The English language as Guardian of the Dominant Class Interests

Today one-third of the world's population speaks English, in various forms and for various purposes. Non-native speakers outnumber native speakers by four. English is the international language of our times, but what is not evident is that it is equally the heritage of all its speakers.
Whether Queen Elizabeth, Will Smith, or another famous personality, the figure of the "ideal native" speaker lives on in the collective ideology. Videos with titles like "stop saying..." or "sound like a native" proliferate by the thousands on YouTube. They lead us to believe that speaking good English is equivalent to dodging mistakes. Mistakes we certainly wouldn't make if we had watched such videos...

Linguistic discrimination

People whose English differs from the standard norm may be seen as less bright, capable, or even...human? This is the result of linguistic bias, which consciously or not, influences how someone is viewed and treated based on their language. Sociolinguist Calvin Gidney has observed that a considerable portion of the villains in children's animations have a different accent (usually associated with a low socioeconomic status) than other characters.

One recent study shows that difficulty understanding a different accent can result in discrimination against speakers of other languages, but that this bias can be neutralized through exposure to a variety of pronunciations.

A tool of control

The teaching of English as a foreign language has been based on the figure of the "ideal native speaker" as a model for learners to achieve - a model that does not consider the learner's culture of origin, but promotes Anglo-North American culture.

Linguist Robert Phillipson identified five notions that guided the expansion of teaching English as a foreign language after the 1960s - notions that have no theoretical foundation and are false in light of current knowledge:

1. English is best taught through English (the monolingual fallacy)
2. the native speaker is the ideal teacher (the native speaker fallacy)
3. the earlier English is taught, the better the results (the early start fallacy)
4. the more English is taught, the better the results (the maximum exposure fallacy)
6. if other languages are heavily used, English standards would decline (the subtractive fallacy)

He called 'linguistic imperialism' the expansion of a language and its culture as a method of control; practiced since ancient times by dominant peoples, and active in the present through the language education market, the media, and globalization.

Alternatives to traditional teaching

Much has changed in a century, and today most exchanges are made in English between non-native speakers. They make use of English as a common language, what linguist Jennifer Jenkins has called 'English as a lingua franca' or ELF. Jenkins defined elements of English pronunciation that favor understanding, and others that do not hinder communication.

Instead of seeking to emulate a British or American English, ELF speakers primarily seek to understand each other. To do this, they use some strategies, such as among others:

• clarification questions ("what?")
• signals of misunderstanding ("hmm?")
• repeat ("this is the second attempt" - "second attempt?")
• paraphrase ("second chance")
• discourse organization ("what I mean now is...")
• confirming questions ("right?")

Another transformation in English pedagogy is the critical pedagogy. In it, cultural content from the United Kingdom and the United States is set aside. Instead, learners propose topics related to their lives for discussion. Power relations are analyzed and transformed, starting in the classroom: students decide how they will work and how they will be assessed.

The English language as the guardian of ruling class interests maintains its position but not without being questioned about its power. And in your life, to what extent does it allow certain things while limiting access to others?

To learn more:

"What are "World Englishes" - Craig Volkerhttps://www.thenational.com.pg/what-are-world-englishes/
"Here's how your foreign accent can unfairly destroy your credibility"- Monika Schmidhttps://theconversation.com/heres-how-your-foreign-accent-can-unfairly-destroy-your-credibility-125981

"Why do cartoon villains speak in foreign accents?" - Isabel Fattal
https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/01/why-do-cartoon-villains-speak-in-foreign-accents/549527/

"Here's why people can discriminate against foreign accents - new research" - Shiri Lev-Ari
https://theconversation.com/heres-why-people-might-discriminate-against-foreign-accents-new-research-172539

"Linguistic Imperialism" - Robert Phillipson
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/31837620_Linguistic_Imperialism_R_Phillipson

"What is ELF? Introductory questions and answers for ELT professionals" - Tomokazu Ishikawa and Jennifer Jenkins
https://tamagawa.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=pages_view_main&active_action=repository_view_main_item_detail&item_id=1169&item_no=1&page_id=13&block_id=21

"What is the Lingua Franca Core?" - Laura Patsko
https://elfpron.wordpress.com/2013/11/21/what-is-the-lfc/

Critical counciousness and critical language teaching" - Takayuki Okazaki
https://www.hawaii.edu/sls/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/10-Okazaki-Taka.pdf

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