el inglés como lengua internacional

UNIVERSIDAD DEL PAÍS INNOVA

01 DE AGOSTO
ALUMNA: ACELINA VÁZQUEZ LÓPEZ
TUXTLA GUTIÉRREZ, CHIAPAS
 INTRODUCTION
The importance of knowledge of foreign languages as an essential
requirement in various professional and academic fields and in the world of
international communication in general has been greatly emphasized from different
perspectives (Pla Bacín, 1989; Commission of the European Communities, 1990;
Rushby, 1990; García Hoz, 1993; Biojout de Azar, 1996; ., 2000; Palmer Silveira,
2000a; This necessary condition of foreign languages is reflected by the European
Commission in its 1995 White Paper on Education and Training entitled Teaching
and learning: Towards the learning society. This monograph highlights, among the
main lines of action on education and training, the objective that all citizens of the
European Union (EU) be competent in three European languages in addition to
their mother tongue. The reasons supported by the Commission to justify this
proposal are, on the one hand, that all citizens benefit from the work and personal
opportunities that the EU offers them and, on the other hand, facilitate coexistence
with other cultures within the Union. It is also suggested that learning languages at
an early age favors the general learning of schoolchildren.

This objective seems to have not yet been consolidated in Spain. According
to Miret (2001: 10), our country is at the bottom of the European states in relation
to the knowledge of languages other than its mother tongue, along with nations
such as France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Great Britain. This statement is
supported by the data offered by the EU in its Eurobarometers of February and
October 2001. For this reason, we continue to insist on the growing need in today's
society for a good knowledge of foreign languages for international relations for
various reasons (educational, work, professional, cultural or tourist), to have
access to the media and for development. of new technologies (Develop capacity,
2002).

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 1.1. THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL
LANGUAGE
Today, there are many causes and very diverse reasons why English has
become an international language (González Davies and Celaya Villanueva, 1992;
Durán Escribano, 1999; Alcaraz Varó, 2000; Flowerdew and Peacock, 2001) ; In
fact, knowledge of it is almost an indispensable condition for professional success
(Fishman, 2002). Richards et al. (1992: 187) define international language as "a
language in widespread use as a Foreign Language or Second Language, ie as a
language of international communication" and exemplify the definition with English
as the most used international language. In a recent interview, Halliday (Lam Kam-
Mei and Halliday, 2002:11) comments that the term "international language" can
have several meanings. In addition to its original meaning of artificial language, an
international language may have originally been a regional language that, at a
certain moment, becomes the most spoken or a vehicle of global communication.
According to Halliday, in a world like the current one in which the economy has
gone from being based on products and services to being an information economy,
the language that carries said information, English, is what has become an
international language. .

Apart from being one of the mother tongues with the largest number of
speakers (Broughton et al., 1980; Alcaraz Varó, 2000), various political-historical
reasons have led many countries to adopt English as their mother tongue or as a
second language ( Broughton et al., 1980; González Davies and Celaya
Villanueva, 1992; The rapid technological development of English-speaking
countries, especially the United States, has played an important role in its status as
an international means of communication or lingua franca (Graddol, 1997). But not
only in English-speaking countries but throughout the world, technological and
commercial fields have experienced very rapid evolution and English has become
the indispensable lingua franca for communication in the scientific and business
sectors (Graddol, 1997). ; Alcaraz Varó, 2000; Kindelán Echevarría, 2001; Broca
Fernández and Escobar Montero, 2002; Palmer Silveira, in press).

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 The press, television, cinema and literature in English are also available to
almost all countries in the world, and most of the world's scientific-technological
studies are written in English. Not in vain, Flowerdew and Peacock (2001: 10)
affirm that "the international language of research and academic publication is
English." According to Alcaraz Varó (2000: 15), "in most of the different specialties,
journal publications in English are the ones with the greatest prestige and
international diffusion." We must not forget that English is often the only tool
available to access the world of knowledge and research (Alcaraz Varó, 2000;
Flowerdew and Peacock, 2001). With all this, in addition to being the first language
in various countries with a certain global influence due to its economic power
(Flowerdew and Peacock, 2001), it is not surprising that in many other countries
English is a second language and is learned as a language. foreign in most of the
world (González Davies and Celaya Villanueva, 1992).

