English: It’s position in the global arena Essay

incline occupies an important military posture in global nurture at the moment. It seems to be seen as a high posture spoken language with an inherent society to capitalism and globalism. The example websites given, one from a university in the Netherlands and the other from Brazil. two websites argon presented in incline as well as their topic language, despite the federal agency that position is a vicarious language in twain nations. This status, rivalling even the functionary language of the country, seems to have sprung from a human body of sources, not the least the general impression that incline has constrain the y proscribedhful lingua franca. The prestige and encroaching ubiquity of side has contri more thanovered to its more and more high position within academia. The history of colonialism, the status of position schools in the wider global community and the inexor satisfactory link most countries appear between capitalism and position. It is wi thal greatly affected by the various policies pick out by countries. Of course this all begs the question of whether the position of English in high raising is a beneficial one, or another mannikin of English imperialism.Politics plays a hefty role in the position of English and it has always been influenced by the relative prestige it enjoys when compared to other languages. The websites shown both exemplify this status. While both websites are based in countries where the official language is not English (Dutch and Spanish respectively), both either presented in English (the Maastricht website) or have a full English displacement reaction available (the San Paolo website)(The University of San Paolo, 2013)(Maastricht University, 2013). This shows the remarkable influence that the English language has a auxiliary genteelness, especially considering they originate from countries that have no history of British colonialism. other(a) countries, such as India or Malaysia, hav e these ties to English done the colonial history of the British Empire. In particular, the legacy of colonialism has had a profound force on the position of English, not barely in high education, however in the world.During the occupation of the various countries that became part of the British empire, it tended to be the constitution to educate the essential populace in English, to better integrate them into the trim down rungs of government. These countries tend to link English with a high status of education, and, therefore, act out policies to try to capitalise on thisperceived prestige (Hewings, 2012, p96-99). For example, Mahatma Gandhi was educated in an English university, before returning to lead his nation. Also contri moreovering to this intellect of the superiority of English is the fact that many another(prenominal) of these countries do not region a common language to begin with (India, Malaysia and a variety of countries). Thus, the enforcement of Englis h in education provided a common language for various regions to communicate. India, in particular, has a strong history of this. In turn, this makes high education in English almost inevitable, as the high status of higher education is naturally paired with the high status of English within these countries.However, this merchant ship be quite controversial in within the country, with the general sense of smell that the use of English for governance and education leads to a degrading of the native languages. It has also lead to questions of the efficaciousness of teaching in English, referable to the genuinely real possibility of students having a less than perfect grasp of the language(Martin, 2012, p125-129). This stems from the fact that cosmos able to speak a language is different from being able to study academicianally in it(Hewings, 2012, p103-105). While these are valid concerns, the political and social backing of English means that the position of English within th e higher education spheres of these ex-colonial territories is well-secured.There are also interoperable reasons for the position of English in higher education. One reason is that many of the industries that are desirable to students in higher education have higher English language skill requirements. Fields such as science, engine room and programming all rely on a high direct of English based technical speech and many higher education courses are expanded in English(Hewings, 2012, p115- cxx). For example, if one wishes to study any of the sciences, one must(prenominal) become familiar with the technical terms and writing of various academic publications, a large proportion of which are let outed in English. These field require a higher level of education to enrol, and necessitate at least a passing knowledge of English to comprehend. English is also used at the highest levels of business, giving rise to the idea that English has become a global lingua franca for business a nd technology. Thus many get out rook English as a means of appearing more business-like and professional, and to help them compete in the global market(Gray, 2012, p146-148). This gives rise to a feedbackloop, wherein to enter these fields, one must speak English well enough to learn them, which in turn causes those fields to be even more locked in to English based higher education.Additionally, a number of industries have sprung up around higher education, such as academic publishing or English language teacher training. These industries provide a sustained affect for the position of English, with resources for higher education being produced by publishers based out of English language universities(Gray, 2012, p148-150, p158-161). These publishers have little economic incentive to publish in other languages, thus most