transfer of
money from the Korean government to EPIK teachers and eventually
their countries of origin is an incentive for EPIK teachers to move to
Korea. In the long run, the Korean government aims to secure a counterflow of money from foreign countries to Korea by strengthening Koreas
competitiveness in the global market through developing the Korean
peoples English skills. The flows of people and money through the
EPIK program include TESOL (the Teaching of English to Speakers of
Other Languages) teaching materials, examinations (e.g., TOEFL, GRE,
etc.), know-how, and teachers, which are significant export items for the
countries from which EPIK teachers come (Phillipson, 2008). The flows
of people and money through the EPIK program are also facilitated by
flows of technology. The advertisement and recruitment processes rely
heavily on the internet, and EPIK teachers make use of information
about teaching resources and materials available on the internet.
In terms of flows of images, the EPIK program was founded on the
reality of the global spread of English that has been accompanied by
the spread of an image/ideology of English as a Global Language and
English speakers as global citizens. The EPIK program also demonstrates that Korea is a part of the flow of ideas in the ideoscapes of the
globalization process. The rationale behind the policy of hiring native
English speakers to teach English in Korea is that English should be
taught monolingually by native speakers. Native English teachers who
are not bilingual in both English and Korean have of course no choice
but to teach English only through English. This rationale is not specific to the South Korean government; it is a commonly held belief in
170
lived experiences of EPIK teachers demonstrate that the dichotomization of native English speakers as superior teachers vs. non-native English speakers as inferior teachers is too simplistic and rigid to reliably
reflect the complexities involved in interpersonal interactions between
EPIK teachers, Korean teachers of English, and Korean students.
The experience of Mike, an EPIK teacher from the United States,
provides an illustration of this complexity. He expressed his position
as an EPIK teacher in his school and his role in English education in
Korea in the following comment during the open discussion forum
(21 December 2007):
We want to plan class together, but co-teachers are too busy. They
have a lot of paper work . . . Teachers are wonderful but there is disconnect between what we were told and what they were told. I was
a JET [a Japan Exchange Program participant] before. I had the same
problem. Co-teachers go, Great teachers! You have great ideas. But
youre here only one hour per week. We are here until sixty-two
years old. No, thanks.
There were similar comments from other teachers such as: Most native
English teachers do not know the curriculum requirements their
co-teachers follow nor have they seen their students textbooks (Clair,
presentation, 21 December 2007). As illustrated in the previous extracts,
many EPIK teachers experience their place in Korean English education in marginality and isolation. Although Mike hoped to contribute
to the improvement of Korean English education by sharing his ideas,
local English teachers ignored his advice. As Clair, an EPIK teacher at
a middle school, added, We simply show up one day a week as an isolated entity with our own lesson entirely separate from whatever it is
our classes do the rest of the time.
EPIK teachers lack of integration in the regular curriculum tends
to be more prevalent in middle and high schools than in elementary
schools (interviews with Hazel, 23 July 2008 and Janice, 8 August 2008,
both EPIK teachers; an interview with Ms Lee, an EPIK coordinator,
1 August 2008). Janice, an EPIK teacher at an elementary school, reported
that she taught one quarter of a lesson unit, while her co-teacher taught
the rest. But her team-teaching worked out with only one of the two
Korean co-teachers, because of the lack of cooperation of the other
co-teacher (interview, 8 August 2008). This shows that an individual
EPIK teachers experience in team-teaching can vary according to the
Korean co-teachers. Janice ascribed the lack of interest of the co-teacher
in team-teaching to the low English proficiency of the teacher. My interview with Mr Park, who served as a local English teacher at an elementary school, revealed that his administrative duties and the lack of time
prevented him from planning team-teaching with an EPIK teacher at
172
Echoing Sharon, William pointed out that EPIK teachers as performers have entertainment value (personal communication, 22 December
2007). Performing monkeys with entertainment value is a metaphor for
EPIK teachers position in which they have limited power to improve
Korean English education by contributing to the students learning of
English. Without the reward from making things better as a teacher,
fixing the problems in her own words, Sharon found the value of
her work in the good salary that she earned for a relatively easy job as
a performing monkey and by spending time in front of a computer
during her downtime. Like Sharon, John also implied that the work
was overpaid, since he taught only 22 hours per week. The economic
benefit of the job is, of course, one of the major motivations for EPIK
teachers to teach in South Korea.
use; (2) sleeping during the class; (3) looking at mirrors; (4) spitting; (5) throwing things out of the windows; (6) vandalism of the
air conditioner; and (7) coming to the class without pens, books and
dictionaries. He added that one lesson per week was too short to
implement discipline. Regarding sleeping during class time, his students always gave him the excuse that they had had to stay up late
studying for a test. But Mike added that his students gave him the
same excuse even when they did not have a test. Except for spitting and vandalism, most EPIK teachers shared Mikes experiences.
Sandra, a Canadian said, At my first day at the school, my students
did everything but listen to me. They were using cell phones, listening to music, drawing, talking to each other, or sleeping. These things
never happen in Canada, because teachers dont allow it. I cried and
thought about going back to Canada the following day (presentation, 21 December 2007). These class management issues arise in the
specific context of English conversation classes led by EPIK teachers. Another EPIK teacher, Jennifer, rightly pointed out the main reason for the class management problems: Korean students did not
consider her English class a real class, because what she taught was
not on their tests. She added that Korean public education has a
test-centred curriculum in which tests determine what is taught in
class. In this system, the local Korean teachers of English who are
in control of assessment and examinations can exercise more power
in English language teaching in general and student management
in particular than can EPIK teachers who do not have such control.
Even in the case of Janice, who taught one quarter of each lesson
unit, she was not given a chance to see the tests and the final grade
of each student, except that she was asked to evaluate the students
oral proficiency (interview, 8 August 2008). Thus, the management
problems are less a result of individual performance, such as the
inabilities of EPIK teachers and misbehaviours of Korean students,
than the structural issues that situate the relationship between EPIK
teachers and Korean students.
Even with this systemic and structural marginalization of EPIK teachers, there are some EPIK teachers who have tried to make changes and
succeeded in part. For example, Jennifer, to overcome her limitations as
an EPIK teacher, memorized over 600 students names using flash cards
with photos matched to the names. Sandra also surmounted her initial
difficulties by using incentives, such as copies of $5.00 bills and group
points, and by adopting games in her class. Based on his observations
on team-teaching and interviews with EPIK teachers and local teachers
in Korea, Carless found some positive impacts of team-teaching
on students (2004) and described an example of good practice of
174
Conclusion
In the analysis of South Koreas EPIK program, this chapter has focused
on the broader global, social, political and economic structures and
widely circulating ideas about English and its native speakers in which
the EPIK program is situated, while also paying attention to how the
globally circulating ideologies of English and its native speakers are
realized in the particular context of EPIK. The macro-level analysis of
the EPIK program in relation to globalization has highlighted the South
Korean governments response to and active participation in the global
spread of English by adopting and implementing the EPIK program.
Description of the EPIK policy has demonstrated that the South Korean
government adopted the ideologies of English as a global language and
the native English speaker as the ideal language teacher. While intended
to enhance its citizens command of English, South Koreas English
language policies have contributed to the spread of such ideologies to
175
its citizens and resulted in the active participation of both the South
Korean government and citizens in the further circulation of such ideologies. The South Korean government, parents and students willingly
and zealously invest resources to obtain linguistic capital by learning
English. The South Korean case is one of the numerous examples of
symbolic power in use (see Phillipson, 2003, 2008 for the case of English in EU), showing active complicity (Thompson, 1991) on the part
of South Koreans in subscribing to the legitimacy of English and native
speakers of English in ELT.
The ideology of the native English speaker as the ideal teacher, readily adopted by the Korean government and people does not, however,
grant native English teachers legitimacy as teachers in their everyday
interactions with local Korean teachers of English and Korean students.
The lived experiences of EPIK teachers have illustrated that the dichotomy of native speaker of English as superior teacher and non-native
speaker of English as inferior teacher is too simplistic to explain real
life interactions of EPIK teachers, local Korean teachers and Korean
students. The experiences of EPIK teachers, positioned as language
teachers with limited legitimacy, illustrate how local adaptations of
English language policy have altered the images of superior self vs.
inferior other. Instead of attempting to prove or disprove the truthfulness or falsehood of particular ideologies regarding English and the
native English speaker, this chapter has focused on the ways in which
these ideologies are constructed, appropriated and reconstructed at the
macro-level of educational policy and at the micro-level of everyday
interactions among EPIK teachers, local Korean teachers and Korean students. Before we can start to talk of change, resistance, opposition and
counter-discourse, we need to pay attention to the complexities of the
contemporary reality of the lives of the diverse people involved in ELT
in a post-colonial, globalized and market-driven world. ELT in Korea
can benefit from an enhanced understanding of these complexities.
