A Showcase Study on ELF-oriented Classroom Practices in a General English Course

Abstract

The lingua franca status of English in transcultural settings questions the orthodox pedagogical principles and mainstream approaches of English language teaching. To mirror the relationship between English as a subject matter and English as a globalised sociolinguistic phenomenon, some scholars call for revisiting the conventional approaches of pedagogy. Still, the response to the call for a transition from the monocentric methods of English language teaching is slow. Teachers have multiple concerns about how to incorporate a global dimension into a general English language course for undergraduates. The present study aims to address this gap by offering a practical example of how to address English as a lingua franca phenomenon in a general English language course. The study showcases classroom practices for raising awareness of today’s complexity of English use as a worldwide lingua franca. Ten Saudi undergraduates at a Saudi university participated in the study. The study shares the participants’ critical reflections on what they have learned from the course. Analysis of the participants’ reflections reveal that approaches based on complexity theory increased their familiarity with English linguistic diversities, developed their transcultural awareness and improved their ability to cope with English functional and contextual diversities. It is hoped that this showcase study can provide some guidance for the further implementation of a global dimension in other contexts.

The Impact of a Global Englishes Course on Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Teaching English as a Global Language

“…Although Global Englishes research is well established in European and Asian regions, it is limited in the Middle East and North Africa, especially in Saudi Arabia (Bukhari, 2021a(Bukhari, , 2021bElyas & Mahboob, 2020;Elyas et al, 2021). Furthermore, research on GELT for teacher education is still developing (Selvi & Yazan, 2021).…”

“…As Galloway and Rose (2021) noted, more research on the impact of GELT-informed teacher education on teachers' cognition is necessary. In Saudi Arabia, Bukhari (2021aBukhari ( , 2021b called for incorporating GELT within teacher education to overcome the mismatch between how teachers traditionally teach English and how people use English globally. To explore the feasibility of GELT in teacher education, research on attitudes towards GELT is necessary (Galloway & Numajiri, 2020).…”

“…Some researchers have suggested exploring the possibility of incorporating GELT into teachers' professional development and education programmes in Saudi Arabia (e.g. Al Al-Asmari & Khan, 2014;Alharbi, 2016;Bukhari, 2021aBukhari, , 2021b. To investigate Saudi ELT teachers' perspectives of ELF and World Englishes, Bukhari (2021a) carried out semi-structured interviews with a group of 10 ELT instructors from various universities in Saudi Arabia.…”