Today marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, probably the greatest writer ever to work in the English language.
In truth, no one knows when William Shakespeare was really born. Like many aspects of his life, the details are a little hazy, but what is sure is that the language he immortalised remains in robust health.
Today is also World English Language Day, as marked by the United Nations. There are six official UN languages, including Arabic, and every year the organisation asks us to consider the value and importance of each.
English is the worldwide language of international business, diplomacy, communications, transport, science and IT. One in seven of the world’s population is said to be learning it. Around 750 million people regularly use it. Approximately 80 per cent of the world’s online content is in English and two-thirds of the world’s scientists read the language.
Yet of those 750 million, half use English as a second language. Here in the Middle East and North Africa region (Mena), as throughout the world, it is required for certain functions – working and trading with overseas partners, communication between different nationalities in the same country, and social media interactions. English will never replace a native language, but it is one of the most valuable tools for businesses and individuals who want to prosper in our interconnected world.
Governments in the region realise the importance of encouraging the study of English. There is a direct connection between learning English in school, success in higher education and the creation of a skilled workforce with an international outlook.
Ability in English can also allow local small to medium-sized businesses the chance to seek markets well beyond their national boundaries. This is important, because the requirement for economic development and job creation across the Arab world is well-documented.
The region has the world’s highest levels of youth unemployment, according to the IMF, at 25 per cent. The World Bank warns that Mena governments must create 28 million more jobs in the next seven years just to stop the current unemployment rate from rising.
So governments and individuals are turning to English as one way to assure their economic future.
In Jordan, students start learning English in first grade, resulting in 45 per cent of the population speaking English to an intermediate level.
In traditionally French-speaking countries, governments have also focused on improving English skills. Algeria’s 2008 opening of its education system to private providers was in part designed to improve English language teaching, as multinational companies in the country’s rich energy industry consistently struggled to recruit staff with adequate English. In Tunisia, the government has encouraged new partnerships with overseas universities, partly to improve the English skills of the country’s graduates, and is also promoting distance learning of English.
Many students in Mena will require high-quality English to study at the region’s best universities. In the UAE, for example, most university teaching is in English. And those students who can afford it often choose UK, US, Australian and Canadian universities.
Once graduated, those students will often seek careers with multinational companies. In this region, that can mean a bright future in fast-growing, highly paid sectors such as oil and gas, tourism, aviation, transport, shipping, banking and telecommunications.
Particularly striking are salary differences between English and non-English speakers once they are in work. British Council research by Euromonitor showed English speakers in Egypt could expect to earn 75 per cent more, while in Iraq the gap was 95 per cent.
The British Council estimates that more than 50 million schoolchildren, students and adults are currently learning English in the Mena region, taught by more than 430,000 teachers. Our regional teaching centres have welcomed 195,000 students in the past four years.
This enthusiasm to learn comes because English is the language of international commerce.
And with it, alongside those opportunities for education, careers and outside investment, come the communication skills necessary for connecting cultures and ultimately enriching them, by establishing common bonds of mutual trust and understanding.
Shakespeare wrote in his play Love’s Labour’s Lost about “a great feast of languages”. It seems that the appetite for English, and the life opportunities it offers, is far from satisfied.
Adrian Chadwick is the regional director for the British Council in the Middle East and North Africa
