scholarly journals Folklinguistic perceptions of Global Englishes among German learners of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Meer ◽  
Johanna Hartmann ◽  
Dominik Rumlich

Abstract While recent research on English language teaching (ELT) in Germany has called for a more comprehensive representation of the diversity of English worldwide, learners’ perceptions of Global Englishes are currently underresearched despite their importance for a successful implementation of this change in ELT. The present paper analyzes 166 German secondary school students’ perceptions of Global Englishes, underlying cultural associations, and stereotypes. To this end, a perceptual dialect identification task, keyword association, and direct open questions were combined in a folklinguistic study. The results show that the informants consider British and American English as general standards and primarily associate English-speaking countries with Inner Circle varieties: British, American, and Australian English. British English is regarded as the default school reference norm, while American English is associated with dynamism and casualness. Furthermore, the students identify Indian and African English(es) as important Global Englishes. Their perceptions of these varieties are, however, less positive and seem to be influenced by cultural stereotypes, which might prompt them to perceive these varieties as funny or unintelligent. We suggest that learners’ existing knowledge of Global Englishes and explicit metalinguistic discussions of variation can be used as starting points to counteract such stereotypes.

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (107) ◽  
pp. 249-264
Author(s):  
Nilton Hitotuzi

In this reflection paper, it is discussed the issue of prestige varieties of English mostly in terms of accent preference and, based on the literature, American and British English are pointed out as the varieties dominating English language teaching textbooks around the world. At the same time, it is suggested that the American variety is predominantly favoured worldwide, especially in Brazil. Furthermore, it is maintained that, because of the American linguistic hegemony in this country, non-American-English-speaking teachers of English can be faced with some institutional and pedagogical challenges. Finally, some suggestions on how to cope with “Americanised” classrooms are offered. 


Multilingua ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrikke Rindal

AbstractThis study investigates attitudes towards varieties of English among Norwegian adolescent learners and assesses the role of social evaluation for second language (L2) pronunciation choices by combining a verbal guise test with speaker commentary and reports of language choices. The results suggest that while American English is the most accessible English accent and the preferred L2 choice, Standard Southern British English remains the most prestigious English accent and retains its position as a formal English language teaching standard. However, not all learners want to convey the social meanings attributed to these widely identified English varieties, and therefore aim towards a “neutral” variety of English not associated with any native-English-speaking people or culture. The avoidance of standard varieties as L2 targets suggests that the tradition of questioning standard language norms in Norway is mirrored in L2 practices. The investigations into social motivations for L2 behaviour contribute to the ongoing discourse on the global spread and local appropriation of English. The results have implications for English language educators, who must meet the needs of proficient learners in an environment with increased intra-national use of English and no explicit model of pronunciation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 32-42
Author(s):  
Emnijeta Ahmetović

Classified as a Germanic language and evidently a common language, a lingua franca of the world, after years of development, English has formed a number of varieties differing in many areas, including vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, grammar, and in some cases, accent. As a result of its widespread, it is crucial to know which variety is used, yet preferred by learners, and observe differences between them. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the two most commonly used, often mixed, varieties of English, namely American English and British English, in one high school in central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, we aimed , to see whether students are aware of the significant differences in spelling, vocabulary, and grammatical structure. In doing so, 50 randomly selected high school students were given a test consisting of written differences related to lexical items, spelling, as well as differences visible in grammar. The findings revealed that the majority of participants prefer British English, though they are not totally aware of the differences in the mentioned areas between these two varieties; as a result, they are frequently mixing them. Lacking knowledge about these two primary varieties of English would, undeniably in some cases, lead to misunderstanding; thus, teachers should pay more attention and give more effort to raise the learners’ awareness of different varieties and their distinctive aspects.


2021 ◽  
pp. 204275302110482
Author(s):  
Thi Nguyet Le ◽  
Bill Allen ◽  
Nicola F Johnson

Although blended learning (BL) has emerged as one of the most dominant delivery modes in higher education in the 21st century, there are notable barriers and drawbacks in using BL for English language teaching and learning in Vietnamese universities. This study reports on research into the use of BL, conducted through semi-structured interviews with 30 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) lecturers from 10 different universities across the two major cities of Vietnam. The findings revealed that EFL lecturers identified eight groups of barriers and four groups of drawbacks to the successful implementation of BL. The most significant barriers included: lack of infrastructure and technology, institutional policies and support; lack of knowledge, experience and investment in using BL; lack of technological competence and information technology (IT) skills and lack of teaching time to employ web-based technologies and online resources in classrooms. Meanwhile, the most crucial drawbacks were: lecturers’ workload, ineffective use of BL, time consumption and demotivation. The authors point to the underlying factors contributing to these barriers and drawbacks and make implications for how some of these can be effectively addressed through constructive changes to policy and practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Mohamad Nur Raihan