Acknowledgements
1. The research project reported in this chapter was funded by two grants:
(1) a Faculty of Arts Research Grant, York University, in 2007 to 2008 and
(2) a policy research grant from Asia Pacic Foundation of Canada in 2008
to 2009.
2. I wish to acknowledge and thank the volume editor, Viniti Vaish, for her
guidance, encouragement, and critical comments on the earlier versions
of my chapter. I want to express my gratitude to the EPIK teachers, local
Korean teachers of English, and EPIK coordinators for their kindness,
honesty, and unbound voices.
176
Notes
An earlier version of the paper was published in Jeon, M. (2009), Globalization and Native English Speakers in EPIK (English Program in Korea),
Language, Culture and Curriculum, 22 (3), 231243.
The data for the current chapter is from a research project funded by the
grants from the Asia Pacic Foundation of Canada and the Faculty of Arts,
York University.
1. According to the Korean National Statistical Ofce, in 2007, among 765,746
registered foreigners who reside in Korea for more than 3 months, 708,474
were from Asia; 310,485 were Korean Chinese (ethnic Koreans who live in
China); 111,008 Chinese; and 67,197 Vietnamese (http://www.index.go.kr/
egams/default.jsp); 34,083 were from North America. In the same year, there
were 223,464 unregistered foreigners in Korea.
2. The interviews were conducted in part by my colleague, Eve Haque, and
myself.
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10
Globalization and
Language-in-Education
Policy Shift in Malaysia:
Challenges of
Implementation
Saran Kaur Gill, Radha M. K. Nambiar,
Noraini Ibrahim and Tan Kim Hua
Chapter summary
Among the many measures taken by Malaysia to face the demands
of global competitiveness is a major shift in language policy from
Bahasa Malaysia to English for Science and Mathematics at various
educational levels, from primary to secondary and higher education. This chapter will have the dual thrust of unravelling the main
reasons for the change in the language policy as well as examining
the challenges for the implementers on the ground, the teachers.
For a nation that has been using Bahasa Malaysia as the language of
education for the past 30 years, this shift to English as the language
of instruction for Science and Mathematics has inevitably brought
about a number of challenges. Immediate steps were taken by the
Ministry of Education of Malaysia to address these challenges. One
of the education initiatives taken was the development of a national
programme on English teaching for Science and Maths (ETeMs),
by the English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC), a teacher education division entrusted with the task of retraining teachers. This
initiative, in turn, faced new challenges, in particular, varying
levels of English competency among Science and Maths teachers,
compressed scheduling of in-service training, lack of networking after training, underutilization of self instructional materials,
and the less than successful collaboration among the Science and
Maths teachers with the English Language teachers. The evaluation
of the language-in-education policy shift is currently underway.
Six years after its implementation, the fate of the English language
as a medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics lies very
much in the hands of the policy makers. The literature on the challenges faced tends to suggest that it is perhaps too early to evaluate
180
Globalization in Malaysia
Introduction
Post-colonial nations manoeuvred freedom from the shackles of colonial powers through political, educational and socio-cultural re-affirmation. Through the educational systems, one of the most common
assertions of national identity was the establishment of a national language in place of the colonial language. Malaysia, after being colonized
in the eighteenth, nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries,
gained independence from the British on 31st August 1957. One of the
earliest integral initiatives for this young nation was the replacement
of the colonial official language of English with Bahasa Melayu. This
initiative was impacted by the spirit of nationalism and for the dominant ethnic group (for whom the language was their mother tongue) to
reaffirm their identity and to provide them with a strong sense of recognition and legitimacy among the various other ethnic communities
in Malaysia (Emerson, 1960: 152; Horowitz, 1985: 185). This change
also provided a platform for a common language to be legislated as the
official language for both educational and administrative purposes and
which over the years, would function as the linguistic means for the
promotion of unity among the various ethnic groups in Malaysia.
There was a need to create space and recognition for Bahasa Melayu in
the post-independence period because English had already established
itself as the language of economic opportunity and social mobility in
the pre-independence period. As Asmah explained, the introduction of
English created two classes of people based on education those educated in English (i.e., predominantly Chinese, urban Indians and Malay
elites) with the connotation of high education, high office and socioeconomic power and those educated only in the vernacular languages
(i.e., commoner Malays and labouring Chinese and Indians) with the
connotation of peasantry, cheap labour and petty trading (Asmah Haji
Omar, 1995: 159, cited in Kaplan and Baldauf, 1997: 197).
To rectify this social and economic imbalance, the Malays felt
strongly that the institution of Bahasa Melayu as the national language,
its legislation as official language and its development as language of
knowledge was necessary to provide it with educational and administrative capital that would lead to its development as a language of
higher status. Therefore, having mastery of this language would provide the Malays with linguistic capital of greater value for economic
181
Globalization in Malaysia
innovative culture in the information age. This means that the forces
that shape every company industrial, service and financial will be
of an information nature; the competitive advantage will go to those
who can make best use of the information they have or can find, those
who can distribute information and knowledge most freely through the
executive, managerial, technical and product/service-making workforce, and those who deliver the fruits of this knowledge to customers
throughout the world (Daniels and Daniels, 1993: xxii).
One of the greatest effects of globalization anchored in information
technology communication is the emergence of a new world order,
which is most distinctly captured in the emergence of the knowledge
economy (Kenway, 1996; Feguson, 1997). It has an impact on the changing structure of the economy and the transformation of society from an
industrial to a post-industrial society. The features of the new economy,
which has variously been called the information and knowledge economy, is the process of innovation and creativity to generate profits and
drive businesses.
The information technology revolution, which forms the base of
the knowledge economy requires a new breed of workers for the new
century, and these workers are best described as knowledge workers.
Knowledge workers are global citizens because their expert knowledge
is in demand all over the world, particularly by countries which are
steaming ahead to be in the forefront of this competitive information era.
Their strengths that make them internationally viable are not only their
technical expertise but also linguistic competence in English, which
facilitates communication, whether face-to-face or technology-based.
Therefore, nations around the globe were facing the challenges of globalization and the newly emerging knowledge economy and the impact
of these factors on education, language choice and human resource
development. These new challenges brought along with them contrasting decisions, decisions that reversed earlier ones concerning languagein-education policy. Many post-colonial nations began re-examining
the language policies that had been implemented in the throes of linguistic nationalism in the post-independence period. This was largely
because of the winds of change driven by forces of globalization and the
knowledge economy which were affecting the economic and knowledge-driven priorities of many nations around the globe. In these times
of critical dependence on the knowledge economy and technology ideologies nations needed to develop human resource that is able to access
and use knowledge and information in the field of science and technology, which is largely in English. Thus languages began to be viewed
as economic commodities possessing linguistic capital rather than
symbols of ethnic or national identity (Block and Cameron, 2002: 5).
183
As a result, language policies began to be driven by forces of pragmatism, based on the need to develop knowledge economists and innovators in various fields of science and technology.
Thus, this led in 2003, to a major change in Malaysias language
in education policy. This was a change from Bahasa Melayu to English for Science and Maths. This leads us to the following sections of
the chapter, which focus on both the political reasons for and the
impact of the change on pedagogical perspectives, focusing on teachers. The need to adopt this approach is emphasized by Tollefson and
Tsui when they say, In analyzing medium-of-instruction policies, it is
always important to include both pedagogical and political perspectives (2004: 292).
This chapter has a two-pronged focus. First, it explicates the underlying reasons for the change in language policy and secondly, it moves
onto the challenges for its implementation. We begin by briefly unravelling the main reasons for the change in language policy, focusing
largely on the viewpoints of the person who was instrumental for
the change, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir.
Thereafter we examine the research literature on the challenges faced
by the stakeholders integral for the implementers of any language-ineducation policy, i.e., the teachers. This will involve describing and
examining the training and support provided for the teachers to equip
them with skills and knowledge to cope with this change. This incorporates the theoretical underpinnings and the different phases of the
national programme developed by English Language Teaching Centre
(ELTEC) aimed at enhancing the language proficiency of Science and
Mathematics teachers and their continuing professional development.
