27 March 2004, Issue 8

In Today's Email:

• TESOL Arabia Conference, 2004
• ELT and the New World Order by Gregory Hadley
• Linguistic Imperialism: 10 Years On: An Exclusive Interview with Robert Phillipson
• Teaching English as a Missionary Language (Arabic Translation)
• "If I Catch You Speaking Arabic, You're Fired!"
• Newswatch -
  - Teaching the Language of the Conqueror, Z Magazine Online 16 (6), 2003
  - TEFL & International Politics: A Personal Narrative, IATEFL Issues, No. 175, pp. 10-11, October 2003

TESOL Arabia Conference, 2004

As many of you know, the recent TESOL Islamia stand sponsored by Mountain of Light Productions and Muslim Education Quarterly proved extremely successful. We would especially like to thank Yusuf Islam (a.k.a. Cat Stevens) and Abdul Mabud of Muslim Education Quarterly for kindly supporting our work and providing us with an opportunity to raise awareness of Muslim educational materials among TESOL practitioners in the region. We were generally very pleased at the response to our stand, which easily exceeded our normal expectations. We are now in the process of planning for the inaugural TESOL Islamia conference in 2005 - inshAllah - and in due course will be seeking volunteers to assist in organising the event. So if you're interested in helping out, do drop us a line!
 

ELT and the New World Order: Nation Building or Neo-colonial Reconstruction?

Abstract: Momentous events of the late 20th and early 21st century have led to the rapid and sometimes disturbing growth of American influence around the world.  This informal empire both explicitly rewards and implicitly threatens those living in nations of the expanding circle, depending upon their mastery of the English language and their conformity to Anglo-American cultural norms.  Rewards often come in the form of greater access to political, economic and cultural power.  Threats range from economic marginalization to cultural isolation. After understanding some of the cultural factors that seem to energize the American Empire, this presentation will consider some of the aspects related to the teaching of English as an International Language.  What are some of the wider sociopolitical forces that shape our decisions as language teachers?  As educators ethically reflect upon their role, how will their decisions support or subvert the aims of those who have a stake in the continued supremacy of the English language?

Gregory Hadley is Associate Professor at Niigata University of International and Information Studies, Niigata, Japan.

If you would like to submit an article for our Viewpoint page, please contact us at info@tesolislamia.org

Linguistic Imperialism: 10 Years On: Exclusive Interview with Robert Phillipson

Last year on the occasion of the annual MLI conference, Professor Robert Phillipson kindly gave us an exclusive interview. Here is an extract of the transcript based on the original audio:

KARMANI:  Robert Phillipson, a very warm welcome to the United Arab Emirates. It's been said about your work that it is patronising because it treats vast areas of the non-English speaking world, not least Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as somehow being passive recipients of English linguistic imperialism. How do you respond to that charge?

PHILLIPSON: I think that's a disturbing claim and I certainly have only taken it upon myself to try to influence my own group. I do regard them as my primary audience. If other people can use my work in other contexts, obviously that's great but I think that some of the people who've claimed that I am in some way implicitly operating with agentless victims would have difficulty in documenting that in the text itself......

To access the entire transcript of the interview, please click here >>>

Robert Phillipson is a world renowned authority in the field of English applied linguistics. He is particularly well-known for his ground breaking book 'Linguistic Imperialism' published by Oxford University Press, 1992. He has published extensively in a wide range of academic journals on issues related to language policy and the role of English as a global language. His most recent book is 'English-Only Europe? Challenging Language Policy' published by Routledge, 2003.

We hope you enjoy reading interview transcript and look forward to your comments and feedback.

Teaching English as a Missionary Language (Arabic Translation)

Alastair Pennycook and Sophie Couthand-Marie's article 'Teaching English as a Missionary Language' was recently translated into Arabic by Professor Muhammad Raji Zughoul at Yarmouk University. We would like to extend our sincere thanks for his efforts in putting together this very important contribution for the benefit of Arabic speakers.

To access the article please click here >>>

Muhammad Raji Zughoul is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics at the Department of English of Yarmouk University, Jordan
 

"If I Catch You Speaking Arabic, You're Fired!"

Newswatch

The Pentagon will need either entire battalions of interpreters or brigades of imported teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) to administer the “reconstructed” Iraq now on the drawing boards. Most likely the second option will be promoted: the lucrative market for EFL being opened up by our generals will be a windfall for teachers from Sydney to Seattle. Experts from numerous other fields will also be recruited to reshape Iraqi education from kindergarten to university. Platoons of Western researchers, including graduate students, will likely descend on Iraq as transnational foundations seek to fund new projects. American universities will attempt to set agendas for collaboration and research in Iraqi academe.

 

To access the entire article click here >>>

If it is true that the USA is shifting from its age of republic to its age of empire, English becomes once again an imperial language, and that is significant. If Iraq, for example, is to emerge from its current turmoil in any way that is foreseen by its present rulers, then that will be an Iraq in which the ability to communicate effectively in English is of paramount importance. Without English language teaching, imperial policy would be infinitely more difficult to impose. To put that another way, English language teaching is an arm of imperial policy - out in the open - in ways that were not so obvious before. I believe that it is now possible to see us, EFL teachers, as a second wave of imperial troopers.

 

To access the entire article click here >>>