The worldwide trend of bilingual development and teaching English as second language

60 Hoang Thi Tuyet. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 
THE WORLDWIDE TREND OF BILINGUAL DEVELOPMENT 
AND TEACHING ENGLISH AS SECOND LANGUAGE 
HOANG THI TUYET 
Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam - tuyethoangus@yahoo.com 
 (Received: June 30, 2017; Revised: August 03, 2017; Accepted: November 29, 2017) 
ABSTRACT 
English is in global existence of World Englishes, as a lingua franca; or an international language. The article 
aims to make a glimpsed review on the worldwide trend of bilingual development which indicates that there are 
more second language speakers of English than native speakers and there are as many bilingual children as there are 
monolingual children. In the light of this trend, a pedagogical paradigm shift in Asia-pacific region (from EFL 
teaching to ESL teaching) is identified in theory and practice. Particularly, the article gives focus on the description 
of how teaching English as second language is assigned as national policies and implemented at school levels in 
some featured Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines, China and Japan. Hence, some implications are drawn 
for Vietnamese education context in which the fact that current teaching English as foreign language (EFL) would 
be gradually replaced by teaching English as second language (ESL) has been taken in the national agenda. 
Keywords: Bilingual development; Pedagogical paradigm; Teaching English as foreign language; Teaching 
English as second language. 
1. Introduction 
English has been the facto official 
working language of the group of Southeast 
Asian Nations (ASEAN) for years. This 
position of English as the official language for 
globalized communication is more 
strengthened by the ASEAN Chapter signed 
in February 2009 by ten governments of The 
Association of Asian Nations. English 
becomes more formalized with the signing of 
the Charter, Article 34 of which reads “The 
working language of ASEAN shall be 
English”. From the educational perspective, 
Kirkpatrict (2012) addresses that the 
privileged position of English through 
ASEAN gives implications for two 
interrelated issues. The first is the 
implications of the increasing roles of English 
within ASEAN for the teaching English. The 
second is the implication of the increased 
teaching and learning of English for teaching, 
learning and maintenance of local languages, 
many of which are classified as endangered 
ones. In this context, there has been a radical 
shift in teaching English at pedagogical and 
administrative levels for English learners to 
attain the target of executive competence of 
English in the changing global world. 
Specifically, in English spoken countries such 
as the UK and Ireland or Australia, the term 
English as second language (SL) has 
been replaced by English for speakers of other 
languages (ESOL). Whereas, in non-English 
speaking countries, the term English as 
foreign language has been criticized. By 
redefining the notion of teaching English as 
second language, teaching foreign language 
has been replaced gradually by English as 
second or international language. In Vietnam, 
recently, the need for cooperation with and 
learning from nations which have been 
successful in teaching English as second 
language is asserted by the Minister of 
Education and Training, Phung Xuan Nha. 
This is seen as a practical solution for helping 
Vietnamese young generations to gain English 
competence to be able to integrate themselves 
into the global economy and society. 
This article aims to make a quick review 
on the worldwide trend of bilingual 
 Hoang Thi Tuyet. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 61 
development. In the light of this trend, the 
shift from EFL teaching to ESL teaching is 
identified in theory and practice as a 
pedagogical paradigm shift in Asia-pacific 
region. Particularly, the article gives focus on 
the description of how teaching English as 
second language is assigned as national 
policies and implemented at school levels in 
some featured Asian countries such as 
Singapore, Philippines, China and Japan. 
Emphasis that is central to this representation 
is the language provision for the majority 
group or additive bilingual education which is 
investigated in terms of (1) policy, curriculum 
and ideological; orientations; (2) models and 
approaches; (3) practices and their 
underpinning principles. Hence, some 
implications are drawn for Vietnamese 
education context in which the fact that 
teaching English as foreign language (EFL) 
would be gradually replaced by teaching 
English as second language (ESL) has been 
taken in the national agenda. 
