Language Policy and Political Economy: English in a Global Context
Thomas Ricento
Abstract
English is the common denominator that unites the work presented in this volume; it provides a focal point to illustrate the ways in which a political economic approach can account for a range of phenomena in diverse settings in which a “global” language has attained a special status as (an often perceived) tool for socioeconomic mobility. The findings reveal the complex ways in which government leaders and policymakers, as well as communities and individuals in those communities, make decisions within a global economy about the languages that will be taught as subjects or used as media of ins ... More
English is the common denominator that unites the work presented in this volume; it provides a focal point to illustrate the ways in which a political economic approach can account for a range of phenomena in diverse settings in which a “global” language has attained a special status as (an often perceived) tool for socioeconomic mobility. The findings reveal the complex ways in which government leaders and policymakers, as well as communities and individuals in those communities, make decisions within a global economy about the languages that will be taught as subjects or used as media of instruction in schools. English is often promoted by its advocates as a social “good” with unquestioned instrumental value; yet the introduction of English in the elementary school curriculum in low-income countries very often leads to limited literacy both in English and the national language. Synchronic contextual analyses of English in various countries and regions are snapshots of a moving target with fuzzy boundaries; this is even more so the case when the object of analysis is “lingua franca English,” a fluid, contextually realized “practice” that may be described in situ which is not stable and likely never will be. The degree to which English serves effectively as a lingua franca depends on who the interlocutors are, the situation, and the extent to which interlocutors’ interests and goals are mutually compatible and understood.
Keywords:
global English,
language policy,
English in development,
political economy,
English as a lingua franca,
neoliberalism
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780199363391 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: January 2015 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199363391.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Thomas Ricento, editor
University of Calgary, Professor & Chair, English as an Additional Language
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