Thread: Should English Language be obligatory in all Schools??

Hi everyone,

i'm writting an argumentative essay about "Should English Language be obligatory in all Schools??"

I want to see your suggestions and whether you are with or against..

Thank you

As in "all schools everywhere, all over the world"...? (Why is part of your post in that itty bitty font?) --Or just in places where English is one of the main languages spoken...?

Are you taking the "pro" side of the question, or the "con" side?

A little more info on what you're looking for would probably help.

As for what I think personally about the question: I try to think of schools as little as possible (because they're full of EWWW KIDS!!), but assuming that your question is actually "Should English be obligatory in ALL schools all over the world?" then my answer is, "No, of course not."

Originally Posted by Scarlett_156

As in "all schools everywhere, all over the world"...? (Why is part of your post in that itty bitty font?) --Or just in places where English is one of the main languages spoken...?

Are you taking the "pro" side of the question, or the "con" side?

A little more info on what you're looking for would probably help.

As for what I think personally about the question: I try to think of schools as little as possible (because they're full of EWWW KIDS!!), but assuming that your question is actually "Should English be obligatory in ALL schools all over the world?" then my answer is, "No, of course not."

Yes, i ment "all over the world"..But why do you think No?? For me I don't know!! I want to read others' points of view so i can agree with them because i don't know if no why and if yes why!!

By the way, I'm Arabic girl, studing English language at a university..

well, I want a help in finding why English should be obligatory?? in all schools means all levels..

Ok, I get what you're asking. It looks like you are taking the "pro" stance, but more about that in a second.

The reason I answered "no" (no, I do not think that teaching of English should be obligatory in all schools all over the world) is that in my ideal world, no teacher would be "obliged" (that is to say, forced) to teach anything outside of his/her contracted curriculum; in other words, that's between the teacher and the school, and the school should decide on its own whether the teaching of English is that important. I know from reading (do feel free to correct me if I seem to be wrong on this) that most schools around the world teach English to their students anyway, probably so they don't have to watch American-made movies with those annoying subtitles. (That was a semi-sarcastic remark, by the way, and not directed at you! I'm answering your question, just sorta joking around in the process.)

The way you phrase the question suggests governmental intervention in schools' curricula, mandating that they teach a certain language. Government, in my opinion, is not something that should interfere overly in the education process, thus my "no" answer.

If you are arguing "pro" on this question, then of course there are many strong arguments you can make in favor of mandatory teaching of English: It is already spoken worldwide in the business setting, so learning the language at an early age would give a child an advantage in life; it makes reading classic works of literature written in English much easier and more rewarding (etc.)

There are lots of great reasons for learning a second, third, fourth language in addition to one's native language, so if you just concentrate on those reasons if you are arguing "pro" then you can make a pretty good case. However, try to keep in mind as you're preparing your argument that the "con" person will probably use some version of the same argument I just made above, i.e., that what "should" be taught in a school should be up to the school and not to some government agency.

The dominant language of a country should be taught at all grade levels in that country's schools.

In the case of a country where there is no universal first language, an official language should be adopted and taught to serve as a common language for everyone. In Belize there are about a dozen different languages spoken. English is the official language of government and business, but very few children in Belize learn English as their first language. By teaching English through all grade levels, people have a common language to use to bridge cultural barriers. In Honduras, on the other hand, Spanish is the official language and is taught through all grade levels, again providing the people with a common language to bridge cultural barriers. In both countries many people speak both English and Spanish as well as at least one of the minority languages.

To pick one language out of all the world's languages and say everyone must learn this language is a very bad idea on many levels.

When you say you want the essay to be argumentative, against what position? But whatever, the answer has surely got to be no. It's hard enough as it is having schools at all in certain places, let alone discussing what subjects to teach.

In democratic countries, governments have to balance up what is best for the government with what is best for the pupil (and the pupil's voting parents).

Non democratic countries normally don't want their people to have options of learning english or french or anything that may help them in other countries or the internet.

English is becoming the universal language, but that doesn't mean it should be taught in all schools. There's enough bad blood between different races without someone telling them it's compulsory that their kids learn English. That would open a whole new can of worms. If you want a perfect example of that, study when the English forced the Irish to learn and speak English. I know several Irish people who still harbour vicious animosity towards the English for that. A lot of what's going on in Ireland today has its roots there. That's what happens when you try to force a country to speak a language that isn't theirs.

so, what do you think the main reasons that make learning English optional rather than obligatory?

I want specific reasons that i can find sources to support them!

