Introduction
English is the official language of 67 sovereign countries and 27 non-sovereign entities around the world. Additionally, there are several other countries where English is either used as a joint official language or the language of sub-units of the state. It is widely recorded that there are 196 nations (with South Sudan being the most recent). Statistically, it can be said that English is the official language of about 34% of the countries on the planet
Historically, most of the countries that have English as their official language were colonised by the British as part of the British Empire. This came with the British model of democracy which is mainly parliamentary democracy and the English legal system based on the laws of natural justice. This has influenced and shaped the social and cultural structures of these countries and also defines the approach and impact of education in these countries.
The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate and analyse the impact of the British English language on educative practices globally. This will include the evaluation of the influence of British English on different countries and how this has affected and influenced the approaches for imparting knowledge.
Historical Background of British English and the Educational Context
Britain’s major educational institutions have roots that go back to Roman days. However, most of these institutions took a major turnaround and became empirical and scientific in the era of the Protestant Reformation. Due to the fact that empiricism and science took over from the metaphysics of the Middle Ages, Britain was positioned to become the leader of the new global order after the 1700s.
Another significant aspect that makes Britain a fundamental leader around the world is the fact that Britain led the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s which was based on advances science and technology. This led to the presentation of efficient and better mechanisms for the production of goods for nations. In the mid 19th Century, Britain’s exports went so high that they were exporting over 60% of the world’s manufactured products into nations around the world. This helped the British to build credibility and solidify the use of their language throughout colonial times.
In addition to the improved and enhanced methods of producing goods, the British also championed the idea of free market principles which can be traced to Scottish Economist, Adam Smith. This concept of determining prices by the forces of demand and supply and the freedom to pursue any business venture within Capitalist principles survived through the years. Therefore, this has become the fundamental and acceptable worldview and framework within which young people in nations around the world are trained.
Some scholars believe that the British Empire was steeped in the concept of Pax Romana and this was meant to export the British educational context and systems to faraway lands albeit in a peaceful and diplomatic manner. This led to the creation of a curriculum that was meant to train people to work with the British during colonialism. However, this changed when these colonies gained independence and created a mass-educational system. This formed the foundation and basis for the creation of the existing educational system in most of these countries. Due to the linkage of the British culture and traditional to these educational structures, British English plays a leading and inseparable role in the achievement and furtherance of education in countries where English is a formal language.
Globalisation and British English
Today, English is the lingua franca of the commercial hubs of major nations around the world. This makes it a global language, rather than a regional language like Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic. One of the reasons why British English remains an indispensable tool in the classroom setting is the fact that it teaches students to interact and expand their scope. Therefore, British English is an important element for providing students better guidance in global and international affairs.
Secondly, British English is a highly progressive language. It has a system of absorbing different words, ideas and concepts from other cultures and has created a significant body of theories and philosophies that are acceptable in most parts of the world. The British National Corpus identified that there are 900,000 spoken words in English and this includes words that were absorbed tactfully from Latin, French, African languages and many other languages around the world.
Research Methodology
In order to complete this study, there was the need to collect and analyse data in order to draw conclusions and inferences in this study. This led to a series of reviews and analysis that culminated in the assessment of the impact of English language in the teaching and learning of English.
The study sought to find out the extent to which British English is being used as a means of teaching some important elements and features of education in some British Commonwealth countries and other countries where the influence of English has been so entrenched and instituted.
In order to conduct the fieldwork and gather information for onward processing, the following hypotheses were formulated:
H1: Educational curriculum in countries around the world are strongly influenced by British English
H2: Teaching with British English is much more convenient and effective
H3: The application of education to national development is dependent on the use of British English.
On the basis of these three hypotheses, data was collected and analysed to show the extent to which teachers and educational institutions integrate the teaching and learning of British English in their curriculum and their motivation for doing so. This was to show how essential British English is and how it operates within the context of teaching and learning English.
Samples for this study were taken from 10 teachers of institutions around the world. They were taken from India (3), Ghana (2) and South Africa (2) which are countries in the British Commonwealth as well as the English side of Cameroun (1) and Rwanda (2) which are both African countries where English plays a significant role but are not active members of the British Commonwealth.
