English Language Learning as Intercultural Experience

Author(s):  
Hamza R'boul ◽  
M Camino Bueno-Alastuey

Teaching English in higher education entails additional factors and considerations that exemplify the complexity of accounting for the diverse population in modern higher education institutions. In particular, the increasing flow of international students and the employment demands of functioning in multicultural contexts render helping students to develop a critical understating of intercultural relations an important aspect of English language teaching. With the increasing adoption of English as a medium of instruction and its use as a lingua franca in intercultural communication, it is important to structure English education in a way that accounts for intercultural relations both in and outside the university. In addition to the postmodern conceptualizations of interculturality that emphasize the fluidity of culture, language and identity intercultural relations are characterized by power imbalances. That is why this chapter makes a case for the necessity of considering sociopolitical realities in intercultural English language teaching in higher education.

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110609
Author(s):  
Kim Murray ◽  
José Reis-Jorge ◽  
Julie-Anne Regan

Research in language learning indicates that process drama (PD), an educational approach where students and teachers work in and out of role to explore themes and issues, can be well suited to the Japanese higher education (HE) context. Despite the benefits highlighted in the literature, PD remains a niche approach to language teaching and learning, with a limited number of practitioners in Japan. This study seeks to uncover language teachers’ experiences of becoming Process Drama Practitioners (PDPs) and using and sharing PD as an English language teaching approach in Japanese HE. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with six experienced PDPs. The findings indicate that prior positive experiences with drama was an encouraging factor of the adoption and self-directed initial use of PD in their teaching practices. Positive student outcomes and feedback were primary motivators for continued use of PD. Experiences of sharing PD led to a perceived need to distinguish PD from theatre-based approaches and establish connections to familiar approaches to language teaching.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Chantal Hemmi ◽  
Graham Mackenzie ◽  
Katsuya Yokomoto

Welcome colleagues! For the last issue of 2019, we present a very special interview with Professor Henry Widdowson, an acclaimed authority in the field of applied linguistics who has made great contributions to the development of communicative language teaching. In this conversation, Professor Widdowson discusses English Language Learning in Japan in the context of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), English Medium Instruction (EMI), and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Professor Widdowson is Emeritus Professor at the University of London, was Professor of Applied Linguistics at Essex University and is currently Honorary Professor at the Department of English and American Studies at the University of Vienna. He has published extensively on English language teaching and applied linguistics. Here he was interviewed by Chantal Hemmi, an Associate Professor, Graham Mackenzie, a Project Associate Professor, and Katsuya Yokomoto, a Lecturer at the Center of Language Education and Research at Sophia University.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
Madhu Neupane Bastola

Corpus linguistics can inform language teaching in various aspects from syllabus designing to creating exercises based on the real use of language. However, its use in language teaching is still rare. In the context of Nepal, though corpus linguistics forms a part of the University Curriculum in English Education, the students are rarely offered a practical experience of corpus analysis. The same is the case with teacher training courses. This paper followed an analytical procedure for identifying phraseological variation within a two-word ‘concgram’ that is a set of co-occurring words. In this paper, a two-word concgram, make/effort, is analyzed to identify concgram configurations, the most frequently used form, and its meaning by using concordance lines. Lastly, the paper presents the implications of corpus analysis in English language teaching.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Royani ◽  
T. Silvana Sinar

This study investigated the English students’ attitudes of IAIN Padangsidimpuan towards both English language teaching in terms of (a) language-centered, (b) learner-centered, and (c) learning-centered method; and learning English in terms of scales (a) attitudes toward long-term English learning, (b) interest in culture and communication, (c) perception about studying in school context, (d) images associated with English, (e) English learning activities, (f) exposure to English outside school, (g) self-rated four English skills, (h) self-reported academic English grade, and (i) identification of English role models. The data were obtained by questionnaire and interview from 10 selected students in which 4 male and 6 female students in 7th semester and were analyzed by steps provided by Gay, L.R and Airasian (1996). The result showed:  first, English students’ attitudes towards English language teaching had been found highly onlearning-centered method, followed by learner-centered method in second range, and almost negative view in language-centered method.Second, English students’ attitudes towards English language learningwere positivein scales; long-term English learning, interest in communication, and images associated with English.  Third, role of students’ gender on English language learning were not found. Reasons for this statement are (i) status of English as international language and (ii) equalization of getting education for male and female. Keywords: attitude, language teaching, language learning, and gender


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