Comparing points of view: Anglocentric versus global 

As an increasing number of English schoolchildren and students no longer studied foreign languages, a debate was started in 2006 which centred on the question whether it was important to make foreign languages an integral part of the school curriculum. Two articles on this debate appeared in the Guardian. The first article was written by Richard Holt and was called "Why bother learning foreign languages?" (Holt 2006). The second article, named "Does it matter if we only speak English?" (Jacques 2006), appeared shortly after the first and was written by Martin Jacques.
 Both authors agree in their opinion that foreign languages should form an integral part of the school curriculum. Holt states that "the experience of learning another tongue greatly deepens your understanding of your own language" (Holt 2006). It is this experience, according to Holt, that trains students in analytical thinking, making the study of a foreign language an important part of any student's curriculum.1 Jacques upholds that the learning of foreign languages is of the utmost importance if Britain wants to hold on to its global position.2 He stresses "the need (...) for Britain to integrate with the rest of the world" by stating that "not everyone else now speaks English" and stating that "the status of English is not necessarily cast in stone" (Jacques 2006).
Holt and Jacques do not seem to assert the same reasons for the problematic decrease in the number of students learning foreign languages. Holt states that it are the schools that are not backing the policies of the government resulting in "a hard time persuading surly 14-year-olds" (Holt 2006) to take foreign languages as a part of their curriculum and he concludes his article by asserting that "The amendment to the education bill needs the backing of the schools (...)" (Holt 2006). 3 Jacques, however, seems to conclude that current governmental policies are not sufficient and should be improved (e.g. by making it "compulsory to learn a foreign language from the age of five" (Jacques 2006)).
Although both authors agree in their appreciation of learning foreign languages, their reasons for this appreciation seem to differ in one important aspect. Whereas Jacques' reasons seem more 'globally' oriented (e.g. Britain's need to integrate into a linguistically bigger global world), Holt's reasons can be considered to be  more Anglocentric (e.g. the better understanding of English and the development of general educational skills).     

Bibliography

Holt, R. 2006, 'Why bother learning foreign languages?', The Guardian 13/10/2006.

Jacques, M. 2006, 'Does it matter if we only speak English?', The Guardian 15/12/2006.


1 Holt 2006.
2 Jacques 2006.
3 Holt 2006.