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| Sunday, 13 March 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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by R. L. Chandrasoma, Faculty of Education University of Technology, Sydney In the past two decades or so, English has undergone tremendous changes owing to the new cultural imperatives that are globally visible. English is certainly the lingua franca of soft technoculture. In other words it is the common language of the new technologies of communication and of the attendant cultural practices. The resurgence of nationalist sentiments following the establishment of national governments, often through democratic means in most Asian countries, was geared in large measure to the elimination or marginalisation of English from its traditional roles as the medium of instruction and as the official language. However, in most third world countries, with the advent of new technologies of communication which had their origins within anglocentric traditions English was absorbed as a means of communication not mainly through nationalist regimes, but through the burgeoning corporate cultures. The contribution of English as an international language to the dissemination of a vast repertoire of disciplinary knowledge throughout the world can hardly be overlooked, and this aspect has recently been convincingly demonstrated in the works of Pennycook and Philipson (1992). Sociological implications of this linguistic 'neocolonialism' are quite patent. English is not only 'worshipped' in newly independent countries (eg. former British colonies) but also its legitimacy as a medium of the new technology of communication seems to have been globally defined. People who know English or claim to know English are thought of as a superior to those who do not. Superior in social stature, and superior in performativity in the corporate sector, this new breed of people exercise enormous influence on maintaining hegemonic relations in almost every sphere of society. (It is interesting to note that in Sri Lanka, English is still associated with the 'sword'(kaduwa), the traditional emblem of power, so much so that most students use the colloquial expression Kadda to refer to English). These hegemonic relations were originally derived as part of colonial heritage, which was later reinforced by the pervasive influence of the new capitalism of the technologically advanced West. Owing to the dominating influence of the English educated elites who occupy key positions in multinational corporations as well as educational institutions, textual production and practices in related disciplines is often in the English medium. Strategies Language marketing strategies disseminated by the economic supremacy of the leading English speaking countries, notably the USA and Britain, have evoked new expectations and aspirations in the mind of the post-modern consumer as a result of globalisation. Thus globalisation has given impetus to textual construction and consumption of texts associated with English language teaching and learning at a rate unparalleled in the history of man kind. Closely linked to this linguistic strategy development required for active participation in the discourses of new technological advancements and free market economy is the cultural metamorphosis. Changes brought about by the 'cultural hybridisation', I believe, necessitates an acculturation process that forms part and parcel of any pedagogical endeavour in English language teaching. A bevy of writers have recently ventured into producing texts surrounding globalisation and the role of English. While these texts themselves substantiate my claim to the construction of new texts surrounding NTC, it would perhaps be worthwhile examining and explicating some misunderstandings and misconceptions associated with these popular constructs. What is more prominent in the context of English language teaching in non-English speaking countries is the issue of legitimacy than hegemony as to which methodology should take precedence. Also of importance to note is that pedagogical enterprises relating to methodology are rarely confined to a single linguistic circle. They have often been influenced by the theoretical output of disciplines such as social anthropology, psychoanalysis, philosophy, sociology, and education, besides linguistics, at a given time. Knowledge is a site of contestation and within soft technoculturalism contestability of knowledge has dramatically increased; hence discourses surrounding methodologies in either periphery or centre countries irrespective of their coercive or consensual voices are constantly susceptible to critical scrutiny. At a macro level, it seems to me that global situatedness is slowly but surely eroding marginalised areas of local situatedness. A noticeable example of this decontextualisation is the resources of NTC that form part of any English language teaching curriculum. Hence the introduction of texts on NTC to English language teaching programs throughout the world is a reflection of these new textual dynamics. Thus the commodification of English throughout the world, a tangible phenomenon we are witnessing today, is closely linked to the technocentric approaches to the dissemination of new knowledges. Imperialism Hegemonically considered, this is just another strand of cultural imperialism manifest through the dissemination of technology-related knowledges. My argument here is that new disciplinary texts are being produced and new skills introduced as a corollary to socio-economic demands generated by NTC. It is obvious that the nature of knowledge has undergone changes in line with the imperatives of soft technoculture. For example, it is hard to imagine the contents of a coursebook in English language teaching today without references to new technologies of communication. It should also be noted here that our attitude to knowledge has also dramatically changed; we always