Kachrus 3 Circles of English

1
Kachrus 3 Circles of English

• Inner - Outer - Expanding
• I aye likit tae rake aboot ither fooks places.
  Its just winnerfae fit ye can learn. Eence fin I
  wis hame frae Cambridge I bikit over tae see a
  freen o mine.
• Nyaakit as when the howdie skelpit his doup.

2

• English as a lingua franca
• as a language of communication between people
  for whom English is not a first language
• ASEAN
• ASEAN 3
• EU

3

• An example the Hong Kong context
• The current language policy of the government
  aims to make its citizens plurilingual in
  Cantonese, English and Putonghua, and biliterate
  in Chinese and English.

4

• Despite an increase in diversity, the great
  majority of school children in HK have Cantonese
  as their L1.
• The great majority of children in HK are
  institutional bilinguals, in that they primarily
  learn English in a school setting.

5

• The great majority of HKs language teachers are
  L1 speakers of Cantonese who have themselves
  learned English in school
• Thus the great majority of HK schoolchildren are
  L1 Cantonese speakers who learn English in
  schools by being taught English by L1 Cantonese
  teachers

6

• Level 5 Pronunciation is completely error-free
  with no noticeable first language (L1)
  characteristics. Any mistakes that occur can be
  categorized as slips rather than systematic
  errors. Sentence stress and intonation patterns
  are always appropriate and communication is never
  impeded in the slightest. (Government of the Hong
  Kong SAR121)

7

• NS model and problems for local teachers
• Lack of confidence in own variety
• Resentment (pay, conditions, quals. etc.)
• Use of linguistic resources played down
• Prejudice against local bilingual models
• But
• Bilingualism needs to be seen as normal
• (Graddol 2006)

8

• NS model and problems for local learners
• Its unattainable
• It treats L1 influence as a problem / deviant
• Its de-motivating
• It devalues bilingual performance

9

• plurilingualism is the ..ability to use several
  languages to varying degrees of proficiency and
  for different purposes
• The aim of language teaching, is therefore not
  native-speaker-like mastery, but the ability to
  use languages for the purposes needed by the
  learners.

10

• EFL paradigm
• Difference from NS model is deviant
• L1 interferes with L2
• Code-mixing is bad

11

• ELF paradigm
• Difference is new variety
• L2 influence is creative / natural
• Code-mixing is evidence of linguistic
  sophistication

12

• Will I be intelligible?
• varieties of English spoken by people whose first
  language has a tendency towards syllable timing
  (and these include most Asian varieties of
  English) are more easily intelligible in the
  international arena than are speakers of
  stress-timed varieties

13

• A codified description of bilingual Thai
  English speakers English would
• provide Thailand with a more appropriate and a
  more attainable set of linguistic benchmarks for
  the teaching and learning of English in schools

14

• legitimise the variety of English spoken by
  highly proficient local English teachers as being
  relevant and appropriate linguistic models for
  their students.
• help Thai people establish a sense of identity,
  self-confidence and pride in their bilingual
  variety of English.

15

• NS vs. NNS Teachers
• Linguistic proficiency vs. cultural identity
• Prejudices, including racism
• Common to employ untrained NS
• must like children

16

• Native speakerism represents a desire to know
  about a foreign other in order to change and
  improve it. Native speakerism is concerned by
  cultural correction, which is driven by a
  chauvinistic desire to dominate and control..
  (Holliday 2005157).
• So, lets discard the NS vs. NNS divide

17

• be multilingual and multicultural and ideally
  know the language of their students and
  understand the educational, social and cultural
  contexts in which they are working
• either be able to provide an appropriate and
  attainable model for their students or, if they
  speak another variety, understand that where a
  local variety of English exists, it is an
  appropriate and well-formed variety that is not
  inferior to their own

18

• understand how different varieties of English
  have developed linguistically and the ways in
  which they differ phonologically, lexically,
  grammatically, rhetorically and culturally
• understand how English has developed in specific
  contexts and how it has spread across the world
  
• understand the role(s) of English in the
  community and how these interrelate with other
  local languages
• have an understanding of the methods of teaching
  used in the community and be able to evaluate
  methods for specific contexts

19

• be able to evaluate the specific needs of their
  students and teach towards those needs
• be able to evaluate ELT materials critically to
  ensure that these do not, either explicitly or
  implicitly, promote a particular variety of
  English or culture at the expense of others

20

• be trained in the use of relevant technologies
  both to enhance their teaching and to encourage
  autonomy in their students
• be able to contribute to the extra-curricula life
  of the institution in which they are working
• know the context and respect local knowledge