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English language learning and teaching
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ESL (English as a second language), ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers of other languages. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly used in relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also used in relation to demographic information.

ELT (English language teaching) is a widely-used teacher-centred term, as in the English language teaching divisions of large publishing houses, ELT training, etc. The abbreviations TESL (teaching English as a second language), TESOL (teaching English for speakers of other languages) and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) are all also used.

Other terms used in this field include EAL (English as an additional language), ESD (English as a second dialect), EIL (English as an international language), ELF (English as a lingua franca), ESP (English for special purposes, or English for specific purposes), EAP (English for academic purposes), and ELL (English language learner).

Terminology and types
All the acronyms can get in the way of understanding. English is a language with great reach and influence; it is taught all over the world under many different circumstances. In many English-speaking countries, teaching has evolved in two broad directions, essentially for people who intend to stay in the country and those who don't. These divisions have grown firmer with the instructors of these two "industries" using different terminology, forming separate professional associations, following distinct training qualifications, and so on. Crucially, these two arms have very different funding structures and to some extent this influences the way they teach. Matters are further complicated by the fact that the United States and Britain, both major engines of the language, describe these categories with different terms: as many eloquent users of the language have observed, "England and America are two countries divided by a common language." (Attributed to Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, and Oscar Wilde.) So -- here start the technical definitions, many of them contested in how widely they are used, or acknowledged to be ambiguous (US/UK).

EFL indicates the use of English in a non-English-speaking region. Study can occur either in the student's home country, as part of the normal school curriculum or otherwise, or, for the more privileged minority, in an anglophone country which they visit as a sort of educational tourist, e.g. after graduating from university. TEFL is the teaching of English as a foreign language; NB this teaching can occur in any country, English-speaking or not. Typically, EFL is learned either to pass exams as a necessary part of one's education, or for career progression while working for an organisation with an international focus, and TEFL presupposes literacy in the mother tongue. EFL may be part of the state school curriculum in countries where English has no special status (as is the case in most of the European Union); it may in addition be supplemented by privately paid for lessons, whether for schoolchildren or businesspeople.

The other broad grouping is the use of English within an English-speaking region, generally by refugees, immigrants and their children. It includes the use of English in countries, often former British colonies, where English is a dominant language although it is not spoken as a mother tongue by the majority of the population. In the US, Canada and Australia, this use of English is called ESL (English as a second language). This term has been criticised on the grounds that many learners already speak more than one language. A counter-argument says that the word "a" in the phrase "a second language" means there is no presumption that English is the second acquired language (see also Second language). TESL is the teaching of English as a second language. In the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, the term ESL has been replaced by ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). In these countries TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) is sometimes used to refer to teaching English only to this group. In the UK, the term EAL (English as an additional language), rather than ESOL, is usually used when talking about the schools sector. In the United States, the term English language learner (ELL) is used by governments and the schools system. It differs from the other terms above because it refers to learners rather than the language.

Typically, ESL (ESOL in the countries listed above) is learned to function in the new host country, e.g. within the school system (if a child), to find and hold down a job (if an adult), to perform the necessities of daily life, and TESL does not presuppose literacy in the mother tongue. ESL is often paid for by the host government to help newcomers settle into their adopted country, sometimes as part of an explicit citizenship program.

Particularly in Canada and Australia, the term ESD (English as a second dialect) is used alongside ESL, usually in reference to programs for Canadian First Nations people or indigenous Australians. It refers to the use of standard English by speakers of a creole or non-standard variety. It is often grouped with ESL as ESL/ESD.

The term TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) is used in American English to include both TEFL and TESL. In British English the equivalent umbrella term is ELT (English language teaching), whereas TESOL has a different meaning, see above.

It is worth noting that ESL and EFL programs also differ in the variety of English which is taught; "English" is a term that can refer to various dialects, including British English, North American English, and others. Students studying EFL in Hong Kong, for example, are more likely to learn British English, whereas students in the Philippines are more likely to learn American English. For this reason, many teachers of EFL now emphasize teaching English as an international language (EIL), also known as English as a lingua franca (ELF).

Difficulties for learners
Most of the difficulties which learners face in learning English are a consequence of the degree to which their native language differs from English. A native speaker of Chinese, for example, faces many more difficulties than a native speaker of German.

Learners of any language usually produce mistakes resulting from the influence of their mother tongue, such as using grammatical patterns from their mother tongue, difficulty in pronouncing certain sounds or confusion between false friends. This is known as L1 interference.

