Global TESOL for the 21st Century. Heath Rose

      The book pools collective knowledge from World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, Global Englishes, and EIL, and examines the implications of this knowledge on English language education. As such, the book is intended for the use with university students and teachers in applied linguistics and TESOL programs, where research intersects with teacher development. The book is divided into four main content sections – each with a specific focus.

      Part 1 focuses on introducing theoretical foundations in the respective fields of World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, Global Englishes, EIL, highlighting the implications for English language education. Chapter 1 opens with an introduction to the main conceptual trends in English language education within a global context. This includes an overview of research into paradigms for examining the spread of English, namely World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca, Global Englishes, and EIL. The implications of all of these paradigms for current TESOL practices are then outlined in Chapter 2. Based on proposals and models introduced by TESOL researchers and researcher-practitioners, there follows a description of how these implications can be operationalised into TESOL practices, especially in terms of classroom innovations.

      Part 2 explores how these implications can be translated into language classroom curriculum and language usage in the classroom. One of the challenges in initiating change in TESOL is how to take account of the destabilisation of established norms and standards, such as native-speaker norms, into teaching. Chapter 3 attempts to untangle the complexity of language norms in TESOL by outlining the driving forces behind the growth of English as a global language, and the associated challenges for TESOL that have accompanied this trend. Chapter 4 sheds light on material evaluation and development in EIL. It presents a guided framework with which ELT professionals can analyse and evaluate their teaching materials with regard to the representation of EIL, and how one can utilise alternative materials for EIL-oriented teaching. Chapter 5 introduces the debate around current language assessment, arguing against measures of test-takers’ ability to use English against native-speaker norms. It suggests ways in which to radically re-think classroom assessment to focus on evaluating how well students can use the language in global contexts.

      Extant research with regard to the global TESOL classroom and curriculum are still mostly theoretical. Nevertheless, a growing number of empirical studies on perspectives of English language learners and teachers concerning EIL and EIL-oriented teaching has been carried out in recent years. These are included in Part 3 of the book. Chapter 6 provides an overview of research into learners’ attitudes to English in general and of EIL and EIL activities. Chapter 7 explores teachers’ cognition of TESOL practices, outlining their belief systems. It also addresses EIL in teacher education programs and discusses in-service teachers’ perspectives about incorporating EIL into their practices. In addition to learners’ attitudes and teachers’ cognition as addressed in previous chapters, Chapter 8 further explores learners’ and teachers’ views with regard to EIL in today’s world. These are discussed from multiple perspectives on teacher and learner identities.

      In the final section, we propose ideas which seek to contribute to a much-needed paradigm shift for 21st century TESOL. Chapter 9 provides a step by step guide for teachers who wish to incorporate EIL change into their own teaching contexts. The concrete examples of introducing and implementing EIL-oriented teaching in teacher education are also showcased in this chapter. The final chapter, Chapter 10, summarises key concepts in the book and makes a call for accumulating evidence for the implementation of EIL innovation in language teaching and language teacher education. It particularly calls for more reporting on practices by practitioner-researchers. In order to encourage the latter to conduct practice-based studies, such as action research, this chapter outlines various research tools that can be used by practitioner-researchers and presents example studies that have used some of these tools.

      Throughout these 10 chapters, we hope to illustrate to teachers, teachers-in-training, and practitioner-researchers what a truly global TESOL curriculum can look like in order to meet the needs of English language learners in the 21st century. We hope to inform and inspire teachers to become active agents of change by contributing to an agenda of global classroom innovation to move our profession towards global models of TESOL.

       Part 1

       Theoretical Foundations

       1Theorising the Teaching of English in Global Contexts

      Pre-reading Activities

      Think

      Look at Figure 1.1, which depicts the spread of English as an international language. Think about how the different ways that English has spread may have affected the language used in various global contexts. In what ways does English differ among the contexts with which you are familiar?

      Discuss

      In small groups, discuss the following questions:

      (1)Why do some fields of study prefer to use the plural ‘Global Englishes’ as opposed to ‘Global English’ when referring to English as an international language? Do you think pluralisation is necessary?

      (2)Most statistics suggest that the bulk of English users today are second-language users who have acquired English via Channel 4 spread, and the second most populous English speakers are bi/multilingual speakers from Channel 3 spread. What implications does this have in terms of learners’ likely future use of the language?

      (3)What implications does the spread of English have in terms of how the language should be taught in English language classrooms in global contexts?

      Introduction

      The rise of English as a global language has been well documented in the linguistic research literature. In just 500 years, the world has seen English grow from a national language spoken by fewer than 3 million people, to a global language with an estimated 2 billion speakers. During the 20th century, the world quickly moved from a situation where first language (L1) speakers constituted the majority of English users to the current reality where second, foreign and additional language (L2) users are in vast majority. The spread of English is a complex, historical phenomenon, that is intertwined with British colonialism and globalisation alongside numerous other political and social forces (see Chapter 3 for an overview of the driving forces). The ways in which English has spread can be viewed include: political, historical and linguistic. Figure 1.1 represents an alternative perspective that captures the sociolinguistic forces of English spread via four main channels.

      The first major wave of English dispersion occurred as a result of British colonialism, where the language spread around the world to places as far flung as Australia, Canada, Jamaica, Nigeria, Singapore and India. Subsequent changes to the language greatly depended on how the language was spread, because linguistic change is highly susceptible to exogenous forces (i.e. forces external to the language itself). Exogenous change occurs when speakers of a language come into contact with speakers of different dialects and languages. Change usually occurs in favour of the language that has more social prestige attached to the identities of these speakers. For example, if South-West English, Northern Irish and Scottish speakers came into heavy contact in a new community in the 1700s, the dialects