The Economics of Exposition: Managerialism, Current-Traditional Rhetoric, and Henry Noble Day

Longaker, Mark

doi:10.2307/30044646

Cited by 2 publications

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“…As the dilemma in the adaptation of the teaching of English writing shows, a marriage between English teaching and the practical world may not only make university English departments less academic and more vocational, but also render them almost impotent. Longaker (2005) makes a sharp observation on the problems the teachers are faced with when education takes an uncritical practical turn: While these arguments point to some certainly extant connections between economics and education, to the language-arts instructor, they bring grim news of impotence. (2005: 508) The practical turn has already thrown many English departments in China into a deep crisis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Practical’ English and the crisis of English studies

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2012

English Today

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Perhaps there is no better illustration of Bourdieu's view that language can be converted to political or economic power (1991) than the success of the New Oriental School, which started as an English teaching organization, with the motto ‘Language is power’, mainly to prepare Chinese students for the TOFEL and the GRE tests. They have been so successful that they have now expanded into a full-scale educational institution, with English as its key component. Also, many people in China have prospered through English, including the world-famous teacher Li Yang, who achieved phenomenal success with his ‘Crazy English’ method, whose approach pushes a language-as-power message. In addition, the prosperity of the publishing houses selling English materials, the huge number of the teachers, and the enormous English-learning population in China all seem to contribute to the belief that English can enrich anyone who can find a way to capitalize on the language. However, despite the booming success of various English training agencies, it is ironic that English departments at Chinese universities now face an unprecedented crisis for survival. One major reason for this is that the recent craze for English in China has been accompanied by a parallel and steep decline of interest in the study of English as a ‘major’ at university level. In this article, I will address the problems that English departments in universities have in their response to the practical turn in English studies, with reference to the teaching of writing to English majors in particular.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%