In pronunciation, influenced by American English, a shift in Brunei English can be observed in the increasing use of [r] in tokens such as car and heard particularly among younger speakers whose pronunciation may be influenced by American English. In contrast, older speakers tend to omit the [r] sound in these tokens as their pronunciation may be more influenced by British English. However, it is unclear whether American English has influenced the vocabulary of Brunei English speakers as the education system in Brunei favours British English due to its historical ties with Britain. This paper analyses the use of American and British  lexical items between three age groups: 20 in-service teachers aged between 29 to 35 years old, 20 university undergraduates aged between 19 to 25 years old, and 20 secondary school students who are within the 11 to 15 age range. Each age group has 10 female and 10 male participants and they were asked to name seven objects shown to them on Power point slides. Their responses were recorded and compared between the age groups and between female and male data. The analysis is supplemented with recorded data from interviews with all 60 participants to determine instances of American and British lexical items in casual speech. It was found that there is a higher occurrence of American than British lexical items in all three groups and the interview data supports the findings in the main data. Thus, providing further evidence for the Americanisation of Brunei English and that Brunei English is undergoing change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-192
Author(s):  
Tatiana V. Basanova

Developing ethnocultural competence by teaching a foreign language is considered to be a contribution to ethnic identity development that is the aim of ethnic socialization process. The present article describes the content of the English language teaching in the process of ethnocultural competence development. Thematic and procedural aspects are distinguished. Each one has a complex nature and contributes to profound considering ethnic related information by Kalmyk students at high school.


Author(s):  
Viqri Rahmad Satria

This research aims to know speaking teaching methods used at Kampung Inggris Pontianak for elementary school students and tutor obstacles during teaching activity. The method applied in this research was qualitative approach with descriptive analysis. The data were collected from interview and observation with the owner of Kampung Inggris Pontianak, West Kalimantan. It was found that English speaking skill to elementary school students was separated into four levels; basic, intermediate 1, intermediate 2, and advanced. There are five methods applied by Kampung Inggris Pontianak to improve students English speaking skill. Flashcards, watching movies, listening, games, and singing. There were two kinds of obstacles that tutors face during the class. First, most of the tutors’ backgrounds were non-educational. So, they found it hard, sometimes, to control their elementary students who are very energetic. They might have English language competence. However, it is not adequate as their only competence to teach students compared to tutors with English educational background. Therefore, Kampung Inggris Pontianak holds micro-teaching practices to see tutor candidate performances before coming into class. Second, new students made many false answers on the placement test just to make them get into a lower level class than they are supposed to be. The researcher hopes this research will give knowledge to the reader of how tutors in Kampung Inggris Pontianak teaches speaking skills to their students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Rudha Widagsa ◽  
Ahmad Agung Yuwono Putro

Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in Indonesia. More than 200 million people speak the language as a first language. However, acoustic study on Indonesian learners of English (ILE) production remains untouched. The purpose of this measurement is to examine the influence of first language (L1) on English vowels production as a second language (L2). Based on perceptual magnet hypothesis (PMH), ILE were predicted to produce close sounds to L1 English where the vowels are similar to Indonesian vowels. Acoustic analysis was conducted to measure the formant frequencies. This study involved five males of Indonesian speakers aged between 20-25 years old. The data of British English native speakers were taken from previous study by Hawkins & Midgley (2005). The result illustrates that the first formant frequencies (F1) which correlates to the vowel hight of Indonesian Learners of English were significantly different from the corresponding frequencies of British English vowels. Surprisingly, the significant differences in second formant (F2) of ILE were only in the production of /ɑ, ɒ, ɔ/ in which /ɑ/=p 0.002, /ɒ/ =p 0,001, /ɔ/ =p 0,03. The vowel space area of ILE was slightly less spacious than the native speakers. This study is expected to shed light in English language teaching particularly as a foreign language.Keywords: VSA, EFL, Indonesian learners, formant frequencies, acoustic


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-135
Author(s):  
Catalina Juárez-Díaz ◽  
Moisés Perales

This study describes 26 English language teaching faculty members’ and 32 preservice English as a foreign language teachers’ emergency remote teaching experiences and emotions. Verbal data gathered through an online questionnaire with open questions were analyzed using semidirected content analysis. Most faculty and all students reported negative feelings, which were connected with some faculty members’ focus on delivering content without interaction and with insufficient Internet access. Some students’ autonomy allowed them to overcome the first of these challenges. Teachers with online education training reported better experiences. Thus, universities and the State must provide more training and equipment to close the digital gap and ensure effective emergency remote teaching.


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-156
Author(s):  
Izzuddin A

A number of modern Islamic Boarding Schools (IBS) have long implemented a unique English Language Teaching (ELT) strategy in improving their students’ English-speaking skills. In IBS, for example, head of language department requires the students to communicate in English in daily activities, and punishment is imposed to those who do not speak English. However, there was no specifically academic term used to describe such strategy, nor was there a study to investigate the effectiveness of the strategy. This essay investigates what IBS-applied ELT strategy is, and to what extent it is effective in improving speaking skills of the students. It is found that IBS has made use of a behaviour modification as ELT strategy. The behaviour modification is able to encourage students to communicate in English in their daily activities. It also leads students to acquire accuracy, complexity and fluency in speaking.


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