"I Love the American Accent": An Inquiry into ELT Teachers' Perception of Teaching in Light of Global Flows

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Assistant professor of English Department, Alzahra University

2 MA Graduate, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University

Abstract

In the absence of ample practical studies which explore how ELT teachers perceive teaching with respect to various hypotheses associated with globalization, namely homogenization, polarization, and hybridization, and how their practice reflects the tenets of the global flows, this study was conducted to address these neglected issues. Three main aspects of language teaching, mostly affected by various orientations towards globalization and, in consequence, ELT- namely the primacy of native speaker variety, the appropriateness of Western-led methods, and the appropriateness of Western-led materials- were the focal points of our study. Twenty teachers, selected through criterion-referenced sampling technique, participated in this research. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations accompanied with field notes. The thematic analysis of data revealed that the only area less affected by the tenets of the Global English is ELT teaching methods. Our teachers seemed to be aware of the ideas promoted by critical scholars of World Englishes as to the need to adapt teaching methods to the peculiarities of distinct contexts. On the other hand, our teacher participants favored monocentric adherence to the English variety and Western-led English materials. Altogether, the data of the interviews and observations corroborate the lack of awareness of our teachers of the imperialistic features of Global English. These findings have implications for the design of teacher training courses.

Keywords


Block, D. (2008). Language education and globalization. In N. H. Hornberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 31-43). Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Cameron, D. (2001). Zones of contact: Globalization and the teaching of communication skills. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 67-83). London, England: Routledge.
Canagarajah, S. (2002). Globalization, methods and practice in periphery classrooms. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 134-150). London, England: Routledge.
Canagarajah, S. (2006). The place of world Englishes in composition: Pluralization continued. College Composition and Communication57(4), 586-619.
Canagarajah, S. (2006). Negotiating the local in English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 197-218.
Canagarajah, S. (2007). The ecology of global English. International Multilingual Research Journal, 1(2), 89-100.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. England: Cambridge University Press.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methodologies. England: Oxford University Press.
Escobar, A. (2004). Beyond the third world: Imperial globality, global coloniality and anti-globalization social movements. Third World Quarterly, 25(1), 207-230.
Featherstone, M. (2006). Genealogies of the global. Journal of Theory, Culture and Society, 23(2-3), 387-392.
Giddens, A. (1990). The Consequences of modernity. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.
Gray, J. (2002). The global course book in English language teaching. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and language teaching (pp. 151-168). London, England: Routledge.
Hiep, H. P. (2007). Communicative language teaching: Unity within diversity. ELT Journal, 61(3), 193-201.
Holton, R. (2000). Globalization’s cultural consequences. The Annuals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 570(1), 140-152.
Jenkins, J. (2005). Implementing an international approach to English pronunciation: The role of attitudes and identity, TESOL Quarterly, 39(3), 535-543.
Jenkins, J., & College, K. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 157-174.
Jenkins, J. (2006). Points of view and blind spots: ELF and SLA. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16(2), 137-162.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language teaching, 25(01), 1-14.
Kellner, D. (2002). Theorizing globalization. Journal of Sociological Theory, 20(3), 285-305.
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2006). Dangerous liaison: Globalization, empire and TESOL. In J.   Edge (Ed.), (Re-)Locating TESOL in an age of empire (pp. 1-26). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2000). Stimulated recall methodology in second language research (Second language acquisition research series). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Marshall, C., & Rossman, B. (1989). Designing qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Matsuda, A. (2003). Incorporating world Englishes in teaching English as an international language. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 719-729.
Maxwell, J. A. (1996). Qualitative research design: An interactive approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mertens, D. M. (2014). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Neilsen, R., Gitsaki, C., & Honan, E. (2007). Traveler's tales: ELT teachers in a globalizing world. In C. Gitsaki (Ed.), Language and languages: Global and local tensions (pp. 1-14). Newcastle, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pennington, M.C. (1995). The teacher change cycle. TESOL Quarterly, 29(4), 705-731.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London, England: Longman.
Pishghadam, R., & Sabouri, F. (2011). World English or world Englishes: A quantitative survey on Iranian English learners' attitudes toward varieties of English. English Language and Literature Studies, 1(1), 86-95.
Pishghadam, R., & Zabihi, R. (2012). Life syllabus: A new research agenda in English language teaching. Perspectives (TESOL Arabia), 19, 23-27.
Philipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. England: Oxford University Press.
Philipson, R. (2008). The linguistic imperialism of neoliberal empire. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 5(1), 1-43.
Rajadurai, J. (2007). Intelligibility studies: A consideration of empirical and ideological issues. Journal of World Englishes, 26(1), 87-98.
Robertson, R. (1995). Glocalization: Time-space and homogeneity-heterogeneity. In M. Featherstone, S. Lash, & R. Robertson (Eds.), Global modernities (pp. 25-44). London, England: Sage.
Seidlhofer, B. (2004). Research perspectives on teaching English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 209-239.
Seidlhofer, B. (2005). English as a lingua franca. ELT Journal, 59(4), 339-341.
Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63-75.
Singh, P., & Doherty, C. (2012). Global cultural flows and pedagogic dilemmas: Teaching in the global university contact zone. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 9-42.
Sridhar, S. N. (1994). A reality check for SLA theories. TESOL Quarterly, 28(4), 800-805.
Thorpe, R. (2008). Field notes. In R. Thorpe & R. Holt, The SAGE dictionary of qualitative management research. London, England: Sage Publications.
Yildrim, R., & Okan, Z. (2007). The question of global language teaching: A Turkish perspective. Asian EFL Journal, 9(4), 54-66.
Yin, R. K. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ziaei, S. (2012). Examining cross-cultural clues as to globalization and Iran's culture in an international ELT book series: American English file. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 3(1), 141-148.