This study is an attempt to discuss and reflect over which cultures that are present in the reading material in the English language education in the years four to six at in a school outside of Malmö. The concept of culture is discussed from an educational perspective. The cultures present in the learners reading material and the teachers perspective on foreign cultures is also discoursed. Relevant previous research is highlighted and used to examine the collected material. The data is collected from interviews with three middle school teachers and from an analysis of the reading material that is used in the English education. The results reveal that British or American culture is heavily over-represented. The three teacher’s education is based almost solely on the textbook and therefore the textbook is given great mandate on which cultures that are present in the classroom. The results led to the argumentation that the English education in Sweden ought to be challenged. The endonormative perspective that places a clear emphasize on the native speaking norm, and revolves around inner circle cultures in the English classroom does not suffice as a foundation for our young learners. To solely focus on an English or American context will not prepare our pupils for the global challenges that lies ahead. English as an international language is spoken in all the corners of the world and all these corners ought to be invited into our classroom.

No description available.

No description available.

abstract: This study investigates how the teaching English as an international language (TEIL) framework can be integrated into the English curriculum of the Korea Military Academy (KMA). Addressing the research gap on TEIL and military settings, this study first critically reviews issues around the varieties of English (i.e., world Englishes), the international functions of English, and the pedagogical implications of TEIL in today’s globalizing world. The study then examines current challenges and objectives of ELT and suggests practical strategies for incorporating TEIL into the English curriculum of the KMA. The study suggests the following four strategies to apply TEIL into the English curriculum of the KMA: (a) introduce WE/EIL activities into the English Conversation course; (b) establish a WE/EIL course; (c) provide extracurricular WE/EIL activities; and (d) incorporate intercultural content into the Military English course. The study argues that implementing these suggestions would help cadets develop both their linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural communicative competence that are essential for them to become professional military communicators who can effectively communicate with interlocutors from diverse linguistic, cultural, and national backgrounds in international military contexts. While the study contributes to the literature by bridging the gap between TEIL and military contexts, it demonstrates the following implications: (a) a meaningful case of applying TEIL into the military context in Korea; (b) the importance of both linguistic proficiency in English and intercultural competence for ELT in the KMA; and (c) the possibility of influencing the Korea Air Force and Naval Academy to reexamine their English curricula. The study concludes that the English curriculum of the KMA should be revised based on the recognition of the symbiotic relationship among linguistic proficiency in English, exposure to diverse varieties of English, and intercultural competence in order to produce cadets who can effectively communicate in English as a military lingua franca for the success of their designated military objectives in the future. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis English 2019

Taking a social constructionist perspective, this dissertation explores politeness-as-practice (Eelen, 2001) of L2 English speakers in intercultural communication encounters. The study is situated within the English as an International Language (EIL) paradigm which suggests that pragmatic norms in interaction between EIL speakers are dynamic and flexible, and therefore, instead of measuring EIL speakers' success in interaction against a "native-speaker" norm, the research should focus on how speakers themselves define and (co-)construct pragmatic norms and successful interaction (e.g., House, 2003a; McKay, 2009). The view of politeness taken in this study is based on postmodern approaches to politeness, which submit that politeness is dynamic and that the politeness meanings of particular strategies, utterances, and linguistic forms are assigned to them by participants within an interaction. Data were collected through background questionnaires, written questionnaires in the form of critical incidents, and semi-structured informal interviews. The data were analyzed qualitatively, relying primarily on discourse analysis complemented by the theories of "third place", facework, and politeness. The results of this study offer insights into the nature of pragmatic competence in EIL, the processes of the development of such competence, and challenges that L2 English speakers face in this process. Specifically, this study investigates how L2 speakers of English conceptualize politeness, the hybrid and dynamic nature of their pragmatic competence in general and politeness-in-practice in particular, and the interrelationship between politeness and other factors that determine the speakers' pragmatic choices in situations that have potential for misunderstanding, conflict, and face loss. This dissertation contributes to the theory and research in the fields of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), EIL, Intercultural Communication, Interlanguage Pragmatics and Politeness by providing insights into the pragmatic competence and politeness of L2 English speakers. This work deepens the body of scholarship in these fields in that it provides the speakers' own perspectives on the processes of their pragmatic competence development and their concepts of politeness. It is also hoped that insights provided by this study will benefit English language teachers who aim to develop intercultural communicative competence in their classrooms.

