English Language Teaching (ELT) Around the World

Sandra J. Briggs

TESOL Past President

2008 - 2009

sjbtbf@earthlink.net

Introduction

Background•Language educator throughout my career

•Degrees in Spanish, Education, English, and Linguistics

•Began as secondary Spanish teacher and materials writer

In ELT

Instructor

Department chair

Curriculum developer

District ESL coordinator

Materials writer

The importance of TESOL in my career

It has broadened my perspective on the field.

It has been an essential part of my professional development.

I always tell teachers and teacher trainers how important professional associations are.

Through my textbook writing, ELT consulting, and work in TESOL, I have had a chance to travel to many countries to train teachers and speak about the field.

My first term on the TESOL Board began in 1997 and my second term will end in 2009. It has been a time of examining the field and working with ELT educators around the world.

My goals today•Share my perspective on the state of the ELT field with you

•Help you think about your own perspective

•That what we do here will be useful in ETAI and in your own careers

Handouts/Resources•Main sections in the talk

•Some important points

•Books, Web sites, and other resources I mention

Areas to consider•English as a global language

•Educations systems

•ELT educators

•What does this mean for ELT educators?

English as a Global Language

Crystal, D. (1997). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

There has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. There are therefore no precedents to help us see what happens to a language when it achieves genuine world status. . .

The balance between the competing demands of intelligibility and identity is especially fragile, and can easily be affected by social change, such as a swing in immigrant policy, new political alliances, or a change in a country’s population trends.

If we cannot predict the future, we can at least speculate, and there are some fascinating speculations to be made. It may well be the case. . .that the English language has already grown to be independent of any form of social control. There may be a critical number or critical

distribution of speakers (analogous to the notion of critical mass in nuclear physics) beyond which it proves impossible for any single group or alliance to stop its growth, or even influence its future. If there were to be a major social change in Britain which affected the use

of English there, would this have any real effect on the world trend? It is unlikely. And, as we have seen, even the current chief player, the USA, will have decreasing influence as the years go by, because of the way world population is growing. (p. 139)

13th International Conference

Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA)

February 2008

Conference Theme:

Global Change and Local Realities: Addressing Methodological Issues

Professor Laxman Gnawall

NELTA Vice President

Here in Nepal we have been trying to promote English by bringing about changes in content and methodology. However, we have seen that, on the one hand, methodology has been the central issue in ELT discourse, on the other, the methodology borrowed from the BANA settings has not always been compatible in the local context.

BANA

•Britain

•Australia

•New Zealand

•North America

Does English belong to these Inner Circle countries?

What should we call ourselves?

•English as a second language (ESL)

•English as foreign language (EFL)

•English language teaching (ELT)

•English as an additional language (EAL)

Burns, Anne (Ed.). (2005).Teaching English From a Global Perspective. Alexandria, Virginia: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Chapter 1: “Interrogating New Worlds of English Language Teaching”

She contrasts the ELT field as she knew it in the 1970’s when “the world of English language teaching (ELT) was a more comfortable and cozy place of people who followed neat and predictable methods--secure, especially for a native-English-speaking teacher, in the assumption that learning English meant learning to speak like me” with what she sees now in the 21st century.

Now it is a truism that English is a lingua franca, a language used locally and internationally, not only among so-called native speakers but by anyone wishing to activate his or her role as a member of an international communicative network. And to be an English teacher today is to play an inevitable part in this globalizing

enterprise, to recognize new areas of inquiry, now raised for perhaps the first time in the long history of ELT. (p. 1)

TESOL Web site

www.tesol.org

Click on News/Position Statements

Position Statement on English as a Global Language (2008)

As a global professional association, TESOL values individual language rights, collaboration in a global community, and respect for diversity and multiculturalism. In accordance with its Position Statement on Language Varieties (1996), TESOL encourages the recognition and appreciation of all varieties of English, including dialects, creoles, and world Englishes. In terms of

language teaching, TESOL does not advocate one standard or variety of English over another. Rather, TESOL urges English language teachers to make informed decisions at local, regional, and/or national levels, taking into account the purposes and contexts of use that are most relevant to their learners.

13th International Conference

Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA)

February 2008

Key Speech: Sandra J. Briggs, Think Globally, Act Locally

Educational Systems

TESOL’s mission is to ensure excellence in English language teaching to speakers of other languages.

