International English, International Literatures and Political
Principles
Dr. Christopher Brumfit
Centre for Language in Education
University of Southampton, UK
This plenary talk will attempt to make sense of the extensive current
discussion of the politics of English teaching. It will review the
changing position of English as a language of international communication,
and will ask what responses to current changes should be. This will
involve considering implications for learners of English, teachers of
English, accomplished non-native speakers and native speakers. The issue
of language rights and language death will be considered in relation to
problems with individual choice and alternative conceptions of rights.
Further, the tension between
literature (traditionally a highly international pursuit) and
language (often identified with national aspirations) will be
explored. It will be argued that the teaching of national and
regional literatures should be seen as dependent on a wider
conception of literature than a linguistic boundary can provide, and that
language is the property of all those who speak or write it. Both of these
positions require adjustment of many of the assumptions taken for granted
in conventional teaching.
At the same time, it will be argued that language use is not within the
control of major social or political institutions, and that a responsible
position for activists to take involves diminishing the ill effects of
changes that are inevitable. Thus determining which changes are
unavoidable and which can be resisted is a crucial task for all language
educators and language activists. An outline will be offered of how this
issue is being addressed and what more can be done.
CHRISTOPHER BRUMFIT is Professor of Education with reference to Language and Linguistics, and Director of the Centre for Language in Education, at the University of Southampton, UK. He has worked in East Africa, Austria, India, China and Canada, but mainly at the Universities of Dar es Salaam, London and Southampton, and has published over thirty books on language and literature teaching and aspects of applied linguistics and language policy in education. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and of the British Institute of English Language Teaching. He is the co-author of The Communicative Approach to Language Teaching and the co-editor of Literature and Language Teaching, both published by Oxford University Press.
The Politics of Teaching English: A Case Study Of The Impact Of English On
Filipino Women Writers
Dr. Edna Z. Manlapaz
Ateneo de Manila University
Manila, Philippines
Since its colonization by the United States at the turn of the 19th
century, the Philippines has produced a substantial body of literature
written in the English language. Unlike those who write in the vernacular
language, Filipino writers in English are compelled to agonize over and
rationalize their choice of medium: Why write a national literature in the
language of a former colonial master? The debate for and against the use of
English as a literary medium by Filipino writers continues unabated. This
paper reviews the debate from a gender-specific perspective: What has been
the impact of the English language on Filipino women writers? Is that
impact significantly different from that on male writers? This historical
case study provides insights into the politics of teaching English to women
of the Third World.
EDNA ZAPANTA MANLAPAZ is Professor of English at the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines. She is the Executive Director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings (ALIWW), an archival facility for the preservation and promotion of writings by and about Filipino women. She is currently working on a monograph that attempts a history of Filipino women’s literature in English.
New Englishes, New Literatures in English: Challenges for ELT Practitioners
Dr. Malachi Edwin Vethamani
University Putra Malaysia
Selangor, Malaysia
The proliferation of new varieties of the English language and their
attendant literatures is a linguistic phenomenon in many parts of the
world, including some South East Asian countries, like the Philippines,
Singapore and Malaysia. Yet, many teachers continue to teach the English
language as if there were only one variety of the English language: either
British or American English. The local variety is often perceived as
impoverished or lower in standing in comparison to the established English
or American varieties. In this paper, the writer will contend that the
study of new varieties of English and their literatures is both valid and
valuable. The writer will also address teaching-learning issues that arise
from the incorporation of new literatures in English into the language
classroom. The writer will also share teaching approaches that have worked
when using new varieties of English and literatures in English
MALACHI EDWIN VETHAMANI is a Senior Lecturer at University Putra Malaysia and is the current President of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA). He has a doctorate in Literature in English from the University of Nottingham, England. He has researched widely in the area of teaching literature in English and has written numerous articles and essays in this area for both local and international publications. His latest publication is A Bibliography of Malaysian Literature in English (2001) published in Kuala Lumpur.
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