KARACHI, June 9: The English language, especially its social and economic impact on an increasingly globalised world, was the core subject of discussion at the inaugural session of a two-day seminar held here on Saturday.

The seminar, titled ‘English and Empowerment in the Development World,’ has been organised by the Centre of English Language of the Aga Khan University. Scholars from the UK, Pakistan, India and the Middle East are scheduled to deliver their lectures and participate in various discussions.

In her keynote address, Dr Edith Esch, Senior Research Fellow in Language Education at the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Education, talked about two different approaches to English education: the Human Capital approach and the Capability approach. These concepts have been developed by Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen.

The Human Capital approach, Dr Esch said, concentrated on the economic role of education, while the Capability approach pointed towards the intrinsic and non-economic role, adding that both approaches were complementary.

Herself a native French speaker, Dr Esch said that students knew that learning English would help them secure a place in the labour market, but it depended on who had access to English and what the quality of education was like.

Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, adviser to the prime minister on science and technology and chairman of the Higher Education Commission, was the chief guest for Saturday’s session, but had to rush back to Islamabad for unspecified reasons. His address was read out by Dr David Taylor, acting provost of the AKU.

In total two keynote speeches, four plenary sessions, two panel discussions and 34 concurrent paper sessions will be held at the seminar, which will conclude on Sunday.