English Corner: at the Crossroads?

International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2013 English Corner: At the Crossroads? David A. Kellaway language environment. Students also face high-stakes tests; Abstract—This paper is based on an exploration into the undergraduates who opt for Japan or the United States phenomenon of English Corner. English Corner seems a typically face the Test of English as a Foreign Language curiously Chinese thing, rarely observed in its public format (TOEFL) while those heading for Australia or the UK require outside of the People’s Republic of China. It is characterized by a minimum 6 (on a scale of 1 to 9) overall on the now ad-hoc, relatively unorganized gatherings of people, who meet together on usually a weekly basis in a public place or inside the ubiquitous International English Language Testing System confines of a university, to practice speaking English. (IELTS) test. (Postgraduates and those intending to migrate, Attendance is voluntary and in its public format, free of charge. require a rather challenging 7.5.) But in as much as it brings together groups of ESL (English as a Moreover, with the rapidly increasing wealth especially of Second Language) learners whose prima facie intention is to the eastern seaboard manufacturing areas such as Shanghai practice their oral English, English Corner can be seen as an and the Pearl River Delta, has come a greater interest in informal learning strategy. The researcher’s approach to understanding English Corner is ethnographic and foreign manufactured goods, especially luxuries such as wine, observational, attending and observing meetings as they take motor vehicles, and clothing. Along with this has come a place, interviewing randomly selected participants. The greater interest in foreign travel and awareness that English is researcher is also interested in the future of English Corner as a the “lingua franca” of many foreign countries, and in cases public forum in the face of social media and online-moderated such as India, the only common language. communication. Preliminary research outcomes suggest that As such there is a great interest in the teaching and learning people attend English Corner for a variety of reasons; certainly to practice oral English but also to expand social contacts, deal of English. with work-related and personal problems, and not least to search for potential partners! While there appears to be no moderation of the group, research also suggests that there are II. INFORMAL LEARNING some subjects which are typically avoided in English Corners (ie. “taboo” subjects). Educational researchers have increasingly become interested in informal learning over the past fifty years, and in Index Terms—Empowerment, English as a second language, 1974 Coombs and Ahmad [2] proposed the classic distinction foreign expert, group dynamics, informal learning. between formal, non-formal and informal education. Informal education, they said, was “unorganized, unsystematic and even unintentional at times, yet it accounts I. INTRODUCTION for the great bulk of any person‟s total lifetime learning – English is now the most widespread Second Language in including that of a highly „schooled‟ person.” the world. More importantly, it is the global language of According to Feuer [3] “informal places of learning are business. settings outside the formal classroom where learning takes Since the 1978 “Reform and Opening Up” policies of place experientially and often through social interaction … a former Communist Party chairman Deng Xiao Ping, the fun atmosphere, group activities, an absence of formal economy of the People‟s Republic of China has increasingly teachers, curriculum or grading scale.” become modernized and export-oriented. Foreign companies Lave & Wenger's concept of „community of practice‟ and – which frequently join with Chinese partners in Joint „legitimate peripheral participation‟, though predicated on Ventures (JV) – are also increasingly part of the economic work communities, also applies to learner interaction in landscape. groups such as English Corner. For employees in these firms, proficiency in English is By emphasising the situational nature of learning [4] they widely seen as a “passport” to higher-paying jobs in which pay attention to the construction of knowledge that results they may need to have daily contact with colleagues overseas; from the activities of particular practices that define the roles moreover there is evidence that English ability is being and practices of individuals and their communities. Informal increasingly used as a screening device by employers learning at the workplace as a process inherently linked to especially in service sector professions such as ICT, Finance identity, membership and interpersonal relations. and Hospitality, just to name a few. English Corner is an informal learning situation; one of Moreover, over 1.27 million Chinese students [1] now many instances where Chinese people join together for attend foreign educational institutions, for which proficiency shared learning purposes, or for public exercise/performance. in English is required not only for gaining a study visa, but Other examples include daily morning communal tai-chi, for successful performance in academic studies in an English usually held in plazas adjacent to residential buildings, evening communal ballroom dancing, usually held in plazas Manuscript received October 15, 2012; revised January 15, 2013 near shopping centres, art galleries and museums, as well as D. A. Kellaway is with the British Council‟s English Language Teaching the celebrations that surround yearly festivals such as the Development Project (ELTDP) in Sabah, Malaysia (email: Spring Festival and the Mid-autumn Festival. [email protected]). DOI: 10.7763/IJSSH.2013.V3.225 191 International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 3, No. 2, March 2013 While there is overwhelming agreement to the need for Where it is held? What criteria govern its location(s)? English, China has started from a relatively low base. Unlike Do the same people attend week after week? her neighbors India, Vietnam, Hong Kong, South Korea and Who does most of the talking? Do individual attendees Japan, whose populations have experienced both the pleasure dominate discussions? Do men tend to dominate? Do and pain of on-going contact with English-speakers - Hong women? Kong since the 1840s and Japan since the Meiji Restoration Do the participants form groups? Are they based on in 1867 and its occupation by Allied forces following the interest / age / sex? Second World War – mainland China has experienced no Do participants move freely from group to group? continuous or pervasive contact with large numbers of native How long do people stay at the English Corner? What topics do people discuss? Are there taboo subjects? English-speaking foreigners in the past century, since the fall What topics are deemed acceptable? of the Qing Dynasty (1911) which had exacerbated the What is the nature of intra-group dynamics in the Opium Wars decades earlier by announcing to a trade-hungry meetings? British Government that “there was nothing the British Are there relationships of power among the participants produced that could be of the slightest interest to the Qing and if so, how are these expressed? court.” How times have changed! What alternative informal methods do attendees employ to learn English? Why do participants privilege English Corner? What III. ROOTS OF ENGLISH CORNER might they be doing were they not at the meeting? The roots of English Corner are uncertain, and there is What kind of English do attendees wish to master? ie. little written about it, but it is possible variants of it were used for business, travel, pleasure? by Christian missionaries as much as two hundred years ago, What role do “foreign experts” play in the English to develop the linguistic skills and cultural awareness of their Corner? What are their motivations in attending? congregations and future local church leaders. At some point, To what extent do attendees consider that English language is bound to its culture? the English Corner has broken free of the church, and the What is the future of English Corner given the public format – which is largely the topic of this research – ubiquitous availability of online-moderated has now gathered critical mass to the point where it is conversation through services such as Skype, QQ and self-perpetuating without any apparent organiser – religious, Weibo. governmental, educational or otherwise - behind the scenes. The religious influence is certainly still present however, notably in Chinese universities, where teacher/missionaries, VI. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY especially of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints The study is significant as a way of attempting to (Mormon) and Seventh Day Adventist churches accept understand the motivations of Chinese people who choose to “missions” of up to five years duration, to teach normally attend English Corner. These motivations are most certainly scheduled courses within university faculties, and to run educational in the case of students, but there appear to be English Corners open to all students on weekday evenings, others for different stakeholders, such as employed people where presumably discussions centre around religious who desire to widen their social contacts (and social capital) themes. It‟s a curious situation, because technically there are perhaps through meeting influential

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