Since English is increasingly being taught worldwide, questions about the importance of teaching context continue to grow. But studies of EFL (English as a foreign language) educational systems in various contexts are rare. This holistic study was intended to describe and analyze one European setting where English is taught as a foreign language, to uncover the underlying assumptions and needs that drive EFL education, to hear teacher and student voices about the confidence they have in the system, and to identify factors in the layers of context that make this system unique.The study relies mainly on qualitative methods, but uses also some quantitative data to support and/or refute information obtained through qualitative research methods. The ethnographic field work was conducted on location in Finland from January to December of 1992.The findings indicate that the Finnish EFL education system is unique because of various social, political, and linguistic factors that are characteristic of the nation itself. Several factors contribute to the effectiveness of the system, such as highly qualified instructors, excellent instructional materials, and up-to-date teaching methods. More importantly, however, it is Finland's commitment to quality foreign language education that seems to be decisively instrumental in achieving the expected results. Thus, the nation as a whole invests in the development and research of foreign language education. It appears that the key to the relative success of the English education system in Finland involves just the right combination of interrelated factors and level of confidence found at every layer of the context.Since most EFL systems consist of the same universal elements' (teachers, students, materials, methods, etc.), the study proposes an EFL Contextual System Model, which is applicable to other settings. The Model can be used to analyze and interpret the parts and interrelationships of EFL systems in various educational contexts.By learning about the EFL context in Finland, the worldwide TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) community can gain a better understanding of the importance and function of the broader teaching/learning context itself and draw parallels between EFL educational systems in various nations. / Department of English
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179606 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Phillips, Marjo H. |
| Contributors | Ely, Christopher M. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iv, 431 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | e-fi--- |
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