English medium education

English medium education

An English medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction. A medium of instruction is the language that is used in teaching. The language used may or may not be the official language of the territory. Most schools and institutions of education in modern-day mainly English-speaking countries such as the UK, United States, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand use English as the medium of instruction.

Because a working knowledge of English is perceived as being required in many fields, professions, and occupations, many states throughout the world mandate the teaching of English, at least a basic level, in an effort to increase the competitiveness of their economies.

The language researcher David Graddol predicts that the global spread of English will lead to serious economic and political disadvantages in the future in the UK unless plans are put in place immediately to remedy the situation. Graddol concludes that monolingual English graduates face a bleak economic future as qualified multilingual young people from other countries are proving to have a competitive advantage over their British counterparts in global companies and organisations.

Historical background

English medium education has long been associated with the expansion of English from its homeland in England and the lowlands of Scotland and its spread to the rest of Great Britain and Ireland.

The influence of the British Empire is the primary reason for the language's initial spread far beyond the United Kingdom. Following World War II, the increased economic and cultural influence of the United States led to English permeating many other cultures, chiefly through development of telecommunications technology.

English linguistic imperialism as "the dominance asserted and maintained by the establishment and continuous reconstitution of structural and cultural inequalities between English and other languages."

Phillipson's theory provides a powerful critique on the historical spread of English as an international language and how it continues to maintain its current dominance particularly in postcolonial contexts like India but also increasingly in "neo-colonial" contexts such as continental Europe. His theory draws mainly on Johan Galtung's imperialism theory, Antonio Gramsci's social theory and in particular his notion of cultural hegemony.

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The Government of Pakistan has recently announced the introduction of English lessons on a phased basis to all schools across the country. This new policy states that "English language has been made compulsory from Class-1 onwards" and the "Introduction of English as medium of instruction for science, mathematics, computer science and other selected subjects like economics and geography in all schools in a graduated manner." Caretaker Minister for Education Mr. Shujaat Ali Beg declared January 25, 2008 that eighteen colleges of the city of Karachi would be made "Model English Medium Colleges,"

Posted by: Wasim Javed