Today English has become the Lingua Franca or common language of many people, regardless of their being native or nonnative speaker of English all over the world. Therefore, it has become necessary to educate pre-/in-service teachers with an awareness towards the significance of the involvement of an "English as a lingua franca" (ELF) perspective in their language teaching practice in multilingual/multicultural contexts. In a rapidly changing world, many English language teachers and teacher trainers are cognizant of the impact of migration in their teaching contexts. However, it is still not very clear to what extent and in what context they are integrating ELF related issues in their language teaching practice. In this study, we make an attempt to unveil in-service teachers' beliefs about ELF in pedagogical practice in three different countries -Poland, Portugal and Turkey. In order to do that we have adopted a questionnaire from an earlier study investigating the involvement of culture in ELT in expanding circle contexts. The findings of the study revealed that although teachers in these contexts are aware of the significance of the inclusion of an ELF-aware perspective in ELT, they are still hesitant about its applicability in their own teaching context. This study has implications for raising English language teachers' awareness in conceptualizing how an ELF-aware pedagogical approach can be implemented in a multilingual/multicultural context.
The international role of English has made it the most taught foreign language in the world. As a result, standard native varieties have thrived as models within the field of English language teaching, particularly Standard British English and Standard American English, and alongside, the cultures associated with them. Although the majority of English language learners are part of Kachru’s Expanding Circle, teaching materials have continued to focus on native speaker models, neglecting many of the times other examples of successful communication among non-native speakers. Bearing this in mind, it is critical that teaching materials take on a more ELF-aware perspective, where intercultural communicative competence and intercultural awareness are fomented. In view of this, a comparative analysis was conducted between coursebooks in Portugal and Turkey. A locally published (LP) and an internationally published (IP) coursebook of the first year of secondary education from each country was analyzed. The aim of this analysis was twofold: to identify the similarities and differences between (1) Portuguese and Turkish EFL coursebooks and (2) LP and IP coursebooks in Portugal and Turkey, as far as an ELF-aware approach is concerned. After comparing the coursebooks and verifying that much can still be done for a more ELF-aware pedagogy, various implications are put forth for the sake of a more critical approach towards materials development.
The traditional notion of English as a foreign language solely for communicating with native speakers can no longer be applied in a world that is constantly changing, hence paving the way for an alternative use of the language known as English as a lingua franca. As a result, instead of focusing only on grammatical correctness, research into language pedagogy has also come to recognize the importance of exploring bottom-up learning processes, and developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) and more communicative-based methods. Nowadays, it is essential to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and critical cultural awareness necessary to communicate successfully. To show the importance of integrating ICC in language pedagogy, a recording from the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English is analysed here to demonstrate the significance of developing critical awareness as well as several communicative strategies, so that language learners can afterwards have the necessary ICC to interact in today’s multi-lingual/cultural society.
<span lang="EN-US">Throughout multiples regions around the world, waves of migrants and refugees search for better and safer living conditions. As a result, classrooms are becoming increasingly multicultural and multilingual, with many teachers feeling challenged when faced with this ‘new’ reality. Being English the most commonly shared language around the world, the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom can be a ‘safe’ place where dialogue and intercultural communication are fomented. Not only can it facilitate the integration of migrant/refugee students, but it can also contribute to expanding learners’ (inter)cultural awareness and knowledge of how English may be used by multiple speakers (native and non-native) in diverse settings. In light of this, it is imperative that educators develop more inclusive English-language lessons that help break down barriers and taboos, in terms of language and culture. In order to achieve this, however, it is vital that these issues be developed at the beginning of any teacher training. Bearing this in mind, this paper begins by presenting the concept of English as a Lingua Franca and intercultural communication and follows up by reflecting upon how the traditional EFL classroom should to be reconsidered in light of today’s international role of English. Taking into account the specific growing multicultural/multilingual Portuguese context, the last section of this paper presents how these issues are developed in two pre-service MA programs in English Language Teaching at the University of Lisbon, and also how student teachers have integrated ELF-related activities/resources in their practicum, along with a commentary on their learners’ reactions.</span>
Following the trend that has emerged in most European educational contexts, Portugal is no exception and has witnessed an increasing number of multilingual/multicultural classrooms. According to the Ministry of Education, students from over 180 nationalities were enrolled in Portuguese schools in 2017. Consequently, English language teachers have had to adapt to this by acknowledging a gradual shift from the notion of correctness to appropriateness and intelligibility, reassessing the traditional learning target that focuses on native speaker norms. Thus, the scope of this chapter stems from Kirkpatrick (2007, p. 194), which advocates that "in aiming to teach and learn English in ways that would allow for effective communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries the focus of the classroom moves from the acquisition of the norms associated with a standard model to a focus on learning linguistic features, cultural information, and communication strategies that will facilitate communication." This study reports the findings of two questionnaires distributed to Basic and Secondary teachers (N = 133) and students (N = 100), as well as interviews with Basic Education students (N = 15), to ascertain their awareness of and attitudes towards English language teaching, learning and use in multilingual classrooms. Findings indicate the need for promoting teacher and learner competences that are crucial for responding to and building upon the diversity found in today's multilingual English language classrooms.
Film subtitling involves per se a number of constraints. However, when characters speak with a particular dialect or accent, the task is even more complex. Linguistic variation is a key factor in depicting a film character and the translator will consider the implications of his/her choice when translating into the Target Culture, since such sociolinguistic and/or idio-syncratic language features contribute to the meaning(s) of a film. The presence of linguistic variation may be tied in with the medium through which a film is distributed; hence translating for different media may imply the application of different strategies. This article will analyze the film subtitling of Gone with the Wind (1939), in particular how Mammy’s speech is translated into Portuguese for RTP (public television channel), TVI (private television channel), VHS and the Internet, while also searching for translational regularities.
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