Reometría capilar ASTM D3835

The English language has had an important position within Europe for a long time and, along with it, so has English language teaching. As for the presence of ELT, during the nineteenth century, English extended its role as a foreign language within Europe’s secondary schools, and by the end of the Reform Movement in the 1890’s, in most Northern European schools, English was already employed alongside other modern languages – making it a permanent fixture with qualified staff.

The first half of the twentieth century, between 1900 and 1946, was also a period in which interest was on the rise to learn English in secondary schools as well

as in adult education. In addition, given the fluidity with which Europeans traveled, the British Council was founded to promote cultural relationships, where strong emphasis was (and still continues to be) given to the British culture – as can be seen in the “History” section of the British Council website:

When the British Council was founded in 1934, Europe was in flux and the British establishment's decision to spread and strengthen influence through the development of cultural relations was arguably ahead of its time.

The founding Royal Charter outlined our mission as ‘promoting abroad a wider appreciation of British culture and civilisation [by] encouraging cultural, educational and other interchanges between the United Kingdom and elsewhere’.

Our mission is the same today, and it is as relevant now it was back in 1934. Communication has never been easier, yet understanding between people and cultures is as fragile as ever. We welcome the fact that many other countries also engage in this type of work these days.

(British Council website)

Moving forward to the twenty-first century, at a European level, the Eurydice reports on Key Data on Teaching Languages at School in Europe36 (Eurydice 2008, 2012) have offered essential insights into language teaching, especially for language practitioners and policy-makers responsible for designing and implementing language teaching strategies in schools throughout Europe.

In the 2012 report it is mentioned that the main strategy of the EU is to encourage and promote the “cross-border mobility of EU citizens” (Eurydice 2012: 3), in which language skills play an indispensable role in fostering a smart and inclusive growth at a European level. Of all the languages learnt as a foreign language, priority is mainly given to English. Currently, it is a compulsory language in fourteen countries or regions within countries. From primary school onwards, it is beyond a doubt the most taught foreign language in nearly all countries, a trend that has been increasing since the 2004/2005 school year. In 2009/2010, for instance, roughly 73% of students attending primary school in the EU were already learning English, while in lower-secondary and general upper-secondary education, the

36 _{The Eurydice reports provide a comprehensive picture of the European language teaching systems.}

They examine several issues of foreign language teaching, namely the organizational features, participation levels, and the initial and continuing education of foreign language teachers. Moreover, in the reports, views on the application of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in Europe are also available.

percentage surpassed the 90% mark. In upper-secondary, pre-vocational and vocational education, the percentage was likewise elevated, however, it was slightly lower when compared to the previous group (74.9%), reflecting the fact that students may follow other traditional vocational paths rather than language learning.

According to Seidlhofer (2011a), in addition to it being the main foreign language taught from primary level onwards, English is also being increasingly implemented at all educational levels in Europe (particularly in secondary schools) through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)37 (Dalton-Puffer 2007, Ruiz de Zarobe and Jiménez Catalán 2009). Furthermore, at a tertiary level, English has become the most common language used, with courses being taught entirely in English (Ammon and McConnel 2002, Jenkins 2014, Mauranen 2012). With the implementation of the Bologna Process, the desire to create a common European higher education network, where student and staff mobility is a reality, has triggered an even stronger presence of English, as it is “the most readily available common language” (Seidlhofer 2011a: 136).

Regardless of the path chosen, students’ awareness of the value of English is clearly visible, as the great majority believe English is beneficial for their future work (81.9%, with the exception of France), as well as future education (87.7%) and even more so, when it comes to getting a good job (90.2%) (Eurydice 2012). Considering these percentages, the 2012 Eurobarometer on Europeans and their Languages (European Commission) confirms there has been a noticeable increase since 2005 regarding the proportion of respondents who say they know English well enough to hold a conversation. The demographic group with the highest proportion of those who rate their ability to speak English as “very good” includes younger people between the ages of 15 and 24 (27%), those who are over 20 years old and have finished full time education (26%), those who are still studying (31%) or are self-employed (25%) or managers (25%), those who use the Internet daily (24%) and those living in large

37 _{CLIL can be defined as, “an educational approach where subjects such as geography or biology are}

taught through the medium of a foreign language, typically to students participating in some form of mainstream education at primary, secondary but also tertiary level” (Dalton-Puffer et al. 2010: 1). However, as Dalton-Puffer et al. (2010) also acknowledge, within mainland Europe, CLIL practices have demonstrated a general preference for English over other (majority and minority) European languages; hence, contributing to what may probably be better identified as Content and English Integrated Learning (CEIL).

towns (29%)38. Since English is considered one of the two most useful languages by the great majority of respondents (67%), it is not surprising that 79% of parents also believe it is one of the most useful languages for the future of their children; hence, contributing to making it by far the most spoken foreign language (38%), followed only afterwards by French (12%), German (12%), Spanish (7%) and Russian (5%).

