Teaching EIL-Teaching International or Intercultural English? What Teachers Should Know by Nicos Sifakis (2006)
New Words
-Our objectives need to be precisely delineated.
-They embarked on a discussion even during lunch time.
-The British job of Lecturer corresponds roughly to the US Associate Professor.
-Lack of money hindered completion of the project.
-The food rendered them homeless.
-I have some appreciation of your problem.
-The idea is of paramount importance.
-She works in a predominantly male environment.
Summary
There are two perspectives in language communication; N-bound approach and C-bound approach. N-bound is a traditional and codified approach by native speakers (NSs) and is used for EIL (English as an International Language) at a classroom. C-bound approach is for many different forms of communication and many varieties of English by non-native speakers (NNSs) and is used for EIcL (English as an Intercultural Language). In real life, communication has a shift from EIL to EIcL and learners need to be exposed to NNS communication. Because of the lack of C-bound material, EIcL teachers need to create syllabus and materials.
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Complexities of Identity Formation 1
Complexities of Identity Formation: A narrative Inquiry of an EFL Teacher by Amy B. M. Tsui (2007)
New Words
-Our interest converged on the subject.
-I felt a sense of alienation from society.
-The coach lumped the boys and girls together in one gym class.
-She’s been posted to Washington for two years.
-Fresh vegetables are scarce in winter.
-A country bumpkin is a person from the countryside who seems stupid.
-His public persona is quite different from the family man described in the book.
-They all huddled around the fire.
-I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room.
-The thief cursed the police for finding him.
-The police intensified their investigation.
-He ascribes his poverty to his parents.
-She had the implicit trust of her stuff.
-I blamed the accident on him. = I blamed him for the accident.
-She deeply ashamed of her behavior at the party.
main points
Wenger’s social theory of identity formation (1998)
Identity formation is a dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings.
Identification
-It is the investment of self in building associations and differentiations.
-It is reificative and participative belonging.
-It is relational and experiential.
-It consists of three modes of belonging.
1 engagement-roles and relations with other people in the community
2 imagination- relations to the world beyond the community
3 alignment-power through coercion and oppression and leads to dissociation and alienation
Negotiation of meanings-the production and adoption of meanings
The ELT landscape in China
-The necessity of English communication with foreigners has increased dramatically since 1978.
-University graduates were found to be highly competent in writing and grammar, but poor in speaking and listening.
-Most middle-school graduates found it hard to converse in simple English even after 900 hours of learning.
-A large number of native speakers of English have been recruited from the West.
-In 1985 the Ministry of Education recommended CLT for nation-wide adoption. CLT was considered a new method and approach as opposed to traditional approach (TM) although Chinese learners have different cultural background from western culture.
Minfang’s EFL Learner Identities
-Most of the teachers had never found themselves in a situation where they had to use English for daily conversational.
-Students needed to change to different personae.
-Instantaneous oral participation in class required students to express opinions spontaneously without careful thinking.
-This activity went against the Chinese culture, which attaches a great deal of importance to making thoughtful remarks and not babbling before one has thought things through.
-He believed strongly that he could develop communicative competence through daily interaction with his friends.
-His English movement comes from his hard work after class, not from CLT class.
-He thinks TM is no worse than CLT.
Minfang’s EFL Teacher Identities
First 2 years
-He was assigned to teach listening skills which was considered auxiliary.
-He had an implicit belief that TM worked better.
-He did not know how to deal with the intimate relationship with his students.
-He became a popular teacher, but he didn’t want to be because it is perceived as a teacher of little substance and one who has nothing but relationships to win the students’ hearts. Too friendly, undermine authority
After the first 2 years
-He was assigned to teach the CLT course.
-He was a faked CLT practitioner and he taught in eclectic approach.
-In MA, he found the misconception of CLT.
-In PhD, he felt that the teacher’s lived experience in the classroom was the best guide for pedagogical decision-making.
Conclusion
-Competence and legitimacy of access to practice are important for identity formation as well.
-Participation is central to identity formation.
-The interplay of identification and the negotiability of meanings could generate identity conflicts. These conflicts could lead to new relations with members of the community, new ownership of meanings or identities of marginality, disengagement and nonparticipation.
New Words
-Our interest converged on the subject.
-I felt a sense of alienation from society.
-The coach lumped the boys and girls together in one gym class.
-She’s been posted to Washington for two years.
-Fresh vegetables are scarce in winter.
-A country bumpkin is a person from the countryside who seems stupid.
-His public persona is quite different from the family man described in the book.
-They all huddled around the fire.
-I was pushed into a filthy, stinking room.
-The thief cursed the police for finding him.
-The police intensified their investigation.
-He ascribes his poverty to his parents.
-She had the implicit trust of her stuff.
-I blamed the accident on him. = I blamed him for the accident.
-She deeply ashamed of her behavior at the party.
main points
Wenger’s social theory of identity formation (1998)
Identity formation is a dual process of identification and negotiation of meanings.
