Practice Activities – M&R

SUBJECT PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:

ENGLISH IN THE COMMUNITY

GENERAL INFORMATION:

The subject practice activities consist of doing individually three short exercises. The
document must fulfil the following conditions:

- Length: 3 pages (without including cover, index or appendices –if there are any-).
- Font type: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Size: 11.
- Spacing: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

Besides, the activities must be done in this Word template: leave the activities’
statements where they are and just answer below them. In order to make the correction
process easier, please, do not write the answers in bold, and it will then be easier to
distinguish between them and the activities’ statements. On the other hand, the
document must still fulfil the rules of presentation and edition, and follow the rubric for
quoting and making bibliographical references as detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, it has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the “Subject

Evaluation” document. Sending it to the teacher’s e-mail is not permitted.

In addition to this, it is very important to read the assessment criteria, which can be
found in the “Subject Evaluation” document.

1
 Practice Activities – M&R

SUBJECT PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:

ENGLISH IN THE COMMUNITY

Name and surname(s):

MARITZA ROMAN RODRIGUEZ

Login: COFPMTFL2942848

Group: fp_tefl_2018-06_uneatlantico

Date: 02 Junio de 2019

2
 Practice Activities – M&R

Index

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………...……page
5

2. Task 1…………..:……….………………………………………….….....…..page
6

3. Task 2………………………………………………………………………..…page
8

4. Task 3………………………………………………. ….…………………... page

9

5. Conclusions………………. …………………...…………...……..………….page
10

6. Bibliography ……………………………………….
…………………………..page10

3
 Practice Activities – M&R

Practice Activities

Graddol (2006, p.14) states as a key trend to be expected “the rise

and fall of learners”. That is, he claims that “a massive increase in
the number of people learning English has already begun, and is
likely to reach a peak around 2 billion in the next 10-15 years.
Numbers of learners will then decline.” (ibid, p.14)

Bearing in mind this statement, complete the following tasks.

Task 1 - (1 page)

More than 10 years have gone by since the original statement. Find updated
figures supporting or refuting the hypothesis. If possible, find sources for the
last five years.

- Justify the validity of your sources. To do so apply the CRAAP test proposed
by California State University, which can be found here.

Task 2 - (1 page)

Present the updated figures in table form comparing them to Graddol’s

statements and own figures. Analyze the evolution and state whether Graddol’s
hypothesis has been sustained or refuted. Bear in mind:

- How do you define English learners.

- How do your figures count English learners.
- Where do your sources come from (remember Task 1).
- Whether the trend has stop growing or not yet.

Task 3 - (1 page)

Based on the figures you had, propose your own claim to the future development
of English as a Foreign Language. Take into account the figures you found, the
materials of the class, the readings available in the campus and other external
sources that you might deem relevant.

4
 Practice Activities – M&R

1. Introduction

Big changes are being taken from current linguistic theories, it is a required task of
teachers to be aware and updated around the development of this significant language
in the world.

“Around the world, there is an estimated 1 Billion people learning English. Many factors
point to the reason why learning English has seen exponential growth in recent years,
but it all boils down to the English language being the "global language" of business,
politics, international relations, culture, and entertainment for so many countries
worldwide. And that is just an understatement as in fact, while English is not an official
language in many countries worldwide, it is the language most often taught as a foreign
or second language. (Raymundo, 2012)

In order find out a suitable path which can be accurate to follow by teachers, and
regarding the conception of learning English as an international language. Teachers
must take into consideration figures and supporting information to improve our teaching
practice, in this way our teaching experiences have to reflect cross-cultural
communication, used by both native and non-native speakers, adapting in many cases
distinct features of the original language, implying a whole different way of expressing
ideas in a foreign language, as suggested by McKay (2002) “the teaching and learning
of an international language must be based on an entirely different set of assumptions
than the teaching and learning of any other second and foreign language”.

5
 Practice Activities – M&R

Task 1

Numbers and concepts around learning English as an international language are

increasing nowadays as the number of non-native speakers has been increasing, too.

According to the British Council latest research; there is a prediction about the active

people learning English around the world, the number will exceed 1.9 billion by the year

2020, as in 2000, there were 750 million English as a foreign Language speakers and

there were also 375 million English as a second Language speakers, As of 2014 this

number has increased to 1.5 billion total English learners worldwide.

Figure 1: The major world languages as L1s (first languages) and L2s, as given by the

authoritative website Ethnologue 2015.

6
 Practice Activities – M&R

This first figure was cited for the numbers of speakers of any given language This may

prove that Gradddol’s statement in 2006 where English can be identified in one of the

top places, However, There is a difference between the two groups: English as a

foreign language and speakers who use it occasionally for business or pleasure. The

fact is that diverse populations across the world use English alongside other languages

in highly cosmopolitan contexts.

Figure 2: Kachru (1985): The inner circle, the outer circle and the expanding circle.

