Transcript Effective Communication in Globalized Times: Considerations for English Language Teaching 1. February 17: English Language Variation & ELT 2.

Effective Communication in Globalized Times:
Considerations for English Language Teaching
1. February 17: English Language Variation & ELT
2. February 18: Intercultural Communication & ELT
3. February 19: The Global Textbook & ELT
English language variation
Dr. Andrea Sterzuk, University of Regina
February 17, 2015
Americans speak English
This conversation happened in Spanish in a school in Cardenas. Some
children there heard me speak English to their English teacher:
Child in school uniform: But WHY do you speak English
Me: uh, it's my language. My parents speak it to me.
Child with giant bows in her hair: Are you Mexican? You speak Spanish
but some of your words are mixed up
Me: No, I'm not Mexican
Boy with slicked back hair: Oh, you're American. I know what they call
people who speak English - gringos!
Me: No, not American, I'm from Canada but you're right, they do say
that about English speakers...
Child with lots of jewellery: But WHY do you speak English if you're not
American...
Why do I speak English?
• We would need more than three hours to explain why I speak
English. This is a story of world history & dominance. But let’s
consider his confusion.
• From his perspective, English appears to be associated with
one country – the United States of America. For many in ELT,
this may also be a common association.
• Today’s session aims to diversify this notion by considering:
1.
2.
3.
English language variation
Models for understanding English in the world
Implications for English language teaching
Terms
What do you understand about the
following terms?
• Dialect
• English language variation
• English language varieties
• World Englishes
• International English
• English Lingua Franca
Dialect & Language
• A dialect is a language without an army and a navy
Sterzuk (2011)
• Language variation can be thought of as the range of
language varieties that make up the spectrum that constitutes
a particular language.
• Some varieties are closer to one another than others; the only
difference between two such varieties might be in terms of
some of their phonological features or lexical items. Other
language varieties differ more significantly from one another
and have systematic differences on phonological, grammatical,
morphological, and lexical levels.
• Some language varieties provide greater access to power but,
regardless of this unearned privilege, they remain language
varieties; it is not fair or accurate to depict them as standard
language which in turns forces another variety to be thought
of as a dialect
Braj Kachru’s World Englishes
Kachru’s Model
• “The model broke new ground in raising awareness of the
very existence of dynamic varieties of English with growing
populations of speakers and increasingly vibrant media,
literatures, and popular cultures” (Bruthiaux, 2003, p.160).
• “The very act of pluralizing “English” and encouraging serious
debate regarding the nature and role of “New Englishes”
denoted both imagination and courage (Bruthiaux, 2003,
p.160).
Problems
• The model reinforces perceptions of Inner Circle varieties as
largely monolithic and standardized.
• It idealizes “the very distinction between native and nonnative speakers that it set out to counteract” (Bruthiaux, 2003:
163).
• Inner Circle varieties become “the norms of correctness and
appropriateness to be propagated through language
education and planning” (p.507).
Inner Circles & TESL
Other Problems
• “Race is implicated in the constructs of native English,
standard English, World Englishes (Kachru, 1990), and AfricanAmerican vernacular English (AAVE) (Lippi-Green, 1997)
(Motha, 2006, p. 507).
• The term World English has come to refer to any of the
varieties of English that has emerged in postcolonial (Bhatt,
2005) and other international (Llurda, 2004) contexts” (Motha,
2006, p. 508).
Motha 2006
• “World English became constructed as marked and devalued”
(Motha, 2006, p. 508).
• “The factor that relegated a language to World English status
was not degree of language variation, but race” (p. 508).
• “This construction contributes to a devaluing of people of
color globally and to assimilational pressure to coax into
Anglicization the varieties of English spoken by people of
color” (p. 508).
Inner Circle Norms of
Correctness
• So, you’ve talked a lot about students for whom English is an
additional language. How do students who speak other Englishes,
perhaps who come from former colonized countries, like Nigeria or
India, how do they fare in this course? Have you noticed any
differences?
• Well, most of the University’s students from Nigeria, India, from former
British colonies, for example, are not native-tongue English speakers.
• Well…
• They may…no but…
• …yeah, they would be, actually.
• Not—not the students we get here.
• No?
• No. Um, now, typically, they have been, sometimes, maybe half the time,
they have been educated primarily in English, but they’re not nativetongue speakers. The home language is typically not English.
Inner Circle Norms of
Correctness
• Do you think of English as a second language or one of
your first languages?
• Uhh, well, officially in Nigeria, they would say English
first language [English is the official language of Nigeria].
But, uh, I think practically it’s not correct because you
discover that you only speak English in the school and in
the offices. Back at home you speak something different.
For me personally, I think, officially, they’ll say English
first language, but personally, I don’t think so.
• …What would you say if someone asked you here?
• Okay, let me give an instance of what happened in class.
Inner Circle Norms of
Correctness
• Okay.
• Uh, recently, uh, they gave us a group assignment to do
and it was a group of three. So, the leader of the team
ask us to analyze this chapter. So, after the guy looked at
it and he said, “Ah! Your ideas are great, but the
grammar, it’s here.” [Interviewee makes a gesture to
demonstrate a low proficiency in grammar.]“Something
else” [Laughter] So, I was shocked, I said “Wow!”
• So, another student said that to you?
• Yeah, yeah.
• Okay.
Inner Circle Norms of
Correctness
• Yeah, another student said that to me. And, secondly, because of
the Pigeon language stuff we are used to in Nigeria, when you
get the textbooks [at the Canadian university], it’s so difficult to
comprehend, at once. You have to read it two tries, at least four
times trying to get it. So, because of that, I was now looking at
myself as a second speaker.
• But in Nigeria, would you have seen yourself as a second
language speaker?
• In Nigeria? No.
• No.
• No, no.
• So it’s changed since you’ve been here?
• Yeah, yeah.
World Englishes
• As a term and as a model for English, Kachru’s “World
Englishes” may not be an ideal fit for globalized times.
• In spite of this debate, considering English language variation
and English language varieties remains an important
consideration for ELT
Is control of English shifting away from
British & American speakers?
Discussion Question
1.
2.
What might it mean to diversify
understandings of English in the
educational context within which you
work?
How might native-speakerism influence
your abilities to take up a diversified
view of English in your teaching?