English as a lingua franca in an increasingly post-EFL era: The case of English in the Greek state education curriculum Nicos Sifakis Hellenic Open University Vally Lytra Goldsmiths/King’s College, University of London Richard Fay The University of Manchester 3 rd International Conference of English as a Lingua Franca University of Vienna May 2010

2 A bit of context (1) Greece: Traditionally viewed as a societal context characterised by a linguistically & culturally homogeneous narrative Today, transformation from a migrant- sending to a migrant-receiving country Significant numbers of newly arrived immigrant and Greek-born children of immigrant parents in mainstream schools

3 A bit of context (2) Greek TESOL: … seen as an Expanding Circle (EFL) context … in which the traditional TESOL approach has been underpinned by the TEFL paradigm However: Awareness of a new international function of English Awareness of a new intranational function of English

4 Characterising TESOL practice  Traditionally: EFL  (EFL1) FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL2) EXAM-ORIENTED

5 Characterising TESOL practice  Another possibility: ELF  (ELF1) INTERNATIONAL function  ‘EIL’ (ELF2) INTRANATIONAL function  ‘MATE’

Questions that arise what lead is provided regarding –linkage between the language being learned and any particular varieties of English? / contexts (i.e. target culture, etc) involving English? –development of an international/intranational cultural awareness, generic and/or specific, through English language education? –how to teach English / what English to teach given the international use of English ? 6

Focus of our analysis Examples… that can be described as a good basis for MATE/EIL approaches. that are neutral to MATE/EIL but could be used with a MATE/EIL perspective in mind (with proper teacher training). that can be seen as obstacles to a MATE/EIL approach. 7

A few words about the TESOL curriculum developed in 2003 “cross-curricular” fundamental principles: –literacy –multi(/pluri?) -lingualism –multi (/pluri-?) -culturalism 8

General orientation of the curriculum Literacy –Communication, preparing learners for coping with “every communicative situation” (comprehensibility?) –Appropriacy –Negotiation –“correct usage of English in various contexts” 9

General orientation of the curriculum Multilingualism (“polyglossia”) –“familiarization with other languages” –awareness of “language polymorphy” –accommodation strategies “foster communication strategies aiming at satisfactory communication, even if they do not know the foreign language well” –multi- or pluri- lingualism? 10

General orientation of the curriculum Multiculturalism (“polypolitismikotita”) –development/exploitation of linguistic and cultural difference –“learn to adapt their discourse (oral and written) to communicative situations, so as the cultural dimension of the language is promoted” –English as a means of communication with NS/NNSs –multi- or pluri- culturalism? 11

General orientation of the curriculum Cross-curricularity –learning to learn –“global engagement with themes of social content and combination of information from different domains” –“promote contexts for authentic communication so that the parallel use of languages will be achieved naturally and effortlessly” 12

General orientation of the curriculum Teaching methodology –link between English and other languages; reference to “the mother tongue” (=Greek) –teaching materials should promote learners’ “understanding of the multicultural dimension of the English-speaking world”; learners should “not develop a unidimensional (homogeneous?) picture of native speakers of English”; “will develop the skills to share their own culture with others using English as the language of communication” –the teaching of English provides possibilities for the use of English as a tool for developing scientific thinking 13

General orientation of the curriculum Assessment –alternative assessment techniques favoured –learners becoming aware of the intercultural dimension of the foreign language “through the discovery of representations of the other” 14

Examples (1) – good basis for a MATE approach “Interviews with people, especially foreigners who live and work in our country, users of English in relation to their jobs, lives, ways of life or their problems.” “Organization of a story telling competition of a make- believe event using for the lead role an object, an animal or a person or a folk talk from another country or from each person’s place of origin.” “Organization of a week of folk dances or national food or national or folk music or national costumes with the participation of representatives from English and non- English speaking countries using English as the medium of communication.” 15

Examples (2) – closer to an EIL description “Investigation and presentation of jobs, the work environment, goods and their differences across countries, for instance being a fisherman in Greece, in Egypt and the Philippines.” “Watching the narration of an event, such as an earthquake in India and completion of maps or tables with statistical data, such as the number of deceased, or the different places that were affected” 16

Examples (3) – neutral to MATE “Description and presentation of the neighbourhood, the school or the house of each pupil and comparison of elements. Visual representation of data in maps or pictures.” “Narration of historical event, eg the bombing of London by the Germans during WWII or the presentation of a historical figure such as Gandhi with continuous references to the past (tenses) and connectors that indicate continuity or chronological order between events” “In the context of Citizenship education to do role playing where the roles involve presenting the members of a family who are having a problem and taking a position vis-à-vis the problem based on their role.” 17

Examples (4) – obstacles to a MATE approach “Presentation or acting out of seasonal celebrations from English-speaking countries, such as Christmas, Easter, the Carnival and customs or traditions of other peoples that are related to time.” “Recording of stories with same or similar topics and comparison of story themes from our country and English-speaking countries.” “They use to communicate with NSs with the purpose of exchanging information about a topic or to play a game with young people of their age from other countries” “Putting together a display of foods from different English-speaking countries.” / “Collection of myths or legends from Greece and English speaking countries ” 18

Summing up Limited range of suggested activities provide some lead for the development of a generic international cultural awareness through English in the sense that they identify an explicit role for English as the language of international communication Limited range of suggested activities provide some lead for the development of a generic(?) intranational cultural awareness through English in the sense that they provide some space to (re-)discover, (re-)think and bring into the classroom the diversity within present day Greek society. Examples that give space for MATE/EIL have strong cross-curricular characteristics 19

Summing up Multilingualism/multiculturalism loosely defined – no major role for such activities Mediation activities include Greek and English; mother tongue is assumed to be Greek (= the majority language) Tension bt NS English (which narrows down the language being learned) and English-speaking world (which potentially opens it up). Unless, for the curriculum designers English-speaking world is equated with NSs! 20

21 Thank you! 