TESOL Values

•Professionalism in language education

•Individual language rights

•Accessible, high quality education

•Collaboration in a global community

•Interaction of research and reflective practice for educational improvement

•Respect for diversity and multiculturalism

Have you noticed that teaching English involves much more than just teaching English?

Some of the issues we face in the ELT field are not directly related to the English that is taught in the classroom.

Who has access to a high quality education?

•Private versus public schools

•Urban versus rural

•Social class, race, religion

•Legal status in the country in which the students are studying

At what age do students begin to learn English and what part of their curriculum is in English?

Young learners need to develop oral language and literacy in their native language as a basis for learning other languages, including English.

The TESOL Position Statement on Language and Literacy

Development for Young English Language Learners (2001)

Directed at young learners in an ESL/ESOL situation in which the official position is that they must learn English

For young children, the quality of education they receive in their first years of schooling is often a critical indicator of their long-term academic success. Early literacy and language development are interlaced with social and cognitive development and are vital elements in the education of young children. For young ESOL learners, the complexities involved with literacy and language development are

compounded by the fact that they must be achieved in a language other than their native language, and often before they are literate in that language. Successful early childhood programs build upon the knowledge that young learners bring from home, and for young ESOL learners, this knowledge is learned and expressed in the native language.

What is the interaction of various languages in the educational system for students of all ages?

These are my observations from conversations with ELT educators over the last two years in Argentina, China, India, Mexico, Nepal, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States. Of course, I have also talked to a lot of people from countries that I haven’t visited during this time.

Matagallinas, Mexico in the classroom of Hilario Santibáñez

•Professor Peter Sayer at the MEXTESOL Convention in November 2007

•Peter and I began corresponding about his work.

Sayer, Peter. “Authenticity in Marginalized EFL Contexts” in Dantas-Whitney, M. and Rilling, S. (Eds.). (Under contract). Authenticity in the language classroom and beyond: Children and adolescent learners. Alexandria, VA.: TESOL.

•Peter observes and analyzes what goes on in Hilario’s classroom.

•In this classroom “authenticity” and “authentic materials” do not mean “made for native speakers.”

•In Matagallinas “authenticity” means “English as the students encounter it in their own lives.”

Languages in Hilario’s classroom

•The English the students learn in Hilario’s classroom

•Spanish

•Mixe, a local indigenous language

•English brought back from teacher and relative experience in the United States

The students in Matagallinas may be learning a global language, but they are learning it to use in their local context.

TESOL-SPAIN Convention

March 2007 in

Donostia/San Sebastián

Theme: “Content and Language Learning--

Two Birds, One Stone

•This theme sounded like what I do in the United States; I train mainstream teachers to work with ESL students, making their content comprehensible to them.

•The convention was held in a private school in the Basque-speaking region of Spain. At that school students were taught in Basque, Spanish, English, and French.

This theme was very exciting and important for the participants.

•Which courses should be taught in which languages?

•How can content teachers be trained in ELT?

•What happens to ELT educators in this new arrangement?

“21st Century/Lenovo Cup”

National English Speaking Competition in China

•Exceptional proficiency in English

•Chinese educational structure to the competition

•Local context was very important

Structure of competition

•Part I: 4-minute prepared speech on given topic, “Living with Globalization: Learn to Compete in the Global Era”

•Part II: 3-minute impromptu speech on a topic given to contestants 20 minutes ahead of time

•Part III: Contestants answer three questions asked by a question master

ELT Educators

I haven’t found a country yet where the requirements and standards for teaching English as an additional language are really set and followed.

Why?

•The demand for English teachers is tremendous.

•Teachers are often thrown into classrooms with minimal training.

•They are left to train themselves and their students in English.

•They have to find their own professional development.

The old native versus nonnative English-speaking teacher

controversy

Prejudice that native English -speaking teachers, even if they are not trained to teach English, are superior to nonnative English-speaking teachers, even if they are highly proficient and highly trained in ELT.

TESOL Position Statement Against Discrimination of Nonnative

Speakers of English in the Field of TESOL (2006)

The distinction between native and nonnative speakers of English presents an oversimplified either/or classification system that does not actually describe the range of possibilities in a world where English has become a global language.