Although in terms of grammar, English is not particularly difficult to learn, there are several features of English which are relatively complex and therefore create difficulties for the majority of learners.

Pronunciation
Consonant phonemes - English does not have more individual consonant sounds than most languages. However, /?/ and /ð/ (the sounds written with th), which are common in English (thin, thing, etc.; and the, this, that, etc.) are relatively rare in other languages, even others in the Germanic family (e.g., English thousand = German tausend). Some learners substitute a [t] or [d] sound, while others shift to [s] or [z] depending on what is more natural for them in their native language. Even practiced second language speakers, such as francophone Canadian politicians, retain this pronunciation long after mastering vocabulary and grammar. Another sound that is relatively uncommon in other languages is /?/ (as in singing). Speakers of Asian languages often have difficulty distinguishing [r] and [l]. The distinction between [b] and [v] can also cause difficulty for native speakers of Spanish, as well as Japanese and Korean.
Vowel phonemes - The precise number of distinct vowel sounds depends on the variety of English: for example, Received Pronunciation has twelve monophthongs (single or "pure" vowels), eight diphthongs (double vowels) and two triphthongs (triple vowels); whereas General American has thirteen monophthongs and three diphthongs. Many learners, such as speakers of Spanish, Japanese or Arabic, have fewer vowels in their mother tongue and so have problems both with hearing and with pronouncing these distinctions.
Syllable structure - In its syllable structure, English allows for a cluster of up to three consonants before the vowel and four consonants after the vowel (e.g., straw, desks, glimpsed). The syllable structure causes problems for speakers of many other languages. Japanese, for example, alternates consonant and vowel sounds so learners from Japan often try to force vowels in between the consonants (e.g., desks /desks/ becomes "desukusu" or milk shake /m?lk ?e?k/ becomes "mirukuseki"). Learners from languages where all words end in vowels sometimes tend to make all English words end in vowels, thus make /me?k/ can come out as [me?k?]. The learner's task is further complicated by the fact that native speakers may drop consonants in the more complex blends (e.g., [m?ns] instead of [m?n?s] for months).
Unstressed vowels - Native English speakers frequently replace almost any vowel in an unstressed syllable with an unstressed vowel, often schwa. For example, from has a distinctly pronounced short 'o' sound when it is stressed (e.g., Where are you from?), but when it is unstressed, the short 'o' reduces to a schwa (e.g., I'm from London.). In some cases, unstressed vowels may disappear altogether, in words such as chocolate (which has 4 syllables in its native Spanish, but only 2 as pronounced by Americans: choc-lit.) Stress in English more strongly determines vowel quality than it does in most other world languages (although there are notable exceptions like Russian). For example, in some varieties the syllables an, en, in, on and un are pronounced exactly alike. Native speakers can usually distinguish an able, enable, and unable because of their position in a sentence, but this is more difficult for inexperienced English speakers. Moreover, learners tend to overpronounce these unstressed vowels, giving their speech an unnatural rhythm.
Stress timing - English tends to be a stress-timed language - this means that stressed syllables are roughly equidistant in time, no matter how many syllables come in between. Although some other languages,e.g., German and Russian, are also stress-timed, most of the world's other major languages are syllable-timed, with each syllable coming at an equal time after the previous one. Learners from these languages often have a staccato rhythm when speaking English that is disconcerting to a native speaker.
Connected speech - Phonological processes such as assimilation, elision and epenthesis together with indistinct word boundaries can confuse learners when listening to natural spoken English, as well as making their speech sound too formal if they do not use them. For example, in RP eight beetles and three ants /e?t bi?t?lz ?nd ?ri? ænts/ becomes [e?dbi?tl?z?n?ri?jæns].

