English education – Educational Sociolinguistics

TOO MUCH English priority!

Kensaku Ogata

Kubota found in her study that language skill is not considered as the goal, and instead, the goal is to accomplish the task whether in Japan or abroad. She also says that companies do not necessarily prioritize pre-existing skills in English (or another language) for employment or overseas work assignment (Kubota 2011). However, I suppose that in terms of English ability, there are still plenty of companies which prioritizes English abilities rather than the ability to communicate when hiring the new employees. Also, in some companies, the adequate level of TOEIC score is necessary for promotion and other companies even provide a bonus for their employees who acquire a high score. This supports Grin et al. (2010) who suggested, in recent quantitative research on language economics, that language skills are indeed positively related to earning.

“You cannot teach me English because you are Asian!”

By Xiaoke Sun

Hey, everyone!

This post is a real story happened lately about myself being Asian and becoming an English teacher in Montreal Chinese heritage school. It happens to correspond with the topic of ethnicity and language learning that we have talked previously. I would like to share the story, and you are more than welcomed to help me to figure out my current puzzle.

For quite a long time, I have questioned what is the fundamental criteria to be an English teacher. There is no doubt that having an advanced language proficiency is necessary. Besides, English pronunciation, as mentioned by Yerim in the previous post, is also commonly judged by people as it demonstrates one’s capacity to express themselves and to be understood. Despite of other factors, such as the ability of curriculum design, assessment, and so on, can it be concluded that one’s ability to exercise a language equals to one’s qualification for being an English teacher? If not, what other factors could influence the way of learning and teaching?

Continue reading ““You cannot teach me English because you are Asian!””

When English is getting increasingly popular in China

By Wei Yang

This is the first time that I come to study and live in a native English speaking country. I have to say that this has been my dream for a long time because of my passion for learning and speaking English started when I was 8 years old. I even imagined myself as an English teacher. I think this imaginary had help me to become who I am today. So now I would like to talk about the influence that English has had on Chinese students.

Continue reading “When English is getting increasingly popular in China”