In this present day, English has been extending its influence to almost all nations across the globe. Even to nations who stand out with their respective cultures and traditions are gradually welcoming English to penetrate to their country. Armenia, so to speak, has been debated by writers, opposition groups and nationalists to “allow Armenian schools conduct classes in English”, a news reported by Hasmik Hambardzumian in The Bellingham Herald.

Armenia is a republic surrounded by Asian and European countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. This country was a former republic of Soviet Union, that’s why prior to its official language Armenian, Russian is also another language they adapt.

According to the news, Armenian millionaire Ruben Vardanyan wants to change Armenia’s current law regarding the language usage in all classroom instructions. He has proposed to build a financial center in Dilijan, one of Armenia’s towns. In this regard, Vardanyan requires a large number of English-proficient workers to fulfill his plans. Moreover, there is already a bill introduced in the parliament to allow English to be used in schools.

Since the proposal became too stern for a pessimistic respond, a resolution was implemented by Education Minister Armen Ashotyan that there will be a few non-Armenian language schools to be opened under the law. But still, Armenian language would still be a compulsory subject even to English schools. Likewise, only children ten years old and above are allowed to enroll to such English schools, which will be privately financed by the establishers themselves.

However, Vahan Iskkhanyan, blogger and former editor of Ankax newspaper sees this differently. He said that the country’s clinch to English “presents a great danger to the independence of Armenia. Armenian will become a domestic language, and our independence will exist only on paper”. Furthermore, an opposition letter also stated this: “A slow but irreversible process will start, where parents looking for the best education for their children will prefer instruction in a foreign language. These pupils, receiving a more successful education, will get into the best universities, take the leading positions in the private and public sectors, and form foreign-language elite, which will at best only know conversational Armenian.”

How do you find this subject matter?  Is it really necessary to let all nations learn English? We all know the language’s scope of influence, that’s why Armenians couldn’t just let English penetrate their culture.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 19th, 2010 at 10:03 am and is filed under Languages and Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.