scholarly journals A study of Taiwanese university students’ English use, learning goals and attitudes toward English as a lingua franca

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 775-794
Author(s):  
Wen-Hsing Luo
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Local Variation ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Attitudes Toward English ◽  
Learning English

 This study investigates Taiwanese university students’ experience of English use, aims of learning English and attitudes toward English as a lingua franca (ELF). The notion of ELF has been researched in the field of English language teaching. However, English teaching practice targeting native-speaker (NS) norms is still prevailing in English classrooms. To better respond to learner needs of using English in the age of globalization, this study explores learners’ English learning and use in relation to their attitudes toward ELF. Research methods including interviewing and questionnaire survey were employed to collect data from English majors at a university in Taiwan. The study finds that the learners were aware of the communicative value of ELF and actually used ELF in intercultural communication. The learners’ use of English in context affected their attitudes toward ELF and aims of learning English. It is found that the learners preferred English conforming to NS norms; yet, they wished to learn local variation of English concerning accents and word use. In light of the findings, the author suggests that English teachers incorporate an ELF perspective into English instruction and help learners develop intercultural awareness and competencies.

scholarly journals The development of an online game-based simulation for the training of English language teachers in virtual environments

2020 ◽  
pp. 334-341
Author(s):  
Areti Vasmatzoglou ◽  
Neasa Ní Chiaráin
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Goals ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Practice Experience ◽  
Speakers Of Other Languages ◽  
Practice Opportunities

Virtual simulation training has gained in usage in various educational fields and offers the potential to support and reinforce learning goals when practical experience is not possible. Teaching practice experience in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom is critical, yet frequently unobtainable for students in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)/English Language Teaching (ELT) Masters programmes. This paper describes the design, development, and evaluation of a gamified simulation prototype, Virtual EFL Classroom, that was built to offer teaching practice opportunities to students in such programmes. Eleven Masters students enrolled in the ELT programme at Trinity College Dublin took part in this study. Findings indicate that participants enjoyed active experimentation in Virtual EFL Classroom and that it has the potential to enhance student-teachers’ decision-making skills, flexibility, and adaptability in planning and teaching learner-centred lessons.

scholarly journals The Pluralization of Mass Nouns in European and Asian ELF

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-31
Author(s):  
Isabella Tinkel ◽  
Marie Deissl-O’Meara
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Coding System ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Native Languages ◽  
Mass Nouns ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
The Status

English has become a global lingua franca unlike any language before. This has led to the increased pragmatic use of English by an increasing number of non-native speakers and, consequently, English as a lingua franca (ELF) has emerged. It has become a contact language between speakers of different mother tongues which has led to the blurring of strict regulatory frameworks formerly established by native English varieties. ELF speakers use English in creative ways and influenced by their native languages and cultures and the imitation of the native speaker has been pushed to the background in favor of successful communication. In order to facilitate the examination of this new type of English, several ELF corpora have been established, two of which are used for this study. The Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) and the Asian Corpus of English (ACE) are both collections of spoken interactions between ELF speakers that have the same size and rely on the same coding system and search parameters, which make them readily comparable. While these corpora have already aided in the discovery of several common features of ELF in general, this study focuses on the lexico-grammatical feature of the pluralization of mass nouns by either adding the ‘s’ or some type of quantifier in European and Asian ELF. Results show that Asian ELF speakers are less likely to pluralize mass nouns than European ELF speakers. Yet, pluralization can be found in both types of ELF and this, along with other specific, non-standard features, raises questions for English language teaching and the status of native English.

ELF and Communication Strategies: Are They Taken into Account in ELT Materials?

RELC Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Vettorel
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
School Students ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