Grammar
Tenses - English has a relatively large number of tenses with some quite subtle differences, such as the difference between "I ate" and "I have eaten.".
Functions of auxiliaries - Learners of English tend to find it difficult to manipulate the various ways in which English uses the first auxiliary verb of a tense. These include negation (eg He hasn't been drinking.), inversion with the subject to form a question (eg Has he been drinking?, short answers (eg Yes, he has.) and tag questions (has he?). A further complication is that the dummy auxiliary verb do /did is added to fulfil these functions in the simple present and simple past, but not for the verb to be.
Modal verbs - English also has a significant number of modal auxiliary verbs which each have a number of uses. For example, the opposite of "You must be here at 8" is usually "You don't have to be here at 8," while "must" in "You must not drink the water" has a different meaning from "must" in "You must not be a native speaker." This complexity takes considerable work for most learners to master.
Articles - English has an appreciable number of articles , including the 'definite' article the and the 'indefinite' article a, an. At times English nouns can be used without an article; this is called the 'zero article'. Some of the differences between definite, indefinite and zero article are fairly easy to learn, but others are not, particularly since a learner's native language may lack articles or use them in slightly different ways than English does. Although the information conveyed by articles is rarely essential for communication, English uses them frequently (several times in the average sentence), so that they require some effort from the learner.

Vocabulary
Phrasal verbs - Phrasal verbs in English cause a lot of problems for most learners. This is because many phrasal verbs have several meanings and because of the different syntactic patterns.
Word derivation - Word derivation in English requires a lot of rote learning. For example, an adjective can be negated by using the prefix un- (eg unable), or in- (eg inappropriate) or dis- (eg dishonest).
Size of lexicon - The history of English has resulted in a very large vocabulary. (Schmitt & Marsden claim that it has one of the largest vocabularies of any known language.) This inevitably requires more work for a learner to really master the language.

Differences between spoken and written English
Spelling - Because of the many changes in pronunciation which have occurred since a written standard developed, English spelling is difficult even for native speakers to master. This difficulty is shown in such activities as Spelling Bees that generally require the memorization of words. English speakers may also rely on utilities like Spell checkers more than speakers of other languages, as the users of the spell checker may have forgotten, or never learned, the correct spelling of a word. The generalizations which exist are quite complex and there are many exceptions leading to a considerable amount of rote learning. The spelling system causes problems in both directions - a learner may know a word orally but not be able to write it correctly, or they may see a word written but not know how to pronounce it or mislearn the pronunciation.

Varieties of English
English is spoken natively by a large and diverse population on every continent, and consequently has some noticeable differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar across different regions and across different social strata. Most languages are spoken in geographically more compact areas, usually just in a small number of countries or even a single state, and are often to some degree managed by a specific organisation that determines the most prestigious form of the language. Since many students of English study it to enable them to communicate internationally, the lack of a uniform international standard for the language poses some barriers to meeting that goal.

Exams for learners
Learners of English are often keen to get accreditation and a number of exams are known internationally:

IELTS (International English Language Testing System), accepted by most tertiary academic institutions in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and by many in the USA
TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), an Educational Testing Service test of English language proficiency for academic purposes, accepted primarily in the USA
TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication), an Educational Testing Service test of English language proficiency for business purposes
Cambridge ESOL General English exams including FCE, CAE and CPE
ESOL learners in England, Wales and Northern Ireland usually take the national Skills for Life qualifications which are offered by several exam boards.

The Common European Framework
Between 1998 and 2000, the Council of Europe's language policy division developed its Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The aim of this framework was to have a common system for foreign language testing and certification, to cover all European languages and countries.

A. Basic User
B. Independent User
C. Proficient User
Each of these levels is divided into two sections, resulting in a total of six levels for testing (A1, A2, B1, etc).

CEF level ALTE level IELTS exam BEC & CELS exams Cambridge General English Pitman ESOL TOEIC TOEFL
C2 Level 5 7.5+ n/a CPE Advanced 910+ 276+
C1 Level 4 6.5 - 7 Higher CAE Higher Intermediate 701 - 910 236 - 275
B2 Level 3 5 - 6 Vantage FCE Intermediate 541 - 700 176 - 235
B1 Level 2 3.5 - 4.5 Preliminary PET n/a 381 - 540 126 - 175
A2 Level 1 3 n/a KET Elementary 246 - 380 96 - 125
A1 Breakthrough 1-2 n/a n/a Basic n/a n/a

Qualifications for teachers

Non-native speakers
Many non-native speaking teachers who only work in their own country are qualified with the relevant teaching qualification of that country. Those who work in private language schools and in other countries often have the same qualifications as native speakers (see below).

US qualifications
Most US instructors at community colleges and universities qualify by taking an MA in TESOL. This degree also qualifies them to teach in most EFL contexts as well. In some areas of the country, nearly all elementary school teachers are involved in teaching ELLs (English Language Learners, ie children who come to school speaking a home language other than English.) The qualifications for these classroom teachers vary from state to state, but always include a state-issued teaching certificate for public instruction.