It then moves onto the challenges faced in the training of the Science
an Maths teachers. The second half of the chapter draws in voices from
society and provides space for them to express their support and dissent against the language policy. This is supported by research on the
pedagogical impact of the policy on the ground and the socio-political
reasons for the change.
Globalization in Malaysia
It must also be kept in mind that this was made against the backdrop
of the aim of the nation to be an industrialized nation by 2020. In this
context, the issue of developing relevant human capital becomes critical. This needed to be human capital, which has the capacity not only
to acquire knowledge but also to innovate particularly in the fields of
science and technology. Therefore, given the gargantuan proliferation
of knowledge published in English in the field of science and technology, it was essential for Malaysians to be able to access this with immediacy (The reasons for the change are explicated in greater detail in Gill
(2005) and David and Govindasamy (2005)).
In arguing a case for the need to reinstitute this change in language
policy and to garner support for it, Mahathir redefines the concept of
nationalism by asserting that, We need to move from the extreme form
of nationalism which concentrates on being a language nationalist only,
not a knowledge nationalist, not a development-oriented nationalist.
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Globalization in Malaysia
Globalization in Malaysia
ETeMS
The training programme developed by ELTC is known as English for
Teaching Mathematics and Science (ETeMS). The programme had
a two fold thrust to enhance language skills of Mathematics and
Science teachers for effective teaching using English as MOI and to
enhance teachers continuing professional development (EteMs, 2004).
This training programme was made available to all Maths and Science
teachers throughout the nation and was conducted in the various states
to enable all teachers to attend the training. A total number of 50,000
teachers underwent training to equip them with skills and competencies to deal with the change in MOI. ELTC recognized that focusing
on the development only of content knowledge was insufficient as the
change in medium of instruction necessitated a fundamental understanding of both content and language issues (Choong 2004). Hence
the training of teachers should focus on both productive and receptive skills to ensure the development of language skills. The underlying premise here was that teachers should already possess the content
area knowledge and pedagogical skills and needed to develop the basic
proficiency to enable them to deliver this content effectively in the target language. The programme had as its underlying focus the development of language for accessing information, for teaching Mathematics
and Science and for professional development. According to Pillay
and Thomas (2003) The programme had to incorporate elements of
activating teachers English language proficiency as well as developing
a specialist language to cope with teaching mathematics and science in
English.
ETeMS centred on 240 hours of instruction and adopted a 5-pronged
strategy comprising
Interactive Phase 1 (language-based with subject content)
Interactive Phase 2 (language and subject with technology)
Self-instructional package for self-directed studies (print and
non-print)
Internet based learning through freeware (material available for
use on the internet)
Buddy support system
Phase 1 ETeMS
Thirty per cent of Phase 1 was focused on developing language for
accessing information while 70 per cent focused on language for teaching Mathematics and Science. It was hoped that this would provide
teachers a head start in developing basic language skills needed to begin
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Globalization in Malaysia
be appropriate to examine the challenges that it has faced. Research carried out on the ETeMs programme and opportunities provided for teachers to voice their views (Subramaniam and Mardziah, 2007) have seen
a number of issues being raised on the effectiveness of the training in
helping teachers and also in enhancing their professional development.
These issues are the varying levels of English competency among the
Maths and Science teachers, the compressed scheduling of in-service
training, the absence of opportunity for professional development
among teachers, the underutilization of instructional resources, the
not so friendly buddy system and finally the neglect of the recipients
or learners. These were all issues that clouded the implementation of
the ETeMS project (Subramaniam and Mardziah, 2007). We will now
examine these issues in the following sections.
Globalization in Malaysia
provision of laptops for each Science and Mathematics teacher, teachers were not optimizing the self-instructional package. The findings
from the Malaysian English Language Teaching Associations (MELTA)
National Colloquium on Teaching of Mathematics and Science in English held on 11 December 2007 highlighted a number of reasons why
teachers have not fully utilized the instructional material (Subramaniam and Mardziah, 2007).
Many teachers claimed that the textbooks, for both Mathematics and
Science were inadequate in that they did not provide enough examples and only carried brief descriptions of the content. This meant the
teacher and the students had to do a lot of reading outside the classroom
which was seen to be burdensome to both groups especially since the
readings were in English (Pandian and Ramaiah, 2004). This is indeed a
sobering thought because if teachers find it burdensome to read materials in English they must clearly lack language competencies.
The multimedia courseware was also unsuitable as students with
low proficiency said they were not able to understand the language in
the courseware. Tajul Ariffin and NorAini (2002) (cited in Kamsilawati,
2005) state that while the more senior teachers could cope, the younger
teachers (who had been trained in Bahasa Melayu) were struggling with
the courseware themselves and also with having to explain the language
to the students.
Globalization in Malaysia
English (Tollefson and Tsui, 2004: 292). It must be stated that this is a
challenge that not only Bahasa Malaysia faced but many other national
languages faced as well the challenge of keeping up with translation
of the gargantuan proliferation of knowledge in English in the field of
science and technology.
One of the key articles titled Revise policy for 3 reasons written by
Rosnani Hashim (28 September 2008), from the International Islamic
University, stresses that it is important to revert to Bahasa Malaysia as
the language of Science and Maths for the following reasons: firstly, for
the simple pedagogical reason that our teachers have not been trained
in English and they are not proficient to teach the subjects in the language . . . Second, Bahasa Malaysia has been the language of democratization of higher education in this country, as our history has shown
it acts as an equalizer . . . the Education Policy has helped narrow the
gap between the rich and the poor and created a bigger base of middle
class, which is a stabilizing factor in society . . . Third, this policy, if
continued right from primary school-level will slowly cause the death
of Bahasa Malaysia as the language of intellectualism (Star Education,
28 September 2008: E4).
Teachers constitute the most important element in the implementation of language policy. Whether it is just or unjust, they are the human
resource that most impacts on the development of the human capacity needed for the nation. Therefore, in the case of change of language
policy, they are the ones who have to carry most of the burden of implementation. If they are not convinced of the reasons for the need for
change and do not put their heart and soul into improving their proficiency levels, then the policy is doomed to fail. This is the message that
is being disseminated via this article as well as research that has been
conducted and presented at the round-table dialogues.
One research project that was made public and immediately received
much attention was a study led by Isahak Haron et al. (2008) of the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) (translated this is the University
of Education, Sultan Idris). Broadly, the findings revealed a rather dismal scenario as a result of the implementation of the policy. Two of
the main findings will be mentioned here. The first is, that 70% of the
students from the primary schools do not/ barely comprehend their
teachers teaching of Mathematics and 80% find it difficult/fairly difficult to learn Mathematics and Science in English. And secondly,
on the use of the English language as the medium of instruction, more
than 80 per cent of the students reported that the teacher code-switched
from English to Bahasa Malaysia and vice versa as a strategy to promote
teaching and learning. It thus calls for a review of the policy and for the
use of Bahasa Malaysia to be reinstated for the two subjects.
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Globalization in Malaysia
Unlike Haron et al. (2008) not all research presents a picture of doom
and gloom. In a study that employed a questionnaire survey involving
575 teachers randomly selected from the whole of Malaysia, Hamidah
Ab Rahman et al. (2005) enquired into the teachers competency in the
teaching of Mathematics and Science as a result of the training programs that were aimed at preparing them for the classroom as well as
boosting their confidence. The project also investigated whether or not
the training given was adequate and relevant to the needs of the teachers (p. 31). The findings reported that the implementation of the teaching was satisfactory, that the teachers felt that they have improved their
command of the English language and that their level of confidence to
teach Mathematics in English have also improved.
As this study was survey-based, it is difficult to form a holistic
picture of what was really happening in the classroom. Further, in
the concluding remarks, the researchers end by stating that, It is now
very clear to us that a number of life-long programmes need to be carried out in order to improve teachers command of English (p. 37).
This remark is rather contradictory because if the situation was really
satisfactory, then the recommendation is redundant. But the issue is,
is improving teachers command of English enough? Or should the
training provide guidance as to how to integrate content and language
for the teaching of these content disciplines? And who should train
the teachers? Do we have competent and pedagogically sound content-cum-language specialists with the right approach and strategies
(to explain processes and detailed steps in English) to share with the
teachers?
