Education

This paper concerns the adoption of the English language as a Lingua Franca, or common language and what it should mean for ESL instruction. With the advent of globalization, it has become increasingly important for people to learn a second language. This is because people from all over the world regularly interact with each other. Our major cities are no longer dominated by one or two ethnic or cultural groups; they are now very diverse places that act as a home for people from all over the world. Many nonnative speakers work in the service or medical industries. As a result, it is important that people coming from diverse backgrounds with different languages have a way to communicate with each other. This has led to exponential growth in the English as a Second Language (ESL) field. However, it is important that ESL professionals realize that English is no longer a language that can be dominated by native speakers. It is often adapted by people from different backgrounds to fit their cultural or linguistic traditions. These adaptations can reach millions upon millions of people and therefore fundamentally affect the English spoken by nonnative English speakers. This does not make their use of English wrong, per say, as many native English speakers might assume; rather the language is evolving before our very eyes and our education systems need to adapt to this evolution as the main concern in regards to nonnative speakers should be that they can understand native speakers and other nonnative speakers of English and be understood by them.

The theories and practices of Progressive Education in the United States stem from a reaction to traditional forms of public schooling. Thinkers like Margaret Mead and John Dewey advocated the idea that educational pedagogy needed to be more child-centered, more spontaneous, and more apt to assist the child in developing as a whole person who will eventually contribute to and be productive members in society. The Jesuits transcended this idea by insisting that education’s function should be to develop leaders with the aptitude for inspiring and transforming society. Both ways of thinking set ideals for which educators to strive. But, even with the hopeful promises of Progressive Education, today’s schools seem entrenched in more traditional forms that stifle genuine student growth.