Conference Agenda

English Medium Instruction (EMI) schools have become a burgeoning phenomenon in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, shaping graduates who possess not only communicative competence but also proficiency in the English language. This educational approach has instigated a pervasive presence of English in the diverse spheres of students' daily lives, spanning school environments, familial interactions, social gatherings with friends, and digital engagements. Consequently, this research endeavors to scrutinize the extent to which the emerging Kurdish generation incorporates English and Kurdish across various domains. The study aims to unveil the language ideologies cultivated through their curriculum and education, shedding light on how these students perceive their national identities.

To accomplish this objective, a mixed-method approach was employed to gather comprehensive data. In the quantitative phase, a survey was disseminated among 120 students in four prominent EMI schools located in Erbil. This survey sought to ascertain the students' language ideologies and the rates at which they utilized English and Kurdish. In the subsequent qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with 10 students and four school principals from the same institutions. These interviews delved into topics such as the students' proficiency in Kurdish, the incorporation of Kurdish in their curriculum, and the potential language policies implemented within both the school and familial contexts.

The findings illuminated a prevailing trend of English dominance in various discourses, a noticeable deficiency in students' proficiency in Kurdish, and a cognizance among stakeholders regarding this linguistic scenario. However, the study also pointed to a dearth of substantial language policies in schools or households aimed at preserving Kurdish as the mother tongue.

Abstract

Linguistic imperialism, the dominance of one powerful, ‘killer’ language (Skutnabb-Kangas, 2000), particularly in former colonies and settlements, has been studied mainly in the context of language education in a multilingual context (Rezaeifard, & Chalak 2017), however, perceptions towards linguistic imperialism remain largely unexplored. This issue takes on added significance in an exceptionally multilingual country like India (Pervaiz et al., 2019) where the preservation of cultural diversity and the mitigation of social inequalities are the major concerns. The current study attempts to bridge this gap by analyzing the attitudes of Indians hailing from a diverse spectrum of linguistic, geographical, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The representative data for the sociolinguistic study was collected from forty Indian subjects using one-on-one and group interviews and the content analysis of the qualitative data gave rise to recurring themes. The findings reveal that English has largely shed its colonial associations, with gender, socioeconomic status, and the medium of instruction significantly influencing these attitudes. The research contributes to our understanding of the evolving role of English in India and the complex interplay of language, culture, and identity.

Keywords: Linguistic imperialism, English in India, language attitudes, sociolinguistics.

References

Pervaiz, A., Khan, M.K. and Perveen, A. (2019). Linguistic Imperialism. In J.I. Liontas, and M. DelliCarpini (Eds.) The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0916

Rezaeifard, F., & Chalak, A. (2017). The impact of linguistic and cultural imperialism on Iranian ELT context: attitudes of teachers and students. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 4(6), 124-135.

Skutnabb‐Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights? Routledge.

Language planning in multilingual jurisdictions is never an ideologically neutral process. In Taiwan, the current Bilingual 2030 policy is a case in point, garnering both support and intense criticism since its introduction in 2017. Notably, the policy has gone through two significant name changes: from “Make English the Second Official Language” to “Bilingual Nation 2030”, and then to simply “Bilingual 2030”. In spite of these developments, the vision behind the policy remains the same: to enhance the competitiveness of Taiwan through the promotion of English, which stands in sharp contrast with the recent legislation recognizing and protecting some 20 national languages (Taiwan Mandarin, Taiwan Southern Min, Taiwan Hakka, 16 Formosan languages, and Taiwan Sign Language). To understand how these languages are positioned in the linguistic ecology of Taiwan, this study turns to two sets of policy documents related to Bilingual 2030 and the National Languages Development Plan (NLDP). With Ruiz’s (1984) language orientations as the analytical framework, the roles of each language in these documents are cross-examined through critical discourse analysis. The findings show that the disproportionate focus on English in Bilingual 2030 (“resource” orientation) pushes the national languages to the margins (“problem” orientation), contradicting not only the linguistic reality of Taiwan but also the very meaning of “bilingual”. Moreover, the re-centering of English further constrains efforts to deepen Taiwan’s multilingualism and revitalize its endangered indigenous languages (conflicting “rights” and “resource” orientations). This study thus argues that any national policy related to English needs to be jointly considered with the NLDP at all times so that 1) consistency in language planning can be ensured, and 2) interactions between the teaching and learning of different languages can be maximized. Without systematic and comprehensive planning, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to move towards building an English-friendly, and proudly multilingual, Taiwan.

Awareness and opinions on 21^st-century education skills by EFL teachers can lead students to be lifelong learners. EFL teachers need to be aware of and familiar with the 21^st century foreign language education skills including the critical thinking skill(s). This study aimed at investigating the EFL teachers’ awareness and opinions on the use and application of critical thinking as a 21^st century skill in their EFL classes . It also attempted to find out whether there were any significant differences among the teachers’ awareness and opinions in terms of gender and field of specialization (language and literature). In order to achieve the aims of the study and answer its questions, both a quantitative and a qualitative research methods have been used. Quantitatively, a 5- point Likert scale questionnaire adopted from a survey made by Ravitz (2014) used in this study. The participants were 60 teachers; 20 from each department of English language at the Colleges of Basic Education, Education, and Languages at Salahaddin University, Kurdistan of Iraq. Qualitatively, an interview was conducted with 30 teachers; 10 from each of the departments of English at the colleges’ understudy. The study has found out that the teachers were aware of the use of critical thinking skills, and they attempted to follow applying this skill in their EFL classes. Furthermore, the results of the study implied that the teachers’ opinions included in the study were positive toward using critical thinking skill in EFL classes. Moreover, there were fewer differences between males and females teachers in their opinions on the studied skill, but there were statistically significant differences between language and literature specialization in their opinions on the same skill.

Keywords. TESOL , 21^st century language skills , critical thinking , EFL teachers awareness and opinions , gender difference.