The Negative Impacts Of English As An International Language

English is an international language that is considered as a language of business and worldwide communication. Therefore, many countries have been influenced by it and have adopted English as a medium of instruction. There have been many debates on whether English as a medium of instruction has a good or bad impact on those countries where English is not the first language. Some people claim that English is one of the ways of development, while others clearly states that English as a medium of instruction may have some negative impacts on non-English speakers. The essay will clearly show that the usage of English as a medium of instruction may create some difficulties for students in learning effectively and for the countries to promote its

For instance, Wailliams found out that in Saharan African countries in EMI classes, students were not able to understand the teachers and the textbooks (as cited in Vu and Burns, 2014, p.4). In addition, Vinke et al. reported that in Netherlands teachers face many challenges in the usage of English language. They also specify that teachers find difficulties in paraphrasing, searching of words, and summarizing statements. This probably affects students’ learning such as not having a clear view of the text which ends up in loss of knowledge (as cited in T. T. Vu and Burns, 2014, p.5). Moreover, in an interview with lecturers in Vietnam clearly specifies that most of them were not satisfied with teaching in English language. They mentioned that students had difficulty in understanding because the lecturers were not able to express themselves clearly. As one of the lecturers clearly said that during his lecture when he introduces new terms or tries to answer students, he feels that he is not able to easily express his opinions (T. T. Vu and Burns, 2014, p.5). Therefore, it gets difficult for students to understand the lesson. Furthermore, it is considered beneficial for children to begin their school in their own tongue because they already have the experience of their own mother tongue, which they have been practicing for four or five years (Mustafa, 2012). As a result, this might increase their critical thinking and cognitive development. English can be introduced to them in later stages as a second language. Furthermore, Anita Rampal clearly indicated that a study has been done in Delhi, which visibly shows that students who spend their initial five years in local language schools has increased their ability to think freely and write creatively in both Hindi and English (as cited in Rahman, 2012). Furthermore, a project has been done