Identification
-It is the investment of self in building associations and differentiations.
-It is reificative and participative belonging.
-It is relational and experiential.
-It consists of three modes of belonging.
1 engagement-roles and relations with other people in the community
2 imagination- relations to the world beyond the community
3 alignment-power through coercion and oppression and leads to dissociation and alienation
Negotiation of meanings-the production and adoption of meanings
The ELT landscape in China
-The necessity of English communication with foreigners has increased dramatically since 1978.
-University graduates were found to be highly competent in writing and grammar, but poor in speaking and listening.
-Most middle-school graduates found it hard to converse in simple English even after 900 hours of learning.
-A large number of native speakers of English have been recruited from the West.
-In 1985 the Ministry of Education recommended CLT for nation-wide adoption. CLT was considered a new method and approach as opposed to traditional approach (TM) although Chinese learners have different cultural background from western culture.
Minfang’s EFL Learner Identities
-Most of the teachers had never found themselves in a situation where they had to use English for daily conversational.
-Students needed to change to different personae.
-Instantaneous oral participation in class required students to express opinions spontaneously without careful thinking.
-This activity went against the Chinese culture, which attaches a great deal of importance to making thoughtful remarks and not babbling before one has thought things through.
-He believed strongly that he could develop communicative competence through daily interaction with his friends.
-His English movement comes from his hard work after class, not from CLT class.
-He thinks TM is no worse than CLT.
Minfang’s EFL Teacher Identities
First 2 years
-He was assigned to teach listening skills which was considered auxiliary.
-He had an implicit belief that TM worked better.
-He did not know how to deal with the intimate relationship with his students.
-He became a popular teacher, but he didn’t want to be because it is perceived as a teacher of little substance and one who has nothing but relationships to win the students’ hearts. Too friendly, undermine authority
After the first 2 years
-He was assigned to teach the CLT course.
-He was a faked CLT practitioner and he taught in eclectic approach.
-In MA, he found the misconception of CLT.
-In PhD, he felt that the teacher’s lived experience in the classroom was the best guide for pedagogical decision-making.
Conclusion
-Competence and legitimacy of access to practice are important for identity formation as well.
-Participation is central to identity formation.
-The interplay of identification and the negotiability of meanings could generate identity conflicts. These conflicts could lead to new relations with members of the community, new ownership of meanings or identities of marginality, disengagement and nonparticipation.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Plan for the assignment
Topic: language policy in Japan
1 Introduction
2 English as a global language
Globalisation (economic merit), parentocracy, national curriculum, variety of English
3 Ainu and Okinawan as minority languages
Authority, language maintenance, language death
4 Conclusion
1 Introduction
2 English as a global language
Globalisation (economic merit), parentocracy, national curriculum, variety of English
3 Ainu and Okinawan as minority languages
Authority, language maintenance, language death
4 Conclusion
Friday, 28 November 2008
Yet Another Early-Start Languages Policy in Europe
Yet Another Early-Start Languages Policy in Europe: Poland This Time! By Janet Enever (2007)
New Words
-It is mandatory for blood banks to test all donated blood for the virus.
-The trade balance has been in deficit for the past five years.
-We couple the name of Aomori with the idea of apples.
-Social engineering is the attempt to change society and to deal with social problems according to particular political beliefs, for example by changing the law.
-Newspaper propagates news and ideas.
-He agreed to their visit with the proviso that they should stay no longer than one week.
-She was standing amid the ruins of the castle.
-Power can be intoxicating.
-The President’s inaugural address was great.
-This painting is indisputably one of his finest works.
Summary
A majority of European countries have started to teach language at school earlier because of the economic merit, the EU recommendations and the parentocracy. Early start has advantages in that children will acquire better pronunciation, learn faster and more efficiently and achieve a higher language skill at last. It is difficult to choose a language for some countries. They left the choice to the regional or local authorities. On the other hand, Poland decided to introduce only English at early schooling stage, though some Poles considered that German is also an important language.
New Words
-It is mandatory for blood banks to test all donated blood for the virus.
-The trade balance has been in deficit for the past five years.
-We couple the name of Aomori with the idea of apples.
-Social engineering is the attempt to change society and to deal with social problems according to particular political beliefs, for example by changing the law.
-Newspaper propagates news and ideas.
-He agreed to their visit with the proviso that they should stay no longer than one week.
-She was standing amid the ruins of the castle.
-Power can be intoxicating.
-The President’s inaugural address was great.
-This painting is indisputably one of his finest works.
Summary
A majority of European countries have started to teach language at school earlier because of the economic merit, the EU recommendations and the parentocracy. Early start has advantages in that children will acquire better pronunciation, learn faster and more efficiently and achieve a higher language skill at last. It is difficult to choose a language for some countries. They left the choice to the regional or local authorities. On the other hand, Poland decided to introduce only English at early schooling stage, though some Poles considered that German is also an important language.