Nursherrina bte Basir Ahmad (2005) inquired into the teaching strategies of teachers teaching Mathematics and Science in English based
on the training attended at ETeMs and English language competencies
of teaching preparation. In line with Brinton et al. (1989) and Clegg
(2003), strategies are defined as teaching practices, teachers preparation, materials development and learning features. The research found
that teachers do prepare themselves by upgrading competence as well
as preparing lessons before coming to class; preparing transcripts individually and through discussions with colleagues.
However, despite the training, Nursherrina bte Basi Ahmad (2005)
reported that teachers suffer from lack of confidence in speaking to colleagues. This is of no surprise because the teachers believe that they are
linguistically challenged. In terms of register, the teachers are not aware
that Science uses the language of observation characterized by identifying, describing, investigating and explaining, while Mathematics uses
logical connectors to explain similarity, contradictions, cause to effect
and chronology or sequence. In other words, the study showed that
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Globalization in Malaysia
in the print media a teacher who has been involved in both phases of
change wrote:
Much has been said about this subject. All I have to add is that
when the system was first changed from English to Bahasa Malaysia
about 30 years ago the literary environment was only about 1015%
in Bahasa Malaysia. There were only about three Bahasa Malaysia
advertisements over TV, one Malay movie per week, the daily news
warta berita, and limited choice of books, newspapers and magazines in bookshops.
Moreover, there were no financial incentives or anything provided
by the Education Ministry to ease the teachers and students into the
change. It was only after 30 years that we managed to achieve high
proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia in the field of education.
Right now we are flooded with English books, cable television,
movies, Internet etc. which will certainly help in achieving a high
proficiency in English. The change to English from Bahasa Malaysia
took place six years ago. In my opinion, its too early to make an
assessment that may result in reverting to BM.
We need more time as the effort and money spent on various programmes by the MOE will only see results within the next five years
. . . I can say that the progress made by teachers who are willing to
change their teaching to English has been very good.
A few of them are slow and are not putting enough effort or the
financial incentive to good use.
dominant ethnic group) would not have been instituted if the dominant
ethnic group had not been in a position of disadvantage.
This dilemma facing the dominant ethnic group is articulated clearly
by Lowe and Khattab (2003) when they say:
The success in having a national language resulted in the Malays
the race it was designed to help being disadvantaged. The current policy, therefore, had to be substituted with one which, in fact,
was directly opposed to the earlier policy. English now has to be
propagated amongst a population schooled only in Malay and with
a vested interest in its continued dominance. With English being
used as a commercial world language, as well as functioning as a
gateway to the ICT world, large segments of the Malay population
which had been insulated from such world changes were being
denied access to it. (p. 219)
Globalization in Malaysia
obtaining employment. Mustapha Mohamed, the then Executive Director of the government-sponsored National Economic Action Council,
articulates the reasons for this problem when he says: This is basically
a Malay problem . . . It has to do with . . . Their poor performances
in, and command of, the English language (Mustapa, 2002: 12). This
was because private sector employers looked for graduates who had
English language competencies. Therefore this meant that graduates
from private institutions of higher learning, who were mainly Chinese,
were sought after as they were more confident and fluent in the English
language. If this situation was allowed to progress with no change in
language policy, the dominant ethnic group would have been impacted
negatively and would have led to political and social instability in the
nation (Gill, 2004).
Despite the above considerations, the government has felt that the
dominant ethnic group has been disadvantaged even more with the
institution of English as medium of instruction policy. After 6 years
of the implementation of the English medium policy for Science and
Maths, the government has once again reversed the policy. On the 9th
July 2009, the Deputy Prime Minister, Muhiyuddin Yassin, who is also
the Minister of Education announced that Maths and Science will be
reverted to Bahasa Malaysia in stages beginning 2012. English will be
given prominence with greater support systems to enhance the teaching of the language from next year. In Chinese and Tamil national-type
primary schools, Maths and Science will be taught solely in Chinese
and Tamil respectively and no longer bilingually as has been the practice since 2003 (Back to BM, Star, 9 July 2009: 1) (Husna Yusop, The
Sun, 9 July 2009: 1).
Naturally, as with any change in policy, there has been again varying
responses to this decision. The Malay linguists felt this was the right
decision given that the lack of proficiency in English among the teachers had resulted in ineffective learning among the students (Chapman
and Zulkifli, 10 July 2009: 2). On the other hand, there is a group of parents who feel very strongly that the choice of which medium of instruction to use should be left to the parents and the school. They are working
towards appealing to the Minister of Education to provide them with the
option of choice the choice of affordable English medium education,
for Science and Maths (Tamarai Chelvi, The Sun, 27 July 2009: 2).
Conclusion
Therefore what needs to be done? Malaysia is at linguistic crossroads
and has to work out this dilemma in deciding what is best for the
nation and its peoples to enable it to engage with the challenges of
201
References
Asmah, H. O. (1979), Language planning for unity and efciency: A study of
the language status and corpus planning of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur:
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Azimah, I. (2008), Continue teaching in English, Views, The Star, Tuesday,
9 September, p. N45.
Back to BM. (2009), The Star, Thursday, 9 July 2009, p. 1.
Block, D. and Cameron, D. (eds) 2002, Globalization and Language Teaching.
London: Routledge.
Brinton, D. (1989), The Use of English as a Medium of Global instruction,
at
http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1426&DID=9871
retrieved in January 2007.
Chapman, K. and Zulkii Ab. Rahman. (2009), English not neglected Govt to
hire retired teachers procient in language, The Star, Friday, 10 July, p. 2.
Choong Kam Foong (2004), English for the Teaching of Mathematics and
Science (ETeMS): From Concept to Implementation, at http://eltcm.org/eltc/
download/paperbank/PDF/English retrieved in April 2008.
Clegg, S. (2003), Learning and teaching policies: contradictions and mediations of practice, British Educational Research Journal, 29 (6), 803820.
Concerned Mum (2008), Save English for secondary school, The Sun,
Tuesday, 9 September, p. 13.
Cummins, J. (1979), Linguistic interdependence and the educational
development of bilingual children, Bilingual Education Paper Series,
3 (2) (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 257 312).
(1981), The role of primary language development in promoting
educational success for language minority students, in Schooling and
Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Frame-work. Los Angeles:
Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center.
Daniels, J. L. and Daniels, N. C. (1993), Global Vision: Building New Models for
the Corporation of the Future. New York: McGraw-Hill.
David, M. K. and Govindasamy, S. (2005), Negotiating a language policy
for Malaysia: local demand for afrmative action versus challenges from
globalization, in A. S. Canagarajah (ed.), Reclaiming the Local in Language
Policy and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 123145.
202
Globalization in Malaysia
203
204
Globalization in Malaysia
205
11
Globalization:
Medium-of-Instruction Policy,
Indigenous Educational
Systems and ELT in Sri Lanka
Indika Liyanage
Chapter summary
This chapter, which is about ELT in Sri Lanka, is divided into
two sections. In the first section, with a brief introduction to the
demographic composition of the country and its indigenous educational systems, the chapter explores the processes of globalization
and their effects on medium-of-instruction policy and ELT pedagogic practices in the country. In doing so, this chapter establishes
the following: (i) Sri Lankas medium-of-instruction policy needs to
be informed of the outcomes of former policies and able to accommodate the ground level realities, and (ii) pedagogic practices have
not been sensitive to the indigenous educational systems of the
country. This lack of sensitivity has resulted in a divide between
those who are and are not proficient in English. In the second section, findings of an empirical study are presented, furthering the
idea that ELT practices need to be sensitive to the indigenous educational ethos in Sri Lanka and looked at bottom-up and a deeper
level.
Introduction
Over several centuries, the processes of globalization have resulted
in social changes that have affected indigenous educational systems.
Modes of thinking and learning vary according to social practices and
cultural traditions of different communities (Canagarajah, 1999), and
in Sri Lanka these practices and traditions echo ethos conditioned by
indigenous educational systems of the Sri Lankan people, whose modern history dates back a few thousand years. However, the aspects discussed in this chapter point to the fact that changes to the educational
system are mostly only superficial; the inherent values of the indigenous educational systems have withstood the forces of globalization,
206
of Platonic views and Western culture and history, and spread to the
other parts of the world during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
(Shinil, 1996). In Sri Lanka, too, traditional educational practices were
replaced with the Western school system after the country was colonized by the British a system that still prevails throughout Sri Lanka
for all students. In Sri Lankan Government schools and universities,
education has been free up to the end of the first university degree since
1945 (Mehrotra, 2004).
1969). These migrants brought Hinduism, together with its culture and
educational practices, to Sri Lanka.