The questions were presented in a Likert scale with responses ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (extremely high). There were other pointers in-between and this was practically presented to the respondents with the questions in Appendix 1 below.
Findings
Each of the 10 respondents completed their entire questionnaires. The findings are segregated into three main pointers corresponding to the hypotheses and the structure of the questionnaire.
Educational curriculum and British English
The first question asked whether the respondents believed their country’s educational curriculum was carved out of the British educational system or not. The vast majority stated that it was. This implies that they all had educational curriculum that are based on the British educational tradition. However, the three respondents from the non-Commonwealth countries stated yes, but in a weaker variance. This is because their educational system was somewhat influenced by the British educational processes and systems
The next question assessed whether the British influenced made it imperative for British English to be an important part of their education. This was affirmative, however, it came with a weaker response than the first one. This shows that there are other reasons, not just a historical influence that makes British English an important part of the education.
Convenience of teaching through British English
In this section, the emphasis was on how important British English was as an aid in facilitating the teaching and learning of English. In the first question, the respondents identified overwhelmingly with an average of 4.75 out of a possible scale of 5 that English helps their students to interact with others in the world and hence, give their students more opportunities in life.
Another feature that they agreed to at an equally high level of affirmation (4.62) was that English unifies the different groups in the traditional classroom. Hence, it can be said English is a major aid and tool for the coordination of affairs in the different classroom and academic settings.
A total average of 4.10 agreed that translating information from the local dialect to teach students is complicated. Hence, they had to make do with British English which provided simpler lexis and structure and had developed its potentials as a unifying language to all its users. Hence, there was another consensus that English is an important part and aspect of teaching without going through the complication of translating to other languages.
Practical aspects of applying education to national development
In this point, there was the need to measure how British English language acts as a major tool for the teaching of contemporary and modern ideas and concepts that are relevant to the teaching and learning of the language. Thus, the respondents stated that in areas relating to human rights narratives, British English was a better language and means of communication because it helped the students to gain a better insight into these issues. Therefore, 3.67 was the media which was above the average of 2.5
In relation to economics and ideologies relating to capitalist views of things, the average response was 4.27 and this was because the respondents believed that British English made it easier and better to get students to become rational thinkers than those who used other languages.
In terms of education and the integration of issues relating to technology and sustainability, there was an indifferent response. This is because as many as 4 respondents stated that they neither agreed nor disagreed. This shows that people did not think that British English influenced narratives relating to sustainability and technology.
Discussions
This section of the study will review and analyse the findings and assess their implications for the wider applications and meanings of these trends in the study. This will provide important interpretations and help in drawing appropriate conclusions.
Educational curriculum and British English
Clearly, the position taken by the respondents is one that is supported generally, by writers and authors in the industry. There is a general view that most British colonial institutions in these countries in the former British Commonwealth adopted important traditions and features that exists in Britain. The same applies to the countries that were not in the British Commonwealth, including the French and other European colonies because they all used institutions that were prestigious as a means of training their elite. Hence, after independence, when the need to set up and maintain an educational system that was modern and could compete with other countries around the world, such countries reverted to setting up a British educational curriculum that was steeped in the teaching and learning through British English. This means the educational system was so similar and steeped in the British educational system and this cannot be separated from each other.
Convenience of teaching through British English
The English language has been seen as a tool for the promotion of globalisation and the formation of a global lingua franca that most people seek to use. This is due to the fact that English is responsive and has developed specialised elements that make it a preferred means of communication. This is often credited to the fact that there are many tools and systems that have been developed over the years to help to teach English in a much better manner.
Hence, the teaching and learning of English as a unifying tool is important. It is also worthy to point out that English is seen subconsciously by many as a unifying language which is spoken by an external third party, therefore nations around the world view it as a language that is devoid of their local politics and divisions.