In recent years, the appearance of the Internet has contributed to reinforcing

this panorama of dominance of the English language (Graddol,
1997; Alcaraz Varó, 2000). The preponderance of English in this
new means of communication becomes evident, according to Gil
Pou (2000: 24), when he describes it as "an incredible source of
data, articles, images, photos, interviews, [...] similar to a library
gigantic [...] in which it is possible to find all kinds of information"
and in which "the predominant language to travel on its highways
is English". Graddol (1997: 50) states that the Internet is "the flagship of global
English" and, according to McCrum et al. (1986), 80% of the information stored on
the Internet is written in English. Thus, the importance of this language continues
to grow day by day as more and more people want or need to communicate in
English. According to Kachru and Nelson (2001), there is no doubt that English is
the most widely taught, read and spoken language worldwide at this time. Its status
as an international language (Bhatia, 1997a; Widdowson, 1997; Brutt-Griffler,
1998; Flowerdew and Peacock, 2001; Fishman, 2002).

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1.2. TEACHING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TERMS, ACRONYMS
AND CONCEPTS
Communication and learning are the two main elements that feed the field of
English language teaching (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) or, as it is more
commonly known, the field of ELT, acronym for the English expression English
Language Teaching (Richards et al., 1992: 121). Within this type of teaching, three
large groups or main branches are distinguished: English as a mother tongue,
English as a second language and English as a foreign language (Hutchinson and
Waters, 1987).

According to González Davies and Celaya Villanueva (1992), the mother

tongue is one that is learned as a child from one's parents. As a branch of ELT,
English as a first language or Mother Tongue (MT) is taught in those countries
where this language is the official language, a vehicle of daily communication, and
is taught to those students who consider it their first language ( L1) 1. This is the
case of English-speaking countries such as the United States, Great Britain,
Ireland or Australia.

On the other hand, those people who study English as a language other
than their first language may have two different types of motivation when wanting
to learn it; an integrative motivation or an instrumental motivation (Broughton et al.,
1980: 5). In the first case, the student needs the language to be part of a society in
which he lives and in which daily communication with the rest of the speakers
requires mastery of a language other than his mother tongue. In a different way,
the student who has an instrumental motivation when studying English does not
need the new language to communicate within the society in which he lives, but to
access media, literature, cinema, cultural manifestations from other countries. or to
be able to speak and establish relationships with speakers from other cultures.

According to Broughton et al. (1980), when the teaching of English responds

to a case of integrative motivation, we find ourselves in a situation of English as a
second language or English as a Second Language (ESL). This term is used to
designate the teaching/learning of English when this language plays an important

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communicative function within a country but is not the mother tongue or first
language (Richards et al., 1992). We are talking here about English as a means of
communication in the educational or jurisdictional systems of these countries, the
language of the media (newspapers, radio, television), the language of official
institutions, as well as the language of commerce and industry in general. This is
the case of immigrants or minorities who live in a country whose language is not
considered official within the national territory.

The third branch of English language teaching, English as a foreign

language, is related to the second type of motivation, instrumental (Broughton et
al., 1980). English as a foreign language or EFL (English as a Foreign Language)
refers to the English that is learned at school as just another subject and is not
used as a regular means of communication (Richards et al., 1992: 143). In this
case, English is taught in schools, institutes and other educational centers, but it
does not play a fundamental role in the social and economic life of citizens; In
short, it is not about the English that is needed to carry out daily life. The motivation
to learn English, in this case, is purely operational: reading literature, watching
movies in their original version, or communicating with speakers from English-
speaking countries or with those from other latitudes who know the English
language as a language of international communication.

