I get frustrated with the way that "English" in Ensino Superior is seen merely as a língua or a ferramenta rather than as a phenomena or a strategy of globalisation related to identity, exclusion or politics. That was what originally started me on my PhD quest.

Now I see this interesting report, English Next 2006 - from David Graddol commissioned by the British Council which articulates it better than me.

The teaching of English has been seen in the past as largely a technical issue about the best methodologies, a practical issue of resources in teacher training and text books, or a problem about imperialist propoganda. We can now see that it has become much more than these things although such issues have not gone away. If the analysis of this book is correct, then English has at last become of age as a global language. It is a phenomenon which lies at the heart of globalisation. English is now redefining national and individual identities worldwide; shifting polticial fault lines; creating new global patterns of wealth and social exclusion; and suggesting new notions of human rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Graddol outlines a number of trends one of which is "the end of "English as a foreign language".


Categories: Productions Reflections

Tags: globalenglish