Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca
Sustainable educational innovation needs to address a major problem: the great gap in the learning of English as a lingua franca (ELF) between the privileged and less privileged ('non-dominant') across the planet. Ordinary learners in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and other corners of the world...
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English |
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2008
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| Online Access: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/9382/1/Less_is_more_pathways_to_a_simpler%2C_plainer_people%27s_English_as_an_equitable_lingua_franca.pdf |
| _version_ | 1825719698827771904 |
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| author | Templer, B. |
| author_facet | Templer, B. |
| author_sort | Templer, B. |
| collection | UM |
| description | Sustainable educational innovation needs to address a major problem: the great gap in the learning of English as a lingua franca (ELF) between the privileged and less privileged ('non-dominant') across the planet. Ordinary learners in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and other corners of the world, especially the Global South, need a more 'downshifted' form of English for basic communication and broader reading and listening - instead of climbing the 'Everest' of trying to master a standard English based on native English-speaker posh proficiency models. The paper, organized in ten theses, introduces some perspectives for English as a 'downsized' and effective power tool for the greater masses of learners (and teachers). It look briefly at three options in simpler discourse: (1) the PLAIN LANGUAGE community of research & practice (hhttp://plainlanguagenetwork.org;http://www.impact-information.com/), focused on communicating clearly; (2) Charles Ogden & Ivor Richard's BASIC ENGLISH 850, an older model of highly simplified English, a "leveraging" tool usable for expressing almost any idea, and science in a leaner 'ESP-Lite' mode (http://www.basic-english.org); (3) VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH, a downshifted form of English developed by the Voice of America, and now available online as well as on shortwave radio. It can be used for communicating about many topics (http://www.voaspecialenglish.com), at the level of pre-intermediate readability (1,500 word families), and has a hugeonline archive of over 5,000 feature articles. Texamen in Holland contends it is possible to say and write virtually anything at a level of 7th grade readability, which is where most citizens in the U.S. & many countries feel comfortable reading their native language at (http://www.texamen.com/index.php?id=1). The overall aim is toward a more equitable planetary ELF for the Multitude and more 'empowering' constructivist pedagogies, especially for working-class learners and in rural environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:23:43Z |
| format | Conference or Workshop Item |
| id | um.eprints-9382 |
| institution | Universiti Malaya |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T05:23:43Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | um.eprints-93822014-05-30T00:01:24Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/9382/ Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca Templer, B. LB Theory and practice of education Sustainable educational innovation needs to address a major problem: the great gap in the learning of English as a lingua franca (ELF) between the privileged and less privileged ('non-dominant') across the planet. Ordinary learners in Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and other corners of the world, especially the Global South, need a more 'downshifted' form of English for basic communication and broader reading and listening - instead of climbing the 'Everest' of trying to master a standard English based on native English-speaker posh proficiency models. The paper, organized in ten theses, introduces some perspectives for English as a 'downsized' and effective power tool for the greater masses of learners (and teachers). It look briefly at three options in simpler discourse: (1) the PLAIN LANGUAGE community of research & practice (hhttp://plainlanguagenetwork.org;http://www.impact-information.com/), focused on communicating clearly; (2) Charles Ogden & Ivor Richard's BASIC ENGLISH 850, an older model of highly simplified English, a "leveraging" tool usable for expressing almost any idea, and science in a leaner 'ESP-Lite' mode (http://www.basic-english.org); (3) VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH, a downshifted form of English developed by the Voice of America, and now available online as well as on shortwave radio. It can be used for communicating about many topics (http://www.voaspecialenglish.com), at the level of pre-intermediate readability (1,500 word families), and has a hugeonline archive of over 5,000 feature articles. Texamen in Holland contends it is possible to say and write virtually anything at a level of 7th grade readability, which is where most citizens in the U.S. & many countries feel comfortable reading their native language at (http://www.texamen.com/index.php?id=1). The overall aim is toward a more equitable planetary ELF for the Multitude and more 'empowering' constructivist pedagogies, especially for working-class learners and in rural environments. 2008 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.um.edu.my/9382/1/Less_is_more_pathways_to_a_simpler%2C_plainer_people%27s_English_as_an_equitable_lingua_franca.pdf Templer, B. (2008) Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca. In: International Conference on Educational Innovation, 6-8 May 2008, Kuala Lumpur. |
| spellingShingle | LB Theory and practice of education Templer, B. Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title | Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title_full | Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title_fullStr | Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title_full_unstemmed | Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title_short | Less is more: Pathways to a simpler, plainer people's English as an equitable lingua franca |
| title_sort | less is more pathways to a simpler plainer people s english as an equitable lingua franca |
| topic | LB Theory and practice of education |
| url | http://eprints.um.edu.my/9382/1/Less_is_more_pathways_to_a_simpler%2C_plainer_people%27s_English_as_an_equitable_lingua_franca.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT templerb lessismorepathwaystoasimplerplainerpeoplesenglishasanequitablelinguafranca |