Title / Speak Globish, Don't speak English
Members / Group ‘AU’
Akira Suzuki
Ji YounPark
Kunie Fujiwara
Shunsuke Shimoda
Yuko Tanaka
Yuriko Hama
Index / I.Introduction
II.What is Globish?
III.What are ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES?
IV.Conclusion
References / Bibliography

1

  1. Introduction

Have you ever known Globish before? I think you do not know this. It is new in Japan, but it is getting more and more common in France, Korea Globish is an integrated word of Global and English. It is a simplified language of English that uses only the most common English words and phrases. Now that you have known little bit about Globish, we will explain how Globish was invented, techniques for speaking Globish, advantage and disadvantage. And in conclusion, we want to suggest teaching it as education at school.

  1. What is Globish?

First is why Globish was made. Nowadays, it is commonly believed that English, or American is the official language in the “global village”. However, 88% of humans were not born in an English-speaking country. Those persons usually do not feel comfortable when they need to discuss with native English speakers. They are concerned about making mistakes, understanding with great difficulties, and being understood. When they discuss with non native English speakers, they can relax much more. One of Frenchmen Jean-Paul Nerrière thought everyone has a chance to experiment with it as soon as he or she travels a lot around the world. He believes Human always needed a common language to exchange and share ideas. Therefore, He made Globish as a communication tool.

Today, Gobish is a certain form of English, with a sentence building that is not too demanding, no trouble with accents, and a small set of useful words which are only 1500 words. English is spoken in England and Globish is spoken in the “global village”, everywhere by everyone. This means native English speakers should accept the evidence that a new language has appeared. The responsibility for communication belongs to the one who speaks. If and when needed, it is up to him to step down to the level of the one that is listening, or reading.

Globish has been partly spread by the internet. With the current and increasing spread of Globish, the power of English is going to decrease. This is excellent for all the other languages: they will be again equal with English, each carrying its own cultural wealth. Globish will be saved for business and day to day problems.

However, this idea which is to make the world common language had been already thought in 1887 by a Polish L.L. Zamenhof. The name of language is Esperanto. Esperanto was made to communicate with peoples who have a different culture, language, and so on. It is based on West European languages. Unfortunately it had not been spread, because of three reasons. First is that Esperanto is based on West European languages. Especially for Asians, we do not know these languages, so it is terribly difficult to learn. Second is that it has excessively large vocabulary of root words. And, I think there is another reason. Japan was not enough internationalized when Esperanto appeared. So Japanese did not put a special emphasis on even English. For these reasons, Esperanto had not been spread. On the other hand, Globish is not so much artificial, and based on English. Therefore, we believe Globish can cover all these problems.

Now let us show techniques for speaking Globish. There are seven steps.

  1. Don’t rush and speak at your speed. Globish should be spoken slowly enough for others to catch up.
  2. Use relatively simple, short sentences that contain only one idea. The purpose is to speak up straight. So, it should be avoided of using sentences with many modifications, relative clause and adverb clause which are taught at school.
  3. Use many words. As we mentioned, Globish uses a limited vocabulary of 1,500 words, and it doesn’t use a difficult vocabulary. Therefore, you have to explain, using lots of easy words when you need to express something in a different way. For example, nephew should be a son of my brother, son of my sister. Niece should be the daughter of my brother, daughter of my sister and so on.
  4. Try not using idioms and metaphors.All languages contain idiomatic phrases. They are not always used or recognized by the whole of the language community. Therefore non-native speakers find it difficult to understand it.
  5. Try not questioning someone in negative questions. For example, ”don’t you like a cat?” When someone asks Japanese and Russian such a question, they answer like, If they do then “No, (I like).” Or if they don’t then “Yes, (I don’t like)”. However American people answer the opposite...That is, the logic of the affirmative and negative might change according to the area of the language. Therefore, Globish should avoid using it.
  6. Use nice gestures or body language for communication.Body language also helps us communicating with others.
  7. Repeat each sentence twice.This is the second reason why Globish should use many words. To make others understand what you are talking about, you have to repeat, or rephrase it in another sentence. For example, if you would say, “I admitted it was my fault.” then add it, “I accepted that I was responsible for it” If you’re not able to rephrase another sentences, then just repeat the samesentence again. Caring these points, we can communicate with much more.
  1. What are ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES?

