York St John University | www.yorksj.ac.uk

Rachel WicaksonoHead of Programme MA TESOL

York St. John University, UK

The 14th Conference of the International Association of World Englishes

Hong Kong, 5 December 2008

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What is your problem with English? Conversations (in and) about English as an international language at a UK university

York St John University library

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7358528.stm

‘Degrees are being awarded to overseas students who speak almost no English, claims a whistleblowing academic.’BBC News June 2008

Overseas students lack ‘the most basic language skills’

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Mr Brown was greeted by the Indian minister of state for

commerce

Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah visited an

Indian women's projectJanuary 2008

The ‘gift’ of English: from us to you

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7198546.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7198546.stm

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background

Speakers of all languages,

“…have different vocabularies, depending on the communities they belong to (age, residence, job, hobby, religion, ethnicity, clubs, etc). What (expert) listeners understand changes with their community membership (and their role in the conversation).” (Clark 1997, 579 - 81)

No monolithic lexicon

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background

“…what multilingual communities have known all along: language learning and language use succeed through performance strategies, situational resources, and social negotiations in fluid communicative contexts. Proficiency is therefore practice-based, adaptive and emergent.” Canagarajah (2007: 923)

Meaning as process 1

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background

“[multilingual] speakers are able to monitor each other’s language proficiency to determine mutually the appropriate grammar, lexical range and pragmatic conventions that would ensure intelligibility.” (Canagarajah 2007: 925)

Meaning as process 2

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background

“…native speakership is neither a privilege of birth nor of education, but “acceptance by the group that created the distinction between native and nonnative speakers”.” Braine (1999: xv), citing Kramsch (1997: 363)

backgroundNative speakership

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background

“Research is also beginning to show how bad some native speakers are at using English for international communication. It may be that elements of an [English as a lingua franca] syllabus could usefully be taught within a mother tongue curriculum.” (Graddol 2006: 87)

ELF and inherited EL?

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30 UK students on a ‘TESOL and Language Studies’ module, third year BA English Language and Linguistics.

20 International students on a ‘Communication Skills’ module, pre-undergraduate Foundation Programme.

Interviewed (and recorded) each other and used the information to plan lessons (TESOL) or prepare a presentation/report on ‘English as an International Language’ (Communication Skills).

Task

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24 recorded semi-structured interviews submitted.

7 interviews (whole or part) were transcribed, using a code that captured aspects of the interaction.

Data collection

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analysis

Conversation analysis.

“…how the parties are embodying for one another the relevance of the interaction and are thereby producing the social structure.” (italics in the original, Schegloff 1999: 113)

Data analysis

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analysis

Listen to an extract from the data and read the transcript.

Data analysis

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Co-constructing and contesting ‘native speaker’ and ‘non-native speaker’ identities:

• introduction of topics, question and answer sequences.

• your learning history, your difficulties.

• collaborative search for words and explanations.

• resisting being explained. ‘Not sure’?

Findings

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implications

• no relationship between competence in EIL and any variety of inherited EL?• mixed language assessments create a need for interaction.• spoken communication is demanding and unpredictable – willingness (and opportunities) to practise paying attention and negotiating meaning are key.

Implications?

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implications

“By thinking in terms of raising awareness, directing attention, developing sensitivity, challenging assumptions, etc., CA can [help] professionals to deepen their understanding and develop new competencies.” (Richards 2007: 5-6)

Implications?

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implications“…it is not necessary to show how people develop vested interests in being different from one another… without such vested interests being created from one moment to the next, people usually develop metacommunicative procedures for altering their communicative codes in order to make sense of each other. When communicative differences become irremedial, it is because there are sound political or economic reasons for their being so.” (McDermott & Gospodinoff 1979: 277)

Implications?

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referencesBraine, G. (1999). Non-native educators in English language teaching. Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.Brown, G. (2008). English - The World's language. 2008 speeches. Available online at: http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page14289.asp [last accessed 6/6/08]Canagarajah, S. (2007). Lingua franca English, multilingual communities, and language acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 91(focus issue), 923-939.Clark, H. H. (1997). Dogmas of understanding. Discourse Processes, 23, 567-598.Clark, H. H. (2001). Conversation. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.) International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences. London: Elsevier.Gargesh, R. (2006). South Asian Englishes. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru & C. L. Nelson (Eds.) The handbook of world Englishes (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics). Oxford: Blackwell.Graddol, D. (2006). English next. British Council. Available online at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-english-next.pdf [last accessed 6/6/08].

References

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referencesHall, C. J. (2005). An introduction to language and linguistics: breaking the language spell. London: Continuum.Jenkins, J (2007), English as a lingua franca: attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Kachru, B. B., Kachru, Y. & Nelson, C. L. (eds) (2006). The handbook of World Englishes. Oxford: Blackwell.Richards, K. (2007). Introduction. In K. Richards and P. Seedhouse (Eds.) Applying Conversation Analysis. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Schegloff, E. A. (1992). In another context. In A. Duranti and C. Goodwin (Eds.) Rethinking context: language as an interactive phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Schegloff, E. A. (1999). Talk and social structure. In A. Jaworski & N. Coupland (Eds.) The discourse reader. London: Routledge.

References

York St John University | www.yorksj.ac.uk

What kind of English do you speak? The construction and use of ideas about English as an international language