envisage that any knowledge domain should have some form of affinity with the values and norms of soft technoculture. We are no longer prepared to understand geography as we did twenty years ago; instead we would like to know some sophistication introduced to this discipline in line with the values of soft technoculture (eg. new technologies and software texts used in climatology). Literacies Development of sophisticated software products while being themselves new modes of texts contribute immensely towards constructing texts with effortless ease. Texts on specific literacies especially centred on generic computer skills, required for appropriating new technologies of communication have appeared mostly in English. The ever-growing popularity of and dependency on the Internet in almost every sphere of human activity have propelled educational providers to introduce literacy programs and construct related texts. It is also worth noticing the heavy volume of journalistic texts on the products of soft technoculture available on a regular basis to the laymen in many parts of the world in English. Another stimulating and useful dimension to literacy is what Bruner (1990:73) calls 'prelinguistic readiness..., a highly malleable yet innate representation that is triggered by the acts and expressions of others and by certain basic social contexts in which human beings interact'. Himself a psychologist, Bruner's focus here is not on soft technoculture, but on acts of meaning. However, his analysis throws much light on the nature of less linguistically determined skills required for using physical equipment relating to soft technoculture. It seems to me that the notion that English has become a global language owing to the colonising effects of the west is misleading since it is based on the convenient context of colonialism or neocolonialism or both. In fact, a deconstructive reading of postcolonial discourses would reveal otherwise: that English has become an international language owing to the efforts of the colonized. Phillipson in his work attempt to macro-contextualise the imperial theme of English (1992) and promotes the colonising theory; Pennycook (1998) while critiquing this narrow theorising, micro-contextualizes the imperial situatedness and problematises the emergence of various Englishes in various geopolitical regions. His approach premised in assertive characteristics in the use of English in many parts of the world is ideologically charged. It is perhaps worth examining the 'being' of English as an international language as well. English is being marketed as a product precisely because there exists a huge demand for English. This demand is also linked to the absorption of values filtered through the corporate culture of the west by the rest. My proposition here becomes even more conspicuous, if one analyses the 'being' of English from a socio-linguistic perspective. In Nigeria, for example, English is a blessing for communicative purposes in the midst of around 250 dialects used by an equal number of tribes of clans. In fact, the social mobility of Nigeria is largely galvanised by English. It has produced Nobel prize winners for literature (eg. Wolesoynka) based on works written in English. The notion of linguistic imperialism seems too insignificant here for it is precisely a socio-linguistic issue rather than a colonising issue. If we look at this global issue from a sociological point of view, we might perceive the insularity of the imperial theme promoted by some scholars. The problem of English instead should be investigated in relation to political and economic power structures. 'Students around the world', claims Professor Pennycook, 'are not only obliged to reach a high level of competence in English to purpose their studies, but they are also dependent on forms of Western knowledge that are of limited value...to the local context'. Such obligations are eventuated not by the West but by the local political and economic power structures that are prepared to embrace Western knowledges and discursive practices through English. Resources So English is not something thrust upon by the west on the rest. For example, I am sure, no English speaking western power has asked China to allocate so much resources into its burgeoning and mushrooming English language teaching industry. English is a 'discourse' emulated by the rest for their own prosperity and survival. As Pennycook points out, such endeavours are by and large unproductive. However, in terms of knowledge production and consumption, the global presence of English is an asset, indeed. The very consumption of interdisciplinary knowledge for example is immensely facilitated owing in large measure to the global presence of English. Texts on women's studies, environmental studies, and various other specialities attached to almost every discipline are readily consumable as a result of this linguistic might. Moreover, new textual dynamics have emerged from non-traditional quarters; Canonical texts in English departments for example are being superseded by texts authored by non-English speaking background writers. The construction of interdisciplinary knowledge has also been facilitated; for example Business Faculty members of a Sydney University could establish joint research projects with their counterparts in Moscow or in Beijing since most scholars in these countries are bilingual. Despite these advantages, one might also notice some bottlenecks associated with the textual consumption within soft technoculture. It is certainly not hard to perceive the pervasive influence of English in almost all spheres of our lives today. A new mode of cultural imperialism has been ushered in by this linguistic might. It is a juggernaught that can cripple the practices of most national and local languages. It is unfortunate that the sociological implications of this linguistic phenomenon are not adequately explored. |
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