Global spread of English threatens US, UK: study (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(O.K. all you monoglots out there, the's see some hands. :hi:I'm one, but I'm working on it.)

Global spread of English threatens US, UK: study

Tue Feb 21, 2006 03:59 PM ET

By Chris Johnson

LONDON (Reuters) - The dominance of English as the world's top language -- until recently an advantage to both Britain and the United States -- is now beginning to undermine the competitiveness of both nations, according to a major research report.

The report commissioned by the British Council says monolingual English graduates "face a bleak economic future" as multilingual competitors flood into the workforce from all corners of the globe. A massive increase in the number of people learning English is under way and likely to peak at around 2 billion in the next decade, according to the report entitled "English Next."

More than half of all primary school children in China now learn English and the number of English speakers in India and China -- 500 million -- now exceeds the total number of mother-tongue English speakers elsewhere in the world.

These new polyglots, and the companies that employ them, have significant competitive advantages over their monoglot rivals, including a vital understanding of different cultures, in a world faced with rapid globalization. "The competitive advantage of speaking English is ebbing away," said the author of the report, linguistic consultant David Graddol. "Once everyone speaks English, advantage can only be maintained by having something else -- other skills, such as speaking several languages.

(more at link below)

<http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=11289455&src=rss/domesticNews>

[ixion]

1. polyglots are also better at problem solving and critical thinking

but hey, we don't need that here in Jesusland. We done got some Intelligent Design. :eyes:

[oscar111]

5. smart folks are both better at those two, and some take for langs

both sets of skills are caused by having been born with intelligence.

foreign lang classes did not cause critical thiniking.

your touted two skills are "co results of a common cause", not cause and effect.

the common cause is birth with a good intelligence.

[Boomer]

8. IQ is less of a constraint than you imply

Many people of average intelligence can master several languages. The key factor is exposure at an early age, before puberty, when the brain is soaking up new information like a sponge. Children learn new languages with much greater facility than adults, so early intervention has much more effect than IQ in acquiring foreign language fluency.

Most European people know AT LEAST two or three languages just by virtue of living in areas close to other countries throughout their childhood and because their school systems place a premium on language skills.

Many Americans, on the other hand, have little or no consistent exposure to foreign languages and the potential to learn them eventually atrophies. Given the poor quality of many of our schools, the low literacy rates, the low rates of reading for pleasure, even a mastery of English is quite poor for large segments of the population.

Beyond that, however, challenging the brain with contrasting languages and grammatical structures, not to mention cultural references, helps develop critical thinking. Critical thinking isn't a marker of IQ so much as a way of approaching problem solving. The earlier you exercise this skill, the better you'll be at it. After puberty, when the brain has "set" and becomesless flexible (actually sloughing off underactivated neurons), learning critical thinking skills takes more effort. But it's still not rocket science, and well within the scope of anyone with an average intelligence who is willing to apply themselves to the task.

[SoCalDem]

10. But But ButBut.. Americans DO speak other languages..all the time

They speak "survivor"..."nascar"..."football".."hip-hop".....you know.. all the trendy languages:P

[loudsue]

23. Hell! Our President Can't Even Speak ENGLISH!!

We're in major trouble!

:kick:

[KamaAina]

42. But he can speak Mexican

Hell, even Vicente Fox can't speak Mexican :eyes:

[ixion]

13. I was basing my statement on a study posted here a few days back

about skills that are developed by video gamers being similar in nature to polyglots, who develop superior critical problem solving skills vicariously.

Sure, everyone is born with varying mental capabilities. However, taking language classes will certainly improve your critical thinking skills, just as many courses will.

[dysfunctional press]

16. unless you are immersed in a language- it's very difficult to learn

particularly once you've gotten past childhood.

the U.S. educational model in foreign language study- at least when i was in school wa-a-y back when,is particularly bad- you didn't start foreign language study until high school- and nobody is going to become very fluent in languages that way- particularly if they don't have exposure to it outside the classroom.

foreign language study should start as early as possible- kindergarten or even preferably- preschool.

