English fever

English fever

English

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Noun

English fever (uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) Preoccupation or obsession with learning or promoting the learning of the English language.
   • 2003 Stephen Krashen, "Dealing with English Fever," In: Selected Papers from the Twelfth International Symposium on English Teaching, English Teachers' Association/ROC, Taipei, Crane Publishing Company, 2003. pp. 100-108.

     English fever = the overwhelming desire to (1) acquire English, (2) ensure that one's children acquire English, as a second or foreign language.

   • 2007 Jinkyu Park, "Korean Parents in 'English Fever' and Their 'early Study-abroad' Children in the United States: Parental Beliefs and Practices Concerning First Language Peers," Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, August 2007, pp. 19-20.

     The relentless competition for learning English showed the tip of its monstrous image in the summer of 1991, when the government announced the plan to introduce English to elementary school grades by 1995. The news brought a huge typhoon of English, which swept the whole country into "English fever."

   • 2013 Eric Herman, "Treating English Fever in Honduras," Honduras Weekly, 9/26/13

     Honduras is one of many countries to have recently contracted “English Fever,” a term used by linguist Stephen Krashen (2003) to describe the intense desire to know English and for one’s children to learn English.

   • 2014 Wang Xiaoyang and Li Yangyang, "'English Fever' in China has Reached a Watershed," International Higher Education, No. 75, Spring 2014

     Correspondingly, a wave of “English fever” swept the nation, and English training has become a huge industry.

   • 2015 Wayne E. Wright, Sovicheth Boun, Ofelia García, eds., The Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education, John Wiley & Sons, 2015

     Many Asian countries are in the grips of what Park (2009) and others have termed "English fever" with a desire for fluency, accent reduction, and overall competitive advantage for children who will compete in the global marketplace.