Incorporating Global Englishes Into The ELT Classroom PDF
Incorporating Global Englishes Into The ELT Classroom PDF
Incorporating Global Englishes Into The ELT Classroom PDF
Background to the In a recent ELT Journal ‘Readers respond’ forum, Sung (2014) discussed
study our earlier study on the use of listening journals to raise awareness of
variation in English (Galloway and Rose 2014), and called for more research
on how to incorporate Global Englishes into ELT. We agree that such work
is needed to help practitioners raise learners’ awareness of the diversity of
English and prepare them to use English in lingua franca contexts. Growing
research within the Global Englishes paradigm showcases the changing
sociolinguistic landscape of English as it has spread around the world. The
majority of English speakers today have learnt the language in addition
to their existing linguistic repertoire, which has had a major impact on
English itself. Thus, English is no longer only spoken as a first language
by those born into a 'native' English-speaking country such as the United
States or the United Kingdom, or a ‘foreign’ language that is acquired to
communicate primarily with the ‘native’ English speaker. Today, English is
used around the globe and, as such, has been appropriated by its speakers
in diverse ways. Consequently, both the needs of learners and the goals of
ELT have changed. World Englishes, ELF, and Translanguaging research
in particular (Canagarajah 2011) showcase how communication can be
successful without conforming to so-called ‘native English-speaking norms’,
and highlights a mismatch between what is taught in the ELT classroom
and how the language is actually used. Those who position their work
Global Englishes This article uses the term Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) as
Language Teaching an umbrella concept to unite the calls for change in ELT. GELT (Table 1)
is informed by the World Englishes, ELF, EIL, and Translanguaging
research paradigms, which all share a similar underlying ideology,
showcasing the diversity of English and encouraging a movement away
A lack of materials However, achieving change is no easy task and barriers to incorporating
a Global Englishes perspective into ELT have been identified (Galloway
and Rose 2015), one of which is the lack of suitable materials that provide
authentic samples of language in global contexts. It is unfortunate that
the majority of ELT materials today fail to acknowledge the diversity of the
English language; no publisher has yet ‘dare[d] to be different’ (McGrath
2013: 198). This is problematic given the key role that ELT materials play
in the learning and teaching process.
Despite the example lesson plans and activities provided by Matsuda and
Duran (2012) to raise awareness of the diversity of English, little research
to date has been conducted on students’ responses to such materials. Our
earlier examination of over 100 listening journals, consisting of more
than 1,000 reflections, concluded that the journals were a useful way to
The study The current study aims to provide a clearer understanding of how a Global
Aim Englishes approach can be achieved in English language classrooms.
Setting and students The research was conducted with third- and fourth-year English majors
(aged 20–22 years) at a small, private university in Japan that specializes
in language instruction. This population is important for research
purposes as in Japan there have been calls to expose students to the
diversity of English (Matsuda and Duran op.cit.). Further, not only do
college students represent the immediate future users of ELF, but the
rise of English Medium Instruction (EMI) at the college level in Japan
has attracted international students, resulting in an increased use of ELF
at Japanese universities. Some Japanese companies have also introduced
English as an official working language, and with growing numbers of
international tourists, ELF opportunities are on the rise.
The awareness-raising presentation task was conducted with 108 students
on a course designed to teach Global Englishes within a general English
for Academic Purposes (EAP) course structure. This course reflected the
university’s goal of offering more content-based programmes to reflect the
growing trend towards EMI at the university level. EAP courses are often
designed to prepare students to study in native English-speaking countries,
yet the goal of this particular course was to raise Global Englishes
awareness through EAP content, thereby preparing them to study other
subject content in English, and equipping them with the skills necessary
to use English as a global lingua franca. The students were approximately
at the B2 level on the CEFR, although some bordered on B1. The course
was taught twice a week for 13 weeks by one of the researchers, in four
consecutive university semesters, to different cohorts of students. The EAP
syllabus included reading, writing, listening, debating, and presentation
skills exercises (see Table 2). Presentations took place in Week 10 after
students had been exposed to topics such as Kachru’s (1985) World
Englishes model, including the use of English in the inner, outer, and
expanding circles,1 the spread of English as a global language, and ELF.
Writing: paragraphs
Student presentations
Limitations The research was conducted in a single setting, with one of us in the
position of classroom teacher, thus assuming a researcher-practitioner
role. We acknowledge that this role may have influenced the data
collected, despite every effort to follow ethical practice and to maintain
objectivity. Nevertheless, the tasks were presented to students with a
positive view of Global Englishes, a view which may not be shared by all
teachers. Indeed some teachers may be ambivalent to the type of exposure
provided in this activity, which could be seen as an obstacle for successful
implementation of this task in other contexts.
