English as a Compulsory Subject in Schools: An Analysis

This essay delves into the significance of English as a compulsory subject in schools worldwide. It emphasizes English's status as a global language, crucial for international communication across various sectors, including education, business, and culture. The essay analyzes the advantages of English proficiency, such as enhanced communication skills, cultural understanding, and career opportunities. It also explores the motivations for making English compulsory and highlights the importance of effective teaching methods, infrastructure, and public awareness to ensure successful implementation. The essay concludes by underscoring the dominant role of English in the modern world and the necessity for students to master the language for personal and professional growth.

Running head: ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
The word “compulsory” or rather “global” has no authorized definition; however, it
fundamentally refers to a language, which is learned and spoken internationally and is
characterized not only by the number of its citizen, but also by its geological distribution and its
utilization in international organizations and in political affairs. A universal language acts as a
“lingua franca”, a familiar language enabling community from sundry backgrounds and
ethnicities to correspond on an unbiased base (Algeo & Butcher, 2013).
The following essay analyses the advantages of English as a compulsory subject in
schools globally. The essay also encompasses the motivations that might be incorporated to
make it a global or compulsory subject in all academic institutions worldwide. English is the
third most extensive native language in the globe, subsequent to Standard Chinese and Spanish.
It is the most extensively learned second language and is either the bureaucratic language or one
of the bureaucratic languages in roughly 60 sovereign states. The opulence and profundity of
English's language sets it apart from other languages (Jenkins, 2013).
The essay concludes by highlighting the impact of English as a compulsory subject in the
schools globally. The essay also highlights the glorious history of the language as well as its
impact on the modern education and communication structure of the society.
 In order to succeed in a world where English is the main language of international
interpersonal communication, it is necessary for an individual to master the subject.
English at present is the only language that is used in every platforms of our social and
communal life; be it in films, literatures, music, sports, business or environment. The
language has become an inseparable part of human life and hence it is very important for
all the individuals to learn the skills and phonology of the language (Braine, 2014).

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
Therefore, all the academic institutions must take initiatives to make this language as a
compulsory subject for their students for their future working life. Moreover, learning of
English literature from the nursery rhymes to Shakespeare’s sonnets may inculcate a
lifelong experience of joy in reading and endow an individual with a deeper perceptive of
one individual’s self and others. The academic institutions must encourage their students
in making them aware about the English texts in films and other art forms, which will
inspire the students to develop their own artistic imagination and originality in these
genres and media (Fallon & Rublik, 2012). Thus, English as a subject is a device that will
help in gaining knowledge and personal insight.
 The subject is designed in a way that it is made a regular core subject for all the upper
secondary educational programs. So, in the near future the subject will assist the pupils in
choosing their future career programs as the scope of the subject is widely spread all over
the world. The pupils must also be made aware of advantages of the language in the
cultural understanding of the world and the focus must be made on the developing of the
knowledge of English as world language. If the language is not learnt properly then, it
limits the communication of an individual with the outside world and the person remains
isolated from the rest of the world (Mojavezi & Tamiz, 2012).
 English is a very important part of an individual’s daily communications in case of
teaching of foreign students. Here comes the role of media. Media has played a major
role in influencing people. In fact, globalization and progress in contemporary technology
have improved the education procedure. Since globalization has made the globe smaller.
The media connects to all modes of communication from internet, broadcasting,
television, cassette, auditory and any supplementary sources that have the capacity to

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
broadcast information (Bordwell & Carroll, 2012). Miscellany of media is nowadays
used as a primary training aid, not only in the essentials of English within the National
Curriculum, but as an indispensable necessity to meet up the challenges of the worldwide
market (Haghverdi, & Ghasemi, 2013). Nobody can overlook the significance of this
global language, which provides the foundation for endurance these years. English
donates to sustainable universal improvement. It eases trade among nations that do not
share a universal tongue. It is used as a tongue of convenience, facilitating conversation
and constructing faith where an understanding of miscellaneous positions is vital –
remarkably in international relations and conflict resolution, where defense forces and
other uniformed services increasingly converse to each other in English (Maringe &
Foskett, 2012).
 The learning of English language can facilitate a child to develop the skill of
bilingualism. Bilingualism is a skill that can be immense helpful to any individual for his
future prospects. A child therefore must learn a language that will facilitate him to
communicate with the rest of the world. Besides, learning a language other than the
mother tongue makes an individual more skilled than the person who is a monolingual. A
bilingual is also considered much wittier than persons with monolingual as bilingualism
smooth the progress of the faculties in performing one or more tasks at a time and hence
the brain is operating the two functions at a time.
 The attitude or the behavior of the teachers, teaching at the school, is very important.
Generally, in the countries, where English is not an official language but it is legalized as
a compulsory language in school, students just learn it to get good marks at school. After
the school hours and outside the premises of the school, students do not develop the urge