high end resources for universities are published and sourced from English speaking countries. This is shown by the high amount of universities that offer their c ourses in English(Hewings, 2012, p113). This establishes that a large quantity of materials used in secondary education, and a lot of the more prestigious training for teachers of such, stem from English language universities.Even European universities have begun to offer courses entirely in English, especially in the Eastern European countries such as Slovakia. In these countries, especially those that gained their independence with the fall of the Soviet Union, English is seen as the language of capitalism(Prendergast C., 2012, p33-35). As such, younger people, seeking ambitiously to carve a place for themselves, learn English to better place themselves in higher status jobs(Prendergast C., 2012, p35-38 ). In turn, this created a demand for higher education in English, to the sign where the price of these courses skyrocketed (Prendergast C., 2012, p33). All of these factors have contributed to the seemingly dominant position of English in higher education.Many people have argued for and against the position of English in higher education, with some claiming that the ubiquity of English allows for great collaboration and dissemination of information (Prime Ministers Office, 2008, Seargeant, 2012, p9-10) while others claim that this very(prenominal) ubiquity is pushing out other languages(Sutherland, 2002, Seargeant, 2012, p10) and the features of education that those languages have. This debate hike up solidifies the position of English within higher education, due to the simple citation such a debate infers. By the basic fact that such a debate is happening, the participants have agreed that English has a overlooking presence within higher education. One such melodic phrase posited bythose against the proliferation, is that other languages slide into decline and with them their own particular features within higher education, for example the French thesis-antithesis-synthesis essay(Coleman, 2006, Hewings, 2012, p114-115). If English becomes the sole l anguage of higher education, hence these features may simply cease to exist.The counter argument to this is that the growing ubiquity of English allows for a much greater sharing of information due to providing a common point for many different countries. An additional argument against is that teaching in more than one language can be beneficial to the students ((Monaghan, p134 136). This argument ignores the difficulties of training teachers in the multitude of languages that they may ascertain within the classroom from students of varied backgrounds. Equally, one must not draw a blank that higher education is not only the stage for education but is also a great contributor to the development of science and a retainer of scientific knowledge. By setting the standard of higher education to one language, which did not necessarily have to be English, a much greater pool of knowledge can be made available than might otherwise be possible. Students from various background and cultur es would be able to access the same sources of information and, thus have a greater chance of advancing and gaining knowledge.In conclusion, the position of English within higher education can be thought of as a useful one. It came about due to the specific historical and political factors unique to English. It save so happened that most of the mathematical, scientific and technological notation is based largely in English (for example, the development of the internet was an American innovation). It also just so happened that the notion of capitalism and big business is also near associated with English. Equally, the legacy of colonialism has meant that the English language is spread widely around the globe, and is relate to the upper rungs of these societies, due to the government of these colonies being run largely by Englishmen and the natives they taught English too. These factors all combine into a general view of English as being the language of professionalism and of glob alism, making it attractive for those with skill sets derived from higher education(). In turn this created demand for English to be the language these courses were taught in. Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter for debate, butfor good or ill, the fact remains. English enjoys a lofty position within the higher education system of the world.ReferencesGray J. (2012), English the manufacture in Hewings A. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The commit University, pp. 137 163Hewings A. (2012), Learning English, learning through English in Hewings A. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 93 120Maastricht University (2013) Maastricht University, Leading in Learning online, http//www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/ (accessed 11/04/2013)Martin P. (2012), Tensions between language insurance policy and prac tice in Hewings A. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 121 128Monaghan F. (2012), English lessens in Hewings A. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 129 136Open University (2012), U215, The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open UniversityPrendergast C.(2012), English and ambivalence in a new capitalist plead in Hewings A. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 33 39Seargeant P. (2012), The regime and policies of global English in HewingsA. And Tagg C. (eds) The Politics of English Conflict, Competition, Co-existence, Abingdon, Routledge/Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp. 5 32The University of San Paolo (2013) U niversidade de Sao Paulo online, http//www5.usp.br/en/ (accessed 11/04/2013)