Teach English in ZhupuZhen - Luliang Shi

Thanks in large part to globalization, the world today feels more interconnected than ever before. People, goods and ideas are able to travel more efficiently and with fewer barriers to entry. This has led to incredible innovations in nearly every sector and industry, from agriculture and medicine to education and technology. Individuals across the globe are making their mark and sharing new creations that have and continue to change the way that we live and interact with each other. Achievements that once were thought to be for the far-off future—such as the advanced development and implementation of artificial intelligence—are well underway; behind these amazing achievements are multidisciplinary teams comprised of incredibly diverse individuals. These bright people can hail from any country and every continent, be brought up in different cultures and with vastly different traditions and customs. Yet one of the most poignant and prominent traits underpinning these diverse individuals is their ability to communicate in English. Today, English is an extremely valuable currency no matter where in the world and no matter what the circumstance. English has become a lingua franca, a language of the world, with an estimated 1.5 billion English speakers in the world, accounting for 20 percent in 2015 alone (Babbel 2017). Moreover, most of these individuals are not native English speakers. According to the Washington Post, not only is English the world’s most studied language with 1.5 billion learners in 2015, but there are more people who speak English as their second language (Noak and Gamio 2015). The importance and prominence of English is only increasing. English holds an unparallel position in many, if not most, instances of global communication, education and business, pervading all industries and countless interactions. It has become the preferred language of communication in many sectors, from business to politics. While English has historically been associated with countries in West, such as America, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, thanks to globalization, the importance of English has expanded exponentially, and its use can be found on every continent. English has become essential to the global workplace and marketplace, facilitating communication and capital across both physical and cultural borders or barriers. With this, we can further see an increasing number of companies seeking highly competent and confident English speakers to maintain relevance and competitiveness—which has, in turn, greatly impacted the global education sector and the demand for learning English in primary and secondary school settings. As today’s students continue to pursue their educational careers, learning and becoming proficient in using English to communicate has become an incredibly coveted and sought-after trait, and this is reflected in the sustained interest in learning English around the world. As language acquisition is the most enriching and well-retained if studied in the early childhood years, many educational institutions and parents alike can be found encouraging students to learn English very early on. Whether through intensive language bootcamps, afterschool classes or even experiences such as studying abroad or participating in school exchange programs, children are incessantly informed at a young age of the importance of being able to successfully communicate in English. As being able to speak English quickly becomes a basic requirement for many jobs in every sector, the traditional student in primary and secondary school is increasingly engulfed in English-language classes and intensive preparatory sessions to ensure that they are on their way to mastering this seemingly ubiquitous foreign language. Prominent exams such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TEOFL) have become the golden standard for determining whether or not an individual has achieved a satisfactory mastery of English. For many students who are eager to be eligible for competitive and prestigious jobs overseas or at multinational companies, excellent performance on exams such as the TEOFL combined with exceptional practical usage are these student’s keys to a brighter future.