Page 6 - ELG2402 Feb Issue 488

INVESTIGATION .

What is the real price of ELT…

…and is it possible to subsidise the cost?

ack in December, an languages. Meanwhile, the UK has implementation of such a tax In 2018 the OECD data
intriguing and divisive continued to see its own foreign is essentially impossible, says on classroom hours showed
article appeared in the languages budget consistently Michele, requiring some sort of Australia had the highest
BGuardian. The article, titled slashed. After all, when everyone ‘world government’ to collect and number of classroom hours (over
‘English still rules the world, else speaks English, do British distribute the cash. 11,000), nearly twice as many as
but that’s not necessarily okay’, kids really need to learn French, Hungary (around 6,000). The
was written by lecturer in public German or Spanish? Want to save USA, the UK, Canada and New
policy and administration at the For many, the response to Zealand are all in the top ten for
University of Ulster, Michele this information may well be ‘so money? ‘Just don’t long hours. Ireland comes in at
Gazzola. In it, Michele discusses what?’. After all, the emphasis teach something’ number 11.
the position of the English on foreign language education is Well, according to Michele,
language in today’s modern world, beyond our control. Further, for it’s easy to spend less on foreign
and the implications it has for ourselves and our readers, ELT Regardless, the Gazette was languages if you simply are
those who speak it as a second is how we put food on the table! intrigued by this proposal and not paying anyone to teach it.
language. Specifically, Michele Well, there may be one solution… approached Michele to discover Michele also notes a significant
says there is a real cost, financially In his article, Michele talks about more about the factors that lack of foreign language teachers
and socially, to both countries and the ‘linguistic tax’, a theoretical inspired the theory. in the UK. In 2022, Professor
individuals. strategy initially proposed by Becky Muradás-Taylor from the
In Europe, most countries teach Philippe Van Parijs of the University The true cost University of Leeds gave a talk
English as a second language, with of Louvain. The idea is deceptively So where do these costs come from? at the British Association of
around 5-15% of their education simple: English-speaking countries The immediate conclusion may Applied Linguistics (BAAL). In
budget allotted to foreign would pay a ‘global tax’, with the be that the countries who teach it, she stated that even if everyone
languages. The EU, specifically, revenue distributed to countries English require more classroom currently studying foreign
encourages each member state where English is taught as a hours. However, evidence suggests languages in the UK became a
to teach at least two foreign second language. Of course, the this isn’t the case. teacher, the UK would still not

6 February 2024