Tila Teacher Training Lingua franca competence development the

Tila Teacher Training Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF © 2013 TILA Kurt Kohn - STZ Sprachlernmedien

Overview Pedagogical issues of English as a lingua franca communication and their relevance for language learning and teaching – not only of English: Ø Conceptualizing English as a lingua franca Ø A pedagogical conflict between ELF and ELF? Ø A social constructivist reconciliation between EFL and ELF Ø Teaching ELF: what it is and what it isn’t Ø Conclusion © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 2

Conceptualizing English as a lingua franca © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 3

The many faces of English les c ir ec ) j a Br ch a K ‘s ru 85 19 re th ( English as a native language English as a lingua franca English as a second language English as a foreign language v Increasingly, people find themselves in intercultural contact zones with English as a necessary and natural means of communication for non-native speakers v In private and vocational contexts of communication from culture and education to business and technology English is developing into a culturally and economically relevant means for global communication © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 4

English as a lingua franca The “language” metaphor "instance of language in a postmodern world" (James 2005), "a contact language“ (Jenkins 2006), “a noncodified form of English” (Dewey 2012) Ø Typical definitions seem to imply that ELF is a “thing” – a language Ø But is ELF a language at all? Or rather, how useful is it to conceptualize ELF as a language? Fiona (UK), Vikram (India), Vaclav (CZ), José (ES) and Sandra (Germany) Ø When they agree to “speak English”, what is it they actually agree on? Ø They agree that each of them shall speak his/her OWN English – as a native, second or foreign language 11 20 Ø hn Ko Imagine a group of people using English in an international contact situation Lingua franca communication Ø While using their own English, speakers trust that everyone will try their level best to make communication work Ø They resort to accommodation, meaning negotiation, handling misunderstandings, ‘let it pass’ – and their own non-native speaker creativity © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 5

A pedagogical conflict between ELF and EFL? © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 6

From EFL norm compliance to ELF communication Teaching & learning English as a foreign language (EFL) Ø An exonormative Standard English (SE) orientation appears to be natural; any deviations from the SE role model are at best tolerated Ø Communicative EFL approaches emphasize communicative competence and a greater tolerance for deviations (particularly in CLIL classrooms) but the overall orientation is toward SE and against endonormative processes Ø Educational regulations for ELT institutions (in Europe) continue to be based on an exonormative SE role model Research studies about English as a lingua franca (ELF) Ø Successful ELF communication despite deviations from SE Ø Communication strategies such as e. g. accommodation, meaning negotiation and ‘let it pass’ ensure communicative success Ø “Deviant” phrases and structures can be shown to emerge through endonormative processes of ELF development → The “ELF communication argument” © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 7

An example of the “ELF communication argument” ELF communication is “usually characterized by a high degree of linguacultural diversity, routinely resulting in highly variable and creative use of linguistic resources. This is wholly at odds with the characterization of language in ELT […], in which received wisdom maintains that intelligibility is norm driven (thus privileging grammatical accuracy), and that effective communication is best achieved by conforming to the arbitrarily fixed language norms of Standard varieties […]. ” (163) “One potential impact of ELF research, therefore, is a reorientation of thinking about language in the curriculum, of moving beyond the singularity that typifies current approaches in order to better encapsulate the diversity and plurality of communication. ” (163) “In terms of understanding what an ELF-informed or ELF-oriented pedagogy should look like we need to engage in much more empirical [ELF] research. ” (165) “ELF is relevant not so much in terms of identifying alternative sets of norms, but more in terms of enabling us to move beyond normativity. ” (166) Dewey 2012: 141 -170 © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 8

The “ELF communication argument” and the EFL teacher How can EFL teachers be convinced to incorporate ELF-informed pedagogic measures? Ø The “ELF communication argument”, i. e. reference to the rich diversity of successful ELF communication seems to be the obvious line of argumentation Ø Many teachers, however, seem to misunderstand the “ELF communication argument” as an invitation to tolerate or even propagate deviations: “Do you want me to teach incorrect English? ” Why is the "ELF communication argument" often only poorly accepted by teachers? Ø Focus is on the diversity, plurality and success of ELF communication Ø At the same time, however, there is a perceived sub-text: your SE orientation is not in sync with how ELF communication works (= your SE orientation is bad!) Ø Consequence: for teachers (with a SE orientation) the perceived sub-text sticks out and makes them reject the entire “ELF communication argument” → The “language acquisition argument” © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 9

A social constructivist reconciliation between EFL and ELF © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 10

My English - my language How do I acquire a language? Ø I acquire a language by constructing and developing it, i. e. by CREATING my own version in my mind, my heart and my behavior Ø Oriented toward my perception of the target language Ø Influenced by my native language, my attitudes & motivation, my goals & requirements, my learning approach, the effort I invest, and the people I talk to and want to be with Ø Not in idiosyncratic isolation, but in communicative and social interaction with others In this social constructivist sense, the English I develop is my own. And it is inevitably different from any target language toward which it is oriented. – The social constructivist “My Language” condition – [not an option, rather part of the human condition for knowledge and learning] Kohn 2012 © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 11

A pedagogical orientation towards SE Strong version of a SE orientation Learners are strongly required to meet the SE (teaching) norms – deviations are seen as evidence of unsuccessful learning Language learning is (implicitly) understood as a behaviorist copying and cloning process Weak version of a SE orientation Learners take SE as a model for orientation – it is accepted, however, that they create their own non-native speaker version of SE Language learning is (implicitly) understood as a social constructivist process of cognitive, emotional and behavioral creation © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF Kohn (to be publ. ) 12