7
 Practice Activities – M&R

The growth in this figure can be analyzed because of the great position of English

within the concentric circles, according to Kachru (1985): The inner circle, the outer

circle and the expanding circle, as a language which simplifies the relations of different

countries in their aim to be global and competitive.

According to Webber’s (1997 p. 22) there are different categories affecting influence of

a language as we can notice in figure1. In this way the number of English learners is

expected for future increase, recent predictions expect English will double by the year

2020 to nearly 2 billion people. Beare, Kenneth (2018).

Task 2.

The comparison proposed between Graddol’s hypothesis and current trends of English
let us to be aware of English as a living language which has been denominated by
scholars on different ways, English (Swales. 1997), cited on (Barbara S. 2003) is
known as a prehistoric animal; the 'tyrannosaurus rex' of languages. In its linguistics
process, and nowadays this language had had interchangeably denominations:

8
 Practice Activities – M&R

• English as a lingua franca: (e.g. Gnutzmann 2000)

• English as a global language (e.g. Crystal 1997)
• English as a world language (e.g. Mair, in press)
• English as a medium of intercultural communication (e.g. Meierkord 1996)

The use of English has been playing an important role in most of the social fields.
Being proficient with mastery of English certificates better opportunities worldwide.

According to (Graddol, D. 2006) in the subject material, “We have reached such a
moment in relation to the status of Global English, where the world of languages have
changed and will never again be the same.” An increment that year by year is bigger
and determinant. There is some resemblance between Graddol and current trends
learners nowadays are acquiring English through a conscious process of accumulation
of knowledge of vocabulary and the grammar of the language to communicate
assertively with all those people who need to communicate.

Kohl John R, argues the there are some factors that contributes that English being
chosen by the great by the vast majority of learners:

-The current dominance of the English language in learning and communication

content on the internet (75%).

9
 Practice Activities – M&R

- The dominance of English in the recent wealth creating industries of computer and
information technology.
- It was and still is the language of the developed Western nations that the developing
world wishes to do business with.
- It is the official communication in Olympic sports.
- Scientific journals.

Task 3.

Policies and advertisement in Latin America Governments promote Bilingualism and

proposals to amplify the use of English to communicate internationally, most of these
countries need to promote English knowledge in order to improve their trades and
relations in the world, but unfortunately, teaching curriculums haven’t be the
appropriate on the last years, in order to really acquire and promote the language.
Developments in this aim have been achieve, but the learning system is not ready to
fulfill the major and ideal aim which should be English as a second language by
facilitating linguistic competences and the knowledge of other cultures. To place
citizens in a English higher level, governments should renewal their strategies each
year.

10
 Practice Activities – M&R

Thankfully, there are many research related with policies which could lead ELF
approaches that facilitates the use of the second language, in the figures we can see
that the number of people learning English will increase. (Graddol D. 2006) argues that
in globalized economies, English to be taught, it was shown through this activity, that
English belonging to the Inner Circle or an international standardized English, is not
better than other since each one has its own history and particularities. Nevertheless, it
is evident how English as an International language is gaining worldwide recognition
even for native speakers, due to its number of speakers. Therefore, teacher's role but
mostly Governments must promote different types of English showing its particularities
and advantages, always in accordance to the communicative skill; this way learners
might have the capacity to be autonomous and decide according to their learning
purposes, which type of English language suits better in each contexts.

11
 Practice Activities – M&R

Conclusions:

In terms of the development of ideal teachings, both governments and teachers

should implement approaches and strategies, to promote learning English as a
foreign or second language. Thanks to globalization, English has become a
language spoken by many people from different parts of the world and today it is
common to find non- native speakers learning it as a second language in order to
communicate with others worldwide. Regarding to communication, the final goal for
teachers should not be that students articulate like a native speaker but making them
feel comfortable and willing to participate actively in discussions. It is not necessary
to tell students to lose their identity by pretending to avoid their accent because
every person has a particular way of speaking according to the region they were
born or live, however it is also relevant to make it clear that culture cannot be an
excuse to fail in communication skills, instead of this, governments need to
encourage teachers and students to achieve a real bilingual culture.

REFERENCES

Graddol, D. (2006) English Next. Why Global English may mean the end of “English as
a Foreign Language”. British Council.

Jenkins, Jennifer. The Phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford:

Oxford University Press, 2000.

Raymundo, Maria Eliza. Business English And Its Importance To Business And
Professional Success. May 2018. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?
Business-English-And-Its-Importance-To-Business-And-Professional-
Success&id=805997.

12
 Practice Activities – M&R

Seidlhofer, B., (2003), “A Concept of International English and Related Issues: From
'Real English' to 'Realistic English'?” University of Vienna.

Ball, Philip. Teaching Pronunciation. The Special Nature of English.Universidad del

País Vasco. FUNIBER.

13