This paper aims at investigating how upper secondary school teachers of English in Malmö, Sweden abide by the curriculum criteria of having their learners develop correctness in speech, as well as what support English teachers receive with regard to pronunciation teaching from official steering documents. Furthermore, this paper attempts to critically evaluate and discuss potential options for pronunciation models or standards in education which hold sway in contemporary research. Through qualitative interviews with four upper secondary school teachers of English, the findings of this study indicate a discrepancy between the participants’ views on how ‘correctness’ should be interpreted as well as their methods for teaching and assessing pronunciation. In addition, none of the participants explicitly expressed a subscription to any particular pronunciation model or standard, but rather that they focused on intelligibility over native speaker accent accuracy. Through personal communications with the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) and a university professor of English at a teacher education programme, tendencies are observable of attempts at shifting responsibility for interpreting, understanding, and applying the syllabi, ultimately leaving individual teachers to uphold the demand of an equitable education through subjective interpretations of pronunciation teaching.  The implications of this study suggest that the field of pronunciation teaching in both Swedish and international context is still underdeveloped and in desperate need of further research. Whilst this study may have limited reach or impact on the field as such, it may serve as an indicator for the problem at large for teachers, researchers and educational agencies as well as promoting an awareness of issues in the equitability of pronunciation teaching. This paper may also serve as a basis for discussion in teacher teams or other educational opportunities for teachers on the development of coherent pronunciation constructs.

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This study investigates the application of the world Englishes (WE) paradigm to English language teaching (ELT) in the higher education context of Japan, as well as the possible application of competing paradigms that also work within a pluricentric view of English: English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). The Chukyo University Department of World Englishes (DWE), within the College of World Englishes, serves as the primary site of inquiry. A main focus of the study is to explore the development of a broader concept of World Englishes for educational contexts. A literature review of work in the three fields of WE, EIL, and ELF was conducted, as well as a literature review of leading work in the field of English language curriculum design. The literature reviews establish a baseline of what is currently known in these fields. To provide additional answers to the research questions for this study, three sets of qualitative data were obtained and analyzed: a survey of graduates of the DWE since 2006, a survey of teachers in the DWE, and a series of observations of actual classes within the DWE. A coding scheme was designed for each of the two survey instruments to facilitate their analysis, which was used to report on and analyze the survey data, as well as incorporating actual excerpts from the raw data, to better illustrate and support particular trends or commonalities expressed in the data. The classroom observations were written up in the form of ‘vignettes’ from which further analysis could be made and triangulated with the data from the two surveys. These results were then interpreted to report the findings of the study, and a series of themes were identified that showed potential areas to focus on for curriculum enhancements. These include: the overcoming of shyness in Japanese students, the insufficiency of communicative language teaching (CLT) within a 4-skills curriculum, the applicability of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in Japanese higher education, the need for more academic and business/professional education, the concept of world mindedness, the overall relevance of the WE/EIL/ELF paradigms, and the concept of ‘Educated English’ (Kachru 2003, Bamgbose 1982), as an objective for the Expanding Circle. The concept of Educated English in particular, has heretofore been underexplored in Expanding Circle WE research. The study concludes that based on the needs of students in the DWE, and more widely in Japan and across other Expanding Circle contexts, a broader concept of WE is necessary to better inform ELT curricular and pedagogical practices. The goal of working towards educated Japanese English as an outcome is more realistic for higher proficiency, highly motivated students, and the study concludes that ELT pedagogy to realize this goal is better suited to creation of an honors track, and general track, in the DWE and other institutions. Ultimately, the thesis contributes new insights into creating a broader concept of WE, drawing on research from competing paradigms, and posits a more suitable model of English pedagogy for Expanding Circle users of English.

This study investigates the application of the world Englishes (WE) paradigm to English language teaching (ELT) in the higher education context of Japan, as well as the possible application of competing paradigms that also work within a pluricentric view of English: English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). The Chukyo University Department of World Englishes (DWE), within the College of World Englishes, serves as the primary site of inquiry. A main focus of the study is to explore the development of a broader concept of World Englishes for educational contexts. A literature review of work in the three fields of WE, EIL, and ELF was conducted, as well as a literature review of leading work in the field of English language curriculum design. The literature reviews establish a baseline of what is currently known in these fields. To provide additional answers to the research questions for this study, three sets of qualitative data were obtained and analyzed: a survey of graduates of the DWE since 2006, a survey of teachers in the DWE, and a series of observations of actual classes within the DWE. A coding scheme was designed for each of the two survey instruments to facilitate their analysis, which was used to report on and analyze the survey data, as well as incorporating actual excerpts from the raw data, to better illustrate and support particular trends or commonalities expressed in the data. The classroom observations were written up in the form of ‘vignettes’ from which further analysis could be made and triangulated with the data from the two surveys. These results were then interpreted to report the findings of the study, and a series of themes were identified that showed potential areas to focus on for curriculum enhancements. These include: the overcoming of shyness in Japanese students, the insufficiency of communicative language teaching (CLT) within a 4-skills curriculum, the applicability of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in Japanese higher education, the need for more academic and business/professional education, the concept of world mindedness, the overall relevance of the WE/EIL/ELF paradigms, and the concept of ‘Educated English’ (Kachru 2003, Bamgbose 1982), as an objective for the Expanding Circle. The concept of Educated English in particular, has heretofore been underexplored in Expanding Circle WE research. The study concludes that based on the needs of students in the DWE, and more widely in Japan and across other Expanding Circle contexts, a broader concept of WE is necessary to better inform ELT curricular and pedagogical practices. The goal of working towards educated Japanese English as an outcome is more realistic for higher proficiency, highly motivated students, and the study concludes that ELT pedagogy to realize this goal is better suited to creation of an honors track, and general track, in the DWE and other institutions. Ultimately, the thesis contributes new insights into creating a broader concept of WE, drawing on research from competing paradigms, and posits a more suitable model of English pedagogy for Expanding Circle users of English.