The complex and varied sociolinguistic reality of World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has important implications for English Language Teaching (ELT). Besides questioning the validity of the ‘native speaker model’, the complexity of Global Englishes raises several issues, both at a theoretical and at an applied level, particularly for teaching. A plurilithic rather than a monolithic (monolingual/monocultural) perspective is called for, one that can make learners aware of the different roles, contexts, linguistic and functional varieties of English, so that they can be prepared to effectively interact with speakers of different Englishes and in English as a Lingua Franca contexts. Communication strategies have been shown to have a particularly significant role in English as a Lingua Franca communication, that is characterized by negotiation and co-construction of meaning; in these encounters, where different linguacultures meet, ELF speakers employ a range of pragmatic strategies to solve, or pre-empt, (potential) non-understandings often drawing on their plurilingual repertoires, too. Communication strategies can thus be said to play a fundamental role in effective communication, particularly in contexts where English is used as an international Lingua Franca. In this light, it would seem important for ELT materials to include activities aimed at raising awareness and promoting practice of communication strategies, so that they can become an integral part of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom practices towards the development of communicative ‘capability’. This article will illustrate a study investigating whether ELT materials addressed at Italian upper secondary school students include activities and tasks related to communication strategies. The examination of textbooks published by Italian and international publishers from the 1990s to 2015 shows that, apart from a few interesting cases, consistent attention has not been given to this important area. Implications for further research on the inclusion of communication strategies in ELT will also be set forward.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF ENGLISH AS LINGUA FRANCA – INFORMED APPROACH IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING TO PRESERVE CULTURAL IDENTITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Simon Petrus Kita Ngatu ◽  
Basikin Basikin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Local Culture ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
English As Lingua Franca

<p>The practice of teaching English as global language that has been widely spread in Indonesia does not fit to promote Indonesian local culture. Most of English language teaching practice pays much attention to students’ understanding relates to their local culture, but the whole process of English Language Teaching (ELT) itself denotes that students do not really apply their local culture in the English language learning. The effort of integrating local culture in ELT is still far from the concept of particularity, practicality, and of possibility. This article provides a conceptual perspective on the role of English as Lingua Franca (ELF) – Informed Approach in ELT in terms of preserving students’ cultural identity. It starts with describing the important issues dealing with the topic, evaluate the previous studies, building argument, and drawing conclusion and recommendation.  The article concludes that the approach needs to be more informed in the whole process of ELT in terms of learning English and preserving students’ local culture in which students are allowed to use English within their local culture rather than only in understanding their culture without practicing. </p>

scholarly journals Pronunciation of English Dental Fricatives by Slovak University EFL Students

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Rastislav Metruk
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
First Year ◽  
Pronunciation Instruction ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Auditory Analysis ◽  
First Year University

The article attempts to explore the difficulties in pronunciation of English dental fricatives by Slovak EFL university students. The primary objective of the study is to examine to what extent Slovak university students mispronounce [θ] and [ð] and which sounds act as substitutes for the two consonants. A total of 44 Slovak first-year university students whose major was Teaching English Language and Literature delivered unprepared English monologues, which were recorded on a computer. Subsequently, the files were sent to an English native speaker from Canada who performed an auditory analysis of pronunciation errors in the participants’ utterances. The results indicate that English dental fricatives pose problems for Slovak EFL learners since a considerable number of participants mispronounced both voiced and voiceless dental fricative consonants. Finally, the study emphasizes the immense significance of pronunciation instruction as this area still appears to be rather neglected in the context of English language teaching in Slovakia.

scholarly journals "To ELF or not to ELF?" (English as a Lingua Franca): that's the question for Applied Linguistics in a globalized world

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Robert Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Globalized World

The realization that there are today more nonnative speakers than native speakers of English in the world with institutionalized and nativized varieties as well as their own specific communicative, cultural and pragmatic competencies has led to the rethinking of present-day practices in teaching, teacher preparation, and the writing of textbooks. Jenkins' publications (2000, 2003) dealing with the phonology of English and material for teaching English as an international language along with her book English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) (2007) call for the disengagement of the language from Anglo-American native speaker norms. This line of research presents serious questions for Applied Linguistics (AL) and English Language Teaching (ELT) that will, if implemented, entail major changes in that endeavor. The winds of change may indeed be beneficial for some and a threat to others. I argue in this paper for an open mindset with respect to the issues and to the new state of affairs in this globalized world today.

