The role of English language education in sustainable, equitable futures in South Asia

Dr. Elizabeth J. Erling

Lecturer of English Language Teaching

Centre for International Development and Teacher Education

Open University, UK

15 Sept. 2015UKFIET, Oxford

South Asia• Bangladesh, India, Nepal,

Pakistan, Sri Lanka (the countries the research focussed on – also Afghanistan and Iran)

• Population estimated to be about 1.6 billion

• a very large ‘youth population’ -- an average of around 20%

Country Unemployment rate Youth unemployment

Afghanistan 35.0% (2008) --Bangladesh 5.0% (2012) 9.3% (2005)India 8.5% (2012) 10.2% (2010)Iran 15.5% (2012) 23.0% (2008)Nepal 46.0% (2008) --Pakistan 6.2% (2012) 7.7% (2008)Sri Lanka 5.2% (2012) 19.4% (2010)

* Youth = 15-24 (CIA, 2013)

What is the role of English in employability?

• 47% of graduates are not employable in any sector of the knowledge economy, given their English language and cognitive skills. The problem is even worse for students from smaller towns and cities (Aspiring Minds, India, 2013: 7).

Teamlease (2012) Massifying Indian Higher Education: The Access & Employability Case for Community Colleges. Available online at: http://www.teamlease.com/index.php?module= research&event=india_Labour_Report

What does the research say about the link between English language skills and economic gain? Is there a return on investment on English language skills?

• being fluent in English (compared to not speaking the language at all) increased the hourly wages of men by 34%, and thus has the same economic impact on wages as completing secondary school does, and it has half as much impact as completing a Bachelor’s degree. Simply being able to speak a little English increased male hourly wages by 13%. (Azam, Chin and Prakash, 2010)

Azam, M. Chin, A. and Prakash, N. (2010) The returns to English-language skills in India. Bonn: Institute for the Study of Labor. Discussion Paper No. 4802. Available online at: http://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4802.html

• English language skills are very highly rewarded in India and Pakistan. The largest increase in earnings is generated by English language knowledge. (Aslam, Kingdon and Kumar, 2010).

Aslam, M., Kingdon, G., De, A., and Kumar, R. (2010) Economic returns to schooling and skills: An analysis of India and Pakistan. RECOUP Working Paper No. 38. Available online at: http://recoup.educ.cam.ac.uk/publications/WP38-returns_to_education.pdf

‘Fuzzy boundary between being educated and knowing English’

• ‘It could be that English scores are capturing some aspects of the ‘quality’ of schooling attended’ (Aslam et al, 2010: 23)

Is English an equalizer? • ‘[U]pward mobility does not come automatically with

English skills in India; some obstacles, which likely include long-rooted discrimination against low caste, impede low caste group members even when they have a skill that is valued by the modern labour market’ (Azam, Chin and Prakash, 2010: 18).

• Given the expressed need for people with English language skills and the public demand to learn the language, what is the best way to meet that demand?

• Is starting people learning English earlier going to help meet this demand?

• Will providing education through the medium of English help meet this demand?

• What are the roles of local/regional/national languages in enhancing economic development?

• What type of English are people likely to need? • What’s the potential for open and distance learning and

the use of mobile technologies in meeting this demand? • What type of research would be useful to help us better

understand the role of language learning in human development?

Acknowledgements• I gratefully acknowledge the British Council for funding

the following research: • Erling, E.J., Seargeant, P., Solly, M., Chowdhury, Q.H and S. Rahman (2015) English for economic

development: A case study of migrant workers from Bangladesh. ELTRP Report, British Council. [to be published online]

• Erling, E.J. (2014) The Role of English in Skills Development in South Asia: Policies, Interventions and Existing Evidence. London: British Council. Available at http://www.britishcouncil.in/programmes/higher-education/internationalising-higher-education/policy-dialogues/report-role-english . (Commissioned)

• Erling, E.J., Seargeant, P., Solly, M., Chowdhury, Q.H and S. Rahman (2012) Attitudes to English as a language for international development in rural Bangladesh. ELTRP Report, British Council. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/publications/attitudes-english-a-language-international-development-rural-bangladesh

Dr. Elizabeth J. ErlingLecturer of English Language Teaching

Research Convenor for International Education and Development

Centre for International Development and Teacher Education

Department of Education

Faculty of Education and Language Studies

The Open University

Walton Hall

Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

elizabeth.erling@open.ac.uk