[ixion]

22. which is exactly why our public schools should teach more than one

language.

The second language is the hardest, and it gets easier after that. We need to teach multiple languages as a requirement, rather than an elective, IMO.

[dysfunctional press]

40. i saw a news report a few weeks back-

that said that Mandarin is becoming a popular language- and in early-level grade schools...so things are getting better, albeit at the slower-than-needed pace, preferred by conservatives everywhere. they piss me off.

and i'm glad we chose to remain child-free.

[fujiyama]

34. Hay

Wee heer in da gud ole USA dont need 2 speek uder langwajes! Dam furriners shuld speek in inglish.

USA! USA! /freeperspeak off (I have to say it's harder than it looks- see I'm multilingual)...

[Kolesar]

2. our disadvantage is that we are dumb

We are undereducated. Especially in Ohio. Want fries with that?

[melody]

3. We aren't dumb. We're kept ignorant. Big difference

Our educated people are head and shoulders with the rest of the world. The problem is we now have in place (Reagan on) a group that believes the middle class and poor should not be educated.

[Kolesar]

7. used to be you could get a good job in Ohio with a 12 year education

and you could coast for the last two and take easy courses like general science instead of chemistry. Those days are gone.

[oscar111]

4. advantage comes from NOT wasting time in foreign lang classes

rather, taking classes in engineering or physics or philosophy or econ., will confer advantage to the nation whose students gain those skills.

Knowing twenty ways to say "chair" is a waste of time better spent learning philosophy or chemistry.

Sapir Whorf was disproved in the 'twenties. GBut foreign language teachers still spread their propoganda.

[oscar111]

6. Multiple languages a big brake on human progress

they waste millions of hours of labor on the part of our rare smart folks.

while nine million starve to death yearly for lack of better production methods that could have been invented if time not wasted on foreign lang. classes.

[Bridget Burke]

29. Which languages to you know?

Or are you one of "our rate smart folks" who managed to avoid language courses while studying for your advanced degrees?

[bobbieinok]

12. Sapir Whorf disproved in 'twenties....LINK PLEASE

[da_chimperor]

15. So are you saying someone can't learn economics AND french?

I hope i'm mistaken . . . because that is a ridiculous suggestion.

[Bridget Burke]

28. Why are so many "foreign" scientists also polyglot?

They managed to learn several languages but took all those math & science courses as well. If you're going for courses that will give "advantages to the nation"--why include philosophy?

Of course, some people even lack skill in their "native" language. For example, they don't bother to learn about punctuation.

[iverglas]

32. exactly

As has been said here a few times (let me just add my voice to the chorus), the skills learned by studying languages, math, science, etc., are transferrable to the other fields and improve the chances of success in each field. And learning a second language is in fact likely to improve one's mastery of one's own. I speak a second language fluently, and have studied six others; I would not have such a sound grasp of English if I hadn't.

Learning another language (like learning anything) encourages curiosity, as well as critical/analytical thinking. Both are essential to success.

Multiple languages may indeed be a barrier and a waste of time at present, in some senses. I happen to work in two languages doing some things that might not need to be done if Canada were unilingual instead of bilingual.

But the fact is that we do have multiple languages in the world at present, and knowing more than one does provide an advantage.

The other fact is that language is an important vehicle of more than just sales pitches. It is an inherent part of a people's culture and identity. Loss of a language leads rapidly to loss of a culture. Just ask the First Nations of North America.

Proposing that the world have only one language amounts to proposing that the world have only one culture. And at present, we all know which language and which culture that would be. A lot of people really don't want to forfeit their own culture and identity and acquire someone else's. And it's hard to think how the world would be better if they did.

[Not a robought]

9. US/UK should start licensing English

All usage rights in perpetuity, all media, spoken and written.

Crazy? Not any crazier than paying a license fee to plant a GM seed in the ground.

[fedsron2us]

11. Learn Welsh

and then annoy the rest of the world by insisting on spelling 'taxi' as 'tacsi'.