Practical aspects of applying education to national development
In relation to teaching contemporary and modern ideas, it appears that British English forms the core of the main philosophies and worldviews of the modern world. This includes ideas of rational economic thinking and human rights. However, though, there seem to be some gaps and issues that relates to relatively more complex issues about the position of America in leading the technological revolution of our time and other debates in the global order like sustainability. This means that British English is somewhat limited in being used as a tool for teaching these new elements and features. Hence, this could logically explain how and why the respondents tend to have a lower level of enthusiasm about using British English as an inherent tool for the teaching of technology and sustainability and such modern ideas and concepts.
Conclusion
This study has shown that English is a major language for the conduct of business around the world and in relation to education, English is preferred because it is inherently bound to the institutions of colonialism. English is also linked to some dominant concepts that are applicable throughout the world like free market ideas and human rights and civil liberties. The language has positioned itself as a dynamic one that absorbs other concepts and theories in other countries. Hence, English is now a major lingua franca around the world and this sets the foundation for the utilisation of English as a major language.
The field work indicated that the educational curriculum in nations around the world, particularly in the British Commonwealth is strongly influenced by British English. This includes the formation of structures that links British English to the development of these countries even after independence.
It is also identified that teaching with British English is much more convenient and effective. This is because it promotes unity and minimises diversity and local differences amongst students in a classroom. British English also makes it easier to teach without having to translate many words and ideas to make meaning to a class.
Finally, the study shows that British English is important. However, in terms of practical application and the quest for national hegemony, British English is complemented by American English. This is due to the fact that the Americans championed and led affairs into the 21st Century and hence, the American culture plays a vital role in shaping the worldviews of students and other stakeholders.
Bibliography
Ainsworth, J., 2013. Sociology of Education: An A-to-Z Guide. 3rd ed. London: SAGE.
Allen, R. C., 2013. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Apple, M. W., 2010. The State and the Politics of Knowledge. 4th ed. London: Routledge.
Christison, M. A. & Murray, D. E., 2011. What English Language Teachers Need to Know Volume III: Designing Curriculum. London: Routledge.
Diskin Ravid, D. & Bat-Zeev Shyldkrot, H., 2015. Perspectives on Language and Development: Essays in Honor of Ruth A. Berman.. Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic Publishers. .
Duignan, P. & Gann, L. H., 2010. The Rebirth of the West: The Americanization of the Democratic World, 1945-1958. 3rd ed. London: Rowman & Littlefield.
Great Britain National Audit Office, 2010. The British Council: Achieving Impact. London: TSO.
Jeynes, W. & Robinson, D. W., 2012. International Handbook of Protestant Education. 2nd ed. London: Springer.
Joyce, P., 2013. The State of Freedom: A Social History of the British State since 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kalliney, P. J., 2013. Commonwealth of Letters: British Literary Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Marllina, R. & Giri, R. A., 2012. The Pedagogy of English as an International Language. London: Springer.
Mauranen, A. & Ranata, E., 2015. English as a Lingua Franca: Studies and Findings. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Nations Online, 2015. Countries in the World by Language. [Online] Available at: http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/countries_by_languages.htm[Accessed 25 June 2015].
Parchami, A., 2009. Hegemonic Peace and Empire: The Pax Romana, Britannica and Americana. London: Routledge.
Paul, L. M., Simons, G. F. & Fennig, C. D., 2015. English is a "Statutory national working language."; Brunei." Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 19th ed. Dallas, Texas: SIL International..
Appendix 1: Questionnaire Information
Educational curriculum and British English
My country’s educational system was carved out of British educational curriculum
Our current academic syllabus are strongly influenced by British education, hence the British English is important
Convenience of teaching through British English
The use of British English helps us to merge and interact with our neighbours.
British English unifies different groups of people in our classrooms
Translating information to the local dialect is often complicated so teaching in British English is often a better option.
My country’s British English standard and element is important and plays the role of a unifying language within the country
Practical aspects of applying education to national development
Human rights narratives in our country are best taught and discussed in British English
Economics and free market principles are best taught and discussed in British English
Britain conducts a lot of research into technology and sustainability, hence teaching in British English allows us to achieve better results than we do when we teach in the local dialect