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
to practice it among themselves or individually. Generally, the motivation factor in this
scenario to learn English is to just get a satisfactory report card in English (Samson and
Collins, 2015). This has to be changed and the change can only be possible when teachers
become the positive role models in inculcating English. Teachers themselves must
display positive attitude in learning English and encouraging the students to also learn
English. The role of the teachers is very important in instigating the students to practice
perfect English and continue doing so even after their school graduation. Therefore, in
the countries where English is a compulsory subject at school but the motivation to learn
it is low, schools must take the initiative to appoint dynamic, persuasive and responsible
teachers to teach English at school (Wright, 2015).
 The next important step is that English must be made a compulsory subject to pass in
order to graduate from school. At present, in many countries, more often where English is
a compulsory subject, getting the pass percentage is not so important. This is because
other subjects are considered to be more important and easiest to secure the overall pass
aggregate in school. As a result, English is ignored (Kibler, Valdés & Walqui, 2014).
This has to be changed. English must be made a compulsory subject to pass in order to be
promoted to the next class and become a high school graduate. This will certainly create a
positive effect on the dismal condition of English in those countries. The students will be
induced to learn and master English at the highest level because failing to graduate from
school would certainly be a severe hamper to the progress of a student’s career graph.
Therefore, in the countries, where English is a compulsory subject at school, but the
motivation to learn it is low, the educational sector must adopt the initiative to make

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
English a compulsory subject to pass in all the class exams and finally in the high school
graduation exam (Braine, 2014).
 The schools and the universities must have or develop the adequate infrastructure to teach
and learn English. Many of the schools in those countries where English is a compulsory
subject in school, but the motivation to learn it is low, have pathetic teaching materials
and infrastructural facilities. At times, during school hours, the teachers cannot teach or
make the students understand the subject English because of inadequate books and study
materials. As a result, the gifted students who are interested and eager to learn English at
the advanced level are denied the opportunity to do so (Shyamlee & Phil, 2012). Due to
this, at a time, the eagerness and keenness of the students to learn English starts to
diminish and then ultimately dies. To prevent this, the schools must have the provision of
proper and sufficient poem books, journals, magazines, storybooks and other reading
materials in their library. If such were done, then the students would automatically feel
energized and enliven to learn and practice English. Therefore, in the countries, where,
English is a compulsory subject at school, but the motivation to learn it is low, the
government must make sure that the schools have adequate and good standard teaching
materials in English (Hayati, Jalilifar & Mashhadi, 2013).
 The next most important step is to publicize the importance and influence of English as a
global language. At schools and at universities, the student population should be made to
understand that English is the key to higher level of professional success. English is the
primary foreign language, which is regularly practiced and spoken at schools, universities
and offices alike in the world. It is widely understood that when a person is sufficiently
proficient in English, then the path of his career progress will be smooth and guaranteed

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
(Crystal, 2012). In addition to this, if a person wants to settle abroad to study or to work,
then learning to speak perfect English is extremely important. The majority of the
workplaces in the western countries of the world demand their employees to be
conversant in English because English is also the global language of business. All over
the world, the supremacy of English is paramount. Therefore, in the countries, where
English is a compulsory subject, but the motivation to learn it is low, the government and
the official authorities must make sure that English is artfully popularized among the
student population and as well as among their parents. The students must understand that
if they want to grow in life or bring a change to their lifestyle, by immigrating to other
countries, then they must have the motivation to study it beyond the primary level
(Pennycook, 2017).
Therefore, from the above conclusion, it can be concluded that English is indeed a very
important language to master for the students of any country in the world. English is the
recognized global lingua franca of the world. All the sectors in the world including the sectors of
educational, cultural, social, and industrial and the entertainment, English is pervasively spoken
and understood. In many non Anglo-Saxon countries of the world, English has been officially
recognized as a second or a third language. Due to this, the importance and influence of English
has reached to the sky heights. No other language in the world, other than English exercises
massive universal power, aristocracy and dominance. English is frequently seen as a class or
status determiner in the Asian and the African countries. However, there are some countries in
the world, where English is legalized as a foreign language and yet it is not perfectly spoken by
the native population. Situations like this are extremely pitiful as it is waste of time, effort and

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
money. To minimize this, necessary steps are required to be undertaken by the governments and
the schools of those countries.

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ENGLISH AS A COMPULSORY SUBJECT IN SCHOOLS
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