The language of higher education in Jordan : conflict, challenges and innovative accommodation

Abstract

English has been well-established as an international and immensely powerful language. It has become entrenched world-wide, for various reasons including 'British colonialism, international interdependence, revolutions in technology, transport, communications and commerce, and because English is the language of the USA, a major economic, political and military force in the contemporary world' (Phillipson, 1992, p.23). All over the world, and especially in 'periphery English countries', i.e. where English is used as a foreign or as a second language, there are primarily economic but also political, educational, cultural and social pressures on people to learn and use English. Not uncommonly, such a pressure leads to the displacement or partial disregard of native languages. In the case of powerful nations, this process has led to the public declaration of dismay. Phillipson (1992, p.34) refers to France, for instance, which saw its language lose the dominant role it played in the European Community till 1972, when Britain-along with Denmark and Ireland-joined the community and French had to compete with English. Similarly, Germany felt the need, in 1984, to formally insist that German should not only theoretically enjoy an equal footing to English, but that it should actually be used to the same extent within the affairs of the Community. There is little doubt that, given the new roles English has assumed worldwide, it is displacing other second and foreign languages. The best example comes from Arab North Africa. The British Council profile of Tunisia (1982) concludes that the inevitable decline in Tunisian French offers an unquestionable opportunity for the development of English, especially given that the encouragement of English teaching is an official government policy. The British Council's profile for Morocco (1977) talks about the 'recurrent backlash from the French at the 'imperialism' of English and at times one can see their concern about the dominant position of French for political, economic and cultural reasons.' The issue of culture is associated with the issue of language: indeed, language dominance signals cultural dominance. In the case of English, the cultural influence of the English speaking culture, particularly in its American modes, has proved irresistible, and particularly so for young people who have been profoundly marked by the forms of dress, address, songs, fast food, past time activities, leisure and so many other aspects of everyday life. Povey (1979, p.179) rightly maintains that American culture, in a superficial sense has become the culture of much of the contemporary world, no matter the local modifications. Typically American things from free ways to ice cream, from jeans to rock music, are often familiar at first hand. This awareness is reinforced by secondary experience derived from the media. Film and TV shows throughout the world tend to be dominated by American production. The issue of culture is intertwined with the issue of language, for the spread of culture accompanies the spread of language and vice-versa. Indeed, one could claim that cultural 'imperialism' goes hand in hand, and sometimes precedes linguistic imperialism. It is revealing to look at cultural imperialism as a phenomenon before going into the language of higher education. As defined by Schiller (1976, p.9), cultural imperialism is 'the sum of processes by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to, or even promote, the values and structures of the dominating center of the system.' The means by which cultural imperialism is established are not only varied but also well identified by educators, psychologists, and social scientists. According to Phillipson (1992, pp.58-60), these have included commercial products of all kinds, television serials-with the USA dominating telecommunications and satellite communications worldwide-youth culture such as films, videos, and pop music, advertising agencies, government-financed operations in cultural diplomacy (including studying in the metropole country), the offer of English as a school subject or its use as a medium of instruction, export of books and other reading materials, educational aid and higher educational links. Some government agencies provide aid to private enterprises which promote the national culture abroad. The US government, for instance, is known to have provided substantial subsidies to the Readers' Digest, Life and Time magazines. In the media sector, there is a lot of flow from 'center' to 'periphery'. Developing countries, as well as many developed countries which are not strong players in the field of cultural production, tend to be wholly dependent for their international news on Reuter's. The flow in the opposite direction is either absent or minimal. Reuter's, a London-based agency, has tended to serve as 'the window to the world' even for otherwise 'first-world' countries such as Sweden and Finland. Cultural products in the 'center' serve as a model for the 'periphery'. There is a strong link between these processes and the choice of language in teaching and learning.