Liberalisation, privatisation, modernization, and schooling in India
Liberalisation, privatisation, modernization, and schooling in India: an interview with Krishna Kumar by Chaise LaDousa (2007)
New Word
-She wrested a secret from her friend.
-The only stipulation is that the topic you choose must be related to your studies.
-The road follows the natural contours of the coastline.
-These issues resonated with the voters.
-He is seeking after a better life.
-These discoveries raise intriguing questions.
-Our society is secular.
-He endowed each son with a million dollars.
-They began to lose momentum in the second half of the game.
Summary
People in the low status think that they can overcome poverty due to the education. Children worked before instead of studying at school because parents didn’t know the importance of education. Now the situation has changed dramatically. A large number of children go to school which is in bad situation. Parents started to focus on private school. States schools remain bad, but children may get a chance at a private school. People started to notice that the God cannot help them nor save a small child life. They feel the politics or governance is bad. This leads to secularization, though Hinduism and castle levels were important before. Globalisation has a great impact on Indian society and education. The spread of the new technology such as television and the Internet has changed the roles of parents and teachers and people now can access to privacy.
New Word
-She wrested a secret from her friend.
-The only stipulation is that the topic you choose must be related to your studies.
-The road follows the natural contours of the coastline.
-These issues resonated with the voters.
-He is seeking after a better life.
-These discoveries raise intriguing questions.
-Our society is secular.
-He endowed each son with a million dollars.
-They began to lose momentum in the second half of the game.
Summary
People in the low status think that they can overcome poverty due to the education. Children worked before instead of studying at school because parents didn’t know the importance of education. Now the situation has changed dramatically. A large number of children go to school which is in bad situation. Parents started to focus on private school. States schools remain bad, but children may get a chance at a private school. People started to notice that the God cannot help them nor save a small child life. They feel the politics or governance is bad. This leads to secularization, though Hinduism and castle levels were important before. Globalisation has a great impact on Indian society and education. The spread of the new technology such as television and the Internet has changed the roles of parents and teachers and people now can access to privacy.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008
Variations of RP
Accents of English 2: The British Isles by J. C. Wells (1982)
Gimson’s varieties of RP (1980)
Conservative RP is ‘used by the older generation and, traditionally, by certain professions or social groups’.
General RP is ’most commonly in used and typified by the pronunciation adopted by the BBC’.
Advanced RP is ‘mainly used by young people of exclusive social groups-mostly of the upper classes, but also, for prestige value, in certain professional circles’.
Wells’s varieties of RP
RP consists of mainstream RP (U-RP and adoptive RP) and Near-RP
Upper-crust RP (U-RP) is accent for upper class people
Adoptive RP is ‘variety of RP spoken by adults who did not speak RP as children’. The speaker of adoptive RP tend to retain their native accent of English and the both native and adoptive accents often appear in the case of informal or formal situation. It is not easy for them to control elision, assimilation, smoothing, /r/,/hw/, /t/. /i:/, /u:/ and diphthongs.
Near-RP is accent which doesn’t apply to the definition of RP but includes regional one slightly.
Gimson’s varieties of RP (1980)
Conservative RP is ‘used by the older generation and, traditionally, by certain professions or social groups’.
General RP is ’most commonly in used and typified by the pronunciation adopted by the BBC’.
Advanced RP is ‘mainly used by young people of exclusive social groups-mostly of the upper classes, but also, for prestige value, in certain professional circles’.
Wells’s varieties of RP
RP consists of mainstream RP (U-RP and adoptive RP) and Near-RP
Upper-crust RP (U-RP) is accent for upper class people
Adoptive RP is ‘variety of RP spoken by adults who did not speak RP as children’. The speaker of adoptive RP tend to retain their native accent of English and the both native and adoptive accents often appear in the case of informal or formal situation. It is not easy for them to control elision, assimilation, smoothing, /r/,/hw/, /t/. /i:/, /u:/ and diphthongs.
Near-RP is accent which doesn’t apply to the definition of RP but includes regional one slightly.
Received Pronunciation (RP)
Accents of English 1: An Introduction by J. C. Wells (1982)
RP
The meaning of “received” is “generally accepted”. RP is the accent which has the highest prestige in England. It is also the most general type of educated British pronunciation. It is characteristic of the upper and upper middle class socially. From the perspective of occupations, barrister, stockbroker and diplomat tend to speak RP. Less than 10% people in England could be RP speakers. There are 19 vowels in the RP system. On the other hand, General American has 15 vowels.
RP
The meaning of “received” is “generally accepted”. RP is the accent which has the highest prestige in England. It is also the most general type of educated British pronunciation. It is characteristic of the upper and upper middle class socially. From the perspective of occupations, barrister, stockbroker and diplomat tend to speak RP. Less than 10% people in England could be RP speakers. There are 19 vowels in the RP system. On the other hand, General American has 15 vowels.
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