Small American colleges often love their ambitious graduates. Wabash College, my alma mater and outstanding private liberal arts college in Indiana, certainly celebrates her favorite sons and treats them like stars. This fall’s Wabash Magazine advises graduates to “Look East, Young Man” as it celebrates the opening of the College’s new Asian Studies Center.
Inside, the magazine editor describes a “Language of Opportunity” article as “Eric Roth ’84 recounts how his attempt to start a free-thinking university in Vietnam led to the realization that the spread of the English language—in part through his own conversational English primer—may be the more immediate path to freedom of thought and expression in the region.”
Fortunately, the article also provides a larger context of teaching English in a closed (but still opening) society. The writer, Steve Charles, also explores the difficulties of adapting Compelling Conversations , an advanced conversation for ESL (English as a Second Language) students into an acceptable EFL (English as a Foreign Language) textbook, and explains how I came to publish two very different English language conversation textbooks. Please note that the original ESL book has 45 chapters, including “Voting”, and the EFL version for Vietnamese English Language Learners has 15 chapters with more vocabulary definitions.
“In addition to teaching at the University of Southern California, the former congressional aide and journalist (Roth) is co-author of Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics. The book is an alternative text for teaching conversational English as a second language (ESL). It is recommended by a leading trade journal of English teaching professionals.”
The three-page glossy magazine piece continues to provide perspective and illuminate the role of English in the 21st century. “And in case you haven’t noticed, English is well on its way to becoming the world’s dominant language,” writes Charles.
“This is the first time in world history we actually have a language spoken genuinely globally by every country of the world,” writes David Crystal in English as a Global Language. As of 2005, almost a quarter of the world’s population spoke English as a native or second language. It is the de facto language of commerce and diplomacy. More than 80 percent of information stored on the Internet is in English. And while there are more speakers of Chinese, Spanish, and Hindi, they speak English when they talk across cultures, and it is English they teach their children in order to give them a chance in the world economy. More than 20,000 ESL teaching jobs are posted monthly; no longer a fallback, teaching ESL is becoming a lucrative first or second career. Some experts predict that by 2030 more than half the world’s population will speak English.”
Reading those simple, powerful facts about the explosion of English renewed my appreciation for our role as English teachers today. English remains the language of opportunity for millions seeking to study, work, and move abroad. The article allows me to explain. “I had been teaching ESL to immigrants, and I knew English was essential to their lives in the U.S., but on this trip we saw English as a truly global language. It is the gateway to a modern world, and to 21st century lives. And in countries like Vietnam and other developing nations, English is sometimes the only accessible means to advance yourself.” This insight lead to the title “the language of opportunity”.
“Combining his teaching experience and his liberal arts background, Roth collaborated with his mother, Toni Aberson—an English teacher for 35 years—to self-publish the first edition of the book. Dedicated to his father, Dani Roth—who spoke six languages and “could talk with almost anyone”—the book provides an alternative to “presentation-practice-production” approach to language learning, instead using quotations, questions, and proverbs to prompt conversation.”
“Some [quotes and questions] will have students roaring with laughter, while others require careful introspection,” wrote a reviewer (Hall Houston) for the ESL journal English Teaching Professional. “They are highly effective for promoting student discussion.”
“In the classroom and in the book we try to create a space that’s tolerant and rigorous at the same time,” Roth says. “The focus is on learning by doing, and we want to give people room to make good mistakes—errors that help us learn. When people expect themselves to be perfect, they go silent.”
Most of the book’s prompts ask for recollections or personal opinions.“Whatever perspective you bring to the book, I want you to find validation in some great thinker, that it’s okay to see things that way. That gives us all the freedom to be ourselves and less of who we think we should be, or who we’ve been programmed or conditioned to be.”
Like many other English teachers – of all kinds – I feel rich in life experiences, but we seldom get recognized for our hard work. We also also clearly make significant contributions to our grateful students and larger, positive global trends. And recognition feels good. Therefore, I’m grateful that Wabash College, a small Midwestern college in a small town, taught me to “disagree without being disagreeable” and see the big picture.
Books and literature still matter in our 21st century global culture of blogs, especially for starting conversations. In the past few days, I have had three engaging, satisfying conversations with strangers about books. How?
Is that a good book?
What is on your summer reading list?
Can you recommend a good book?
What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
Once I broke the ice standing in line, the conversation just flowed. I asked a few questions, shared a few reading suggestions, and enjoyed what had been “dead” time waiting to mail books to customers.
English language learners can develop and deepen their conversation skills with classroom practice. As English students practice more, they also develop the confidence to start conversations with co-workers, fellow English students, fellow bus passengers, or strangers in line. Conversation skills can be practiced almost anywhere, but our English classrooms provide a safe, tolerant, and natural environment to develop and deepen speaking skills.
Here is a link to a conversation lesson called “Reading Pleasures and Tastes” that ESL teachers, English teachers, literature lovers and casual readers might enjoy.It’s chapter #16 from Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics.
Many English teachers have asked if I plan a “culturally sensitive” version so Compelling Conversations can be used in more countries.
For instance, China censors not only their classrooms, but has created a great electronic fallwall so its citizens can not find information on Tibet, Taiwan, democracy, or free speech. China’s educational leaders, perhaps the most important market for many English language programs and books, simply wants “harmonious communication”, not discord, goes the argument. Likewise, Saudi Arabia – where women are banned from driving, Islam reigns as the one and only religious faith, and free speech is forbidden – wants books where relations between men and women go unasked. Why not accommodate the local rulers and pander to the prejudices of the powers to be? Sales will surely increase.
