Abstract
M.Ed. (Education Linguistics)
Researchers generally agree that second languages are vitally important to diverse
groups of people across the world today. The teaching of second languages in classrooms
around the world alone constitutes a formidable undertaking. Their general
importance in and out of the classroom is perhaps best expressed by Larsen-Freeman
and Long (1991:2):
•••not only do second languages have a place in school, they also affect many
other aspects of people's lives. In the interdependent world of today,
second language acquisition and use are ubiquitous.
English alone, for example, is used by almost 1.5 billion people as their official second
language (Crystal, 1985). The remarkable spread and use of the language has become
an uncontested fact: it has become the international language for science and technology,
with more than half of all the world's scientific and technical journals
published in English. It is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the
world's computers at present, while three quarters of the world's mail arid other correspondence
are also in English (Peirce, 1989).
This is just one example of second language use that has contributed to the general
importance of second languages across the globe today. There are many others. So,
for instance, is second language learning and use closely linked with the huge migrant
worker force of Europe and other parts of the world, where there is a need amongst
the people to be able to understand and speak the language of their new environment.
Another such issue is the arrival and assimilation of immigrants who permanently
resettle in a new country. The large entry of Indochinese refugees into many different
countries around the world in the 1980's is a case in point (Larsen-Freeman and Long,
1991).
Second languages also often play an important role in the affairs of state, especially
in societies where there is a diversity of cultures and languages (Larsen-Freeman and
Long, 1991). Which language or languages should receive official recognition and
which should not? In our own country, for example, this is currently a much debated
issue, following the socio-political changes and events of recent years. It appears that
English has become the language people favour best in a post-apartheid South Africa.