In this sense, it is clear that as English becomes more widely used, the demand for it in European education systems also intensifies. As Myers-Scotton (2002: 280) puts it, “The more people learn a language, the more useful it becomes, and the more useful it is, the more people want to learn it.” As a result, according to the 2008 Eurydice report, “The teaching of English is constantly expanding and predominates almost everywhere [in Europe]” (12).

Considering its particular status, it may be argued that English in Europe is no longer a foreign language in its customary meaning. These assumptions can be made based on the range of existing English varieties and how most speakers (mainly NNSs) use it as a lingua franca in an array of domains. As Seidlhofer (2010) puts it:

(…) English has therefore ceased to be a ‘foreign language’ in the sense that other European languages are. Of course, there are still people that want to learn English because they want to, say, study in Britain, communicate with their friends in the USA or emigrate to New Zealand, and for whom therefore ‘English as a native language’ would constitute an appropriate target. But given the differences between various native varieties of English it would be impossible to prepare those learners for effortless communication with their chosen group of native speakers, and anyway, they will pick up the variety they are aiming for as and when the situation requires it. From the point of view of language education policy, what needs to be recognized and acted upon is that by far the majority of all European citizens need English primarily as a lingua franca for communication with all sorts of people in different domains, more often than not non-native speakers of English.

(Seidlhofer 2010: 366)

Given the current situation, English assumes a distinctive role when compared with other foreign languages, therefore taking on the position of an additional language rather than that of a foreign language. Nevertheless, the Council of Europe continues to define and measure proficient language use in English according to native speaker

38 _{Although these percentages may not seem considerably high when analyzed alone, when compared}

standards, as it is similarly done with other foreign languages. Seidlhofer (2011a) points out that language policies tend to emphasize cumulative proficiency and successful communication; however, these are usually native speaker centered, with successful speaking and writing skills only being achieved if intelligible by NSs. Even though in language teaching there has been a shift from the notion of “correctness” to “appropriateness” and “intelligibility”, as it was verified in the previous section, the central target continues to focus on native speaker intelligibility, that is, being intelligible to NSs as well being able to comprehend them.

This is clearly visible in the Common European Framework of Reference39 (CEFR) (Council of Europe 2001), designed for language experts to consider their practices, and to situate and co-ordinate their efforts, so as to certify learners’ real needs are met. Nonetheless, as already stated, these needs are consistent with native speaker norms, in which “intelligibility” is understood as being comprehensible to NSs and being able to understand them as well, highlighting NSs’ potential negative reactions – e.g. “amusing”, irritating”, “behave other than they would”. These notions are observable in some descriptors available in the CEFR, such as:

Level B2 / Conversation – Can sustain relationships with native speakers without unintentionally amusing or irritating them or requiring them to behave other than they would with a native speaker. (…)

Level C2 / Sociolinguistic appropriateness – Appreciates fully the sociolinguistic and sociocultural implications of language used by native speakers and can react accordingly. (…)

(Council of Europe 2001: 76 and 122)

The language user is therefore placed in a perplexing situation; as an outsider, who should avoid “irritating” the “other”, while at the same time trying to “appreciate” how the “other” uses his/her own language.

Considering the current position of English, one may easily question whether it seems logical to demand such aims from someone who will most likely use the language with other speakers, who do not have English as their mother tongue. As a

39 _{The CEFR presents a common basis for the elaboration of language syllabuses curriculum}

guidelines, examinations or textbooks in Europe. It also “describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively” (Council of Europe, 2001: 1).

European and global lingua franca, should there not be other descriptors for English, besides just those from the perspective of the native? Seidlhofer (2011b), for instance, highlights the discrepancies between other modern foreign languages and English in terms of their distinct socio-economic functions:

“The CEF’s lack of differentiation between ‘modern foreign languages’ (…) and ‘English’ (…) is puzzling, as the socio-economic roles of these two categories of languages are so obviously different that the objectives for learning cannot be the same. (…) ‘English’ can be studied like other foreign languages such as Italian or Japanese, but for most current learners and users of the language, the role of the language as a medium of intercultural communication, its function as a (global) lingua franca, will be the more relevant one.”

(Seidlhofer 2011b: 185)

These are particularly pressing issues, since most curriculum guidelines and teaching materials follow Standard British or American norms as the acceptable measures of proficiency. After many years of advocating for “authentic” teaching materials and focusing on “real” English, these have usually been centered on British or American standards, especially because of the wide variety of native English corpora easily available. As a result, this has led to consolidating the position of Standard English as well as that of the NS. However, as the corpora available on ELF increases, so do the descriptions of lingua franca use. As it has already been observed in the VOICE Corpus, the way Europeans are using English is very different when compared with what is acknowledged by European policies regarding form and function.

For this reason, it is vital to reflect on the distinctiveness of the foreign language and lingua franca paradigms, so as to understand how English functions in relation to other European languages. It is only by doing so, that ELT in Europe can take a step forward and adjust in areas such as culture as well as linguistic and communicative competence, to name just a few.