The Future of English: one year on

Since launching The Future of English: Global Perspectives in April 2023, the Future of English research programme has grown and flourished. New research projects have been commissioned and research grants have been awarded as we continue to identify trends that will define the role of English language in the coming decades.

As the world around us is constantly evolving, so are people’s attitudes and opinions about English and English language teaching in particular. This has become evident through conversations with stakeholders at various events globally. So, what exactly are people saying about the future of English? We spoke to Mina Patel, Head of Research for our Future of English programme and one of the book’s authors, about English language learning and its ever-changing landscape.

Has your opinion changed about any of the points made in The Future of English: Global Perspectives? Is there anything that has surprised you since the programme launched?

“I don’t think so. The research findings are an accurate representation of the developments and issues that are relevant in many contexts today. There are things that were discussed in the book that are being explored and naturally expanded and that was always the aim. This shows that there are still many questions to explore within the thematic questions.

“I think one of the best things that I’ve seen come out of the research and something that makes me really happy is how well the themes resonate with people. It shows that the eight thematic questions are relevant, and that the data didn’t lie. Thanks to our participants’ contributions, the themes are broad. They’re questions that people are interested in. I’ve also seen that they resonate differently in different contexts. For example, in Brazil bilingualism, equality, diversity and inclusion, and technology are very important. And in the Middle East AI and teacher development are priorities.”

What’s changed since the launch? Are there any areas you think have grown in interest more than others?

“One thing that’s talked about a lot is teacher wellbeing. There are a lot of questions being asked like, are we asking teachers to do too much? Are they valued enough? Do we recognise their contribution enough? I think there is more that can be done to support teachers. Things like lack of training and large classes make teachers’ jobs less manageable and this impacts learning.

“Assessment is being talked about a lot, which has always been the case. People think that teachers don’t like it and that it’s not popular, and that may be true but I’m not so sure. At the same time, people are recognising the importance of assessment and that perhaps with teachers and for teachers we need to do something about this view of assessment. This is particularly the case with formative assessment to help learners with their learning and development. This is an area in which teachers can make a big and positive difference.

“Another thing being talked about is policy and its impact on teaching, learning and assessment. This is something that’s gaining traction both in academia and in practise as people are interested in the impact of policy in the classroom. We’ve also started some policy literacy work to look at this.”

What have you learned from others? What do they think about the future of English?

“People that engaged with the Future of English programme are starting to want answers, and that’s natural. The answers are coming through our own research and through the Future of English research grants. But research takes time.

“Multilingualism is a big theme at the moment. There’s a question about how English fits with other languages and how we use other languages to learn English. People see that there is a place for English. In places where multiple languages are at play, both in society and in the classroom, it’s a case of working out the role of English.

“I’m told in Africa, some people would rather learn Chinese than English, partly because of Chinese investment there and partly because they think it will be the next big language. Who knows, it might be. We need to keep our eyes open to the possibility. On the other hand, English is so well established with so much history. What would it take for there to be another lingua franca?”

Are there any regions or countries you feel have divided opinions on English language learning policy? For example, what do people think about the future of English in Brazil compared to India?

“This is quite a complex question because there are so many levels and layers of stakeholders. It’s quite a difficult question to answer.

“A lot of English language learning happens in private education in Brazil with a range of assessment options available. In the public system English as a subject is compulsory for secondary school students but there is limited formal state or federal assessment of English proficiency. People learn English because they want to learn it, not because they have to learn it. They learn it because they want to get on in education and employment. I don’t think there’s a push from policy necessarily.

“In India, it’s divided. If you ask the average person if they want to learn English, they do. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t want to learn Hindi or whichever language they use. For the average person in any country, it’s not a competition. Where it becomes slightly contentious is when we start to talk to educators who struggle in the classroom because of policies that are mostly exclusive and favour one language over another. Language policy is a complex, sensitive and political area. It requires considerations and consultation.

“My perception as I’ve travelled is that the average person doesn’t see English competing with other languages. They just see English as one of the languages to help them achieve what they want in life.”

What are your predictions for how GenAI will continue to disrupt language learning, teaching and assessment?

“When I talk to some people GenAI doesn’t come across as a disruption but more as progression. Why wouldn’t they be using GenAI? On the other hand, some people would say it’s a disruption, a disruption in terms of making us think outside the box and about inequality.

“Technology isn’t going anywhere. Teachers who aren’t open to it if they have access to it and won’t adapt to it will struggle. One of my predictions is that teachers are going to get left behind if we don’t do something to help them soon. Children are coming to classrooms knowing more about technology and being able to use it in a smarter way than their teachers. It’s becoming a real threat. Therefore, it’s not about technology displacing teachers, but the learners displacing teachers. GenAI is happening already, I just hope it happens in an intelligent, ethical way and that when used for education, it is education that is driving the conversation, not technology.

“One question I do have about technology is ‘where is the methodology where technology is concerned?’ It doesn’t seem to be about teaching skills or speaking anymore. To me, it seems to be more about, ‘what can I do with this technology and how can GenAI help me?’ Teacher’s use GenAI to do things like create lesson plans. When you plan and prepare a lesson you think through all the different areas of the lesson: how you’re going to interact with learners and use your resources etcetera, and how will this help me to meet the aims of the lesson. If GenAI does this for teachers, will this eventually de-skill teachers?

Is access to language learning becoming more equitable or less?

“That’s a hard question to answer but something worth looking at. Generally, there’s more information because people have more sources to access the information such as TV, radio, phones and tablets. Access is increasing, however, over 200 million young people still do not have access to basic education, so maybe I’m wrong.

“One thing that’s disrupting life other than technology is war. Disruption through unstable political climates is something that’s talked about less in education and I think we should turn a bit of attention that way.”

What are the emerging trends that you think have the biggest impact on stakeholders?

“Informal learning. By that I mean how much learning happens outside the classroom or incidentally through social media and online courses. We talk about how public and private learning systems could leverage on informal learning in the book. It’s something public education systems need to think about carefully.

“Informal learning is like a silver lining of sorts. All the stakeholders we spoke to during the roundtables said public education systems are failing learners, and I suspect they’re probably right. But, if we were to work with learners who learn informally and be more creative with the curriculum and timetabling, I think there’s something to be said for that.

“I recently spoke to an expert on workplace learning. He said it’s changing. People aren’t going on courses anymore, or they are but the courses are online. People are learning on the go or on the job. So, the whole area of informal learning is an area that needs to be watched.”

What is your focus at the moment?

“We’re working on a couple of things at the moment. We’ve commissioned a study on the socio-economic modelling of the impact of English. The question about the return on investment is a big and important area. Governments are going to continue to invest in English and it would be useful for them to know about the return on investment. The research being commissioned is to develop an instrument that will help measure this. It’s something that I’m really looking forward to because there are still a lot of questions like, can it be measured? Can it be quantified?

“Another thing we’re working on is the Curriculum Comparison Project. It’s a study that’s based in South Korea, Japan and China at the moment but will hopefully move to other contexts very soon. So far, we can see that English is moving away from being a subject and moving towards being a language you use to learn other subjects. They’re also moving towards competency-based assessment in China.”

Learn more about the Future of English

If you would like to hear more from Mina, join us at the ELTons Festival of Innovation where she’ll be looking to the future of English language learning. You can also subscribe to the Future of English blog to be kept up to date with all of the latest Future of English news. Be part of the conversation.