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English learning and (post)colonialism



Alastair Pennycook (English and the discourses of colonialism) does a
wonderful job in showing how English language teaching - its theories
and practices - not just only contributed to the system of colonialism
but are an intrinsic part of it that influenced ways of thinking and
behaving that arestill part of Western thinking and arrogance.

The constructions of the colonial Other and the colonizing Europe were
mainly done in English and still reflect itself in today`s use and
distribution of English.

The author also shows that English language teaching with all its
methodologies (written tests, etc.) originated in the colonies was
tested there and only then  brought back to England. Even the English
literary canon was first developed in India as a means to distribute the

supremacy of English culture.
Also Robert Phillipson (Linguistic Imperialism) brings forward a vast
array of arguments on that line. In particular he shows how English
language teaching is handled and planned today (something that doesn`t
just happen by itself but is coordinated with strategic policies and
investments).