Given the long history of Hinduism, traditional Hindu educational
practice has taken various forms within its numerous sects. However,
there are some important aspects that are common to all different
forms of Hindu educational practice (Reagan, 2000). As outlined in the
Upanishads,4 the process of learning in Hindu educational practice is
based on three important acts which follow in sequential order. They
are shravana, manana and nididhyasana (Mookerji, 1951). Shravana,
which is an aspect of oral tradition, means listening, that is, listening to
the teacher with the purpose of committing to the memory. It is this act
that mainly provides the content knowledge of the subject. Shravana
leads to the second act, manana, during which learners are expected to
reflect upon what they had heard (shravana). Manana leads to the last
step, nididhyasana, during which learners are expected to realize self
and truth, and which opens the avenues for this end.
The majority of Hindus in Sri Lanka today belong to the Siddhanta
school of Saivism, which is dominant in South India (De Silva, 1977).
Although Hindus generally consider Vedas as the source of all religious
knowledge, the Tamil Saivites consider thirumurais5 the sacred body of
religious literature (Flood, 2002). Usually every Saivite is taught selections from this collection at home. As indicated earlier, the principles
of shravana, manana and nididhyasana are the basis for every different
form of Hindu educational practice (Reagan, 2000). Hindu temples are
the nucleus of cultural activity and a prominent part of Hindu life in
all parts of Sri Lanka.
Thirty years later, Canagarajah (1999) also discusses how global powers were influencing the ELT practices of the country. Currently, the
agents of globalization are involved heavily in ELT in Sri Lanka with
the objectives of training English teachers and English teacher educators, developing materials and reconstructing curricula. These objectives are achieved through the lending of millions of dollars through
many of the projects named above, either as they are or under various
components attached to them. Following are some cited examples of
such projects:
GEP Provision of training for English-language teachers in secondary schools and preparation of ELT textbooks and materials
TETDP Provision of training for English-language teachers and
teacher educators, and promotion of English-language teaching
and learning through the provision of expertise, infrastructure,
and ELT materials
PELP Provision of training for English-language teachers in primary
schools, provision of textbooks, and curriculum restructuring
213
ESDFP Provision of training for English-language teachers, expansion of English-medium education, and, provision of co-curricular
activities in English
SEMP Provision of training for English-language teachers in secondary schools and production of ELT materials
2GEP Provision of training for English-language teachers and
teacher educators at the National Institute of Education (NIE) at
Maharagama, and implementation of reading camps to popularize
English under the English Language Action Plan
EKSP Establishment of the Centre of Excellence in English Education (CEIEE) at Peradeniya to improve the quality of ELT in the
country.
Detailed descriptions of how these projects have contributed to ELT in
Sri Lanka are available from the following sources: for information
regarding the WB, see the World Bank (2008a and b; 2006a and b; 2005
and 1997); for information on HEID, see Little (2003); and for information
regarding the ABD see Mathews (2002) and the ADB (2007a, b, and c).
Fernandos (1977) report of the three socially distinct bilingual patterns in the country is indicative of the divide between the very small
number of people who are proficient in the English language and the
vast majority who are not. Those who belong to pattern one speak a
uniform variety of English regardless of their race (i.e., Sinhala, Tamil,
Muslim or Burghers), lead a highly Anglicised life, belong to the top
and middle of the social scale, and are more proficient in the English
language than in their native languages. Those belonging to pattern two
are usually of lower-middle or working class origin and are generally
more fluent in their respective native languages than in English. Their
use of English would naturally brand them as different from the individuals who belong to pattern one. However, some individuals belonging to pattern two may be proficient in English in addition to the two
native languages (Sinhala and Tamil) (Canagarajah, 1999) and show linguistic capabilities similar to pattern one individuals. The third pattern
comprises people belonging to the same social background as those of
pattern two with very little fluency in the English language. The individuals that belong to patterns two and three far outnumber the number
of bilinguals in pattern one.
The latest census report of the Government of Sri Lanka (2001) is also
indicative of the huge divide that still exists in the country in terms of
peoples proficiency in the English language. According to this report,
nearly 17 per cent of the population can read and write English, and
is less able to speak English than to read and write English. The others
(83 per cent) are the vast majority who rarely use English for communication because of their low proficiency; their use of English is typically
limited to the English period in the classroom. The English Language
Teaching (ELT) in Sri Lanka is most often desired by this vast majority,
who represent the three ethnoreligious groups and their intertwined
dynamics.
The highly competent users of English who belong to Fernandos
(1977) first group are very few in comparison to the population of the
country and their discernable accent is the only difference between
their English and that of the educated native speakers of prestigious
varieties of English. This privileged class generally comprises the
well-connected and affluent families whose ancestors were educated
in English schools under the British and who have continued to maintain the language at home by speaking in it and studying in it overseas.
These families and their children enjoy the majority of prestigious
employment opportunities both in the public and private sectors, and
it will be a while until their level of competence is achieved by the
masses, who learn English as a second language in the state system in
Sri Lanka.
215
These distinctions are significant signs of the inadequacy of Englishlanguage instruction in the island state in making its students communicatively competent in the English language. In terms of the gap
between those who are and are not proficient in English, the outcomes
of the teaching of English in the country did not differ much between
colonial and postcolonial times. During colonial times, the access to
learn English was denied to the masses and the benefits of learning it
were purposely curtailed. In postcolonial times, where access to English education is not denied, the lack of recognition of the shortcomings
of language policy and pedagogy covertly deny the masses the potential
advantages of English education.
The WB, IDA and ADB reports cited in this chapter admit repeatedly
that there are insufficient English teachers in the country, and the
majority of them are under-qualified and demonstrate suboptimal proficiency in the English language. This low level of English-language
ability among English teachers suggests that teachers of other subjects
would have poor English-language skills. One way of addressing this
issue is through privatization of education, a directive of global agents
217
Private schools will enjoy the same status that their counterparts
enjoyed during colonial times. Therefore, the move to change the
medium-of-instruction policy through privatization of educational
establishments will recreate the discrepancies in terms of educational
outcomes that were prevalent during colonial times between the few
who know English and are socially and economically capable, and the
many who do not know English and are socially and economically
disadvantaged.
It is my contention that pedagogies and their applications in ELT are
adopted without respect for the culturally situated practices of learning. As far as the ELT pedagogic practices in Sri Lanka are concerned,
teachers have long been negligent of the language learning styles and
strategies of learners and thereby have failed to conceptualize how they
are situated within their indigenous educational heritage. Instead of
acknowledging and respecting the strategic preferences prompted to
students by the educational ethos prevalent in the country, pedagogic
practices have been implemented as and when they became fashionable. The fact that an approach has worked well in one part of the world
218
and was preferred by those upon whom it was tried does not necessarily mean that it would work equally well with communities in other
parts of the world.
For example, Canagarajahs work (1999) explored in detail the pedagogic choices of ESL learners in Jaffna, and established the preferred
pedagogic preferences of learners to be product oriented rather than
process oriented. Within the two pedagogic orientations to ELT, different kinds of learning strategies are promoted to and expected of the
learners, an aspect that I have dealt with in detail in relation to the
Sri Lankan ESL learners elsewhere (Liyanage, 2003). My intent is not
to establish the superiority of one approach over the other, but to make
clear that pedagogic adoptions need to be considerate of ground realities
and grow bottom-up rather than top-down. For bottom-up approaches
to be implemented, training of language teachers needs to be sensitive to the sociocultural contexts in which they practise (Liyanage and
Bartlett, 2008) and based on the primordial ties and the indigenous
educational ethos prevalent in those contexts.
The training of English teachers and teacher trainers, and the development of ELT materials with the aid of global agents, seem to disregard those ground-level realities. For example, the programmes geared
towards teacher training and material development clearly favour a
process oriented approach. For example, the completion report of
TETD (The World Bank, 2006a) states that an Activity Based Oral English (ABOE) programme was sponsored to train 1,831 teachers up to
June 2005, and another programme to train 25,000 teachers was being
processed. Therefore, a forceful imposition of pedagogies that represent
the interests, cultures and ideologies of those countries and communities that produce them (Delpit, 1995; Muchiri et al., 1995; Canagarajah,
1999) and misinformed choices have led to the existence of a wide gap
between people who are and are not proficient in English.
