Converging global trends are forcing national leaders, schools and families to take a fresh look at the way children are taught English. This in turn is focusing attention on the failings of conventional English curriculums and methods used for teaching English today.
Global trends impacting early English education:
- English has globally become the most popular language for learning.
All countries, regardless of their native language are striving to provide high quality English education to their population further highlighting the falling standards in major English speaking countries such as the US and the UK.
- Countries are focusing on teaching English to younger age groups.
Many countries now realize the benefits of teaching English to young children. European and Asian countries are aggressively pushing early English education as they aspire to become major economic powers in the coming decades.
- English has become the preferred international medium for higher education.
To pursue higher education aspirations, high English proficiency is a must especially because globally more students are opting for higher education resulting in increased competition for students of major English speaking countries such as the US and the UK.
- English communication skills are at the root of changing national economies.
Aided by the unstoppable force of globalization, in all countries, including in the major English speaking countries such as the US and the UK, the services sector will grow in terms of the employed workforce. Fluent English communication is a key skill required by this sector.
- English is the diverse urban middle class's portal to personal success.
Urbanization in developing countries combined with international migrations to major English speaking countries is changing the world demographics and creating new constituencies of English users who look up to English as the gateway to success and better quality of life.
These are just a few examples of what's going on behind the scene as the global emphasis on early English education kicks off into high gear.
Next, we look at the problems in conventional English curriculums that are the reason for the curriculums' persistent failure to deliver expected results.