Setter is a professor of phonetics in the department of English language and applied linguistics at the University of Reading and also national teaching fellow and senior fellow at the UK Higher Education Academy. Co-editor of the 18th edition of the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (2011), Setter has also written a number of publications including the book “Your Voice Speaks Volumes: It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It”, which explores perceptions around the English language.
“There's a lot of stereotyping and prejudice around, and [the work] is trying to sort of raise the awareness of the fact that prejudice is learned,” Setter said in a recent interview with Delano. “And just because somebody has this particular sort of accent, it doesn't mean they are stupid, or awkward or anything. It just means they have an accent.”
Setter is interested in the use of English in different parts of the world and the historical and political contexts around its use. In Malaysia, for example, a former British colony, English is widely spoken as a vehicular language. “It seems to be something where one minute English as a medium of instruction is very much in favour, the next minute it's not,” she said.
The India independence movement, which led to the end of British rule in India in 1947, is another interesting case. “The idea in India was that English would be phased out, basically it wouldn't be used anymore. But that's not happening. English is still very much used in India. And part of it is a kind of cultural/political thing, where there are lots of different cultural groups in India,” Setter said.
But what about in Europe? Will English remain important across the EU, even despite Brexit?
2025 and beyond
Professor Setter cited a study done by the British Council on the future of the English language in the EU by 2025 and beyond. The report found that “potential English language learners” could fall by 15.3m by 2025. But, as Setter noted, the key point here is that these are learners.
“There are demographic changes, an ageing population, more people are learning and using English earlier in their lives, which means if they move into the adult population, they have higher levels of English anyway,” Setter stated.
“But that doesn’t mean that English language use is on the decline. That seems to be very much not the case, according to the report.”
The report revealed that not only will English “continue to be the lingua franca in the EU”, even despite Brexit, but the ways in which English is learned will also likely change--for example, there may be a dip in demand for regular courses coupled with a rise in more flexible learning options. The Council also expects more specialised learning--for business and industry, for example.
Setter added that, from her perspective in the UK, there has been a rise in the number of individuals wanting to learn languages such as Arabic, for example.
“There seems to be people much keener to learn about other cultures. And maybe the whole Brexit thing has pushed those people that way.”
The keynote speech will be livestreamed via Youtube starting at 4pm, available here.