In the following section of this chapter, the findings of an empirical study (Liyanage, 2004) that explored the relationship between
Sri Lankan ESL learners ethnoreligious backgrounds, as demarcated
by their indigenous educational heritage, and their preferred language
learning strategy choices will be discussed to validate the importance
of inherent educational ethos in pedagogic choices.
actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and more transferable to new
situations (Oxford, 1990: 8). Therefore, by definition, language learners use of strategies is deliberate and conscious and, hence, reveal or
mirror the preferences of how the learners venture to learn a target
language.
A group of almost 1,000 ESL students in six government schools in
Sri Lanka comprised the participants for the study. These schools belong
to and operate under a Ministry of Education in the Sri Lankan government. The participants comprised approximately an equal number of
males and females from the countrys three dominant subcultures, as
demarcated by ethnicity, language and religion. The instrument used
for the investigation of language-learning strategy preferences was an
adapted version of Chamot et al.s (1987) Language Learning Strategy
Inventory (LLSI), which was translated into Sinhala and Tamil. The
instrument gathered information on 7 metacognitive, 15 cognitive, and
4 social/affective aspects in five learning contexts: speaking in class,
listening in class, speaking and listening outside class, reading and
writing. For a detailed description of reliability statistics and statistical
analyses see Liyanage (2004).
The findings indicated that there is a significant (p < 0.001) association between the students ethnoreligious backgrounds and metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective strategy types.
Variations in preferred strategies among the three groups indicate
three preferred ways of learning. The estimated marginal means for
metacognitive, cognitive and social/affective strategies indicate that
Muslim subjects use all three strategy types more than do Tamil and
Sinhalese participants, and Tamil subjects report using all three strategy types more than do Sinhalese subjects. The marginal means for ethnicity and language learning strategy types are graphed in Figure 11.1.
When the individual strategies that form the three strategy types
were investigated in relation to ethnicity/religion, five metacognitive
strategies, eight cognitive strategies, and two social/affective strategies were significantly (p < 0.001) associated with ethnicity/religion.
Students reported frequent use of the metacognitive, cognitive and
social/affective strategies that are significantly associated with ethnicity/religion is tabulated as percentages in Table 11.1. For example,
81.8 per cent of the Sinhalese who are Buddhists, 85.9 per cent of
the Tamils who are Hindus and 86.7 per cent of the Muslims who are
adherents of Islam preferred self-evaluation as a metacognitive strategy
in learning to write in English.
It is not within the scope of this chapter to discuss all strategy preferences in relation to learners ethnoreligious identity. For a detailed
220
3.2
Average scores
3.0
2.8
2.6
Ethnicity / Religion
2.4
Sinhalese (Buddhism)
2.2
Tamil (Hinduism)
Muslim (Islam)
2.0
Metacognitive
Cognitive
Social-affective
Figure 11.1 Relationship between ethnicity and language learning strategy (av)
scores.
Language Learning
Strategy
Ethnicity
Sinhala Tamil Muslim
Buddhist Hindu Islam
Metacognitive
Speaking in class
Listening and
speaking outside
class
Organizational Planning
70.0%
86.2%
86.05
Self-monitoring
83.5%
79.5%
81.0%
Self-management
73.6%
78.4%
88.7%
Organizational Planning
34.7%
70.7%
71.0%
Self-evaluation
55.1%
71.0%
74.3%
Advance Organization
63.4%
76.3%
76.0%
Self-management
69.0%
73.5%
84.3%
Self-evaluation
81.8%
85.9%
86.7%
Organizational planning
42.6%
84.1%
88.0%
Reading
Writing
Cognitive
221
Listening in class
Language Learning
Strategy
Ethnicity
Sinhala Tamil Muslim
Buddhist Hindu Islam
Note taking
53.1%
54.1%
76.35
Repetition
4.6%
30.0%
37.0%
Transfer
17.2%
56.2%
51.7%
Translation
40.6%
55.5%
61.0%
Rehearsal
82.2%
67.1%
72.3%
Translation
41.6%
55.8%
59.7%
Repetition
53.1%
54.1%
76.3%
Note taking
59.4%
68.65
80.0%
Rehearsal
41.6%
55.8%
59.7%
Translation
4.6%
30.0%
37.0%
Deduction
82.2%
67.1%
72.3%
Resourcing
38.9%
63.6%
65.7%
Social Affective
Questioning for
clarification
Self-talk
39.3%
49.8%
61.3%
34.7%
60.8%
65.0%
65.3%
44.5%
39.7%
Writing
34.7%
60.8%
65.0%
Speaking in class
Reading
Writing
Listening in class
Speaking in class
Cooperation
discussion of how strategy preferences are related to students ethnoreligious upbringing, readers are referred to the original study (Liyanage,
2004). However, in the ensuing paragraphs, a few of these strategies are
discussed in relation to learners indigenous educational backgrounds.
Advance organization involves previewing the main idea and concepts of the material to be learned, often by skimming the text for the
organising principle (Chamot et al., 1987: 136). Advance organization is a strategy that is in harmony with the teaching practices in the
indigenous educational systems, and the preference for this strategy
is an influence of these systems on the learning process. Buddhism,
222
Hinduism and Islam all have three religious texts: the Tripitaka, Vedas
and Quran. Up until the present day school system was introduced to
the country, it was believed by the followers of all three religious faiths
that all they had to learn was written in these sacred books, and anyone who knew them was regarded in the highest esteem. The contents
in these sacred texts are arranged in a sequential order and learning
of these contents was also done in a sequential order. The preference
for advance organization indicates the students need and willingness,
as conditioned by these ideals, to learn the content material sequentially and systematically. This finding is also in line with other studies
(Canagarajah, 1996) that found Sri Lankan students compliance with
organized, structured teacher-directed lessons.
All three groups show a preference for note taking as a cognitive strategy while listening in class and reading. Note taking involves writing
down key concepts during a listening or reading activity. As mentioned
earlier, in traditional Buddhist, Hindu and Islam educational practices,
listening has an important place. Both Buddhist and Hindu religions and
their educational practices were passed down through the oral tradition.
Imparting of knowledge was primarily through teacher talk. Students
were expected to listen and remember. For example, one of the mottos
of Buddhist educational practice is Suna`tha, Dha`retha, Chara`tha.
This motto, the translation of which means listen, remember, and put
into practice, again emphasizes the sequential order in which the students are expected to learn and listen with a view to remembering. As
has been discussed earlier, in Hindu educational practice the emphasis
on shravana, manana and nididhyasana also indicates the expectations of sequential learning and an emphasis on listening with the idea
of remembering. Note taking is a strategy that helps students memorize
new information. The preference for this strategy both in listening and
reading can be interpreted as a result of a possible impact those religious educational traditions may still have on students.
Repetition involves the exact imitation, including oral or silent practice, of a language model. Of the three groups, Muslims indicated the
highest preference for repetition while learning to read. In particular,
the Islamic expectation that students should memorize the Quran by
reciting it over and over again to a rhythm (Khusro, 1981) may explain
why Muslims prefer this strategy more than do the members of the
other two religions. Also, in general, a higher preference for this strategy by all three groups may result from how students were educated in
religious texts before the Western school education system was introduced to the country. The only way to measure students learning was
to measure how much they could remember. Thus, students learnt
these religious and other accompanying literary texts through various
223
Conclusion
These findings once again remind us that pedagogical approaches
should not only grow within the sociocultural contexts of the learners
and incorporate aspects indigenous to the particular culture to which
they belong, but also recognize the socially situated modes of learning.
The aim of such approaches would be to maximize and benefit the process of target language learning through strategies naturally preferred
and sought by the students, as pedagogical approaches may not be as
effective as they are intended to be when they centre on strategies that
are not naturally favoured by students.
Therefore, instead of going back and implementing medium-ofinstruction policies that should partly be blamed for the ELT situation
in the country, and succumbing to the demands and policies of the
224
Notes
1. In literature, the words Sinhala and Sinhalese are used interchangeably to
refer to the language group and ethnicity.
2. Sri Lankan Muslims ethnicity is Moor. However, in Sri Lanka their ethnic and religious identities are essentially the same and are interchangeably
used. In this chapter the word Muslim is used to refer to their ethnicity.
3. Tamil Nadu is the southernmost Tamil state in India which is very close to
the Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka.
4. The Upanishads (in Sanskrit, upa means near, ni is down, and sad is
sit to sit down near to, that is, to sit at the feet of the guru) comprise the
nal portion of the revealed part of the Vedas (Stepaniants and Behuniak,
2002: 107).
5. The Thirumurais consist of the Thevaram and Thiruvacakam and the philosophical texts. The Thevaram and Thiruvacakam are collections of hymns
of the Saivite saints of the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth centuries A.D.
written in simple, easily understood language (K. M. De Silva, 1977: 390).
