English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education

Download or read book English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education written by Andy Kirkpatrick and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-10-12 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Even as Anglophone power wanes in Asia, and China and India rise, the role of the English language in the region continues to develop. How are students in Asian nations such as Vietnam, Malaysia and China itself being taught English? This much-needed overview analyzes the differing language education policies of selected countries that also include Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka. Noting ASEAN’s adoption of English as its sole working language, it traces the influence of globalization on English language education in Asia: in many systems, it pushes local languages off the curriculum and is taught as a second language after the national one. Informed by a comprehensive review of current research and practice in English teaching in Asia, this volume considers the many different roles English is playing across the region, as well as offering an informed assessment of the prospects of English—and Chinese—being a universal language of communication.