“The Globalization of English and its Implications as a Lingua Franca” Thomas McCormack   Universidad de la Sabana Masters in English Language Teaching–Autonomous Learning Environments  Fourth Semester Content and Language

ESL Materials in a Globalized World “…target cultural content is motivation to some students, it is also quite possible that such content may be largely irrelevant, uninteresting, or even confusing for students” (McKay, 2003, p. 10) Inner Circle textbooks These textbooks transmit more than language but also cultural values (Canagarajah, 1999) Overvalue “authentic” model (Kramsch, 1998) Tend to over emphasize cognative learning strategies (Canagarajah, 1999) Pictures and dialogues mostly represent native use (Mastsuda, 2002) Perpetuate the belief that learners desire “native” like competence (McKay, 2003)

ESL Materials in a Globalized World Effects The complexities of being “authentic” are prohibitive (Kramsch, 1998) Leanrners might devalue their own norms ,values, interests and may want to behave and think like them in order to be recoginize and ultimately valued (Kramsch, 1998) Socio-cultural differences will interfere with comprehension of language (Canagarajah, 1999) Pictures do not allow students to understand significance of why they are learning English (Matsuda, 2002)

ESL Materials in a Globalized World Possible Solutions One of the primary reasons for learning English is to communicate about your culture with wider audience so incude materials that serve this need (McKay, 2003) Provide more examples of bilingual users using English for international communication (McKay, 2003) Teachers need to critically interrogate the hidden intent of the ciriculum (Canagarajah, 1999)

CLT and its Implications Outside the Inner Circle Resistance to CLT “…a communicative approach stresses the purposes of language…..over detailed knowledge and formal grammar” (Phillipson & Page, 2003) Overemphasis on CLT does not prepare teachers for the variety of language learners A case in a Vietnamese University (Khoa Ahh Viet. 2008) Lack of training for teachers CLT at conflict with local culture ie. Confucian ideology Students are made the center and not the teacher CLT promotes cooperation between teachers while competition and low salaries do not foster this Students do not have an obvious communication need Students do not recognize the value of CLT CLT requires a lot of preparation CLT does not take advantage of learners L1 (Swan, 1985)

CLT and its Implications Outside the Inner Circle So why does CLT exist in most Outer and Expanding Circles? (Makay, 2002) Promotion of the CLT approach by western specialists Promotion by educational leaders in the Outer and Expanding Circles (Tollefson ' s 1991 modernization theory (as cited in Makay, 2002)) CLT is promoted in textbooks by mostly the Inner Circle Personal View Inner and Outer circles is not a constructive way of examining the issue Sympathetic to the Vietnamese Case Low salary, competiveness, lack of training, large class size are arguments against CLT? Give the learners options

References Canagarajah, S. (1999). Adopting a critical perspective on pedagogy. Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching (pp. 9-17). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Khoa Ahh Viet. (2008). Imperialism of Communicative Language Teaching and Possible Resistance against it from teachers in Vietnam as an English Foreign Language Concept. VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages, 24, 167-174. Retrieved from http://tapchi.vnu.edu.vn/3_208_NN/4.pdf Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and cultural identity. Language and culture (pp. 65-82). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Matsuda, A. (November, 2002). Representation of Users and Uses of English in Beginning Japanese EFL Textbooks. JALT Journal, 24(2), p.182-200. Retrieved from http://jaltpublications.org/archive/jj/2002b/art5.pdf McKay, S. L. (2002). Teaching English as an international language: Rethinking goals and approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Chapter 5, pp. 103-123] McKay, S.L. (2003). Toward an Appropriate EIL Pedagogy: Reexamining common ELT assumptions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(1). p.1-22. Retrieved from http://people.ufpr.br/~clarissa/pdfs/EILpedagogy_McKay.pdf Phillipson, R., & Page, J. (2003). The Future of ELT. Guardian Weekly. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2003/nov/13/tefl3 Swan, M. (1985). A Critical Look at the Communicative Approach. ELT Journal, 39 (1), 2-12. doi: 10.1093/elt/39.1.2. Retreived from http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/content/39/1/2.full.pdf+html?ijkey=bddnGOKiVIilX6O&keytype=ref