Teachers in all states require state licensure, which requires both substantial, practical field experiences and rigorous language pedagogy course work. The MA in TESOL includes both graduate work in English as one of the classical liberal arts(literature, linguistics, media studies) with a substantial theoretical pedagogical component at the tertiary level. Admission to the MA in TESOL typically requires at least a bachelor's degree with a minor in English or linguistics. A degree in a foreign language can sometimes also be considered sufficient for admission.

It is important to note that the issuance of a teaching certificate or license is not automatic following completion of degree requirements. All teachers must complete a battery of exams (typically the PRAXIS subject and method exams or similar, state-sponsored exams) as well as supervised instruction as teaching interns. Teaching interns possess initial certification and are free-standing instructors in their classrooms; however, they are not considered "Professionals" until they have sufficiently satisfied governing boards that they are fit to teach. Their performance is evaluated throughout their tenure as interns and upon successful completion of all components they may be offered a professional certificate vs. an initial or Stage II certificate. Out-of-state teaching certificates are usually recognized by other states.

British qualifications
Common, respected qualifications for teachers within the British sphere of influence include certificates and diplomas issued by UCLES (University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate) and Trinity International Examinations Board of Trinity College, London.

A certificate course is usually undertaken before starting to teach. This is sufficient for many EFL jobs (see TEFL) and for some ESOL ones. UCLES offers the CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), perhaps the most widely taken and accepted course for new teacher trainees. It is often taught full-time over a one-month period or part-time over a period up to a year. Trinity offer the CertTESOL (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), which is usually considered equivalent to the CELTA.

Teachers usually have two or more years of teaching experience and intend to stay in the profession before they take a diploma course. Those who want to move into school management or become teacher trainers usually need a diploma. UCLES offers the DELTA (Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults). Trinity offers the LTCL DipTESOL (Trinity Licentiate Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). There are usually considered to be equivalent.

Some teachers who stay in the profession go on to do an MA in a relevant discipline such as applied linguistics or TESOL. Note that UK master's degrees require extensive preparation and experience in the field before a candidate is accepted onto the course; in this respect they are truly to master the knowledge and skills that the candidate already has.

The above qualifications are well-respected within the UK ESOL sector. However, in England and Wales, in order to meet the government's criteria for being a qualified teacher of ESOL in the Learning and Skills Sector (ie adult education), teachers need to have the Certificate in Further Education Teaching Stage 3 and the Certificate for ESOL Subject Specialists, both at level 4. Recognised qualifications which confer one or both of these include a PGCE in ESOL, the CELTA module 2 and City & Guilds 9488.

Professional associations
TESOL Inc. is Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, a professional organization based in the United States. In addition, there are many large state-wide affiliates such as CATESOL in California and Illinois TESOL•BE
IATEFL is the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language, a professional organization based in Britain.
Several other professional organisations for teachers of English exist at national levels such as the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT), BELTA in Bangladesh, SLELTA in Sri Lanka, NELTA in Nepal, and MELTA in Malaysia. Professional organisations may be bigger in structure (pan-national, such as TESOL Arabia in the Gulf states), or smaller (limited to one city or province). Some professional organisations are affiliated to TESOL or IATEFL.
NATECLA is the National Association for Teaching English and other Community Languages to Adults, a British-based organisation which is focused on teaching ESOL in Britain.

Acronyms and abbreviations
See also: Language education for information on general language teaching acronyms and abbreviations.

CELTA - Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults
DELTA - Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults
EAL - English as an additional language
The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
EAP - English for academic purposes
EFL - English as a foreign language
English for use in a non-English-speaking region, by someone whose first language is not English. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
EIL - English as an international language
ELF - English as a lingua franca
ELL - English language learner
The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
ELT - English language teaching
ESD - English as a second dialect
The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
ESL - English as a second language
English for use in an English-speaking region, by someone whose first language is not English. The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
ESOL - English for speakers of other languages
This term is used differently in different countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
ESP - English for special purposes, or English for specific purposes (e.g. technical English, scientific English, English for medical professionals, English for waiters).
IELTS - International English Language Testing System
TEFL - Teaching English as a foreign language This link is to an extensive discussionof travel-teaching.
See the discussion in Terminology and types.
TESL - Teaching English as a second language
The use of this term is restricted to certain countries. See the discussion in Terminology and types.
TESOL - Teaching English to speakers of other languages, or Teaching English as a second or other language
See the discussion in Terminology and types.
TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language
TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication
UCLES - University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, an exam board

English on the Internet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The predominance of English on the Internet—English language content and English language users—has fueled the rise of the Internet as a means of communication, information dissemination and entertainment. This article details statistics of Internet linguistic patterns and their impact.