2. The worldwide trend of bilingual 
development 
According to Paradis et al. (2011), the 
trend that there are many bilingual children as 
there are monolingual children has been 
recognized worldwide. This means that 
increasingly many children are being raised as 
bilinguals. 
At the policy levels of bilingual education 
provisions, there has been a clear distinction 
made between the two parallel conceptions of 
bilingualism for minority and majority 
national groups or “two types of language 
provisions” or two types of bilingual 
education. These two concepts differ in terms 
of aims and practices: one aims to transition to 
the mainstream education system to develop 
balanced bilinguals who identify with both 
minority and majority groups and the other is 
added to students’ knowledge repertoire 
linguistic competence in a foreign language 
(Feng, 2005). The term “additive bilingual 
teaching” is used to refer to language 
provision for the majority group indicating 
that there will be no displacement of learners’ 
mother tongue and culture, and ‘transitional 
bilingual education” for minority national 
groups to spell out an educational process that 
aims for developing ethnic and more 
importantly national identity (Wang, 2003). 
At the individual levels of the bilingual 
development, the acquisition of two languages 
can take place in one of two ways. The first 
way is termed as simultaneous acquisition 
which occurs when a child is raised from 
birth, or when the second language is 
introduced before the age of three (Paradis et 
al., 2011). According Meisel (2004), Genesee 
(2009) and Genesee and Nicoladis (2006), 
children learning two languages 
simultaneously go through the same 
developmental stages as children learning one 
language. Although talking of bilingual 
children may start slightly later than that of 
monolingual children, their language 
development begins within the normal range. 
The second way is termed as sequential 
acquisition which occurs when a second 
language is introduced after the first language 
is well-established, generally after the age of 
three (Paradis et al., 2011). This type of 
sequential bilingualism may occur in two 
cases. The first case is when children who use 
their home language learn a different language 
spoken in the country to which they migrate. 
The second case is when children exclusively 
speaks his heritage language at home until 
they begin school, where instruction is offered 
for a different language (Paradis et al., 2011). 
Despite the fact that they are distinct types of 
bilingualism, sequential and simultaneous, 
Fend (2007) posits that behind the differences 
with regard to terminology, aims and 
approaches, there are common sociocultural, 
political and pedagogical factors that 
characterize all forms of bilingual education. 
Furthermore, bilinguals share common 
benefits from acquisition of the two 
languages. In general, learning languages 
62 Hoang Thi Tuyet. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 
brings in many social, psychological and 
lifestyle advantages to bilinguals. It helps 
increase concentration, listening ability, 
memory, creativity and critical thinking - all 
of which are thinking processes and world 
vision that increase learning in general. It 
exposes learners to other ways of looking at 
the world. All these cognitive skills have an 
impact on the brain's executive control 
system, which generally takes care of 
activities like high-level thought, 
multitasking, and sustained attention. 
Bilingual and Dual Language programs 
promote bilingualism and biliteracy, grade-
level academic achievement and cross-cultural 
competence in all students. Students maintain 
their native language while adding another 
language, and they develop pride in their own 
culture while developing an understanding of 
others. Furthermore, a swathe of health 
benefits from speaking more than one 
language, including faster stroke recovery and 
delayed onset of dementia is found by 
researchers. 
The worldwide trend of bilingualism 
above is also identified in the development of 
World Englishes and English as “a lingua 
franca”; or “an international language” as 
Wen (2012) asserts to be used along with the 
development of globalization. In fact, 
Kingsley (2012), Low and Hashim (2012) 
posit that there has been a widely shifting 
trend from the international English to “World 
Englishes” for three decades. The term 
“World Englishes” is used to refer to localized 
forms of English throughout the world, 
particularly in Caribbean and parts of Africa, 
and in many societies in Asia. Prior 1980s, 
there was a worldwide discussion on the 
distinction between native speakers and non-
native speakers, English as foreign and as 
second language and English as international 
language. However, the fact that notion of 
world Englishes is widely recognized 
indicates English is no longer a possession of 
the British or American. It becomes an 
international language with an increasingly 
large number of different varieties. World 
Englishes itself subsumes many different 
approaches to the study of English worldwide: 
diverse varieties in different societies where 
English is spoken as a second or foreign 
language: corpus linguistics, sociology of 
language, discourse and genre, critical 
linguisticsTherefore, a recently emergent 
approach to English as a “lingua franca” is 
proving popular in the world. With this 
notion, English is adopted as a common 
language between speakers whose native 
languages are different; between native 
speakers and non-native speakers, but also, 
more often than not, among non-native 
speakers such as Koreans and Vietnamese 
(Lee McKay, 2003). 
