English in Postcolonial Contexts

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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language
English in Postcolonial Contexts Name : Date :
Linguistic Imperialism – Identity INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 1
Watch Suzanne Talhouk’s TED talk ‘Don’t kill your language’ at the following link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_talhouk_don_t_kill_your_languag e/up-next#t-817167 Discussion questions 1.
In what ways is speaking English perceived as a sign of being
modern in a context you are familiar with? 2.
What do we lose when we leave behind our mother tongues? 3.
What do you think of Suzanne Talhouk’s case to love your own
language, and to cherish what it can express that no other language can? 1
English in Postcolonial Contexts
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language
Linguistic Imperialism – Education INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 2
Watch Patricia Ryan’s TED talk ‘Don’t insist on English!’ at the following link:
https://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_ryan_don_t_insist_on_english/up-next Discussion questions
1. What do you think of her question about whether the
world’s focus on English prevents the spread of great ideas
in other languages? For instance, what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?
2. In what ways is English used as a gatekeeper to education?
3. In what ways is English used to both level inequality and
to create inequality in access to education? 2
English in Postcolonial Contexts
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language
The spread of English: Implications for business in India1 IN GROUP ACTIVITY 1 Instructions:
In group, analyze the following illustrations taken from Graddol
(2006, p. 35) then discuss the questions below. Discussion questions 4.
What gives India the edge over other countries as the most
attractive location for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)?
1 Adapted from Chapter 3 in Galloway and Rose’s (2015) book Introducing Global Englishes (Oxon., UK: Routledge). 3
English in Postcolonial Contexts
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language 5.
Why are countries in south-east Asia like Malaysia, the
Philippines and Singapore ranked so highly while Vietnam is
notably absent, despite the recent economic growth outlined in
the different study and analysis? 6.
Do you see such outsourcing as a top-down process (e.g.
international businesses contacting smaller contractors with the
aim of reducing costs) or as a bottom-up process (e.g.
contractors contacting international business with the aim of making profit)? 7.
After our lecture, do you see the outsourcing of business to
countries like India as exploitation of cheap labor by western
companies, or as an opportunity for economic development by India? 8.
What lasting effects might BPO have on the long-term economic
development of India and the social upward mobility of workers
engaged in outsourcing companies?
Take notes of the group discussion:
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English in Postcolonial Contexts
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language FURTHER ACTIVITIES
Deconstructing language choice and the
spread of English, African perspectives INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY 3
In the previous lecture, we discussed the spread of English in the African continent.
Regarding this phenomenon, Rubagumya2 explores in detail the relationship
between ‘choice’ and the spread of English in Africa and Tanzania in particular.
According to him, “[s]everal scholars argue that … individuals and
communities choose to acquire a new language because it is in their interest to do
so”. Rubagumya then distances himself from this position, and problematises the
idea of ‘spread by choice’ of those acquiring English as follows:
1. "European languages were imposed on Africa during the colonial period.
African people as communities did not choose to learn those languages […]
2. Individual Africans do not necessarily choose to learn these languages. Since
the language of instruction in almost all African countries is the language of
the former colonial power, going to school does not leave any choice to
individual students as to which language they would like to use. […]
3. Individuals that do not go to school, and therefore do not learn European
languages, do not choose not to go to school. They do not have access to schooling […]”.
Rubagumya concludes that “saying that English came to Africa by choice – whether
of communities or individuals, is to distort history” (ibid.: 134). Yet, later on the author
concedes that “[i]t might be the case that this imposed language was seen as
2 Rubagumya, C.M. (2004) ‘English in Africa and the emergence of Afro-Saxons:
globalization or marginalization?’, in Baynham, M., Deignan, A., and White, G.
(eds) Applied Linguistics at the Interface: Selected Papers from the Annual Meeting
of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, London: Equinox. 5
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language
beneficial and therefore people continued to use it for the purposes for which it was not originally intended”. CRITICAL THINKING: 
Do you think that the continuation of using English in postcolonial times can
be considered a ‘choice’ rather than imposition, albeit one made by African elites? 
Do you think non-elite families and children have any degree of ‘choice’ in the
take up or avoidance of using/learning English in British postcolonial contexts in Africa? 
Can you identify potential constraints to ‘choosing’ to learn/use English by the
majority of people in the above cited context? Are the effects of the language
choices available likely to influence the decisions we may be able to make? If so, how? 
Rubagumya (2004: 134) indicates, “one might, of course, say cynically that
those who don't want to learn European languages should not go to school”.
Do you agree that ‘not going to school’ as a form of resistance to an imposed
language choice is the only option for students in the mentioned context? If
your answer is no, in what ways would it be possible for students/teachers to resist? 
According to Ferguson (2012: 478) “[m]ost choices, down to the most banal,
are constrained but can still contain those elements of deliberation and
selection that are criterial for agency”. What do you think? 6
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Dr. Christopher Denis-Delacour/Global Language 
In your experience, could you ‘choose’ to learn English? Is it likely for learners
in your context to be able to ‘choose’ the language they want to learn nowadays? Why/why not? REFERENCES 
Chen, S. C. (2006) ‘Simultaneous promotion of indigenisation and
internationalisation: New language-in-education policy in Taiwan’, Language
and Education: An International Journal 20/4: 322–337. 
Chen, S. C. (2010) ‘Multilingualism in Taiwan’, International Journal of the
Sociology of Language 205: 79–104. 
Enever, J. (2007) ‘Yet another early-start languages policy in Europe: Poland
this time!’, Current Issues in Language Planning 8/2: 208–221. 
Ferguson, G. (2012) ‘English in language policy and management’, in
Spolsky, B. (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 475–498. 
Madrid, D. (2001) ‘Problemática de la enseñanza de las lenguas extrajeras en
España’, in Gómez-Caminero, R. (ed.) La enseñanza de lenguas en el nuevo
milenio,Granada: Grupo Editorial Universitario: pp. 11–46. 
Oukhiar, F. (2010) ‘The impact of international cooperation on educational
policy: the case of Spain’, European Journal of Language Policy 2/1: 41–56. 
Rubagumya, C.M. (2004) ‘English in Africa and the emergence of Afro-
Saxons: globalization or marginalization?’, in Baynham, M., Deignan, A., and
White, G. (eds) Applied Linguistics at the Interface: Selected Papers from the
Annual Meeting of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, London: Equinox. 
Yeh, T.D. (2008) ‘A window to globalization? A cluster analysis of the debate
on making English the second official language of Taiwan’, Taiwan Journal of
East Asia Studies 5(1): 175–198.  7
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