González Davies and Celaya Villanueva (1992) believe that the concepts of
English as a second language (L2) and English as a foreign language (FL) are
related to the formal/informal dichotomy when referring to the context in which the
language is learned. English as a foreign language is practiced almost exclusively
in the classroom and gives rise to a type of acquisition in a formal context, while in
the case of English as a second language, the context in which learning takes
place is an informal context through of interaction with other people.

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1.3. TYPES OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: GENERAL
ENGLISH AND SPECIALTY ENGLISH

Even if we decide to form a unit with the teaching of English as a non-native

language, without taking into account its position as a second or foreign language,
we do have to distinguish two different types or branches of English as an L2
according to the specific needs of the student2. On the one hand, there is the large
block of general English or GE (General English) (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:
17), which Robinson (1991: 1) refers to as EGP (English for General Purposes).
This type of English is what is taught in schools, institutes and university courses in
English Philology and Translation and Interpretation. It is the English that is usually
used to communicate with people from other countries for the simple fact of
sharing opinions, the one needed to understand each other with speakers of other
nationalities when a person travels on vacation, the language that many want to
learn to read or watch. films in original version; In short, English that covers all
types of everyday situations. General English or English for general purposes
courses are those whose main objective is "to teach general language proficiency"
(Richards et al., 1992: 125).

On the other hand, we have specialty English which, as its name indicates,
has much more defined and specific objectives than general English. In the opinion
of Alcaraz Varó (2000), specialty English is one of the three manifestations of the
English language in its condition as a lingua franca, along with English as a second
language and English as a foreign language. Specialty English courses are those
in which the content and objectives of the course are determined by the specific
needs of a particular group of students (Richards et al., 1992).

Starting in the 1960s, the growing need of many students to learn English
for specific purposes gave rise to this type of English teaching (Flowerdew and
Peacock, 2001). As far as basic principles are concerned, there is no reason to
assume that the learning process of the specialty English student is different from
that required in general English courses. It is an approach to language learning
based on the specific needs of the student (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984;

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Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Robinson, 1991; Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998),
that is, it is a language teaching in which all decisions, in terms of content and
methodology, are based on the reasons that a student has for wanting to learn it.
Those students who attend courses at universities where English is the medium of
communication in classes need a command of the language to understand and
participate in the academic life in which they find themselves; Likewise, those
students who work (or will work in the future) in the international business,
commercial or economic world require specific knowledge of the English language
that allows them to write letters, read a report or actively participate in meetings or
meetings. Phone conversations. We will talk about the characteristics of this type
of ELT in more detail in chapter 2.}

Both types of English as a second language are present in the Spanish

educational system in its different stages. The importance of English as an
international language, mentioned above, is observed in the changes carried out
within our educational system, both those that led to the Reform and those
contemplated in the Quality Law (see 1.1). On the other hand, the need to use this
language within the professional and academic fields has made its presence also
very important both in Vocational Training and in the teaching programs of many
university studies.

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 1.4. CURRENT OVERVIEW OF THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS
A SECOND LANGUAGE WITHIN THE SPANISH
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
According to Alcaraz Varó (2000: 14), English as a foreign language
"occupies the number one position in the primary and secondary education
curricula of almost all countries in the world." Particularly in the European Union, it
is today the foreign language that is most studied and predominates (Graddol,
1997; Phillipson, 2001; Fishman, 2002) and for the moment, at least in the
immediate future, it seems that its predominance in the program language
education in Europe is not threatened at all: "It is a dominance unlikely to be
challenged in the immediate future" (Graddol, 1997: 44). According to House
(2001), English as a lingua franca in Europe is an advantage because it facilitates
functional flexibility due to its wide international extension, becoming a very useful
instrument of union between various regions and different cultural identities that
can have a medium in English. of common communication.

