Event overview
English as a Lingua Franca in Asia: the threat to other languages
Speaker: Professor Andy Kirkpatrick, Griffith University, Brisbane
In 2009 the ten countries which comprise the linguistically and culturally diverse Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ratified the ASEAN Charter. This privileges English by making it the sole working language of the group. At the same time, the Charter calls for respect for the languages, religions and cultures of the member states. In this presentation I shall consider the implications of the inherent contradiction between making English the sole working language while calling for respect for the languages of the region. By reviewing a selection of the region’s language education policies, I shall argue that, far from developing respect for local languages, policies of the majority of the countries emphasise the learning of the respective national languages and English. This promotion of the national language plus English represents a serious threat to many of the region’s one thousand + languages, as well as placing serious obstacles in the educational paths of the children who do not speak their respective national language as a mother tongue. The presentation will conclude by critically considering whether the recently introduced Mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB-MLE) policy of the Philippines represents a potential model for the maintaining or transmitting of the region’s endangered languages.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Nov 2017 | 3:00pm - 5:00pm |
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