3. A pedagogical paradigm shift for 
English language teaching in Asia-pacific 
region: from EFL teaching to ESL teaching 
3.1. From imposition to accommodation 
of the teaching paradigm of native-speaker 
norms developed in Western countries 
In reference to the spread recognition of 
‘world Englishes”, Wang and Hill’s review 
(2011) indicate a paradigm shift for English 
language teaching in Asia from imposition to 
accommodation of the paradigm of teaching 
developed in Western countries with native-
speaker norms. These authors posit that 
English language teaching (ELT) 
professionals in Asia have embraced the 
paradigm of teaching originated in Western 
countries for decades. However, the notion of 
a standardized English has been into question 
due to the fact that the varieties as well as the 
uses of English differ from place to place. 
Furthermore, language teaching is seen clearly 
to be affected by a host of factors ranging 
from the macro political and cultural 
environments of a country or region to the 
micro perceptions and practices of individual 
learners and teachers which calls for different 
methodologies for different learners or 
learning situations. Therefore, Wang and Hill 
 Hoang Thi Tuyet. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 63 
(2011) assume that Asian countries need to 
take a more realistic look at “what” is being 
taught and learned, “where” the teaching and 
learning is taking place, and “who” is 
involved in the teaching and learning English. 
In this argumentation, Wang and Hill develop 
a common framework for teaching English in 
Asia where the language increasingly serves 
as a ‘lingua franca’ between various countries 
in domains such as government, education, 
and business. Within this framework, Wang 
and Hill note that the norms of the language 
should be adapted rather than adopted as 
before. ELT programs in English as a foreign 
language (EFL) contexts have to consider 
issues concerning the elusive nature of native 
speaker norms; problems concerning the 
attainability as well as the desirability of 
native speaker norm; problems concerning the 
desirability of the native speaker proficiency; 
the rising status of the local varieties of 
English; differences in the use of English, in 
content of learning; differences in the 
traditions of teaching and learning and 
different roles of teachers and learners. They 
conceive that given the growing importance of 
Asia in international affairs, such particular 
use of English merits special attention in 
curriculum development and teacher 
preparation because according to Beittel 
(2006, p.87), “the globalization and 
differentiation of English are two sides of the 
same coin” (recite from Wang and Hill, 2011). 
They believe that once the paradigm shift is 
made from the English as a native language 
(ENL) model to the English as a lingua franca 
(ELF) model, as McKay (2003) articulates, 
the need for learning the target language 
culture becomes less important. On the 
contrary, there is a need to develop learners’ 
competence in communicating local values 
and traditions to the people of other cultures, 
whether they are from English or non-English 
speaking countries (recite from Wang and 
Hill, 2011). To sum up, by taking a close look 
at all the local features that affect the choice 
of the varieties of English to be learned, the 
content of learning and the approaches to 
teaching and learning in the Asian context, 
Wang and Hill (2011) reveal limitations in the 
established theories responsive not only to 
indigenous traditions of language learning but 
also to the increasing use of English as a 
language of contact between non-native 
speakers across national boundaries while at 
the same time continuing to welcome the 
theories and practices of English language 
teaching from outside the region. 