1.4.1. General English in Compulsory Education and Baccalaureate: the

Reform and the Quality Law

According to a study published by Eurydice (European education

information network) on the teaching of foreign languages in European schools
(Miret, 2001), there is a clear need to provide EU citizens with appropriate
language skills through a reinforcement of compulsory language teaching at an
early age in most of its countries and with an increase in the time dedicated to
learning it. It is also commented that almost all study programs consider the ability
to communicate as the main objective of teaching foreign languages. There are
various studies about the influence of age on the learning of foreign languages
(Muñoz Lahoz, 1997, 1999, 2001; Tragant Mestres and Muñoz Lahoz, 2000;
Tragant Mestres, 2001). According to Muñoz Lahoz (2001), the introduction of
foreign language teaching at a younger age has its advantages as long as it is
accompanied by a greater number of hours dedicated to said learning. On the one

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hand, students can achieve a higher level of knowledge of the foreign language
and, on the other, an enrichment of the comprehensive education of schoolchildren
is encouraged in preparation for their participation in a transcultural society like
ours.

All these data present their impact on the panorama of transformations that
the Spanish educational system has been experiencing in recent years. The
current educational system, which began to be introduced in Spain in the 93-94
academic year (popularly known as Educational Reform), advanced the
introduction to the foreign language, English or French, to the third year of primary
school (Mederos, 1993; Murillo Puyal et al., 1996). In the previous educational
system in force since 1970, language teaching began in the last cycle of EGB, that
is, when the student was in the sixth grade at the age of twelve. With the new
Quality Law, approved on October 31, 2002, the age at which schoolchildren will
begin to learn a foreign language, which will mostly be English, is brought forward
again to six years old (the last year of the Early Childhood Education stage), as
stated in chapter 3, article 11, section 3 of the aforementioned law. Thus, in the
new educational system, Spanish students will study English as a foreign language
in all courses of the Primary Education stage.

It seems that all these changes are starting to bear fruit. Gómez (1999: 42)
states that "the teaching of English in Spanish schools has improved a lot in the
last 10 years." Although his article suggests that there is still much to do and
mentions a series of deficiencies in Secondary Education, a stage we will talk
about below, improvements are observed in early childhood and primary education
that "make it possible to predict a change in the situation medium term" (Gómez,
1999: 42).

1.4.2. Specialty English: Vocational Training and university studies

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 The teaching of English is not only present in the stages of compulsory
education and Baccalaureate as an option from the age of 16. Those students who
do not wish to continue studying Baccalaureate have the alternative of preparing
for their entry into the world of work through Vocational Training (FP) in which,
since the Reform, they opted for the teaching of another type of L2, specialty
English. This is also the type of English that more and more universities are
introducing into their degree programs, adapting in each case to specific needs.
According to Alcaraz Varó (2000), this branch of English as L2 has meant a
change in the scope of study and research relatively recently.

Beginning with the communicative revolution that marked the 1970s, the
teaching of English experienced a radical change in its methodological premises,
which went from focusing on knowledge of the language in terms only of grammar
and vocabulary to a study on how to use a language with the main objective of
achieving fluency rather than accuracy (Brieger, 1997: 3-4). Thus, the new English
teaching methodologies (ELT) contributed evidently along with other disciplines in
the teaching of specialty English. However, as this author states, effectiveness was
added to the main objectives of fluency and correctness.

Table 1. Vocational Training Cycles that contain specialty foreign language

subjects3 in their teaching programs.

Professional Degree Cycle Subject(s) Course

family

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 Restaurant and bar foreign language
Half service and second
foreign language
Hospitality and Kitchen foreign language
Tourism Accommodation first
Tourist information foreign language
Superior and marketing and second
Restoration foreign language
Travel agency
Administration Superior Secretariat English as a
foreign language first
and second
foreign language
Half Trade foreign language first
(or Valencian)
Commercial
Commerce and Management and
Marketing Superior Marketing foreign language first
International Trade
Transportation
Management
Operation, Control
and Maintenance of
Ship Machines and English as a first
Half Facilities foreign language
Fishing and Maritime
Maritime fishing Transport second
activities Navigation, Fishing
and Maritime
Transport English as a first
Superior Supervision and foreign language
Control of Ship
Machines and
Facilities

Along with this degree of specialization in the teaching of foreign languages

in general, and English in particular, within Vocational Training, we must highlight
the tendency to introduce credits dedicated to the teaching of specialized English
in many university courses that were not previously included. the learning of
foreign languages in their programs (Fortanet Gómez et al., 2001). The expansion
of the business world internationally and the geographical mobility of jobs have
increased the need for good communication in English for any university student
with a view to a better professional future.