6. . . . a primary school often attached to a mosque, the chief business of
which is to instruct boys (and girls) in those portions of the Koran
(Aeez, 1969: 1147).
7. State-supported secondary schools (Azeez, 1969).
8. One of the 15 textbooks that belongs to Khuddhaka Nikaya in the
Buddhist Pali Canon.
References
Appadurai, A. (1996), Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Ariyapala, M. B. (1969), The life and aspirations of the people as conditioned
by their education, in U. D. I. Sirisena (ed.), Education in Ceylon (from the
225
226
227
228
229
Index
Abaza, M. 44
Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir Munshi36
Abelmann, N.92
Abu Bakar Hamzah41
A Bull in China 25
Activity Based Oral English (ABOE)
programme219
Adams, L. D.99
ADB see Asian Development Bank
(ADB)
Adegbija, E.108
Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah,
followers37
Akita International University67
al-akhirah (the hereafter)51
Al-Attas, S. M. N.379
Al-Azhar University of Cairo44
al-dunya (temporal world)51
Alexander, R.128
Al-Ghazali37
non-religious sciences or profane
knowledge (fard kifayah)37
religious sciences or sacred
knowledge (shariah)37
Ali Riaz, 46
Alsagoff, L.43, 89
Anglo-vernacular schools211, 216
Annamalai, E.121
anti-globalization movement3
Appadurai, A.23, 56, 10, 36, 75,
77, 165, 170, 207
Applebee, A.188
applied linguistics3, 1011
colonialism10
global language10
journals10
Arabic language
and Diniah (religious
knowledge)42
The Holy Quran38
Jawi/Al-Quran/fard ain52
jurisprudence/philosophy/
tauhid38
justification, five reasons50
language of Islam 48
rise of 524
Semitic language family38
shariah or hadith38
in South East Asia6
third language programme53
zikr and hafz (memorization)38
Arel, D.76
Ariyapala, M. B.209
Asajjhya mala` mantha` 224
Asian Development Bank (ADB)207,
21214, 21718, 224
Asian financial crisis5, 8, 168
Asmah, H. O.39, 1812
Auerbach, E.171
autocratic democracy 185
Azimah, I.198
Azyumardi Azra.36
Bachelors of Education in Elementary
Education135
Bae, S.90
Bahasa Malaysia192, 1956, 1989,
201
231
Index
232
Cahoone, L. E.207
Cameron, D.162, 166, 183
Canagarajah, S. A.106, 132, 214
Canton, J.95
Carless, D. R.174
census report of the Government of
Sri Lanka (2001)215
Central Board of Secondary
Education (CBSE)125
Centre of Excellence in English
Education (CEIEE)214
Ceylon, 109, 208
Chamot, A. U.21920, 222
Chapman, K.201
Chee, M. W. L.85
Chelliah, D. D.36
Che Noraini Hashim445
Chew, G. L. P.4, 82101
China/Chinese1617
century25
character computerization149, 157
character encoding system
GB2313 27
GB18030 27
Communist Party146
critical language20
Cultural Revolution15
diaspora15, 1719
economy16
factory of the world 16
hanzi140, 145, 148
open-door policy16
powerhouse, economic16
-rich computer tools22
soft power23
sovereignty18
State information Center95
supremacy, economic17
writing system141
China Population and Employment
Statistics Yearbook200817
Chinese as a Foreign Language
(CFL)15, 201, 27, 2932
Chinese/Japanese/Korean Joint
Research Group (CJK-JRG)152
Chinese languages (CL)26, 139
linguistics and sociolinguistics26
Index
Daniels, J. L.183
Daniels, N. C.183
Das, G.120, 123
Dasgupta, P.121
David, M. K.25, 107, 175, 185
De Alwis, E. H.216
decimal system8
decoding process141
Delpit, L. D.132, 219
Democracy Movement of 1989146
Department for International
Development (DFID)207, 212
Department of Language and
Information Management142
Department of Social Use of
Language and Script142
De Silva, K. M.208, 210
de Souza, D.214
Devashayam, Theresa W.84, 99
Dharmadasa, K. N. O.107
diffusion-of-English paradigm 75
Diploma in English for Teachers of
English (DETE)11516
Director of Japan Immigration Policy
Institute74
District Primary Education Program
(DPEP)135
Dor, D.6, 223
Dou, Delong21
Douglas, S.34
Duhamel, D.88, 95
Dutch language42, 44
ecology-of-language paradigm 75
economic commodities 166, 183
economic globalization2
economic migration see linguistic
migration
Economist1, 2, 4, 811, 16, 94, 123,
184
Economist magazine8
Education
Act of1961 45
in English, 109, 113
Foreign language62
free education for all policy in
Sri Lanka109
233
Index
Education (Contd)
in Malaysia45
Education for Knowledge Society
Project (EKSP)21314
Education Sector Development
Framework and Program
(ESDFP)21314
Education Sector Development
Program (ESDP)213
Einstein, A.126
Emerson, R.181
English education173
common class management
problems1734
English fever 162
English for Academic Purposes
Instruction (EAP)107, 214
English for Teaching Mathematics
and Science (ETeMS)180,
18991
Buddy Support System191
Phase1 ETeMS 18990
Phase2 ETeMS 1901
Alpha, Beta and Gamma
module1901
5-pronged strategy189
English (language)67, 401, 49
conversation classes174
dominant language31
dual-medium education121
in elementary schools7
English in Context 134
first global language14
first language choral recitation128
international language or lingua
franca166
Japans second language67
language entres87
language skills217
as linguistic capital 163
medium education113
premium languages85
as the link language 110
English language teaching (ELT)34,
107
English Language Teaching Centre
(ELTC)180
234
Index
GB231280 151
General Education Project
(GEP/2GEP)21214
General List of Print Fonts of Chinese
Characters143
General List of Simplified
Characters143
genjitsu-ha (realism/pragmatism) 64
Giddens, A.4
Gill, S. K.3, 756, 180202
global English3, 5, 7, 1617,
1645
global financial crisis5
census results or sociolinguistic
surveys4
Guillen, indicators by5
rankings dimensions4
globalization165
and applied linguistics1011
in Asia58
aspects of globalization5
processes of globalization5
benefits89
benign process8
era11
ethnoscapes 165
financescapes 165
homogenizing process165
ideology9
ideoscapes 165
mediascapes 165
mismanagement of9
nature, definition see nature of
globalization, defining
technoscapes 165
Global Mandarin1432
barriers to spread of279
national loyalty vs. international
intelligibility28
orthographical barriers27
teething problems29
Chinas resurgence, impact of1617
current status256
global spread1723
global status of language,
defining1516
numerical definition15
requirements15
mass media235
problems of nomenclature,
defining Mandarin267
teaching Chinese (international
language)2932
global market165
global outlook 114
global village 82
principal forms, three
cultural capital83
economic capital83
social capital83
glocalization 165
Goh, C. T.88
Gomez, J.198
good English 89, 216
Good Practice (GP) government67
Goonetilleke, D. C. R. A.214
Gopinathan, S.6
Gottlieb, N.656
Goundry, N.1545
Gourd, K.67
government school system9, 108,
133
Govindasamy, S.107, 185
Graddol, D.16, 25, 28, 32, 94, 100
Gray, J.162, 1656
Grigorenko, E. L.122
grounded theory 1067
Guillen, M. F.5, 910, 107
Gunesekera, M.110, 116
Gupta, S.121
Hall, S.165
Halpe, A.112
Hamidah Ab Rahman197
Han (Chinese character)
unification152
Hancock, John22
Hannum, E.123
Hanson-Smith, E.212, 214
hanzi writing system
antique scripts140
characters-in-use 140
computer input problem141
cultural rim150
235
Index
236
hyogai-kanji list65
hyo-i ha (pro-ideogram)64
hyo-on ha (pro-phonogram)64
ideograph-based input programs142
Ideographic Rapporteur Group
(IRG)152
Iino, M.7, 6178
Illi Liyana M.198
Imperial Family line73
Improving Relevance and Quality
of Undergraduate Education
(IRQUE)10910, 11213, 213
India12037
culturally contextualized pedagogy
choral recitation1289
educational goals and
outcomes1323
English supplementation by
school1334
mother tongue as resource
1301
reforming pedagogy1346
teacher centredness1312