Towards a pedagogical unification of EFL and ELF Implications for ELF research and pedagogy Ø Extension of the endonormative view to include a “weak” SE orientation Ø Focus on appropriating English to one’s own sociolinguistic reality [Seidlhofer 2011: 198] Implications for EFL research and pedagogy Ø Because of the strong (exonormative) version of a SE orientation, learners tend to stay alienated from their own creativity resulting in frustration, anxiety and even fear Ø Urgent need for an endonormative conceptualization of language learning & teaching (“My English”) and acceptance of a social constructivist “weak” SE orientation © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 13

Appropriation of English “I am not advocating that descriptions of ELF should directly and uniquely determine what language is taught in the language classroom [. . . ] So it would , in my view, be pedagogically as pointless to prescribe a set of ELF forms as a set of ENL forms in dissociation from their function. What really matters is that the language should engage the learners’ reality and activate the learning process. Any kind of language that is taught in order to achieve this effect is appropriate, and this will always be a local decision. So what is crucial is not so much what language is presented as input but what learners make of it, and how they make use of it to develop the capability of languaging. ” Seidlhofer 2011: 198 © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 14

Teaching ELF: what it is and what it isn’t © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 15

Teaching ELF is about helping learners … Ø to develop their English (lexis, grammar) so that they are able to meet their own requirements of performance K H oh ym o Comprehensibility ( feasibility) o Grammatical accuracy ( possibility) o Situational appropriateness ( acceptability, probability) o Participation (in communities of practice) and self-expression es 19 72 n Al bl (to -M ika sa pu bl. ) , 20 Ø to develop their (individual & social) identity orientation and requirements be 09 Ko hn 11 Ø to acquire strategies for making best use of their English in communication o Accommodation – meaning negotiation – handling misunderstandings – ‘let it pass’ Ø to explore and trust their own non-native speaker creativity Teaching ELF is NOT about teaching incorrect English Ø From a social constructivist perspective, there is no conflict between non-native speakers’ creativity and their “weak” SE orientation Ø For pedagogical purposes, a “descriptive” modelling of ELF as a variety is utterly misleading since it seems to suggest the teaching of a certain kind of (incorrect) English © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 20 16

ELF in the foreign language classroom Focus on raising awareness for LF manifestations of English Ø to increase tolerance for others and for oneself Focus on developing ELF-specific comprehension skills Ko Ø to get accustomed to NNS accents and “messy” performance hn (to Focus on developing ELF-specific production skills be pu bl. ) Ø to improve pragmatic fluency and strategic skills for accommodation and collaborative negotiation of meaning in intercultural ELF situations Focus on developing the learner’s sense of ownership (“agency”) Ø to ensure speaker satisfaction and self-confidence Exposure to a wide variety of ELF speakers Focus on form within communicative tasks (with a weak SE orientation) Communicative participation in an authentic speech fellowship or community of practice © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF How can this be achieved? 17

Liberation through communicative participation How can “liberating” conditions be implemented in the English classroom? Ø CLIL - Practice Enterprise - Creative Writing Ø “Pushed output processing” / “languaging” (Swain 2006) - with increased selfsatisfaction as a target (instead of better compliance with an external norm) Ø Authentic & autonomous web-based communication & collaboration Ø All with the aim to explore and extend one’s own creativity (→ Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development) © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 18

Conclusion What needs to be acknowledged: learners of English are (non-native) speakers of English and not merely people learning English [adapted from Gilyard 2011: 28] A social constructivist weak SE orientation enables teachers Ø to accept their learners’ “own” English Ø guided by their “own” SE orientation Ø pushed by their “own” communicative needs and identification purposes Ø fuelled by their ”own” non-native speaker creativity © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 19

Over to you Explore key issues in relation to your target language Combine face-to-face activities with discussions in the Moodle forum § § § © 2013 TILA ICC and lingua franca Ownership Learning as construction Stanard language Teaching lingua franca“ Non-native speaker creativity Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 20

References Albl-Mikasa, M. (2009). Who’s afraid of ELF: “failed” natives or non-native speakers struggling to express themselves? In Albl-Mikasa, Braun & Kalina (eds. ). Dimensionen der Zweitsprachenforschung – Dimensions of Second Language Research. Festschrift für Kurt Kohn. Narr Verlag, 109 -129. Dewey, M. (2012). Towards a post-normative approach: learning the pedagogy of ELF. JELF 1/1, 141 -170. Gilyard, K. (2011). True to the Language Game. African American Discourse, Cultural Politics, and Pedagogy. Routledge. Hymes, D. H. (1972). On communicative competence. In Pride & Holmes, (eds. ). Sociolinguistis. Penguin, 269 -293. James, A. (2005). The challenges of the lingua franca: English in the world and types of variety. In Gnutzmann & Intemann (eds). The Globalisation of English and the English Language Classroom. Tübingen: Narr, 133 -144. Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly 40/1, 157 -181. Kachru, B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English in the outer circle. In Quirk & Widdowson, (eds. ). English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures. CUP, 11 -30. Kohn, K. (2011). English as a lingua franca and the Standard English misunderstanding. In De Houwer & Wilton (eds. ). English in Europe Today. Sociocultural and Educational Perspectives. Benjamins, 72 -94. Kohn, K. (2012). ‘My English’ - Second language learning as individual and social construction. TESOL Convention, Philadelphia, 28 -31 March 2012. [play video] Kohn, K. (to be publ. ). A pedagogical space for ELF in the English classroom. In Bayyurt and Akcan (eds. ). Current Perspectives on Pedagogy for ELF. De Gruyter Mouton. Seidlhofer , B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. OUP. Swain, M. (2006). Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced second language proficiency. In Byrnes (ed. ). Advanced Language Learning: The Contributions of Halliday and Vygotsky. Continuum, 95 -108. © 2013 TILA Lingua franca competence development: the case of ELF 21