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

Abstract

This study aims to discover the perceptions of high school language division students towards English as a lingua franca in a Turkish province. For this purpose, a descriptive survey method was chosen via using a questionnaire consisting of 13 questions. The responses were rated on a 4-point Likert scale. The data were gathered from 85 students of three high schools in the fall term of the 2018/19 school year. Being analysed descriptively, the data revealed that most students believed in the importance of teachers' teaching standard English pronunciation to students and that language teachers should teach good grammar to their students. In spite of the students' strong-willed attitude towards pronunciation, they reported that their teachers seemed to have a higher expectation of their performance in grammar. The results also showcased that language division students desired their teachers to attach much importance to both pronunciation and grammar. Furthermore, as far as gender is concerned, more females than males perceived that native English speaking teachers (NESTs) are more effective teachers for language students, suggesting that government hire NESTs to teach English in Turkey. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the students strongly cling to normative perceptions about English as if it was still the language spoken primarily by native English speakers. Keywords:English as a lingua franca native English speakers non-native English speakers ownership of English standard language ideology

English Language Teachers’ Perceptions of World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca

“…Since they lack of awareness about the current sociolinguistic issues of English and Turkish, they don't place non-standard varieties and dialects in their teaching. In tandem with that, Yücedağ and Karakaş (2019) discovered most students put emphasis on the standard English pronunciation and they think language teachers should teach good grammar to them. However, the teachers in this study do not focus on pronunciation mistakes and errors of their students.…”

Applied linguistics and language education research in Turkey: 2016–2022

“…5.4. Teaching English as a lingua franca (ELF) and World Englishes (WE) Among the relevant studies that have been published in recent years, most seem to focus on attitudes towards ELF/WEs, either in relation to participants' current awareness and openness towards ELF/ WEs (Altınmakas et al, 2019;Cesur & Balaban, 2020;Çeçen & Serdar Tülüce, 2019;Geçkinli & Yılmaz, 2021;Yücedağ & Karakaş, 2019), or in relation to the changes in attitudes following specific training, out-of-class communications in English, or experience abroad (Biricik Deniz et al, 2020;Irgın, 2020;Kaçar, 2021;Kemaloğlu-Er & Bayyurt, 2022;Uğurlu et al 2022). Çeçen and Serdar Tülüce (2019), for example, examined pre-service EFL teachers' attitudes towards speakers coming from the three 'circles' of English (Kachru, 1985).…”