Institutional policy and strategy, globalization, and international communicative competence

1. Institutional policy and strategy, globalization, and international communicative competence SEAMEO RETRACInternational Conference on Branding in Higher Education: Practicesand Lessons Learned from Global Perspectives Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam August 10-12, 2009 Richmond Stroupe World Language Center Graduate Program in International Language Education: TESOL Program Chair Graduate School of Letters Soka University, Tokyo, Japan

2. Globalization / Internationalization • Impact of globalization of economies, commoditization of education, and business • Decline of ‘monolingualism’ • International tourism is increasing • Non-English speaking to Non-English speaking (74%) • Perpetuated by international organizations, economic / military relationships, and media / culture • Outsourcing: India, the Philippines - Significant sectors benefit from English language proficiency • One main source of economic advancement in ‘developing countries’

3. Language Education • English accounts for just less than 30% of world GDP; Chinese just less than 23% - Significant increases in the importance of Mandarin and Spanish along with English • Forms of World Englishes increasing: Increasingly mainstream • Language proficiency (English, others) no longer considered a ‘foreign language’, but rather a basic skill • Academic proficiency achieved after intensive study: On average 8 years; Decreasing age-proficiency levels from 22 to 14 • Less competitive advantage for English proficiency - Penalty for failure to acquire basic proficiency • Peek of English learners of all ages: 2010 • Significant annual decline as cohorts of English learners who started at primary level reach tertiary level (2010-2050) • 2050: Number of English learners at 15% of 2010 levels (very young or requiring specialist support)

4. Increased importance of Non-native speakers • Future of English may be determined by China (137 million primary level English learners) and India (similar, possibly larger number) • No longer classroom focused: Private sector and social value added • Model for English language education shifting from United States and United Kingdom to Singapore, Finland, the Netherlands • Value of non-native speaker / instructors of English

5. Institutional Policy and Curricula • Globalization of higher education • Two to three million students study abroad each year • Increased competition for international students • Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): Learning of content through a foreign language • Addressing learning needs / demands of students who have reached academic proficiency in English • Only English is insufficient • Important consideration for marketing / branding as the marketplace / consumers become increasingly sophisticated

6. Future prospects • Internationalization of higher education • Communicative focus (with emphasis on mutual intelligibility) in conjunction with traditional academic offerings: Comprehensive examination scheme • Utilization of increasing numbers of non-native speaking instructors • Institutional support (All stakeholders: Students, faculty, staff) • Increased exposure to outer-circle and expanding circle speakers • Critical thinking skills, critical inquiry • Moving beyond an EFL model