Innerhalb des Faches ‚Auslandsgermanistik‘ existieren bislang keine einheitlichen überschaubaren Richtlinien und Handlungsschritte für die Lehre des berufsorientierten Übersetzens auf allen sprachlichen Leistungsniveaus in Fremdsprachenstudien. Trotz der Einbeziehung der Sprachmittlung in den Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen (GER), ist hier ein professioneller Gebrauch der sprachmittlerischen Fertigkeiten in der Auslandsgermanistik nicht einbezogen (Fitzpatrick 1997:66). Daraus folgt die noch existierende Trennung der Fertigkeiten, die in den Fächern Übersetzungswissenschaft und Fremdsprachenstudien (im konkreten Fall hier: Auslandsgermanistik) zu trainieren sind. Weitere Folgen solcher Abgrenzungen lassen sich in einem sich noch entwickelnden Land wie Nigeria finden. In diesem Land gibt es aufgrund der Nichtverfügbarkeit von qualifizierten Lehrenden im Fach ‚Übersetzen‘ (de-en, en-de) keine funktionale Übersetzerausbildung, es fehlt auch eine Berufsorientierung im Germanistikstudium für nigerianische Germanistikstudierende. Außerdem bedürfen die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Nigeria und Deutschland einer funktionierenden und belastbaren ‚Arbeitsbühne‘, die die Weiterentwicklung der Wirtschaft im Bereich der sprachlichen Dienstleistungen fördert und nicht, wie bisher, einschränkt. In dieser Dissertation wurde daher untersucht, wie das berufliche Übersetzen im Rahmen einer berufsbezogenen Fremdsprachlehre eingebunden werden kann. Am Beispiel des Germanistikstudiengangs in Nigeria lässt sich das anpassungsfähige Modell eines berufspraktischen Lehrplans zum Übersetzen ‚VOTT‘ als Zusatz zu den schon bestehenden Lehrplänen entwickeln.

Innerhalb des Faches ‚Auslandsgermanistik‘ existieren bislang keine einheitlichen überschaubaren Richtlinien und Handlungsschritte für die Lehre des berufsorientierten Übersetzens auf allen sprachlichen Leistungsniveaus in Fremdsprachenstudien. Trotz der Einbeziehung der Sprachmittlung in den Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmen (GER), ist hier ein professioneller Gebrauch der sprachmittlerischen Fertigkeiten in der Auslandsgermanistik nicht einbezogen (Fitzpatrick 1997:66). Daraus folgt die noch existierende Trennung der Fertigkeiten, die in den Fächern Übersetzungswissenschaft und Fremdsprachenstudien (im konkreten Fall hier: Auslandsgermanistik) zu trainieren sind. Weitere Folgen solcher Abgrenzungen lassen sich in einem sich noch entwickelnden Land wie Nigeria finden. In diesem Land gibt es aufgrund der Nichtverfügbarkeit von qualifizierten Lehrenden im Fach ‚Übersetzen‘ (de-en, en-de) keine funktionale Übersetzerausbildung, es fehlt auch eine Berufsorientierung im Germanistikstudium für nigerianische Germanistikstudierende. Außerdem bedürfen die Wirtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Nigeria und Deutschland einer funktionierenden und belastbaren ‚Arbeitsbühne‘, die die Weiterentwicklung der Wirtschaft im Bereich der sprachlichen Dienstleistungen fördert und nicht, wie bisher, einschränkt. In dieser Dissertation wurde daher untersucht, wie das berufliche Übersetzen im Rahmen einer berufsbezogenen Fremdsprachlehre eingebunden werden kann. Am Beispiel des Germanistikstudiengangs in Nigeria lässt sich das anpassungsfähige Modell eines berufspraktischen Lehrplans zum Übersetzen ‚VOTT‘ als Zusatz zu den schon bestehenden Lehrplänen entwickeln.