3.2. From foreign language teaching to 
second language teaching 
In response to Wang and Hill’s 
consideration of the adaptation of Western 
countries’ the notion of a standard English or 
native speaker norms into teaching English in 
a particularly cultural context of Asia, by 
rethinking about the notional distinction 
between English as second and as foreign 
language, Longcope (2010) reveals limitations 
in the established conceptions that are 
responsive only to outer environment, but not 
to inner environment such as teaching 
methodologies for learners or learning 
situations in particular contexts. In fact, the 
distinction between Second-Language 
Acquisition and Foreign-Language Learning 
has been traditionally seen as a simple 
recognition of learning environment in which 
learners live in a predominantly English-
speaking places or not and then consciously 
learn or naturally acquire English within these 
types of English environment. That is, this is a 
perceived difference between learning English 
in second language context and learning 
English in a foreign language context. 
Longcope (2010) argues that the term 
“context” should be understood to refer not 
simply to the environment in which learners 
are situated at a given time but also to refer to 
the learner’s relationship to the environment. 
In other words, there have been two different 
ways to investigate context in researching its 
effects on English language teaching: one is to 
64 Hoang Thi Tuyet. Journal of Science Ho Chi Minh City Open University, 7(4), 60-73 
look at the amount of L2 contact or 
interaction, and the other is to look at 
conditions available for L2 learning. The core 
idea here is that there is something along the 
lines of it being an equal language, and 
essential as a full means of communication 
and study, but additional to students’ native 
language. In teaching practice, there is not 
necessarily any difference whatsoever in how 
or what pedagogy teachers would go about 
teaching it, because basically it's teaching the 
same thing but with a different focus, because 
the students’ needs are different. This is true 
with any class. Teachers have to figure out 
what their students need and what's going on 
with them, and teach accordingly. Therefore, 
from pedagogical perspective, teaching 
second language or foreign language is all as 
teaching 'English for Speakers of Other 
Languages' - ESOL. From hence, Longcope 
(2010) suggests that both physical and 
pedagogical contexts should be considered so 
that these conditions can be provided more 
effectively in the so-called EFL classrooms. 
Similar to Longcope, Ringbom (1979) 
asserts that in addition to the consideration of 
the individual's internal processes of learning 
English and the degree of consciousness 
brought to the learning task, more specific 
situational distinctions are based on a variety 
of factors. These are the time spent on 
language learning, the quality and structure of 
the input, the teacher's role, learners’ age and 
native language background, the learning 
processes and communicative strategies used. 
Moreover, critical review on the word 
“foreign” in the term ‘Teaching English as 
foreign language has been documented 
widely. “Foreign” has largely negative 
connotations, strongly associated with 
concepts such as “alienness,” “unfamiliarity,” 
and “strangeness,” with an additional 
associative meaning of “not belonging”. 
Particularly, a key assumption traditionally 
underlying the EFL label is the notion that 
English is “simply” a subject in the school 
curriculum, but usually not a medium of 
education. Furthermore, in “EFL” contexts, 
there is very limited use of English outside the 
formal classroom setting.” (Widdowson 1994, 
2003; Deway, 2010). 
In regard to teaching English, Jacobs & 
Farrell (2001) indicate eight changes that fit 
with the paradigm shift in second language 
education toward what is most often described 
as communicative language teaching. These 
eight changes are: learner autonomy, 
cooperative learning, curricular integration, 
focus on meaning, diversity, thinking skills, 
alternative assessment and teachers as co-
learners. The paradigm shift of which these 
changes are part is put into perspective as an 
element of larger shifts from positivism to 
post-positivism and from behaviorism to 
cognitivism. 
3.3. From Language Immersion 
Education to Content and Language 
Integrated Learning 
A popular model of teaching English is 
recognized as “language immersion 
education” which was used firstly in places 
where the learners’ second language as 
English is the medium of classroom 
instruction (such as in Canada in 1960), then 
it has spread to places where the learners’ first 
language is the medium of classroom 
instruction and English is a foreign language 
(such as in Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and 
Vietnam). Immersion English education is 
rooted in the human philosophy that being 
proficient in more than one language is a 
valuable skill to be cultivated and nurtured in 
communities. This ideology corresponds to 
bilingual education as dual language programs 
in which two languages a