不要固执于英语

不要固执于英语

I know what you’re thinking. You think I’ve lost my way, and somebody’s going to come on

the stage in a minute and guide me gently back to my seat. I get that all the time

in

Dubai. ―Here

on holiday are

you, dear?‖

―Come to visit the children?‖ ―How long are you staying?‖

Well

actually, I hope for a while longer yet. I have been living and teaching in Gulf for over 30 years.

And in that time, I have seen a lot of changes. Now that statistic is quit shocking. And I want to

talk to you today about language loss and the globalization of English. I want to tell you about my

friend

who

was

teacher English

to

adults

in

Abu Dhabi.

And

one

fine

day,

she

decided

to

take

them into the garden to teach them some nature vocabulary. But it was she who ended up learning

all the Arabic words for the local plants, as well as their uses, medicinal uses, cosmetics, cooking,

herbal.

How

did

those

students

get

all

that

knowledge?

Of

course,

from

their

grandparents

and

even

their

great-grandparent

s.

It’s

not

necessary

to

tell

you

how

important

it

is

to

be

able

to

communicate across generation. But sadly, today, languages are dying at an unprecedented rate. A

language dies every 14 days. Now at the same time, English is the undisputed global language.

Could there be a connection? We don’t know. But I do know that I’ve seen a lot of changes. When

I first came out to the Gulf, I came to Kuwait in the days it was still a hardship post. Actually, not

that long ago. That is a little bit too early. But nevertheless, I was recruited by the British Council

along

with

about

25

other

teachers.

And

we

were

the

first

non- Muslims

to

teach

in

the

state

schools

there

in

Kuwait.

We

were

brought

to

teach

English

because

the

government

wanted

to

modernize

the

country

and

empower

the

citizens

through

education.

And

of

course,

the

U.K.

benefited from some of that lovely oil wealth.

Okay. Now this is the major change that I’ve seen how teaching English has morphed from

being a mutually beneficial practice to becoming a massive international business that it is today.

No

longer

just

a

foreign

language on

the

school

curriculum.

And

no

longer

the

sole

domain

of

mother England. It has become a bandwagon for every English-speaking nation on earth. And why

not? After all, the best education according to the latest World University Rankings is to be found

in

the

universities

of

the

U.K.

and

the

U.S.

So

everybody

wants

to

have

an

English

education,

naturally. But if you’re not a nati

ve speaker, you have to pass a test. Now can it be right to reject a

student on linguistic ability alone? Perhaps you have a computer scientist who’s a genius. Would