TESOL strongly opposes discrimination against nonnative English speakers in the field of English language teaching. Rather, English language proficiency, teaching experience, and professionalism should be assessed on a continuum of professional preparation. All English language educators should be proficient in English regardless of their native languages, but English language proficiency should b viewed as only one criterion in evaluating a teacher’s

professionalism. Teaching skills, teaching experience, and professional preparation should be given as much weight as language proficiency.

Pasternak, Mindy and Bailey, Kathleen M. “Preparing Nonnative and Native-English Speaking Teachers: Issues of Professionalism and Proficiency” in Kamhi-Stein, Lía D. (Ed.). (2004). Learning and Teaching from Experience: Perspectives on nonnative English-Speaking Professionals. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan, pp. 155 - 175.

FIG. 2. Continua of target language proficiency and professional preparation (p. 161)

Proficient inthe target language

|1 | 3

||

Professionally Not professionallyprepared as a _________________________ prepared as alanguage teacher language teacher

|2 | 4 | |

Not proficientin the target language

This grid is very powerful. It gives us a way to talk about the proficiency and professionalism of ELT educators without reference to native and nonnative speaker status in English.

What subjects should be taught in English and who

should teach them?

There is a trend in many countries toward teaching certain subjects in English and asking the content instructors to do this most of the time without the proper ELT training.

My example has been the TESOL-SPAIN conference

•Mainstream teachers attended because they wanted any help they could get from the abrupt change to English

•It is the educational system’s responsibility to train the teachers for what they ask them to do.

•The educational systems need to consider the linguistic and educational issues involved before making the change to English.

•As ELT educators we need to advocate for educational policy changes made thoughtfully and with the help of ELT researchers and educators.

Where do we find good, on-going professional

development?

•If not in the educational system, where?

•Professional associations can provide some excellent professional development.

Two good examples from TESOL

•Donna Brinton, a leading expert in Content-Based Instruction (CBI)

•She participated in the TESOL Symposium on Teaching English for Specific Purposes in Buenos Aires, Argentina and her paper is available on the TESOL Web site.

•In 2007 she also presented a virtual seminar on “English as a Global Medium of Instruction.” It will soon be available on the TESOL Web site.

Teacher training and professional development are very complicated and expensive undertakings. They are crucial components for high-quality ELT education.

What does this mean for ELT educators?

TESOL’s Position Statement on Research and Policy (2005)

This position statement defines both “research” and “policy” for the ELT field and asks both researchers and policy makers to think carefully and conduct and use research wisely.

Here is the definition of research:

Research refers to a spirited inquiry and systematic investigation that contributes to the knowledge base of a field. Research-based knowledge provides a principled basis for understanding language teaching and learning, and making decisions about policies, plans, and actions. Research has the potential to help English language

teaching professionals improve the processes, outcomes, and conditions for language teaching, learning, and assessment. It also can help the profession address urgent social and political issues around the world, improve the materials used for second language teaching in schools, institutions, and workplaces,

as well as clarify debates and debunk myths regarding second language acquisition. A strong commitment to research as a means of improving professional knowledge is vital to the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).

Here is the definition of policy and TESOL’s hope that policy decisions will be made with reference to sound research:

Policy makers must go beyond the consideration of the conclusions of research. They must consider important variables within the research, the specific purposes and constituencies of the research, and

the impact of decisions made based on limited--or inconclusive--results. TESOL encourages researchers and policy makers to reflect on how their beliefs about the nature of language, language learning, and language teaching relate to policy decisions, and to discover what research has to say about these beliefs.

I am of the belief that teaching is researching.

•We need to keep up on the research.

•We need to carry out action research in our classes.

•We need to allow researchers access to our classes in order to carry on their work.

•We need to share what we know about the research among instructors, administrators, policy makers, and the public.

We also need to stay connected to other ELT educators locally and globally.

We also need to advocate for the ELT field, for the ELT educators, and for the students we teach.

•We have access to the facts needed to make good policy decisions, good program decisions, and good decisions about what and how to teach tomorrow.

•We are the experts and we need to share what we know with those in charge so that we really are providing high quality ELT education to our students.

I firmly believe that belonging to and participating in good professional associations helps us do all the things that we have talked about today. This participation will make us better educators and it will also strengthen the ELT profession.

Sandy Briggs

TESOL Past President

2008 - 2009

sjbtbf@earthlink.net