Informed by, and seeking to contribute to, discussions about appropriate methodology (e.g. Holliday, 1994), my study as reported in this thesis was concerned with appropriacy of paradigms in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). It explored practitioner perspectives in Thai higher education (HE) in this era when English has become 'the' main international language for intercultural communication (IC). This linkage between English as an international language (EIL) and IC is evident in the strategy of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) - of which Thailand was a founding member in 1967 - for greater economic, cultural and socio-political integration among its members. For practitioners like me, this regional strategic move in conjunction with Thai policies and curricular documentation raises questions about the appropriacy of the established practices of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Thailand. My multi-method qualitative case study addressed such questions by exploring the perspectives of three Thai-national teachers of English working in a Thai public university regarding the purposes of, and assumptions underpinning, their teaching of English. As informed by an understanding of their perspectives, I then considered the possible influences which might have shaped these perspectives. The study identified the teachers' main purposes to be short-term, instrumental ones - i.e. for academic study and examination preparation purposes. As such, they tended not to attach much value to the teaching of the cultural dimension (i.e. the target culture of native English speakers [NESs], the students' home cultures and other cultures) or intercultural dimension (i.e. knowledge, skills and mindset needed for engaging people from differing cultural backgrounds). These purposes were underpinned by assumptions they held about the NES linguistic norms as testable norms in TEFL and Teaching English for Academic Purposes (TEAP). The teachers seemed unfamiliar with alternative paradigms - such as Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL) - that might align top-level policy statements and actual classroom practices. This unfamiliarity suggests the inadequacy of the teachers' educational and professional development experiences. The influences from their institution such as exams-oriented and English-medium academic agendas also had repercussions for the teachers' perspectives. Stepping back from the teachers' perspectives, my study suggested discourse inconsistencies across Thai HE regarding paradigms and purposes of TESOL. This situation is unhelpful vis-à-vis the ASEAN foregrounding of EIL for IC, and the consequent need, through TESOL, to prepare Thai students to engage in IC with people within and beyond ASEAN. My study has implications for a direction of change for TESOL in the Thai HE and possibly for similar contexts elsewhere. It offers some suggestions about teacher education that can be supportive of reorienting TESOL towards appropriate and purposeful paradigms.

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-05-14T18:02:38Z No. of bitstreams: 3 Tese Domingos Siqueira3.pdf: 1190041 bytes, checksum: d61f4bb0222fae13ca0250209379da8a (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira2.pdf: 400677 bytes, checksum: 2022376f38d859e5c7990a28ace8de43 (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira1.pdf: 1703800 bytes, checksum: 1a3e63c846a0a706bfa3d1e1070d9875 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alda Lima da Silva(sivalda@ufba.br) on 2013-06-04T17:24:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 3 Tese Domingos Siqueira3.pdf: 1190041 bytes, checksum: d61f4bb0222fae13ca0250209379da8a (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira2.pdf: 400677 bytes, checksum: 2022376f38d859e5c7990a28ace8de43 (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira1.pdf: 1703800 bytes, checksum: 1a3e63c846a0a706bfa3d1e1070d9875 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-06-04T17:24:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Tese Domingos Siqueira3.pdf: 1190041 bytes, checksum: d61f4bb0222fae13ca0250209379da8a (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira2.pdf: 400677 bytes, checksum: 2022376f38d859e5c7990a28ace8de43 (MD5) Tese Domingos Siqueira1.pdf: 1703800 bytes, checksum: 1a3e63c846a0a706bfa3d1e1070d9875 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Tomando como ponto de partida crenças, valores, reflexões, concepções e expectativas de professores de língua inglesa de três realidades educacionais de Salvador, Bahia, Brasil, sem deixar de levar em consideração as vantagens competitivas e as adversidades inerentes a cada contexto específico, esta pesquisa qualitativa de cunho etnográfico tem como objetivo principal investigar como o docente de inglês, atuando em um país do chamado ‘círculo em expansão’ do avanço do inglês (KACHRU, 1985), se percebe, até que ponto ele/ela está consciente das questões relacionadas ao ensino de inglês como língua internacional (ILI) e se sua prática reflete aquilo em que acredita. Além disso, tenta-se discutir, a partir de observações de aulas, posturas pedagógicas mais apropriadas ao ensino de inglês como LI em Salvador, chamando a atenção para os desafios que a adoção das mesmas representa para o professor contemporâneo. Numa primeira instância, estabeleceu-se um construto teórico ancorado em quatro pilares: (1) o contexto de inglês como língua internacional e as implicações pedagógicas para as diferentes realidades, (2) a relação língua e cultura e sua relevância no ensino de ILI, (3) a competência intercultural do professor como elemento fundamental nesse processo e (4) a adoção de uma pedagogia crítica de ensino de ILI, visando a uma ação político-social de cunho ideológico, reflexivo e transformador. O grupo de informantes constou de 15 (quinze) professores de inglês selecionados nos três segmentos, sendo que 5 (cinco) de cursos livres, 5 (cinco) de escolas públicas federais, estaduais e municipais e 5 (cinco) de instituições de ensino superior. Os dados foram coletados a partir de um questionário de pesquisa com 35 (trinta e cinco) perguntas, em grande parte, abertas, registros etnográficos de duas aulas de cada professor e gravações em vídeo de duas entrevistas coletivas do tipo livre-narrativa, onde foram discutidos os temas do construto teórico, além de outros voltados para as práticas pedagógicas e experiências dos participantes à luz de cada realidade. Os resultados e as constatações mostraram-se úteis e relevantes não só para a discussão de implicações metodológicas e político-ideológicas inerentes ao ensino de ILI na atualidade, mas, em especial, para a reflexão sobre pontos que possam contribuir para a (re)construção de um perfil mais adequado do professor de inglês como língua internacional em nosso contexto. / Salvador

