Thesis
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has been making waves in the United States ever since the country witnessed a huge inflow of foreigners who have come here to make a living. Whether they are refugees, immigrants, business people or visitors, they have all understood the importance of learning English if they wanted to succeed in the U.S. They came here looking for better life styles and better job opportunities. However, things are now gradually changing as business has gone global and most business is now focused on global economies and market. Considering this, it has now become important for Americans to learn a second language to deal with prospective business associates. Countries like China, India , Brazil, Russia and Mexico to name a few, are hogging the limelight as more and more companies shift their base to these countries to sustain international competition and increase their profits. Considering this and the fact that learning has to begin at an early stage, teaching a second language would have to start at school and community levels.
Keywords: classroom, foreign language, competition, global, computers, business
LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE
As countries like China, India, Russia, Mexico, Brazil and Vietnam are growing rapidly, thanks to Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), the majority of global giants like the automotive industries, shipping, heavy engineering, machine tool manufacturers, computer software and hardware and many others. What this means is that most jobs, at least in the core sector which hires the most number of people has gone abroad from our shores. In order to survive and for better job prospects, English-speaking natives will now have to travel overseas for better job prospects. Considering this, learning a second language becomes important. Countries like China and India that was considered poor countries in the 1960-80s, are today representative of the hub for manufacturing industries. This is so because most of the companies that exported goods to these countries have their manufacturing and productions units relocated in those countries. Because most of these companies have moved out to these countries and because the job opportunities in their native countries have diminished, it becomes important for native English-speaking citizens to learn a second language to improve their chances of getting jobs elsewhere.
Learning a second language has its advantages. As Benchekroun (2013) in ‘Tips in Learning a Foreign Language’ says, “No matter what your major is a foreign language will absolutely add more chances to your career.” This is true as with globalization, the opportunity to wok in various positions and places has opened up considerably. Claudette (1998), in ‘Benefits in Learning a Second language: [Final Edition]’ says that, she once read an article quoting Alberta Minister of Education Gary Mar as saying that, “All students can benefit from a second language. The Conference Board of Canada talks about skills required for employability of young people, and the ability to have second languages is within that set of skills they think young people should have.” Claudette goes on to say that she couldn't agree more as “in an era of global economic interdependence where trade barriers between countries are falling every day, more and more employers are looking for people with skills in more than one language. Mastery of a second and a third language increases business opportunities.” To substantiate her view, she quotes the example of speaking in French. “French is spoken in more than 43 countries, but there are more than economic benefits to learning a second language, students who learn a second language can benefit greatly on an academic level as well as on a personal level.” Palmer (2002), says that “at Crowe, in addition to French, students have the opportunity to learn Spanish and Italian. According to the language teachers at the school there are many benefits in learning a second language. While it is more than just helpful for applying to universities and for jobs, the most important reason is that students will come to understand how another culture works, and learns to accept other cultures. Language is the window to other cultures and because of this, there would be less political problems such as the one with Quebec in Canada if more Canadians learned a second language.”
As the economic power shifts from the West to East, it is becoming significantly clear that the next wave of economic giants are going to wake up in the form of countries like China, India and Russia. Therefore, it becomes extremely important for people to learn a second language to increase their chances of developing their career. So how should people go about learning a second language? The best way would be to start young and in schools and colleges. Zhongganggao (2001), in Second Language Learning and the Teaching of Grammar, says that “Adult learners cannot feasibly learn a second language because they have already lost their ‘magic’ for picking up a language”. Indeed, this would be one way of getting Americans to learn a second language, but even adult learners can learn it if they have the right tool and inclination to learn. “Lim and Shen examined the impact of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) on Korean TAFE (Technical and Further Education) college students studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL). They conducted an analysis to understand the students’ perceptions of learning and reading English under a computer-aided learning program using two groups of students; one group exposed to computer assisted language learning, and the other without. They found that though the two groups didn’t show much difference in their pre- and post-test performance, students under the CALL-based English class were far more positive in their perception of their learning environment than those in the traditional English class. The study showed the effectiveness of computer-aided learning on students learning a foreign language” (Lim and Shen, 2006). It is easy to understand and learn a second language at a young age. As Mir (2013), said, “It wasn't a big deal for me to learn at that age.” Some of the effective ways to learn a second language would be through:
- Computer-aided
- Learn a second language by listening, understanding and repeating
- Use of audio/visual texts to understand through listening and seeing
- Practice in groups
Visuals can help in understanding the situation under which a speech is going, while texts below in English can help understand the meaning of the conversation. The video can be played repeatedly to pronounce and use the words spoken by the people in the video. Such sessions can be interesting and assist in learning a new language.
An interesting point why adults find it hard to learn a second language is because of personal reasons more than from a need. One reason could be because of the pressure at work because of which they have less time for themselves. Another reason could be that many parents need to supplement their existing income by pursuing extra income to meet growing expenses.
An issue that can be difficult for students in learning second language learning would be the motivation to learn another language. Another issue that stops English-speaking natives from learning a second language is as Block and Cameron (2001) says, “Teaching a second language as an international language has a lot of challenges. These could include cultural, social and political dimensions.” Waxman and Tellez (2002) in ‘Research Synthesis on Effective Teaching Practices for English language Learners,’ state that the pressing problem with teaching learners of second language is the shortage of qualified teachers. The best way to overcome these challenges would be by organizing contests for students in second language proficiency, discussing about different cultures and asking students to present some cultural or social issues of the country whose language they have chosen, and reward those students who do well in class in this subject. As for getting qualified teachers, higher pay will work as a bonus. It will instigate others to learn the language and apply for the position of a language teacher.
Conclusion
In the context of how the global economic scenario is shaping, it would be difficult to ignore the importance of learning a second language. In countries like China, India and Russia to a certain limit, English is considered a second language. They start learning the language at an early age and almost all schools compulsorily have English as a language. With the increase of foreign companies in these countries, an eligible worker has to learn English to communicate and work with co-workers. It was not because they wanted to learn English that adults in these countries chose to learn it, but because of the necessity. Adult learning is a huge revolution in India. Given what is happening in that part of the globe, it is time that learning a second language for English-speaking natives became mandatory.
References
Benchekroun, R, (2013), Tips on learning a foreign language university of South Florida St. Petersburg, retrieved http://www.usfsp.edu/blog/2013/04/15/tips-on-learning-a-foreign-language/,
Block, D, and Cameron, D, (2001), Globalization and English Teaching, Routledge, ISBN 0415242754, p.14
Claudette, T, (1998), Benefits in learning second language: [Final Edition], Edmonton Journal, Infomart, Business and Economics--Banking and Finance, URL http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/252628180?accountid=458
Lim, K, and Shen, H, Z, (2006), Integration of computers into an EFL reading classroom, ReCall, Cambridge University Press, Volume 18 / Issue 02 /doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0958344006000528
Palmer, J, (2002), Many benefits in learning languages: [Final Edition], Trail Times, Catching Up At The Crowe, Infomart, General Interest Periodicals—Canada, URL http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/358295103?accountid=458
Waxman, H, and Tellez, K, (2002), Research Synthesis on Effective Teaching Practices for English Language Learners, Office of the Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington DC, p.7-30
Zhongganggao, D, (2001), Second Language Learning and the Teaching of Grammar [1], Education, 122(2), 326
