Elisabeth ChanThe International Center for English

Arkansas State UniversityApril 20, 2011

Examining the “E” in TESOLBringing the plenary themes into focus

Presenting TESOL 2011to TICE

What is English?What is “good” English?What is “bad” English?Who owns English?Whose English is “correct”?

Examine that “E”!

1. Thelma MeléndezProviding a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners

2. Alastair PennycookTeaching English as Something Other Than Language

3. Jennifer JenkinsEnglish as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard”

4. James R. Martin and Christian MatthiessenModelling and Mentoring: Teaching and Learning From Home Through School

5. Tracey Derwing, Helen Fraser, Okim Kang, Ron ThomsonL2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention

6. Walt WolframExposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge

7. Shondel NeroClassroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy

Pennycook

Jenkins

Derwing, Fraser, Kang, & Thomson

Wolfram

Nero

Power and Discrimination

What are we involved in when we teach English?

Teaching English as Something Other Than Language

English

Culture

Power

Economy

Ownership

Politics

Othering

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World EnglishesInner Circle: American, British, AustralianOuter Circle: India, Singapore, Nigeria,

PhilippinesExpanding Circle: etc.

English & Globalization are mythsRethink what English isEnglish is LOCAL and what is IN PRACTICE

Locality

What is “standard” English?What is correct? Acceptable? Who decides?

Language changes over timeWhy is English “sacred”?Why are some changes more acceptable?

Furnitures or Informations versus Coffees or Accomodations

Why insist on close adherence to NS models when it causes problems?Should Italians spend time on “th” if they’re

speaking to Russians who also can’t pronounce “th”?

English as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard”

Future of English

International Lingua Franca, not owned by native speakers

Ken asked Tom for help with his English homework.

Who is Ken?Who is Tom?

Native Speaker vs Non-native SpeakerOften racialized

Othering

The images areracialized andperpetuate thestereotype of aCaucasian asbeing the owneror giver ofEnglish

Images from top 4 websites that come up with keywords “learn english now”

ACCENT ≠ COMPREHENSIBILITY (listener effort)

ACCENT ≠ INTELLIGIBILITY (how much listener understands)

Ethical?AZ Law removes teachers with accents

/b/ vs /v/…/t/ vs /θ/ - low functional load12+ states remove ITA’s with accents

Study: weak teaching skills > accentAccent reduction/modification programs

L2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention

Study 1: P’s listened to clips of people speaking, and then answered:what country the speaker was fromcharacteristics about speaker (powerful, intelligent?)how confident they were in their own answers

Study 2: P’s listened to clips of people speaking, accompanied by a picture, then answered:whether the person spoke with an accenthow comprehensible the person was

Study 3: P’s spent time with NNS ITA’s for just one hour with a pre and post survey on comprehensibilitycompetency as instructors

Listener Bias

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84k2iM30vbY&feature=player_embedded

The North Carolina Language and Life Project Focus on regional, social, ethnic varieties of English Outreach programs

Voices of North Carolina Dialect Awareness Curriculum To develop a respect for the systematic patterning of all

language varieties To develop an appreciation for the link between historical

development and language To develop an awareness and appreciation for the connection

between language and culture To gain authentic knowledge about how dialects pattern To develop an awareness and appreciation of other ways of

speaking

Exposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge

A variety of Englishes have emerged worldwide, yet current educational practices generally do not allow students' creole or vernacular varieties of English in the classroom.

Standard English as a Second Dialect (SESD)If you look at what we call Standard English today,

you’ll see that its spoken and written forms are changing as we speak.

No matter how much we deny or discourage the existence of students’ vernaculars in the classroom, they are there. They don’t go away; they are part of students’ identities.

Classroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy

using students’ vernaculars and various World Englishes as springboards for literacy development;

giving students opportunities to research linguistic diversity in their own communities;

and using contrastive approaches to help students distinguish vernacular and standardized language features in helpful ways.

Productive Avenues

Do you speak American?

http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playertype=windowsmedia&speed=hi&;playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=/speak/jeapardy36.rm,/speak/jeapardy220.rm,/speak/jeopardy36.wmv,/speak/jeopardy220.wmv;title=Jeopardy;play=

What is English?What is “good” English?What is “bad” English?Who owns English?Whose English is “correct”?

Continue Examining that “E”!

Derwing, T., Fraser, H., Kang, O., & Thomson, R. (2011, March). L2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Jenkins, J. (2011, March). English as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard”. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Macneil/Lehrer Productions (2005). Do You Speak American? Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/speak/

Meléndez, T. (2011, March). Providing a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Nero, S. (2011, March). Classroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Pennycook, A. (2011, March). Teaching English as Something Other Than Language. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Wolfram, W. (2011, March). Exposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA.

Wu, A. (2010). Shondel Nero: NNEST of the Month. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from http://nnesintesol.blogspot.com/2010/07/shondel-nero.html

References

Thelma MeléndezProviding a World-Class Education

For America’s English Learners

Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at U.S. Dept. of Education

FOCUS: national vision for cradle-to-career education reform, including the federal blueprint to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in the context of serving English learners.

Thelma MeléndezProviding a World-Class Education

For America’s English Learners Elementary and Secondary

Education Act (ESEA) 1967 Title VII Bilingual Education Programs

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 2001 Title III Language Instruction for Limited

English Proficient and Immigrant Students

Reauthorization of ESEA

June 5-7, 2011

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1&DID=13570

John Segota