The advantages of Globish are following;

Globish is easy and simple to acquire.

Globish is not completely a new language.

No one must memorize so many words and phrases.

Learning only 1,500 words in a short term enables them to communicate with people from various cultures and it makes learners confident.

These advantages makes some merits to be taught in Japanese Elementary school in which there are some opposite opinions about adopting English education as a compulsory subject.

The opinions are;

English prevents students from getting better grades of other subjects.

Teachers have poor experience.

The parents and teachers are worrying about students' time to study other subjects such as Japanese language, mathematics, science, social study and etc.

So any foreign languages must be studied within the GENERAL (so-go) study class (III-1).

(III-1)

And also teachers themselves are not used to teach English.

e.g.) One Questionnaire taken by NHK

subjects / Boards of Education in 1,842 Japanese communities(1,176 answered)
question / How many teachers are they training for their better teaching?
Answers / No training...56%, going to train in future...10%, Applicants only...25%, Whole staffs...7%, No answer...2%

(III-2)

This questionnaire shows that 66% of them don't go through teaching training. So to start teaching English might be hard for elementary schools (III-2).

Thus, you can see that English has some possibility to make today's school curriculum more difficult although to start studying L2 from the age of elementary school realizes rapid acquisition.

For example, South Korea has already decided to teach English as a compulsory subject to elementary school pupils.This result is remarkably great (III-3).

(III-3)

Each skill of students who had experienced elementary school English (especially the skill of hearing) is higher than the other'.

But if a foreign language they learn is not English but Globish, things will be changed because;

Globish can be learned at a slow pace and long span without reducing their time to study other important subjects.

Globish needs less time for teachers' training than English.

In addition, unlike Esperanto, Globish is not completely a new language we have ever seen but based on English. Because of its a small vocabulary and short time for acquisition, Globish is acceptable for both of people who start learning English from the beginning and who had already studied English in the past. That can be also said that lots of native English speakers can use it naturally.

On the other hand, Globish includes some disadvantages such as;

Globish cannot explain about some more specialized and advanced subjects.

There are a lot of errors in the book of Globish.

Of course the limitation of 1,500 words can be seen as an advantage, but contrary to its expectation, also makes some expression difficult and complicated. Moreover,Globish is spoken so slowly that English users often feel frustration. So Globish is sometimes unfavorable for native-nonnative English conversation (III-4).

(III-4)

* This is a fictious story and Mr.Guddan is an imaginary person.

But Globish is made for minimum communication around the world. There is no problem to be used in our daily lives.

However, some people point out some mistakes in the textbook of Globish certainly. Currently Associate Professor at the University of Eichstätt, Joachim Grzega criticizes Globish.

Structure

The systemic concepts are not explained in detail.

Globish does not seem to be based on any practical or theoretical observations.

Words and Phrases

The suggested vocabulary is not based on any clear concept.

The forms are not even attached to any meanings.

A French-Globish list Nerrière offers on his website is hardly helpful.

There are phrases that seem, for a learner of Globish, unnecessary, too idiomatic, too rare, or, in fact, wrong.

The presentation of the vocabulary is totally unstructured.

The order of the words introduced is purely random. etc...

But it is a still developing language and no matter how many errors are found in today's textbook, it is you to correct and reform it freely.

If you agree with the idea of adopting Globish into Japanese educational system, what is the best way?When should they start to study? – From elementary school or Junior high school? And how long should they learn Globish?

After they finish studying it,is it still necessary to study English?

  1. Conclusion

Before we conclude our report, we have to look below the surface of English Education in Japan. Look at this chart. We can see the changes in the guide line especially the part of the foreign language.

*1958 ⇒ “the purpose of learning a foreign language is to understand their custom and values through English.”

*1969 ⇒ “concerning their ways of living ・・・make students to be able to read in English.”

*1998 ⇒ “through the foreign language, teachers should make students to understand the language itself and their culture first, motivate them to communicate with people from other countries using English and improve their abilities of communication such as listening and speaking.”

