User:Mahdi.mrabet/English as first foreign language initiative

The “English as first foreign language initiative” is a worldwide citizen initiative meant to promote the use of the English language as first foreign language in the developing countries around the world from the consideration that it became a necessary prerequisite as well as an easy and simple way for development and international communication.

History of the initiative

The initiative was started in October 2009 by a group of Tunisian people after they noticed that their country was among the last countries in the world not to have English as 1st foreign language. After further analysis and thinking they had a full set of arguments for the adoption of English as 1st foreign language in their country. However, the issue being shared by several other developing countries, they decided to start an initiative to raise awareness about the problem and to advocate for the use of English in those countries as a way to join the international community and to create further economic development and independence in those countries. The initiative is based on benevolent work autofinanced with the very funds of the workers.

Relevence of the initiative

This initiative is relevent in the present context due to the historical backgound of the African countries and to the current situation in international relations. Indeed, the majority of the African countries were imposed a foreign language during the era of foreign occupation or "colonization" by European countries. After the first wave of independence, the majority of those African countries remained dependent on their former occupier since they spoke only its language, it was their only access to modernity, to science and technology. This doesn't constitute at all a justification of foreign occupation or colonization. In the vast majority of cases, the African Countries were imposed models and systems that were designed for other contexts and weren't adapted to their cultural, geographical and local contexts. This explains in part the poor development levels achieved by those countries and the cultural schizophrenia between local and western states of mind. The evolution of the local cultures, systems and thinking never actually happened by the lack of appropriation of the progresses made by the west because of the forceful and brutal imposition by occupying forces of cultures and systems of thought that were always and still are widely percieved as foreign which is true in many aspects but not regarding universal values (like equality and freedom) and systems (like public debate, democracy or scientific management). Therefore, while the rest of the world continued its progress and achieved more and more interconnections, notably, by the adoption of the English language as international language, these countries, were left behind, monopolized by one western country which constituted their only horizon, mainly due to the language barrier. This language barrier was often the result of deliberate policies aimed to maintain an area of influence for the former occupiers. Therefoe, an initiative like this one is relevent as it aims to help those countries get out of isolation and build more international relations to develop their countries. It is even more relevent when you consider that the governments of the African countries involved do not have enough "strength" to make the reforms necessary without being tamed by foreign pressures. To break this chain of confinement and underdevelopment, urgent action to support the modernization of those countries is vital.

First motive : Development of African counties

The initiative considers that since the English language has become the global language and more and more people are using it, most of the global scientific publications, business knowledge, business exchanges, global institutions, media and communications are in English. However the initiative states that the use of the English language has unfortunately remained limited in numerous developing countries which are today isolated from the rest of the world because they don’t speak English.

For the initiaitve, the use of the English language in these countries would open for them the possibility to :

Have access to the greatest choice of cheap, affordable and most recent technological and scientific publications, best suited to their needs (70% of the scientific publications are in English)
Have access to the latest developments in business and business knowledge in a global economy based on knowledge and innovation
Attract far more foreign investments and make it possible for business men from all over the world to invest, work and live in those countries
Help train more skilled workforce and create more efficient businesses meaning more jobs and less poverty
Have access to the experiences of other emerging economies like India or Brazil, best suited to the problems of developing countries
Have access to more markets and opportunities from all over the world both for exports and imports enhancing considerably their economical condition
Promote their culture and have access to all the other cultures of the world
Be more independent as they build more even and diversified international relations

Second motive : Bring people together

Besides, the second motive of the initiative is the consideration that the use of the English language gives the people of the world the possibility to know each other and communicate together promoting open mindedness, cultural exchange and world peace.

Actions

The benevolent actions performed by the initiaitve are :

Distributing flyers around Paris to raise awareness about the stakes related to the problem
Contacting development NGOs for cooperation

Soon a campaign of support will be carried out for Tunisia including support letters and open letters that the people can send to government officials.

Critique and Language diversity

The initiative recieved some critiques regarding the impact of the adoption of English on local languages and on language diversity. But the initiative's aim is only to make English the 1st foreign language en lieu of another one. Its position is to support the diversity of local and native languages and to promote their conservation and teaching. It states that its goals and motives are not contradictory with language diversity. Its approach is that English has become a universal language bringing humankind together and that it is unfair for the African people to be left behind and to be isolated from other people because of a foreign language unjustly imposed on them by former foreign occupation. As of 2nd foreign languages, the initiative encourages the teaching of several different foreign languages according to their needs as it is the case in the Europpean community.

Achievements

Although the initiative stakes as goales the promotion of the use of the English language as first foreign language in schools, universities, administrations, businesses and media in the developing countries at stake, there is no measurable results or progress made yet in the developing countries concerned that would be directly related to the initiative's actions. However, the initiative has raised awareness about the issue with the immigrant communities in Paris from several of those developing countries. Future campaign about specific countries will also be able to provide with measurable data.

External links

The English as First Foreign Language Initiative website
Study about English in the world
Language diversity statement
Article in Europa451 about the initiative