Numbers considered
In considering which languages dominate the Internet two statistics are considered: the first language of Internet users and the language of actual material posted on the web.

Internet users
Internet user percentages usually focus on raw comparisons of the first language of those who access the Internet. Just as important is a consideration of second and foreign language users; i.e., the first-language of a user does not necessarily reflect which language they regularly employ when using the Internet.

First language users
English language users appear to be a plurality of Internet users, consistently cited as around one-third of the overall (near one billion). This reflects the relative affluence of English-speaking countries and high Internet penetration rates in them.

This lead may be eroding, due mainly to a rapid increase of Chinese users,[1] which broadly parallels China's advance on other economic fronts. In fact, if first language speakers are compared, Chinese ought, in time, to outstrip English by a wide margin (1.3 billion and still climbing for Chinese, 300+ million but static for English).

First language users among other relatively affluent countries appear generally stable, the two largest being German and Japanese who each have between 5 - 10% of the overall share.

Second and foreign language users
If a gradual decline in English first language users is inevitable it does not necessarily follow that English will not continue to be the language of choice for those accessing the Internet. As Chinese closes the gap with English it must be noted that:

There is an enormous pool of English second and foreign language speakers who employ the language in technical, governmental and educational spheres[2] and access the Internet in English. A classic example is India. Being linguistically divided into many small groups, none of the native languages could supplant English as the language of the elite group (those working in the prestigious professions). With economic growth, English has begun exploding as the emerging lingua franca in India. In 1995, perhaps only 4% were truly fluent in English (a still impressive 40 million).[3] A decade later, by 2005, India had the world's largest English speaking and understanding population[4] and second largest "Fluent English" speaking population (led only by U.S.). It is expected to have the world's largest number of English speakers within a decade.[5]

Chinese is rarely employed as a lingua franca outside of China by non-ethnic Chinese; even countries bordering the country or with large Chinese minorities (Mongolia, South Korea, Malaysia) tend toward English as a commercial and educational language. Further, China is not truly monoglot: Standard Mandarin is official but different spoken variants of Chinese are often mutually unintelligible; the diaspora disproportionately speaks Cantonese. There is, however, an existing written standard that serves as a common written language.

In the future then, English and Chinese may have roughly equal positions at the top of the overall Internet first language users but English will likely continue to dominate as the default choice for those accessing the Internet in a second language.

Other world languages that could conceivably begin to challenge English include Spanish and Arabic, though it remains to be seen if these, too, will be largely isolated to first-language speakers on the Internet as is Chinese.

Internet content
One widely quoted figure for the amount of web content in English is 80%[6]—this enormous figure is somewhat self-re-enforcing (widely cited, it "becomes true") and is likely too high. Other sources show figures five to fifteen points lower, though still well over 50%.[7][8] There are two notable facts about these percentages:

The English web content is greater than the amount of first language English users by as much as 2 to 1. This underscores the degree to which second language users are employing English when using the Internet.

Given the enormous lead it already enjoys and its increasing use as lingua franca in other spheres English web content may continue to dominate even as English first-language Internet users decline. This is a classic positive feedback loop: new Internet users find it helpful to learn English and employ it on-line, thus reinforcing the language's prestige and forcing subsequent new users to learn English as well.

Certain other factors (some predating the medium's appearance) have propelled English into a majority web-content position. Most notable in this regard is the tendency for researchers and professionals to publish in English to ensure maximum exposure. The largest database of medical bibliographical information, for example, shows English was the majority language choice for the past forty years and its share has continually increased over the same period.[9] Again, this doesn't necessarily correlate to first-language statistics; the fact that non-Anglos regularly publish in English only reinforces the language's dominance.

Notes
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/online/archives/2005/08/16/english_grip_on_internet_being_eroded.html
^ http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lan_eng_sta
^ http://www.postcolonialweb.org/india/hohenthal/5.2.html
^ http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1363471.htm
^ http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=5675
^ http://www.englishenglish.com/english_facts_8.htm
^ http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_029135.html
^ http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2001/112101/English_could_snowball_on_Net_112101.html
^ http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1175804
[edit]
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