Results and discussion As noted above, learners were free to choose a variety of English and/
Selection of English or the English used in a certain context. However, in those presentation
varieties reflections that we analysed, every student chose a regional or national
variety of English. While we acknowledge the inherent difficulties in
drawing geographic borders around constructs as fluid as language, or
categorizing varieties into neat circles, students tended to discuss varieties
of language in this way, and thus they are presented as such. The following
varieties were chosen by presenters:
ππ Japanese English (n = 3)
ππ New Zealand English (n = 2)
ππ Scottish English (n = 2)
ππ Singaporean English (n = 2)
ππ Australian English
ππ Egyptian English
ππ Kenyan English
ππ Malaysian English
ππ Nigerian English
ππ Patois (Jamaican English Creole)
ππ Philippine English
ππ Quebec English
ππ Saudi Arabian English
ππ South African English.
Reasons for selection The most predominantly coded reason (n = 7) for selection of a variety
was connected to students’ direct prior experience with speakers from
the relevant region. For example, two of these students had visited their
chosen region (Australia, New Zealand), and four students had interest
due to previous encounters with speakers from these regions in language
learning contexts. For example, Participant 12 wrote that:
The reason why I chose it is my host family when I was in Canada was
from the Philippines and I’m used to hearing it. So I thought it would
be interesting learning more about Philippine English and the country.
This was similar to another student whose interest in Malaysian English
derived from their host family in Australia having migrated from
Malaysia. Other students in this category gained interest due to having
teachers from the country (Scotland), or because they had experience
learning languages (for example Chinese) connected to their chosen
variety (Singapore).
Another prominent reason (n = 5) for the selection of a particular English
variety was curiosity about the linguistic properties of unfamiliar and
familiar varieties. For example, many students were interested to discover
what made the variety unique compared to other models they were
accustomed to, such as Participant 2, who wrote:
I wanted to learn why Australian English is different from British and
American English even though it is also Inner Circle country. It means
Australian English has unique features that other Inner Circle people
can’t understand.
Others in the category were interested in the variety because they knew
little about it, such as one student who chose Kenyan English because he
Student reflections Student reflections were also coded according to what they had learnt in
on English varieties researching and presenting their findings, as well as by listening to others.
Many comments centred on linguistic features of the variety
(n = 20), in terms of noting morphosyntactic differences (n = 8),
phonological differences (n = 7), and lexical differences (n = 5). Others saw
the activity as a means to more deeply reflect on the linguistic history of a
nation in order to understand the processes that helped shape the English
spoken there (n = 11). One student, for example, noted:
Jamaican English is based on British English (especially north region),
mixed with African languages. Due to its location and connection to US
Jamaican English also has American English features. Patois, which is
creole mainly Caribbean people use, is also spoken. For the first time I
thought this is entirely different from English, because of its name of the
language. However, this language is also a kind of English (strictly creole
and information said that the language is a dialect). (Participant 14)
Comments such as this suggested that the activity gave students an
opportunity to better understand the features of a variety and to challenge
their own preconceived notions of it.
Absent from the reflections were comments that negatively evaluated
the Englishes chosen, although this may be unsurprising given that the
students selected these themselves. This was very different to the findings
of our 2014 study, which found that limited exposure to variation in
English via listening journals reinforced stereotypes in some students,
who had then labelled unfamiliar variations as ‘strange’, ‘difficult’, or
‘incorrect’. We surmise that the nature of the task, where students were
Student reflections Finally, although not part of the presentation task prompt, many
on the activity comments positively reflected on the activity itself (n = 17). Many students
noted the activity was ‘fun’, a ‘good opportunity’, ‘enjoyable’, ‘interesting’,
and ‘informative’. These students also expressed a desire to learn more,
with one student noting that she wished she had been able to listen to
other presentations. This sentiment was shared by another student who
wrote:
I wanted to hear more of classmates’ presentation such as Japanglish,
Canadian English ... and so on! It was not enough to know ‘World
English’ in this class. We can’t know all of them in just a semester like
4 months. (Participant 8)
Other students reported that the activity motivated them to learn more
about the countries studied, to engage with speakers from that region, or
to travel there in the future.
Implications for ELT This study set out to investigate the effect of explicitly focusing on Global
Englishes in class on English learners' attitudes towards variation. Due
to a lack of materials for teaching Global Englishes, the task sought ways
to do this through an existing EAP-focused course. The presentation
task was one way to raise awareness of the topic and, by allowing the
students to choose Englishes or ELF contexts most salient to them, it
Appendix Choose one of the countries from Kachru’s circles and investigate the
Abridged task history and use of English (grammar/pronunciation/loan words/attitudes,
description etc.) or examine the use of ELF in a specific domain (for example
business). You have two weeks to research the topic. Use the library
and self-access centre, and search on the internet for information. The
following websites may help you start:
http://www.world-english.org/accent.htm
http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~lsp/main.html
http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/