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 1.5. THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIALTY ENGLISH TEACHING

In recent years, courses based on specialized communication needs aimed

at different professions in particular have experienced a great boom (Hyland, 2002;
Cantón Rodríguez, 2002). This trend is mainly due to the great demand for new
professional profiles from companies that have become aware of the importance of
knowledge and use of these languages in the field of international relations
(Cantón Rodríguez, 2002). Language has become an essential instrument in daily
professional life, and the acquisition of certain communication skills, mainly in
English as an international language, is accepted as fundamental among all
professionals in both L1 and L2 (Hyland, 2002).

This proliferation of specialty language courses aimed at workers from very

different sectors demands new approaches in language teaching and a review and
adaptation of existing methodologies (Cantón Rodríguez, 2002). The specialty
English movement emerged as a response to the need to learn this language as a
means or as a work tool and, in this way, the concept of learning a language has
been changing, adapting to different professional needs (Broca Fernández and
Escobar Montero, 2002). This is how English courses are developed for students
with specific needs in which the interest focuses on the student himself and the
subject he has to learn.

Of course, the field carved out by the branch of general English during the
first half of the 90s, collecting contributions from the seventies, has increased the
study of written and oral discourse in a global way, individualized and meaningful
teaching open to the initiative of the student, communicative competence as the
main objective of language teaching or the importance of pragmatics, among many
other contributions (Llobera i Cànaves, 2000). The teaching of specialty English
has adapted the basic principles of the new approaches and methodologies
implemented for general English as a second language. From there, the studies
have followed the line of specificity that characterizes the needs of students in this
branch of ELT.

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 Most publications on specialty English focus on English within the business
and economic world. (Dudley-Evans, 1998) However, there are also works aimed
at English that is used in various professional groups such as doctors (Antón
Pérez, 1999; Williams, 1999; Divasson Cilveti and León Pérez, 2001; Esteve
Ramos, 2001; Villanueva Alfonso and López Martínez, 2001 ) or lawyers (Alcaraz
Varó and Hughes, 1993; Alcaraz Varó, 1994; Barberà Manrique, 1999a, 1999b,
2001; Orts Llopis, 2001). In the same way we can find studies based on English for
academic purposes that are needed by both students and professionals from
different disciplines (Slaouti, 1999; Safont Jordà, 2001a, 2001b, 2002;
Skorczynska Sznajder, 2001; Carbajosa Palmero, 2002; Estévez Fuertes y Llácer
Llorca, 2002; Pérez Ruiz, 2002; Prieto Rueda and Rigol Verdejo, 2002), especially
within writing and reading skills. However, there are other specialties on which little
has been researched, such as, for example, the area of English for the tourism
industry. In any case, whatever the specific professional or academic context in
which the English language needs to be used, the teaching of specialty English
contemplates a series of key objectives and guidelines for the acquisition of the
necessary communicative competence that we will explain in the chapter following.
(Anónimo)

BIBLOGRAPHY

Anónimo. (s.f.). bitstream. Obtenido de

https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/10435/cap1.pdf
Dudley-Evans, S. J. (1998).

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 CONTENT
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1
1.1. THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE. .1
1.2. TEACHING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: TERMS, ACRONYMS AND
CONCEPTS............................................................................................................. 3
1.3. TYPES OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: GENERAL ENGLISH
AND SPECIALTY ENGLISH....................................................................................5
1.4. CURRENT OVERVIEW OF THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND
LANGUAGE WITHIN THE SPANISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.............................7
1.4.1. General English in Compulsory Education and Baccalaureate: the
Reform and the Quality Law.................................................................................8
1.4.2. Specialty English: Vocational Training and university studies.................9
1.5. THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIALTY ENGLISH TEACHING.......................11
BIBLOGRAPHY......................................................................................................13

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