Teach English in ShuAnglong Zhen - Chongqing

English as a global languageThe Tower of Babel in Genesis talks of the confusion placed on the human race when we were given separate languages. However, today the human race is seeing a strong push to overcome the babble of the world through the English language as a lingua franca. The path to a unified world through one language is not clear, revealing potential problems and unforeseen changes in today?s English language as it is spoken and taught. Countries, like India, who were colonized by Great Britain, have long had English within their own country. But the ?Macaulay Minute? on Indian education changed the country?s future. Today, India uses their English ability to help the country prosper through examples like accepting outsourced jobs. With India?s English ability yielding success, china began teaching English to their youngest students. With the two major rising countries learning English, the rest of Asia has followed suit. But English may not always keep India and china above the rest of the world. These two countries produce an economic benefit to english speaking countries through their cheap labor, but as other countries become proficient in English they will offer even cheaper labor. When this occurs, English will no longer be an advantage to the world, but an expectation. Today, these countries are in a transition from the Gartner hype cycle phase of disillusionment to enlightenment. They have accepted the challenge to learn the English language for its potential benefits, but learning English in a native speaker?s plan is not the goal they desire. Once these countries overcome the disillusionment of the proper way to learn English, they will produce a more appropriate approach for their country and enter into the enlightenment phase. This change will also bring about the ability of these countries to teach themselves through a strong base education in the target language of English, thus nearly eliminating the need for tefl teachers in the world. An occurrence that is predicted to happen in the 2050?s according to Graddol. English has been taught to countries like Great Britain, Australia and the united states of America as that country?s primary medium of communication. However, countries like china, korea, and India do not need to replicate English; they only need English to communicate with other countries. Graddol states that English should not be taught in the same manner given their goals are different. And as a desired level of English is attained, there are additions to the lingua franca that do not make sense to a native english speaker. One such example is ?Konglish? in korea. This is the adaptation of English words into the korean language structure and culture. Such words like ?fast food? are pronounced ?pasuhtuh pooduh?. koreans believe that these are English pronunciations when they have been tweaked enough for native speakers to not recognize. In this manner English loses its guardians in the world. Unlike the French language, English does not have its l'Académie Française to keep the English language true. Therefore, the world will always need the presence of the native english speaker, but in a less mandatory role. Lastly, the push for English to be learned as a global language can cause gaps within society and between generations. English, to an extent, is a privilege to the haves. While public schools can teach English from elementary school, the hours in school do not meet the expectations administered by IELTS (the International Language Testing System). Therefore, students need to find extra education in after school programs, causing a separation socioeconomically for those who cannot afford such schooling. There are also problems within generations. When an elementary school student learns English and becomes fluent, they can lose their ability to speak with their elder generation. However, generation gaps are not the only divide created, but also younger and older siblings. An older sibling might have spent all their time in an all-English academy and now cannot speak their mother tongue as well as a younger sibling can. If the world continues to globalize, the need for one uniting medium to communicate is needed. The past half-century has seen the English language attempt to fulfill that role. However, ideas like lingua franca and the inability to provide English to all create situations that need to be addressed if the world is to accomplish this goal.