Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T11:43:01.959Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Teacher perceptions of teaching and learning English as a lingua franca in the expanding circle: A study of Taiwan

What are the challenges that teachers might face when integrating ELF instruction into English classes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2016

Wen-Hsing Luo
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This study examines Taiwanese English teachers’ perceptions of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in relation to English teaching in classrooms. The definition of ELF is: English used as a lingual medium of communication among people of different linguacultural backgrounds (Jenkins, 2009: 200). Concerning the use of English, Taiwan is regarded as a country of ‘the expanding circle’ (Kachru, 1985, 1992), where English is not an official language, but is learned as a foreign language (EFL) at school and is considered essential for international communication. In Taiwan, English has been traditionally taught as a school subject and learners rarely have opportunities to use English outside the classroom, whereas the design of English pedagogy and curricula in Taiwan, following an EFL approach, is based on native-speaker (NS) norms with the aim of helping learners achieve native-like competence (cf. Suzuki, 2011). Due to the global spread of English, the majority of users of English for international communication are non-native speakers (non-NSs) (Crystal, 1997; Graddol, 1997, 2006); non-NSs of English now outnumber their native-speaker counterparts. In the global context, second language (L2) learners of English will mostly encounter non-NSs, whose ‘Englishes’ might deviate from NS English usage. Traditional EFL approaches to English teaching, which favor NS norms, may not ‘adequately prepare’ L2 learners of English to effectively interact and communicate with speakers ‘from other English-speaking contexts’ (Matsuda & Friedrich, 2011: 332). It has become important that English curricula and instruction are designed to prepare English learners to cope with international communication in which English variations are evident.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Today , Volume 33 , Issue 1 , March 2017 , pp. 2 - 11
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Charmaz, K. 2014. Constructing Ground Theory, 2nd edn. London, UK: SAGE Publications.Google Scholar
Cogo, A. 2009. ‘Accommodating difference in ELF conversations: A study of pragmatic strategies.’ In Mauranen, A. & Ranta, E. (eds.), English as a Lingua Franca: Studies and Findings. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 254–273.Google Scholar
Crystal, D. 1997. English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Glaser, B. G. 1998. Doing Grounded Theory: Issues and Discussions. Mill Valley, CA: Sociology Press.Google Scholar
Graddol, D. 1997. The Future of English? London: British Council.Google Scholar
Graddol, D. 2006. English Next: Why Global English May Mean the End of ‘English as a Foreign Language’. London: The British Council.Google Scholar
Holliday, A. 2005. The Struggle to Teach English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. 2009. ‘English as a lingua franca: interpretations and attitudes.’ World Englishes, 28(2), 200–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 1985. ‘Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle.’ In Quirk, R. & Widdowson, H. G. (eds.), English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 11–30.Google Scholar
Kachru, B. B. 1992. ‘Teaching World Englishes.’ In Kachru, B. B. (ed.), The Other Tongue. English Across Cultures, 2nd edn. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, pp. 355–365.Google Scholar
Kaur, J. 2009. ‘Pre-empting problems of understanding in English as a lingua franca.’ In Mauranen, A. & Ranta, E. (eds.), English as a Lingua Franca: Studies and Findings. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 107–123.Google Scholar
Ke, I-C. & Cahyani, H. 2014. ‘Learning to become users of English as a lingua franca (ELF): How ELF online communication affects Taiwanese learners’ beliefs of English.’ System, 46, 28–38.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. 2008. ‘English as the official working language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Features and strategies.’ English Today, 24(2), 27–34.Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, A. & Sussex, R. 2012. English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education (eds.). Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Matsuda, A. 2003. ‘Incorporating World Englishes in teaching English as an international language.’ TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 719–729.Google Scholar
Matsuda, A. & Duran, C. S. 2012. ‘EIL activities and tasks for traditional English classrooms.’ In Matsuda, A. (ed.), Principles and Practices of Teaching English as an International Language. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 201–237.Google Scholar
Matsuda, A. & Friedrich, P. 2011. ‘English as an international language: A curriculum blueprint.’ World Englishes, 30(3), 332–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mauranen, A. 2006. ‘Signaling and preventing misunderstanding in English as lingua franca communication.’ International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 177, 123–150.Google Scholar
McKay, S. 2003. ‘Teaching English as an international language in the Chilean context.’ ELT Journal, 57(2), 139–148.Google Scholar
Oanh, D. T. H. 2012. ‘Global vs. glocal English: Attitudes and conceptions among educators, administrators and teachers in eight Asian countries.’ In Kirkpatrick, A. & Sussex, R. (eds.), English as an International Language in Asia: Implications for Language Education. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 107–135.Google Scholar
Park, J. S-Y. & Wee, L. 2011. ‘A practice-based critique of English as a lingua franca.’ World Englishes, 30(3), 360–374.Google Scholar
Sharifian, F. (ed.) 2009. English as an International Language: Perspectives and Pedagogical Issues. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Sifakis, N. C. 2004. ‘Teaching EIL - Teaching international or intercultural English? What teachers should know.’ System, 32, 237–250.Google Scholar
Sifakis, N. C. 2009. ‘Challenges in teaching ELF in the periphery: the Greek context.’ ELT Journal, 63(3), 230–237.Google Scholar
Sifakis, N. C. & Sougari, A. M. 2005. ‘Pronunciation issues and EIL pedagogy in the periphery: A survey of Greek state school teachers’ beliefs.’ TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 467–88.Google Scholar
Suzuki, A. 2011. ‘Introducing diversity of English into ELT: Student teachers’ responses.’ ELT Journal, 65(2), 145–153.Google Scholar
Young, T. J. & Walsh, S. 2010. ‘Which English? Whose English? An investigation of “non-native” teachers’ beliefs about target varieties.’ Language, Culture and Curriculum, 23(2), 123–137.Google Scholar