Doctor Sue Garton from Aston University in the UK delivered a lecture entitled “Please take thousands of salutations to your lotus feet: the threat and promise of English as a global language” at Shanxi University on Sept 19.

Sue Garton is a senior lecturer in the field of "teaching English to speakers of other languages” (TESOL), associate dean of external relations at the School of Language and Social Sciences, and director of the Center for Language Studies at Aston University.

She has abundant teaching experience and a strong history in scientific research and serves as a visiting TESOL professor to many countries.

During her lecture, Sue pointed out that non-native speakers of English will face some communication problems when using English as a conversational language and introduced the four major channels of English communication. She also discussed the development of English as a mother tongue, a second language, and a foreign language.

She then brought up “the theory of World Englishes” proposed by scholar B.B. Kachru, pointing out that English is widely used around the world and plays an important role in a many societies. The theory suggests that people should examine variations in English in the context of social realities in foreign cultures and study the language’s localization, diversification, and other characteristics.

Sue also introduced a student exchange program between Shanxi University and Aston University after the lecture.

Doctor Sue Garton from Aston University in the UK delivers a lecture entitled “Please take thousands of salutations to your lotus feet: the threat and promise of English as a global language” at Shanxi University on Sept 19. [Photo/sxu.edu.cn]