English in a global voluntary work context:a case study of spoken interaction and its implications for language pedagogy

This study analyses a sample of spoken interaction between a Japanese volunteer working for JICA (Japan International Co-operation Agency) and one of her co-workers in Jamaica. Details of the research context are provided, followed by a theoretical grounding of the project, which relates to publications in English as a Lingua Franca and related fields. In terms of methodology and epistemology, the research aligns with discourse analysis, specifically linguistic ethnography and interactional sociolinguistics. After presenting an an analysis of the spoken interaction based on these approaches, the resulting implications for language pedagogy are considered. This includes recommendations for specific aspects of language teaching and testing practice based on the research findings, which could be incorporated into a needs-driven localized pedagogy for future Japanese volunteers. These findings also carry significant implications for other contexts of language education, not only in terms of specific pedagogical practices but also regarding broader conceptions of language and communication.

Teaching English to young learners in Europe:teachers' attitudes and perspectives

The introduction of languages into the primary curriculum has been the major development in language-in-education policy around the world over the last 20-25 years. In the vast majority of countries the language taught is English and it is being taught at an ever-earlier age. A relatively large amount of research has been carried out in Asia into teaching English to young learners (TEYL) from the point of view of language policy and planning and of policy implementation, especially in terms of the gap between policy and practice caused by the introduction of new methodologies such as communicative language teaching. However, to date far less research has been carried out into the situation in Europe, particularly concerning the attitudes of those most closely involved in policy implementation - the teachers themselves. This chapter examines the attitudes of teachers in six European countries (Italy, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Spain and Ukraine), uncovering the challenges they face and the changes they would like to see enacted to improve English language learning and teaching in their countries. The implications for policy, planning and teacher education are also discussed.

Introduction

Corpora—large collections of written and/or spoken text stored and accessed electronically—provide the means of investigating language that is of growing importance academically and professionally. Corpora are now routinely used in the following fields: •the production of dictionaries and other reference materials; •the development of aids to translation; •language teaching materials; •the investigation of ideologies and cultural assumptions; •natural language processing; and •the investigation of all aspects of linguistic behaviour, including vocabulary, grammar and pragmatics.

Plaedoyer fuer die Entwicklung einer integrativen Didaktik im Bereich der German Studies

Theme of the following polemic is the absence of a didactic-methodological approach in the UK higher education Germanistik, goes beyond the field of language teaching. The resulting problems are to be exemplary unfolded. Following an alternative is presented. Thema der folgenden Polemik ist das Fehlen eines didaktisch-methodischen Ansatzes in der britischen Hochschulgermanistik, der über den Bereich der Sprachvermittlung hinausgeht. Die daraus resultierenden Probleme sollen exemplarisch entfaltet werden. Im Anschluss wird eine Alternative vorgestellt.

Speaking and pronunciation

We take as our starting point the notion of spoken language in use, drawing on insights from discourse analysis which makes it clear that language is used to negotiate and achieve meaning in social contexts and so cannot be divorced from those contexts. This perspective tasks us beyond a purely psycholinguistic model of speech where underlying mental processes are highlighted (e.g. Levelt, 1989). The perspective also takes us beyond the focus on the sentence, which has traditionally been the unit of analysis in much grammatical analysis and language teaching.

Knowledge acquisition from L2 specialist texts

This research aims to investigate knowledge acquisition and concept formation in the domain of economics and business studies through a foreign language, English, from the very initial to the very final stage of development in the context of Higher Education in Turkey. It traces both the processes as well as the product of acquisition in order to provide a detailed picture of how knowledge acquisition occurs. It aims to explore ways in which the acquisition process can be facilitated and promoted while prospective students of the Department of Economics and Business Administration receive a language training programme, following the completion of which they will join their academic community which offers part of its courses through the English language. The study draws upon (some) theories of mental representation of knowledge, such as schema, frame and script. The concept of discourse community with its characteristics is investigated, enculturation of prospective students to acquire knowledge of their domain through L2 is explored, and the crucial role of the constructivist theory in relation to knowledge acquisition is highlighted. The present study was conducted through a process of enculturation taking place partly at the language centre of Çukurova University and partly at the target discourse community. The data utilised for initiating knowledge acquisition was obtained by establishing a corpus of economics and business texts, which the learners are expected to read during their academic courses utilising computerised technology. The method of think aloud protocols was used to analyse processes taking place in knowledge acquisition, while the product of what was acquired was investigated by means of written recall protocols. It has been discovered that knowledge acquisition operates on the basis of analogical and to a certain extent metaphorical reasoning. The evidence obtained from the think aloud protocols showed that neophytes were able to acquire fundamental concepts of their future domain by reaching the level of shared understanding with the members of their target community of the faculty. Diaries and questionnaire analyses demonstrated that enculturation facilitated learners' transition from the language centre into the target community. Analyses of the written recall protocols and examinations from the post-enculturation stage of the research showed that neophytes' academic performances in their target community were much higher than those of their non-enculturated counterparts. Processes learners go through and strategies they spontaneously make use of, especially while acquiring knowledge of a specific domain through L2 have so far remained unexplored research areas. The present research makes a potential contribution to the language and knowledge acquisition theories by examining closely and systematically the language and the strategies they employ in acquiring such knowledge. The research findings offer useful implications to English language teaching at language schools. Language teachers are provided with useful guidelines as to how they can provide prospective students of a particular academic community with an experience of acquiring fundamental concepts of their discipline before they become members of their target community.