Obligatory? Absolutely not, and for the reasons stated above. Much of the grief I find in this world comes of things we are told we 'have to do'. It goes against human nature in my opinion. We have the longest attention span and best results for things we care about. Everyone needs to make their own choices. If you don't want to learn English, even if it may in fact be beneficial, needs to be a choice. Our lives are about the choices we make. Even if we realize later that English may have been a good idea. I'd personally rather have the choice to make my own mistakes than have 'someone else's ideal' stuffed down my throat. I think of Stalin forcing his philosophies on his people and all the grief that came of it. Question anyone that suggests that they know what is good for everyone else. Generally they are full of themselves and not much else.
English is everywhere, but I for one would be sad if I went to another country and their language was forsaken for ours. It is nice to run into someone that can speak some English, especially if you are in a bind, but I would never expect it from them.
As an aside, I've been trying to help my girls spell of late. They are seven. English makes no freaking sense. Each time I try to give them a rule to help remember, there seems to be a word that defies it. All I can say is 'you just have to memorize this madness', girls.

Originally Posted by Miss lonely

so, what do you think the main reasons that make learning English optional rather than obligatory?

I want specific reasons that i can find sources to support them!

I'm glad you are taking the "con" side, but that's just my opinion and in no way relevant to this discussion.

Learning one's own native tongue is without a doubt mandatory--you must be able to communicate with your own family and members of the immediate community. But that takes place outside of the school setting. It's mandatory because it's reality, something that none of us has any choice about: Once we are born, physical reality takes hold of us and doesn't let go until we're dead. Communication with our family members is something that we have to do, or die. Beyond that, it's all optional. Communication with the rest of the world is not a necessity; it's a luxury; it's optional.

Everyone who has spoken here has said that even though the learning of any language besides one's own native language is DESIRABLE and GOOD, it should never be MANDATORY or FORCED.

The underlying thought that carries through is that even a good thing can be made bad if it is forced.

Children in non-English-speaking nations will definitely benefit from being given the option of learning English, as it is so widely used in entertainment and business. But if they are forced to learn it, it will start to seem onerous to them and they'll eventually rebel. English and all its really cool associations (Star Trek, Jane Eyre, Dracula, Firefly, Ayn Rand, Oscar Wilde, John Steinbeck, Lord Byron, James Joyce, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, the King James Bible, Last Exit to Brooklyn, William Faulkner, the Simpsons, James Bond, Aleister Crowley, Emily Dickinson, et al) will start to seem oppressive, and every good thing about the English language will sort of fall by the wayside.

I'm Arabic girl, studing English language at a university..

Everyone here might possibly agree that the task of becoming fluent in English should be relatively easy for a native speaker of Arabic. I have been struggling for years to get some sort of a handle on Arabic without success. It is an extremely complicated language. I tried to add an Arabic translation engine to my translation software, and they told me it would be $3000. (Yes, that's THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS USD.) That was a few years ago but--JEEZ.

Becoming fluent in English is not easy for anyone who hasn't spoken the language. Aside from Chinese, it's the hardest language in the world to learn, made ridiculously so by the amount of homonyms in use. And that's just merely touching on one aspect of why it's so difficult.

Personally I don't know it it's correct that it be obligatory, but it sure as hell would benefit a lot of people.

Also I suggest an alternative: Obligatory second language of choice, optional third language from Jr. high through high school. This would be selected among those languages most important in the country and region. Spanish could be good to know in California or Texas, but it might not be one of the options in Malaysia, just as a kid in Stockholm could benefit from Arabic due to the large amount of Arabic Swedish citizens. English should be relevant to pretty much any country, but perhaps not required.

The pros for that idea of are:
A:We are raised to think in words, thus a greater vocabulary will allow your mind to manage a wider selection of concepts and more specific ones at that. Adding a second language gives you an even wider range of concepts because not only will you have more words exclusive to each language, but also repeated words but with various cultural nuances.
B: Catch them when they're young. Kids will pick up a language easier when they're small, so take advantage of this. It also serves as mental exercise that will aid them in various aspects of their development.
C: Broaden their horizons. It is inevitable that the language barrier create divisions between people. Learning a foreign language connects you to those who speak it, allowing many cultural divisions to fade away over time. Also, each language tells us a lot about the culture that it came from. To understand the language alone gives you insight into its creators. Over time this would help a lot in lessening the prejudice between nations.
D: Cultural exchange would grow. People all over the world would be able to read foreign books and see foreign movies in a whole new way. This would create an exchange of ideas that would be unprecedented.

Only con I can think of:it would create an even larger gap between the educated and uneducated.

^^^ With these considerations we're perhaps straying from the original subject, as the OP was asking about whether English should be taught, etc., not whether a second language should be taught. However, they're decent arguments for the "pro" point of view, should the OP choose to use them.

English should not become a universal language because that would be restricting, some sorts of concepts favour some sorts of grammatical construction, there is for example a school of thought that says that one of the reasons that India has a rapidly growing software industry is that some Indian languages are better suited than English to that sort of thinking. Who knows what problems we may encounter in the future, our best bet for overcoming them is to maintain diversity.