translation12930
pedagogic practice, describing
Transcript1: 8 April2004,
Grade3, 1245, 125
Transcript2: 15 October2005,
Grade12, 1256, 1256
Transcript3: 17 October2006,
Grade11, 1268, 1278
site and data collection
data collection124
presentation of transcripts124
Indonesia, Muhammadiyah of42
information communication
technology (ICT)110
information technology (IT)
revolution22, 183
Information Technology Master Plan
(ITMP)47
Inoue, F.67
input scheme pollution 142
international aid agencies207
International Christian University
(ICU)67
Index
International Development
Association (IDA)207, 212,
217
International Monetary Fund
(IMF)910, 207, 212
Internet World Stats23
Isahak Haron196
Islam and place of education
educational practice21011
kuttab, or Quranic school211
madrasa, secondary school211
maktab, primary school211
Islam or hashiah (critiques)39
knowledge in impacts on
languages37
knowledge in religious
education37
Arabic language38
English language401
Malay language and
function3840
Islamic Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
(ISESCO)53
Islamization process36
IT see information technology (IT)
revolution
Japan/Japanese
coding system156
inbound migration6972
major nationality71
total population70
JapaneseEnglish bilingualism75
JapanRusso War (19041905)63
JapanSino War (18941895)63
LDP Nakagawa plan724
outbound migration689
children residing outside
Japan69
overseas residents and their
children68
school in Shanghai69
teaching7
Japan Exchange and Teaching
program (JET)1634
Javanese language39
Jenkins, J.101
Jeong, Y-K.93, 162
Jeon, M.16177
Jewitt, C.121
jinmeiyo-kanji65
Jochi University (Sofia
University)67
Johnstone, B.124
Jones, S. P.162, 207
Jordan, D. K.148
Jorden, E.66
joyo-kanji65
j-QAF 52
Jung, S.168
jus sanguinis = right of blood 73
jus soli = right of soil 73
Kachru, B. B.94, 166
Kachrus model17
native users, 1718
Zhongyuan (central plains)17
non-native users, 201
CFL courses20
TCFL, prospects of20
second language users, 1819
lingua franca18
Mandarin19
overseas Chinese
communities18
Singapore and Malaysia19
Kachru, Y.171
Kagan, S.188
kaikoku, third64
Kaiser, S.66
Kamar Oniah Kamaruzaman46
Kamsiah Abdullah.51
Kamsilawati K.192, 194
Kangxi Dictionary151
kanji62
boom65
kentei (examination for kanji
certificate)65
yamato kotoba62
Kanno, Y.69
Kaplan, R. B.166, 1812, 185
Karma or duty135
katakana65
237
Index
Kato, H.72
Kearney, A. T./Foreign Policy
Globalization Index56, 90
Keidel, A.16
Kelegama, S.212
Kenway, J.183
Khan, M. W.59
Khattab, U.200
Khiruddin, A.192, 194
Khubchandani, L.121
Khusro, S. A. M.223
kikokusei (returnees)69
Kim, K. S.93
Kim, S. S.163, 1678
King, A. D.3
Kirova, A.99
Kitao, K. S.63
Ko, K. H.87, 92
Kokugo (national language)76
council for Japanese language64
kanbun (classical Chinese poems
and literature)76
kobun (classical Japanese
literature)76
shigin and shiika (classical
poetry)76
Kokusai Bunka Shinkou Kyokai71
Komori, Y.65
Kon, Y. H.1867
Koo, H.163
Korea/Korean
globalization policy161
government1678
industrialization in95
insularization93
Ministry of Education161
War167
Krishnaswamy, N.121
Kubota, R.77, 165
Kubota, Y.166
Kumaravadivelu, B.10, 122, 130
Kumaravadivelus essay122
Kurlantzick, Joshua23
Kwon, O.168
Kysilka, M.210
Lakshman, W. D.207, 212
238
Lambert, B. H.91
Langer, J.188
language and culture, Asia111
globalization and applied
linguistics1011
globalization in Asia58
globalization measurement45
nature of globalization,
definition24
see also globalization
Language and Information
Management Department147
language idealism and realism6178
language contact in Japan624
recent language issues in Japan
English language education668
language and nationalism646
migration and language6874
language-in-education policy183
Language Learning Strategy
Inventory (LLSI)21920, 220
cognitive220
metacognitive220
social/affective strategies220
language proficiency114
Language Situation in China Report:
2005 20
language zone 22
large-scale diasporas 75
learning about Islam 52
Lebra, T. S.76
Lee, H. W.95
Lee, S.25, 31, 72
Lee, T. J.93
Lee, Y.-J.163, 1689
Leow Bee Geok48
Levine, D. N.207
Levitt, P.83
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)62
Nakagawa plan724
Lingard, B.115
linguistic migration83
astronaut husbands studies84
feminization of migration84
safe havens 84
satellite kids 84
linguistic mothering 85
Index
linguistic neoimperialism166
Linguistic purism77
literature (hikayat)40
Little, A. W.214
Liu, J.93
Liu, Z. J.149
Liyanage, I.10, 20625
Li, Y. M.140, 145, 147
Lo Bianco, J.10910, 212, 216
local education system93
Local Standard English (LSE)89
lost decade 76
Lowe, V.200
Luk, J. C. M.136
Lunde, K.153
madrasah (Muslim educational
institution)35
Al-Iqbal in Singapore41
Al-Masyhur in Penang41
economy and values-orientation
46
six madrasahs43
students in Indonesia35
students in Malaysia35
students in2007 (Singapore)35
Mahathir Mohamad75, 184
Mair, V. H.142, 152
Majlis Ugama Islam of Singapore
(MUIS)47
Malaysia/Malay language389, 44,
49, 180202
buddy system1945
challenges for teachers1867
change in language policy1846
ELTC programs189
English competency192
in-service training193
lack of networking (post-training)
193
language of translation 52
Malay/Muslims36
MaSTT 1912
or national language45
self-instructional materials1934
voices for and against ETEMS
195201
239
Index
240
Index
Rajagopalan, K.107
Rajapakse, S.108
Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalay
(RSKV)121
gurukuls 132
gurushishya relationship132
Hindi and English medium123
indirect method 134
occupation 1234
Ramaiah, R.187, 194
Ramanathans book1212
Ramanathan, V.129
Ranaweera, M.111
Rattafication129
Ratwatte, H.214
Razak Education Commission182
Razak Report45
Reagan, T. G.20911
re-(de)positioning of
languages4552
English languages502
madrasahs varied strategies
Islamization of knowledge467
pragmatism and reforms478
Malay language4850
rise of English language4850
see also Muslim education
Redja Mudyahardjo44
Reed, Y.121
reformist movement and (re)positioning
of languages425
government-sponsored
schools423
nationalism and Malay
language435
subjects offered in madrasah43
see also Muslim education
Reid, A.157
reinforcing foreign language
education slogan169
reinforcing globalization education
slogan169
rekishi-ha (pro-history/
traditionalism) 64
Renminbi (RMB), currency of China17
Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in
English Teaching107
241
Index
242
Shin, J. S.167
Shinjuku-ku, 71
Shiva, V.89
shlokas
in Sanskrit129
in Vedas129
shutongwen (common script)150
Sidhu, R.84
Siku Quanshu156
Singapore, 82101
buyers: linguistic motivations925
costs and rewards of linguistic
migration959
group discussions856
methodology857
neo-Confucian ideology6
pan-Chinese/pan-Indian culture7
seller(s): strategies, 8792
Sinhala Only Act 216
Sinhala or Tamil medium
education113
Sinographic signs152
Skills Development Project
(SDP)213
Sklair, L.3, 8
Skutnabb-Kangas, T.75, 166
social integration law 73
socialization process40
Sociology of Education122
Soh, W. L.96
Somasegaram, S. U.20810
Sonntag, S. K.167
Southeast Asia3454
see also Muslim education
South Korea16176
EPIK 16971
discipline and power1735
global English and Koreas
response1649
methodology1634
private tuition market93
Speak Good English Movement
(SGEM)889
spoken style (genbun ittchi)64
Spolsky, B.76, 96
spread of English 75
Sri Lanka20625
Index
243
Index
244
Index
Yuan, Jiahua26
Zainichi Koreans72
Zepeda, O.108
Zhang, C. X.147
Zhang, D. B.151
Zhang, Z. C.156
Zhao, S. H.1412, 144, 147, 151,
153, 1556
Zhou, Youguang26
Zhuan Script and Li Script147
Zulkifl i Ab. Rahman201
245