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Introduction
In some Asia-Pacific countries, English is neither an ethnic heritage nor a colonial legacy. The dominant position of English can also be a result of it being the common language for worldwide communication. The superiority of the English language in such countries manifests itself in language policy and national curricula which leads to a frantic pursuit of English. An educational trend in China, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam is to start English instruction early to give children an edge in second language acquisition. A rationale used for this is the positive relationship between a nation's international competiveness and the English language competence of its citizens (Baldauf & Nguyen, 2013; Hu, 2009; Park, 2009). One example of a nationwide English learning movement is 'the-earlier-the-better' in Taiwan. To win elections, electoral candidates used to propose English instruction to be available at Grade 1 (age of 6) although the Ministry of Education ruled for Grade 5 (age of 10) to be the year for English to be introduced (Chang, 2009). Another example of early English learning is overseas study in South Korea. Young children are sent to North America to receive long-term education so that they can learn to speak English without a Korean accent (Song, 2010).
It is problematic to take the view that the choices made by governments and individuals can alone disseminate English. Cultural, economic, and sociopolitical factors co-contribute to this linguistic phenomenon (Pennycook, 2001). Phillipson's Linguistic Imperialism (1992) explains how English was exported by Great Britain and the United States to achieve their commercial and diplomatic interests. Piller and Takahashi (2006) suggest that the interest in learning English among many Japanese women in their twenties is constructed through a media discourse that romanticizes English learning. Japanese women enjoy English because this learning process is similar to developing a romantic relationship with a gentle, white, and native speaker of English (Piller & Takahashi, 2006). The ubiquity of English connotes more than a lingua franca. English is accepted because of a belief in its potential benefits and in the higher status attributed to its speakers (Ferguson, 2013; Tsui & Tollefson, 2007). In these contexts, English carries connotations of power.
Levinson et al. (2009) note that the...