One of our first courses at the teacher education program introduced us to how the English language could be taught with an approach we had not thought of before. In particular, the course discussed what it could mean for educators of English to implement a pluricentric approach in their teaching. As future teachers, we gained a whole new perspective on the implications of teaching an international language as English and the benefits it could have by doing so, such as the increment of intercultural awareness. However, during our internships we noticed that in-service teachers often have a rather monolithic way of teaching English, mostly targeting varieties in their teaching that originated from native-speaking countries such as, the United States and the United Kingdom. We conducted a qualitative research with the aim to investigate the beliefs of four upper secondary teachers of English, currently working at two different schools in Malmö, about teaching English with a pluricentric approach. To gather the data we used semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study show that on the one hand, most of the participating teachers express a desire to expose the students to different varieties of English and think of this as important. On the other hand, the investigation shows that the participating teachers prioritise other aspects in their choices, such as content, level and availability of the teaching material and consider variety not as a priority.

No description available.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os aspectos culturais, bem como seu tratamento didático, em uma coleção de livros didáticos de inglês desenvolvidos para atender os critérios do Programa Nacional do Livro Didático, o qual passou a incluir livros de língua estrangeira para o Ensino Fundamental em 2010. Esta análise insere-se em um contexto em que a língua inglesa alcança um número cada vez maior de pessoas em diversas partes do mundo, especialmente entre os que a usam como língua internacional, o que nos impõe a necessidade de repensar a abordagem cultural adotada em seu ensino. Trabalhos em áreas como a linguística aplicada, a educação e as ciências sociais nos mostram que a língua, enquanto processo social e dialogicamente construído, nunca pode ser considerada separada da cultura e esta, ainda que concebida de diversas formas ao longo da história, sempre fez parte do ensino de línguas. Na tradição de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira, o ensino de aspectos culturais frequemente serviu para que os alunos se adequassem à cultura estrangeira, evitando problemas. A partir de uma perspectiva que entende o inglês como língua internacional localmente apropriada, o foco deixa de recair sobre os países tradicionalmente associados ao idioma, EUA e Inglaterra, para pensarmos em uma competência intercultural mais abrangente, a fim de preparar os alunos para possíveis encontros interculturais. Para desenvolver essa competência, faz-se necessário que os alunos tenham contato com elementos de diferentes culturas e os ponham em relação com a sua própria cultura. Ao analisarmos a coleção didática, nosso objetivo era não somente identificar a abordagem cultural adotada, mas verificar se essas questões que vêm sendo discutidas há algumas décadas influenciam, de alguma forma, a produção de livros didáticos. Para isso, identificamos a existência de referências culturais específicas e os países aos quais se associavam, observamos os tópicos propostos e, ao analisar uma seção especialmente dedicada a temas socioculturais, examinamos se estes buscavam desenvolver os saberes necessários para a construção da competência intercultural (BYRAM, 1997). Após a análise, constatamos que o livro didático analisado apresentou um baixo número de referências culturais, mesmo que estas estivessem associadas a diferentes países, incluindo o Brasil, e que a abordagem cultural mostrou-se ainda incipiente, principalmente no tocante ao enfoque intercultural. / This work aims at analyzing the cultural aspects, as well as their didactic treatment, in an English textbook series developed to meet the criteria of the Brazilian Textbook National Program (Programa Nacional do Livro Didático), which has started to include foreign language textbooks for students from the 6th to the 9th grade in Fundamental Education (in the Brazilian educational system) in 2010. This analysis is inserted in a context in which English reaches an increasing number of people around the world, especially among those who use it as an international language, which imposes the need to rethink the cultural approach adopted in its teaching. Works in areas such as applied linguistics, education, social sciences show us that language, thought as a dialogically constituted social process, can never be considered separated from culture and this one, even though conceived in different ways throughout history, has always been part of language teaching. In the TEFL tradition, the teaching of cultural aspects has frequently served to make students conform to the foreign culture, thus avoiding problems. From a perspective that understands English as an international language locally appropriated, the focus ceases from falling on countries which have traditionally been associated with the language, the USA and England, so that we can think of a broader intercultural competence to prepare students for possible intercultural encounters. In order to develop such competence, it is necessary that the students have some contact with elements from different cultures and put them in relation with their own culture. By analyzing a textbook series, our aim was not only to identify the cultural approach adopted but also to check if the questions that have been discussed over the past decades influence in any way the production of textbooks. For that purpose, we identified the existence of culturespecific references and the countries they were related to, observed the proposed topics and, when analyzing a section especially dedicated to socio-cultural themes, we examined whether those aimed at developing the savoirs required to the building of the intercultural competence (BYRAM, 1997). After the analysis, we noticed that the textbook series under analysis presented a low number of cultural references, even though they were associated to different countries, including Brazil, and that the cultural approach has proved inchoate, mainly when it comes to an intercultural focus.