In 1958, the government noticed that “the purpose of learning a foreign language is to understand their daily life, custom and values through the language.”
In 1969, they said “concerning their ways of living ……omission…… make students to be able to read in English.”
In 1998, they changed the purpose into “through the foreign language, teachers should make students to understand the language itself and their culture first, motivate them to communicate with people from other countries using English and improve their abilities of communication such as listening and speaking in English.

Without saying, you can make sure the changes among the three from understanding the life-styles or values to communicating like listening and speaking. Despite the government changed the purposes at all, the system and the ways of teaching English haven’t been changed. Don’t you think it is strange? Before that, the current goal of English Education is to improve the skills of listening and speaking in English, which is the skill of communication. But, wait a minute. It is NOT necessary to communicate with others in English in Japan, is it? Then, why English Education is emphasized although English is neither a native nor a second language in Japan? Why English, not French or Spanish?
There are many possible answers. It may be some historical reasons or political reasons. As our main answer, I would say simply “because the world needs that.” Education has to connect with what the society requires. For today, what the society needs is the abilities of not only communication with people speak the same language but also different languages because of the globalization. So we have to regard English as the mean for communication between people from many countries, not as entrance exams. Basically, a language is a part of culture and used for communicating with others. It doesn’t matter that language is foreign or not. We have to reconsider the essential things about English Education. And that lead us to reach the true color of how English Education should be.
Languages are used for communicating with others and in the case of English it is used for people from other countries. That is our fundamental idea for recommending Globish in junior high and high schools’ English Education. But we came up with two main questions about English Education today though. We can’t say it is definite for people to speak in English with only native speakers of it. Because of the globalization, there are many occasions which non-native speakers of English have some conversations in English. More over, those spoken English is mostly influenced by their mother tongues. So it is hard to call it English sometimes. In that case people often call it “global English” or “International language.” At this, the first question is “why do we think that we have to acquire native-like or even the perfect English?” Of course, there must be common rules about English pronunciation or grammar, otherwise people from all over the world couldn’t communicate. But people in Japan have too much concentration on native speakers. With our idea is it really necessary for communication?
The second question is “is it necessary for students in junior high and high schools to study complicated grammar or many varieties of words?” Our answer is NO. Japanese education system of English wastes too much time to study useless points although Japanese language and English language are very different and we have to learn English as foreign language. Many cases in junior high and high schools are using textbooks which are used as ESL. It doesn’t make sense at all. We expect English Education should be based on improving students’ communication skills. You might come up with the other problems, which are teaching material, the quality of teachers and things like that. But the main point that we have to think about is it is time to change English Education as a whole. There is no meaning if some parts of the current English Education are change. We can’t say what is good or bad if there isn’t any evolution.
Now to conclude, the new system of English Education we suggest is to study Globish instead of English for fully 6 years. There is no reason to study both English and Globish because they are almost the same languages. Students in primary schools would start studying alphabet or few basic words to prepare for Globish. It would make them to perceive Globish is a different language from Japanese. After that, they would start studying Globish thoroughly in junior high schools like 1500 words, grammar and many expressions. Globish is easier than English, so students could acquire the most of Globish when they study about it closely for 3 years. In high schools, they would start practicing conversations in Globish on case-by-case basis. Besides they could learn more depth about Gｌobish, which means English as elective subject. Also the students who are really interested in English should go to university.
As I said before, our fundamental idea is communication skills internationally. This new system has the purpose of improving those skills and making students to be active in the world. We think you know that there is no evidence that you could speak English if you spend much more time to study English especially in Japan. We have to learn English as a foreign language. EFL is influenced by external and internal things such as the way of teaching, materials, learning strategies and motivations. For adaptability to the globalization, we have to learn English as International language. And that is surely Globish. If we could change to Globish Education, it might have both inputs and outputs that English Education doesn’t have. That is our evolution of Japanese English Education. The new education system will set off the big step to the world.

References/Bibliography

Jean-Paul Nerrière(2006)Speak Globish, Don't speak English, Korea, 다락원








1