There is currently little doubt that governments, schools and parents around the world endorse

the need for learning English as part of basic education – English can bring access to education
and jobs, promote social mobility, and connect people. At its best, English can confer many
benefits. Is, however, English always taught in the best possible way to realise these benefits for
learners?
The latest SHAPE Live event brought together three prominent scholars to debate the issue:
Professor Stephen Dobson, Dean of the Faculty of Education at Te Herenga Waka-Victoria
University of Wellington in New Zealand; Professor Lina Mukhopadhyay, from The English and
Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad in India; and Professor Ianthi Tsimpli, Chair of
English and Applied Linguistics at the University of Cambridge.
Stephen began by reminding us that in many parts of the world English is often one piece of the
linguistic repertoire of a community, which includes mother tongues and other languages. It is,
therefore, important to make allowances for connections between the languages and cultures in
which English is embedded. In the Indonesian context, for example, there is the concept that all
education should embrace values that match the culture and that teaching should be done in a
holistic fashion. Sometimes, however, when English is taught in other cultures, it is about
assessment rather than balancing the values that are in existence in that particular culture.
...when offering an English language curriculum in an educational system or in a school, it’s
important to ensure that it complements rather than competes with curricula in the national or
local languages.
So, when offering an English language curriculum in an educational system or in a school, it’s
important to ensure that it complements rather than competes with curricula in the national or
local languages. Otherwise, it can disrupt national education policies and practices in non-
English speaking countries. Interestingly, the audience in the discussion thought that some of the
top stakeholders who drive demand for English in education, namely, governments, parents and
regulatory bodies, are also the main resistors to changing the role of English in education.