Abstract
This study empirically investigates the relationship between English proficiency and personal accomplishment in East and Southeast Asia. With the database of AsiaBarometer Survey 2006 and 2007, 15082 questionnaire respondents from China, Hong Kong of China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan of China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand formed the sample. We present the following findings with correlation and regression analysis: a) English proficiency positively influences personal accomplishment; b) the focal relationship is partly mediated by income, career and quality of life; and c) the focal relationship is positively moderated by international involvement. Such findings disclose and confirm the instrumentality of English learning in globalization. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.
Highlights
Globalization, as one of the most important socio-economic characteristics in the modern world, has dramatically altered people’s life by involving them in all kinds of international activities (Vandenbroucke, 2016)
We present the following findings with correlation and regression analysis: a) English proficiency positively influences personal accomplishment; b) the focal relationship is partly mediated by income, career and quality of life; and c) the focal relationship is positively moderated by international involvement
With large-scale survey data from 14 East and Southeast Asian countries and areas, this paper examines the influence of English proficiency on personal accomplishment, and especially, explores the role of income, career development, quality of life as well as international involvement in the focal relationship
Summary
Globalization, as one of the most important socio-economic characteristics in the modern world, has dramatically altered people’s life by involving them in all kinds of international activities (Vandenbroucke, 2016). With the opportunities to study, travel or work in foreign countries and areas, and other forms of international exposure, people, especially whose mother tongues are not prevailing in the world, have gradually and commonly recognized the importance of acquiring English as a global language (Smotrova, 2009; Kubota & McKay, 2009). At the national level, considering the crucial role of English in sustaining international exchanges of labor, knowledge, capital and commodities (Kubota & McKay, 2009), many countries and areas encourage or even force individuals to learn English by presenting related foreign language education policies (Nunan, 2003; Hu, 2008; Kirkpatrick, 2014; Jones, 2016). The increasing English learning fever drives us to explore, exploit and examine some essential questions: Why do people learn English? Do people really benefit from learning English? If so, how?
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