[ninkasi]

14. Welsh

looks like an extremely difficult language to learn! I speak fairly good Spanish, I learned in my teens, and it was easy, but Welsh? I'm afraid just learning how to pronounce words based on the way they are spelled would give me a nervous breakdown.

[hedgehog]

17. Which language should English speakers learn?

My husband has been with people speaking ten different languages over the past two years. He's learned enough of each to introduce himself and say yes, no, please, thank-you and did pick up a little more of one and freshened up his German. He found that the people he was with wanted to practice their English. The real fun came when he was the English translator for two non-native English speakers. He could understand both, they could both understand him, but they couldn't understand each other's pronunciations. My son has had similar experiences.

The point is that there's not much of an incentive to learn a foreign language unless there's a specific reason. I think learning a foreign language is a good idea, but most people, especially high school students and their parents, are not going to buy into that.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Chinese

Learn the language of the country that will replace the US as the world's sole superpower.

[RazzleDazzle]

19. Yep. Handwriting's on the wall

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

33. Surely you mean "Han writing"

:hide:

[BoneDaddy]

27. totally agreed

As a tai chi practioner I would reap the benefits doubly as I can learn some of the artform from chinese texts and can hopefully find a job when the chinese dominate the world economically.

[Auntie Bush]

20. I was just told by a Brazilian that they stopped teaching English in

there schools and are now teaching Chinese. That's scary!

[raccoon]

25. I agree with you there,

"The point is that there's not much of an incentive to learn a foreign language unless there's a specific reason."

Another thing, if you never get an opportunity to practice it with native speakers, it's very difficult to become at all proficient in speaking and understanding the language. Listening to tapes, CDs, movies, TV programs, etc., in the language certainly help but in real life, not everyone speaks clearly and distinctly as they do on a language tape.

[KamaAina]

43. French!

That'll show the "Freedom Fries" crowd! :-)

[kineneb]

21. second language required for some grad degrees

I had to pass a language proficency exam towards my Masters in music history. There are some subjects in which many of the reference materials are simply not available in English. I passed my exam in German, a very handy language if one is doing any historical research.

[Lisa]

39. some universities had this requirement for all PhDs, but ditched it ...

I didn't have to pass any kind of language test when I went for my doctoral degree in 2003 (even in Canada, which has official bilingualism). But my prof, who got his doctorate in the 1950s at McGill, did (and that was prior to the rise of Quebec nationalism).

In between ... an astrophysicist I know claims that he and some of his grad school buddies told their school (University of Arizona) that their second language was "Fortran" -- and nobody called them on it. That was in the late 1970s. (But in the end, he did end up learning Chinese, and was one of the first US academics to go for a cultural exchange in Mainland China. So in a way, he did meet the requirements after all, later in his career.)

[ConcernedCanuk]

24. "including a vital understanding of different cultures" - that's a biggee

.
.
.

Too many people in many countries do not understand other countries values.

That is not to say they have to AGREE with their values -

It is understanding, and hopefully respecting them.

Saddam knew his country at this time had to be ruled with an iron fist so to speak.

The US invades and forces their own version of "democracy" down Iraq's throat.

Iraq's quality of life has deteriorated consistently since Bush senior initiated GW1.

And now Iraq is a breeding ground for world-wide terrorists on an unprecedented scale....

"Failure Fries" indeed

Just put them beside my Bush-Burger please . . .

(sigh)

(WOW - spell check even let "Bush-Burger" slide by!!) :silly:

[bemildred]

26. Ah, a new excuse for outsourcing, they speak two languages.

Has nothing to do with cheap labor, right?

[Bridget Burke]

30. Yes, language is a skill that can pay off.

If social & cultural factors mean nothing to you.

[bemildred]

31. I think it's good to be multi-lingual.

It's good to be proficient in math and critical thinking too.
But it's not what threatens the US labor pool.

[calimary]

35. Even so, the US labor pool would do well to add to its collective arsenal

because, frankly, this is war (of a different sort) too.

