scholarly journals ‘A more inclusive mind towards the world’: English language teaching and study abroad in China from intercultural citizenship and English as a lingua franca perspectives

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 608-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang ◽  
Will Baker
Keyword(s):  
Study Abroad ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The Status ◽  
World English

With the status of English as a global lingua franca (ELF), English is no longer the sole property of its Anglophone native English speakers (NES) problematizing the current dominance of Anglophone cultures and NES in the field of English language teaching (ELT). The notion of intercultural citizenship education offers a critical alternative model in language education. To investigate how ELF, intercultural approaches and the concept of intercultural citizenship might be integrated within the field of ELT, a study was conducted in a university located in southeast China. Due to the large number of ELT learners and high degree of student mobility in China these are issues of much relevance in this setting. The research collected qualitative data through face-to-face interviews, email interviews and focus groups with students on study abroad programmes who have both ELT and first-hand intercultural experiences. Many students spoke positively about aspects of intercultural citizenship, but classroom instruction offered only limited channels for students to experience and understand intercultural communication and citizenship. In contrast, most of their understanding and experiences were gained outside the classroom during study abroad. Furthermore, many students spoke about the importance of English in their development of intercultural connections and citizenship. We conclude that more in-depth and critical approaches to teaching language, culture and intercultural communication in ELT are needed which foster and cultivate students’ sense of intercultural citizenship.

scholarly journals Culture and complexity through English as a lingua franca: rethinking competences and pedagogy in ELT

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Baker
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Meaningful Category

AbstractEnglish as a lingua franca (ELF) research highlights the complexity and fluidity of culture in intercultural communication through English. ELF users draw on, construct, and move between global, national, and local orientations towards cultural characterisations. Thus, the relationship between language and culture is best approached as situated and emergent. However, this has challenged previous representations of culture, particularly those centred predominantly on nation states, which are prevalent in English language teaching (ELT) practices and the associated conceptions of communicative and intercultural communicative competence. Two key questions which are then brought to the fore are: how are we to best understand such multifarious characterisations of culture in intercultural communication through ELF and what implications, if any, does this have for ELT and the teaching of culture in language teaching? In relation to the first question, this paper will discuss how complexity theory offers a framework for understanding culture as a constantly changing but nonetheless meaningful category in ELF research, whilst avoiding essentialism and reductionism. This underpins the response to the second question, whereby any formulations of intercultural competence offered as an aim in language pedagogy must also eschew these simplistic and essentialist cultural characterisations. Furthermore, the manner of simplification prevalent in approaches to culture in the ELT language classroom will be critically questioned. It will be argued that such simplification easily leads into essentialist representations of language and culture in ELT and an over representation of “Anglophone cultures.” The paper will conclude with a number of suggestions and examples for how such complex understandings of culture and language through ELF can be meaningfully incorporated into pedagogic practice.

scholarly journals Constraints on innovation in English language teaching in hinterland regions of China

2020 ◽  
pp. 136216882097985
Author(s):  
Neil Murray ◽  
Antony J. Liddicoat ◽  
Gavin Zhen ◽  
Penny Mosavian
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
English Language ◽  
Time Pressure ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Chinese Government

Since the start of the twenty-first century, English has come to be seen by the Chinese government as a linchpin of its continued economic and political influence. Its resultant efforts to promote innovation in English language teaching align with the aspirations of a population, many of whom regard competency in English as a determiner of opportunity and success in their careers, and thus a vehicle through which to provide a good quality of life for themselves and their families. However, despite government-driven initiatives to improve English language education, change has been slow to materialize, especially outside of the main urban areas of Eastern China. Here, we report on a study that sought to explore the constraints governing attempts by teachers of English to innovate in universities located in some of the so-called ‘hinterland’ regions of Southwestern China. Key determinants that emerged, and which we discuss, included time pressure and competing priorities; scepticism towards new ideas; lack of investment in resources; the primacy of the textbook; students’ language proficiency; and opportunities for professional development. Together, these findings indicate the need for a change of culture if innovation is to be welcomed, both in principle and in practice, as a driver of positive change in the teaching of English in these universities. Teachers, their line managers, and university senior managers need to feel willing and able to engage freely in constructive and informed discourse, and in doing so consider recalibrating institutional priorities, thereby helping reconcile the pressures and tensions currently experienced by English language teachers and which impede progress.

On cultivation of intercultural communication awareness in english vocabulary teaching

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Xiaochi Zhang
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Intercultural Communication Competence ◽  
Close Relationship

Language And Culture Keep A Very Close Relationship And Are Inseparable. English Language Teaching Is Not Only To Cultivate English Language Learners’ Linguistic Competence, But Also To Promote Their Intercultural Communication Competence. In Fact, English Vocabulary Teaching Is One Part Of Vital Integration In English Language Teaching. Meantime, English Vocabulary Teaching Plays An Important Role In The Cultivation Of English Language Learners’ Intercultural Communication Awareness. Therefore, The Author Attempts To Expound The Significance Of Cultural Elements In English Vocabulary Teaching, Discusses About The Relationship Between Language And Culture, Stresses On The Cultural Connotations Of English Vocabulary Through The Formation Of English Language, Especially In Some Specific Words And Focuses On Some Typical Cases And Analyzes The Functions Of English Vocabulary Teaching For English Language Learners’ Intercultural Communication Awareness Finally, The Author Puts Forward Some Useful Suggestions To Cultivate The English Language Learners’ Intercultural Communication Awareness Through English Vocabulary Teaching.

English Language Teaching and Intercultural Communication Competence

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Xiaochi Zhang ◽  
Jinjing ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communication Competence ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Intercultural Communication Competence ◽  
The Relationship

This article discusses about the relationship between linguistic competence and intercultural communication competence, and then about the functions of English language teaching in improving students’ intercultural communication competence. Finally, it explores how to develop English language learners’ intercultural communication competence in English language teaching and gives some useful suggestions, so as to really realize the final objective of English language teaching.

scholarly journals A Critical Investigation of English Language Teaching in Bangladesh

English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mosiur Rahman ◽  
Ambigapathy Pandian
Keyword(s):  
World Bank ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Education ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Traditional Grammar ◽  
Economic Constraints

The 2016 World Bank report on worldwide per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) identified Bangladesh as a lower middle-income country based on its consistent GDP growth throughout last decade (World Bank, 2016). To maintain this growth rate and meet the radical demand for human resources in increasingly globalised world markets, the country needs to communicate more effectively with the outside world. Inevitably, this means improving the quality of English teaching and learning. The significance of English, as the globallingua franca, to Bangladeshi learners is at its zenith. In this developing country, however, economic constraints mean that funds allocated to education are limited compared to many other Southeast Asian countries (Habib & Adhikary, 2016). Even given the generally low level of educational standards in Bangladesh (Islam, 2015), the standard of English language teaching and learning has decreased alarmingly in recent years (Hamid, 2011). English language education in Bangladesh has always been problematic, despite various attempts to initiate curriculum reform. As Hamid & Baldauf (2008) point out, the first of these major shifts in the ELT curriculum took place in the mid-1990s, when the traditional Grammar-Translation Method (GTM) was replaced with a curriculum based on a Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) model. The principal objective of this article is to review the major problems associated with ELT in Bangladesh that have hindered the implementation of the new CLT curriculum from the perspective of teachers, and eventually to make recommendations for more effective ELT curriculum reform.

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