English Language Teachers’ Awareness of English as a Lingua Franca in Multilingual and Multicultural Contexts

Abstract

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.

A case study of Turkish pre-service teachers of English in an international exchange program: ELF and WE perspectives

“…With an expansion in the multilingual zones in the globalized world, prospective teachers need to shift from the monolingual and normative orientation to an ELF-aware approach in English Language Teaching (ELT) (Bayyurt et al, 2019). To accomplish this shift, they need to gain familiarity with language variation and the language and identity relationship as well as developing critical reflection, effective communication, accommodation, adaptation, experiential and collaborative learning skills that play a pivotal role in ELF-aware teacher education (Bayyurt & Sifakis, 2015a, 2015bBiricik-Deniz et al, 2016;Sifakis, 2007;Sifakis & Bayyurt, 2018).…”

“…The notion of ELF as a tool for global communication prevails in Italy. Since English became a compulsory school subject in 2011 (Bayyurt et al, 2019), trainee teachers in Italy have been introduced to ELF-and WE-related issues (Vettorel, 2015). They are prompted to shift from their monolithic perspective towards a plurithic one reflecting the dynamic and fluid nature of languages shaped by use and users as opposed to "fixed entities" (Vettorel, 2015).…”

Korean University Students' Usage, Awareness and Attitudes Toward ELF

“…간 소통으로 추정되고 있는데 (Seidlhofer, 2004: 209) (Christiansen, 2015: 132). (Dewey, 2007;Baker, 2009;Jenkins, 2009;Houghton, 2009;Mauranen et al, 2010;Cogo, 2012;Swan, 2012;Oda, 2017;Kiczkowiak & Lowe, 2018 (Kumar Bhowmik, 2015;Murata, 2017;Oda, 2017;Sifakis, 2017;Zhang &Du, 2018;Bayyurt et al, 2019;Si, 2019;Sifakis, 2020;Taglialatela, 2021).…”

High school language division students’ perceptions of English as a Lingua Franca

“…However, ELF awareness does not seem to have reached a satisfactory level in Turkey as researchers have observed that the majority of students and teachers cannot still adopt ELF principles in practice wholeheartedly due to some perceived constraints, including primarily assessment and measurement (e.g. Bayyurt et al, 2019;Jenkins, Cogo & Dewey, 2011;İnceçay & Akyel, 2014;Griffiths & Soruç, 2019;Kanık, 2013).…”