I'm still trying to nail down my Spanish. But I'd guess Chinese studies are the way to go now, because THEY most definitely ARE the next dominant superpower warming up in the bullpen even as we speak. Nice how our "leadership" is still calcified in the old ways, and doing so little to address this for our country's future - other than just sending all our jobs away.

This conversation just made me think back to Teresa Heinz Kerry. WHAT a MAGNIFICENT First Lady she wuold have been - a woman who speaks, what was the count? FIVE languages? Thus enabling her to move easily through a multiplicity of cultures and world arenas, meeting others at their level and being able to communicate fully. She would have been a world-class role model for this.

SHEESH, but people are so threatened by brains and education, aren't they? WE aren't, but the mindset behind the people in power now, and all the wilfully ignorant voters out there who put them in place - that's where the true ignorance is. They're the LAST people who should be placed in charge. We can see by their impressive track record over the last five years - how well that's working out for everybody.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

36. If I may interject here...

I am bilingual (Italian and U.S. English), Italian being my native tongue and U.S. English being my acquired one, when I relocated to the U.S. (rural North Carolina, to be precise) in 1987 at the age of 15. In Italian schools, I had learned French since a fairly early age and I have retained much of that knowledge. Although I do not speak French as fluently as I once did, I can certainly read it and translate it without problems. While in the U.S., I also learned Spanish and, again, although I am not fluent in the spoken language, I have no trouble at all reading complex texts and translating them well.

It is a struggle to remain fluent in Italian at an advanced level. Thankfully, I use Italian often with clients and I keep current with the language by reading online newspapers and watching the occasional RAI broadcast of soccer games or whatever else on TV.

I think it is important to differentiate between 'knowing' a language and being 'fluent' in it. Many of my Italian peers do indeed know English, but I would hardly call them 'fluent' in the language. Pronunciation and grammar are, at best, iffy. The point of learning another language should be to learn it properly as it is spoken, written or read. There are very few foreigners who speak or write English properly (I do not mean 'without an accent'). Of course, there are just as many (if not more) native speakers who do just as poorly (Dubya being a good example of this).

I have met many people who declared themselves 'fluent' in a language or another, only to find out that their fluency was very relative and this is especially true about people in the U.S. who declare themselves 'fluent' in Italian, when instead their knowledge of the language is elementary at best and quite embarassing at worst (especially when they have to communicate with Italians).

I am not a language purist and I am not perfect, but I believe that languages, whatever they may be, suffer if their basic structures, words and grammar rules are not learned properly.

[Bridget Burke]

37. But--even non-fluent knowledge is better than none at all!

It's a pity that our education system usually delays (non-English) language classes until secondary school. Language learning is easier when you're young.

But that's not a good excuse for adults to to avoid exposure to other languages. I will always speak Spanish with an accent. I may never be truly fluent, although I read it well. I do agree that the "rules" help--even if they are not exciting.

Studying a language in adulthood helps keep the brain active. When I began studying Spanish seriously, odd bits of an abortive attempt at German kept popping up.

[Karenina]

38. Learning language keeps the brain

HEALTHY AND ACTIVE!!! :bounce::bounce::bounce:

Englisch is my mother tongue. I was exposed as a toddler to German (Tante Hilde's language, which my father spoke and read) Polish, Spanish, Hungarian... I was taught French by a native speaker in junior high, met up with French travellers in my teenie escapades through the U.S. who had a difficult time believing I was American-born, learned and lost Hebrew and Japanese (although I can still recite prayers and make basic conversation at a Sushi Bar).

THERE IS NO DOWNSIDE to learning languages at whatever level one can handle. The attempt keeps the brain spongy in addition to opening up personal contacts one would never have otherwise. I feel so sorry for particularly Americans who cling to their fears of not being able to understand. You miss out on SO.MUCH.FUN.

[cantstandbush]

41. American racism and snobbery will make it the most illiterate nation

on earth in a few decades.