MY English: a social constructivist perspective on ELF

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt Kohn
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Social Constructivist ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The Social ◽  
Language Orientation ◽  
Constructivist Perspective ◽  
Target Languages

Abstract In this article, I address issues, concepts and empirical insights that have profoundly shaped my view of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and of the pedagogical lessons to be learned for English Language Teaching (ELT). Starting from discrepancies in my ELF identity as a speaker of English with ELT roots in a German secondary school, I argue for the social constructivist concept of MY English as a basis for understanding ELF competence development and the tensions surrounding the relationship between ELT and ELF. Continually shaped by speakers’ participation in ELF communication, relevant dimensions of their MY English profiles include linguistic-communicative-communal repertoires and requirements of performance, individual and social identity orientations, and confidence in their ELF creativity. Against this backdrop, I discuss topics I consider relevant for a much-needed pedagogical reconciliation of ELT with ELF. Special attention is given to teachers’ ELF apprehension and the distinction between a “strict” (quasi-behaviouristic) and an “open” (social constructivist) target language orientation, speaker satisfaction as a criterion of success in ELF communication, and teaching towards ELF competence from awareness raising to comprehension, production and interaction to non-native speaker emancipation. Successful ELF implementation in both ELT practice and ELT teacher education requires extensive and authentic involvement of students and teachers in ELF communication. Intercultural telecollaboration provides innovative means for creating a space for ELF communication in the ELT classroom. Pedagogical case studies about video and text chat conversations strongly support the assumption that using their common target language as a lingua franca significantly enables learners of English to develop an emancipated non-native speaker identity and thus to become speakers of English in their own right. And what is more, the pedagogical lingua franca approach can be successfully transferred to other foreign target languages as well. I conclude my article with a brief contextualization of the MY English concept in relation to translingual practice and ELF languaging.

scholarly journals Toward Critical Intercultural Literacy Enhancement of University Students in China From the Perspective of English as a Lingua Franca

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110275
Author(s):  
Xiaoli Wang ◽  
Lianjiang Jiang ◽  
Fan Fang ◽  
Tariq Elyas
Keyword(s):  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
University Students ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
English Language ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Literacy ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Lingua Franca

The concept of intercultural communication has become a focus in English language teaching (ELT) against the backdrop of globalization, as English is now used as a lingua franca (ELF) among people with different first languages (L1s). However, the current linguistic landscape of ELF does not reflect well in ELT practices in which native speakerism ideology persists and curriculum design and teaching materials largely remain oriented to native speakerism. To address this gap, data drawn from a participatory action research were analyzed to discuss students’ understanding and reflection of critical intercultural literacy. Several training activities in an adaptive English as a foreign language (EFL) course of intercultural communication that involved reading academic articles related to intercultural literacy were first implemented and two follow-up workshops were conducted with 10 Chinese university students as participants. Data from further interviews and reflective journals from the students in relation to critically evaluate the textbook contents of this course were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that students acquired a sense of intercultural literacy and that they learnt to challenge textbook content from a critical perspective through the training. This article further addresses the importance of critical pedagogy in teaching linguistic and cultural literacy and concludes that ELT must be conducted from a multilingual and multicultural perspective.

English as a Lingua Franca: A New Approach for English Language Teaching in China?

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinghui Si
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business English ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
Research On Teaching ◽  
English Program

Abstract Research on English as a lingua franca (ELF) has triggered a debate on whether English teaching should consistently conform to native-speaker Standard English or it should value the pedagogical implications of ELF. This article provides an overview of current research on teaching English as a lingua franca. It starts with research on the rationale to introduce ELF-informed teaching and comparisons between ELF-informed teaching and native-English-based teaching. Concrete proposals of how to incorporate ELF-informed teaching into English language teaching (ELT) classrooms are presented. Then controversies in the debate are summarized. They are: A lack of ELF-informed textbooks; a lack of ELF-informed assessment; and a lack of qualified teachers. It then reviews recent publications dealing with these controversies. This is followed by a discussion about the research on ELF-informed teaching in the Chinese context. This article argues that research on the practicality of ELF-informed teaching should start with prospective English users, such as students in China’s Business English Program. It concludes with some suggestions for future research and practice on ELF-informed teaching in China.

An analysis of ELF-oriented features in ELT coursebooks

English Today ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reiko Takahashi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Learning English

Due to its rise as a global means of communication, the English language has been increasingly used by and between non-native speakers (henceforth NNSs), leading to a growing interest in what has come to be known as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in English language teaching (ELT). As noted by Jenkins (2006: 159), ‘many of those who start out thinking they are learning English as a foreign language end up using it as a lingua franca’. This suggests that ELT materials need to be developed in ways that correspond with the emerging needs of such language learners. However, ‘the prevailing orientation in […] ELT materials still remains undoubtedly towards ENL [English as a Native Language]’ (Jenkins, 2012: 487). It is not yet clear how well ELF perspectives have been integrated into teaching materials to date.

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