Corpus linguistics

Corpora—large collections of written and/or spoken text stored and accessed electronically—provide the means of investigating language that is of growing importance academically and professionally. Corpora are now routinely used in the following fields: The production of dictionaries and other reference materials; The development of aids to translation; Language teaching materials; The investigation of ideologies and cultural assumptions; Natural language processing; and The investigation of all aspects of linguistic behaviour, including vocabulary, grammar and pragmatics.

'In reality it's almost impossible':CLT-oriented curriculum change

Curriculum innovation is challenging and, as several commentators have reported, moves to introduce communicative language teaching in many contexts internationally have resulted in mixed outcomes, or even failure. In an effort to shed some light on this complex problem, this article focuses on curriculum change through the introduction of new communicative textbooks in an engineering college (kosen) in Japan. First, three key factors that inhibit change are considered and then other factors that specifically hindered change in the kosen environment are identified. A study investigating the attitudes and classroom practices of four Japanese teachers of English highlighted a culture of pedagogical uncertainty and lack of professional support. Suggestions for supporting teachers to implement curriculum change more effectively, both in Japan and elsewhere, are drawn out.

An investigation of Albanian EFL teachers' decision-making in their use of CLT-oriented textbooks

Against a backdrop of ongoing educational reforms that seek to introduce Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in Albanian primary and secondary state schools, Albanian teachers, among others, are officially required to use communication-based textbooks in their classes. Authorities in a growing number of countries that are seeking to improve and westernise their educational systems are also using communication-based textbooks as agents of change. Behind these actions, there is the commonly held belief that textbooks can be used to support teacher learning as they provide a visible framework teachers can follow. Communication-based textbooks are used in thousands of EFL classrooms around the world to help teachers to “fully understand and routinize change” (Hutchinson and Torres, 1994:323). However, empirical research on the role materials play in the classroom, and in particular the role of textbook as an agent of change, is still very little, and what does exist is rather inconclusive. This study aims to fulfill this gap. It is predominately a qualitative investigation into how and why four Albanian EFL teachers use Western teaching resources in their classes. Aiming at investigating the decision-making processes that teachers go through in their teaching, and specifically at investigating the relationship between Western-published textbooks, teachers’ decision making, and teachers’ classroom delivery, the current study contributes to an extensive discussion on the development of communicative L2 teaching concepts and methods, teacher decision making, as well as a growing discussion on how best to make institutional reforms effective, particularly in East-European ex-communist countries and in other developing countries. Findings from this research indicate that, prompted by the content of Western-published textbooks, the four research participants, who had received little formal training in CLT teaching, accommodated some communicative teaching behaviours into their teaching. The use of communicative textbooks, however, does not seem to account for radical, methodological changes in teachers’ practices. Teacher cognitions based on teachers’ previous learning experience are likely to act as a lens through which teachers judge classroom realities. As such, they shape, to a great degree, the decisions teachers make regarding the use of Western-published textbooks in their classes.

Teaching and learning German language and culture in higher education in Britain:problems, challenges and didactical implications. A case study

The aim of this thesis is to explore key aspects and problems of the institutionalised teaching and learning of German language and culture in the context of German Studies in British Higher Education (HE). This investigation focuses on teaching and learning experiences in one department of German Studies in the UK, which is the micro-context of the present study, in order to provide an in-depth insight into real-life problems, strengths and weaknesses as they occur in the practice of teaching and learning German. Following Lamb (2004) and Holliday (1994), the present study acts on the assumption that each micro-context does not exist in vacuo but is always embedded in a wider socio-political and education environment, namely the macro-context, which largely determines how and what is taught. The macro-analysis of the present study surveys the socio-political developments that have recently affected the sector of modern languages and specifically the discipline of German Studies in the UK. It demonstrates the impact they have had on teaching and learning German at the undergraduate level in Britain. This context is interesting inasmuch as the situation in Britain is to a large extent a paradigmatic example of the developments in German Studies in English-speaking countries. Subsequently, the present study explores learning experiences of a group of thirty-five first year students. It focuses on their previous experiences in learning German, exposure to the target language, motivation, learning strategies and difficulties encountered, when learning German at the tertiary level. Then, on the basis of interviews with five lecturers of German, teaching experience in the context under study is explored, problems and successful teaching strategies discussed.