Sabiha Mansoor, Aliya Sikandar, Nasreen Hussain and Nasreen M. Ahsan (eds), Emerging Issues in TEFL, Challenges for Asia (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2009), xxi + 328 pp

Abstract

Part 1 addresses the position in countries which consider English as a second language. While the spread of English as a global language raises controversial issues because of its imperialistic and hegemonic nature, the unilateral vision behind it also poses a real threat to local languages and cultures. Pakistan's language policy, making Urdu the national language and English the language of work and trade, has increased ethnic and social class confl icts. Local languages are seen as inferior and threatened with becoming extinct. Making English the gateway to modernisation empowers the ruling elite and makes the role of US and UK hegemony even clearer. The Westernised elites are helping 'the forces of globalisation and threatening cultural and linguistic diversity' (p. 16). How did this happen?In Pakistan's exorbitantly expensive private schools, English is the language of instruction in all subjects. Urdu as the language of instruction in public schools is also not naturally available for many Pakistanis. Confi rmed by several studies, instruction in regional languages is practically zero. Regional languages are not considered appropriate for educational purposes and suffer lack of educational materials, especially in science and technology. Most students in higher education develop a negative image of their own mother-tongue and carry a negative identity of their own local group. The regional languages also disappear because most parents consider Urdu and English as statusenhancing tools. Especially English gives children access to higher jobs and dreams of a better future abroad. As in other countries in Asia, Africa and the Arab world, many Pakistanis cannot afford the bizarre private school fees and are excluded from economic and personal growth. Linguistic globalisation turns out to be anti-poor, pro-elitist and exploitative. What to do?The importance of instruction in mother-tongue languages is recognized by virtually all scholars, but many argue that these languages are unsuitable for higher education and may be used in primary classes. Mother-tongue languages provide the basic linguistic principles on which children can build to learn English as a foreign language.