No doubt, sales would increase. Yet I prefer not to censor myself or support local tyrants. Consider me a “live and let live, speak and let speak” teacher. As Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence declared, “resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.” Asking simple questions and sharing personal experiences, without worrying about what some government official might think, seems reasonable. Freedom is still a good idea.
Originally written for immigrants and refugees coming into the United States, Compelling Conversations: Questions and Quotations on Timeless Topics allows students to share, candidly, their personal stories. Some fled to avoid persecution, some escaped civil wars and economic poverty, and some sought more free to just be themselves and create a new, usually better life.
I’m even a bit flattered that my tiny little website is blocked by a few governments addicted to censorship and trying to stop their citizens from asking questions. My book simply asks over 1400 questions, shares a few hundred proverbs, and demonstrates how brilliant women and men have disagreed on many issues through out history.
Conversation matters, especially during times of war and hysteria. I’m trying to help English language learners develop their conversation skills, reflect on their experiences, and exchange insights with other fellow human beings. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Sometimes powerful people abuse their authority. Sometimes little people suffer because of the mistakes and decisions of the more powerful. If some government or authority feels that these questions are too dangerous, uncomfortable, or impolite, than so be it.
Asking questions and simple conversation help us clarify and understand our world. I’m perfectly comfortable with every question that is asked in this book, and emphasize many times that students can just decline to respond if they feel less comfortable. (Learning how to say “no” is also a good conversation skill to master!) Yet it’s a very different situation for a student – an individual – to choose to pass over a question and for a censor to block a website, ban a book, or prohibit a question. I prefer to treat all adults as adults.
Sorry for the long rant, but that’s why I have declined to create a “censor’s version” that would eliminate questions of elections, corruption, women’s rights, or double standards. Freedom, including the freedom to ask simple questions, still seems like a good idea to me.
English has rapidly become the international language for business, as a lingua franca. “That is to say, it is used as a medium of communication by people who do not speak the same first language,” explains Andy Kirkpatrick in his controversial book World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching (2007).
In fact, some linguists claim that an estimated 700-800 million individuals speak English as a second, third, or fourth language. That is almost twice the estimated number of native English speakers, usually estimated at 400 million! Isn’t that amazing!
The power of English to transform lives in the developing world, including nations where English is an official language, deserves more recognition. The Washington Post published this an excellent article on April 6 called In India, Dreams Unfold in English: Boom is Driving Languge Classes . Read it!
As the price of rice, corn, and other basic food staples increased daily and food riots return to the headlines, we might want to reflect on ways to help the world’s poorest poor. One way that English teachers, dedicated students, and idealists can make a small contribution is by visiting www.FreeRice.com .
This outstanding educational site asks a wide range of vocabulary questions that often appear on standardized exams. Are you studying for the TOEFL, TOEIC, SAT, LSAT, or GRE? Are you trying to expand your English language vocabulary? Do you know relatives, friends, or co-workers in poor countries? Are you an English student, an ESL teacher, a language school administrator, or a global citizen? FreeRice provides practical assistance to adult education students, ESL teachers, immigrants, test takers, and refugees. FreeRice is a powerful vocabulary resource with 50 levels of vocabulary questions, and its addictive too!
Whether you are a word lover or a world lover, this site should appeal to you. For each correct answer, the site sponsors donate 20 grains of rice to the United Nations Food Program. Check Free Rice out, test your vocabulary skills, and make a small – yet significant – contribution today. Thanks!
“The satiated man and the hungry man do not see the same thing when they look upon a loaf of bread.”
A good society helps its citizens flourish and visitors feel welcome.
A good society also invests in education, including teaching immigrants enough English that they can use their considerable intelligence, creativity, and skills in the workplace.
Unfortunately, low standards in public education have eroded support for government sponsored education programs. Worse, the few underfunded English as a Second Language programs usually provide only the most basic English skills. Students learn to listen and read at about 4th grade level, and speak like a child with a very limited vocabulary.
From my perspective as an English instructor and former adult ESL teacher, the current adult ESL standards too often only teach immigrants passive skills like listening and some minimum reading. English language programs, whether designed for vocational skills or general language, must include speaking and writing. If people can’t hold a conversation in English, their job prospects remain rather limited!
A frontpage article in today’s Los Angeles Times points out the obvious problem. America, or at least Los Angeles and California, have become dangerously dependent on foreign trained labor for many professions from nursing to engineering. Lack of Skilled Workers Will Lead to a Fiscal Crisis noted the headline that spoke for itself. The acute shortage has lead, as so often, to a lower of standards and more workplace problems.
When will the employers and voters decide to invest in real, serious, quality English languages for immigrants? And why are immigrants trained in English programs abroad so much stronger, better, and more effective than the adult ESL programs here? After all, immigrants have many more opportunities to speak English and learn outside of the classroom than students in Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, or France.
Again, the case for dramatically expanding and raising the standards of our English as a Second Language programs seems clear.
Unfortunately, reason and government policy do not always co-exist in the United States! What about in your country?
Small American colleges often love their ambitious graduates. Wabash College, my alma mater and outstanding private liberal arts college in Indiana, certainly celebrates her favorite sons and treats them like stars. This fall’s Wabash Magazine advises graduates to “Look East, Young Man” as it celebrates the opening of the College’s new Asian Studies Center.
