29.1646, Review: English; Applied Linguistics: Matsuda (2017)
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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-1646. Tue Apr 17 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.
Subject: 29.1646, Review: English; Applied Linguistics: Matsuda (2017)
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Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2018 14:02:43
From: Seyma Toker [seytoker at gmail.com]
Subject: Preparing Teachers to Teach English as an International Language
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-434.html
EDITOR: Aya Matsuda
TITLE: Preparing Teachers to Teach English as an International Language
SERIES TITLE: New Perspectives on Language and Education
PUBLISHER: Multilingual Matters
YEAR: 2017
REVIEWER: Seyma Toker, Pennsylvania State University
REVIEWS EDITOR: Helen Aristar-Dry
SUMMARY
“Preparing Teachers to Teach English as an International Language,” edited by
Aya Matsuda, presents a theoretically grounded collection of English as an
International Language (EIL)-informed models, programs, courses, and units
that have been implemented and tested by EIL teacher educators and scholars
from diverse geographical and institutional contexts. It is intended for
teacher educators who are interested in incorporating EIL perspectives into
their language teacher education (LTE) program and/or courses. Including a
range of World Englishes (WE), English as a lingua franca (ELF), global
Englishes (GE)-informed approaches, program models, and pedagogical ideas for
language teacher preparation programs, the book seeks to bring together these
communities to “explore ways to prepare teachers of EIL” (p. xvii), using
‘EIL’ as an encompassing term to index the shared goal of WE, ELF, GE, and EIL
communities towards a diverse and dynamic understanding of Englishes and
English language users.
The book opens with an introduction chapter by the editor where she situates
the book in the field of English language teaching, defines how EIL is used in
the book, and highlights the importance of teacher education to implement the
current approaches to teaching English as a global/international language in
TESOL. The rest of the book features fifteen chapters divided into six parts.
Part 1 includes two chapters, each presenting a theoretical framework for LTE
programs. The following five parts showcase EIL-informed programs (Part 2),
courses (Part 3&4), units (Part 5), and pedagogical ideas (Part 6) by scholars
and teacher educators from varying institutional contexts around the world.
This review will summarize each part and provide an overall evaluation of the
book with regard to its stated goal for the intended audience.
Part 1: Theoretical Frameworks
Part 1 offers two theoretical approaches in EIL teacher education. In Chapter
1 “Foundations of an EIL-aware Teacher Education”, Yasemin Bayyurt and Nicos
Sifakis introduce an EIL-aware teacher education model implemented in an EFL
context in Turkey that consists of three phases: (a) ‘exposure’, (b) ‘critical
awareness’, and (c) ‘action plan’. Drawing upon their experience implementing
this model, the authors illustrate how these three stages function, providing
a brief overview of the activities and tasks they used in each phase of their
project and offering alternative ways of tailoring this model to different
educational contexts. In Chapter 2, “A Framework for Incorporating an English
as an International Language Perspective into TESOL Teacher Education”, Seran
Dogancay-Aktuna and Joel Hardman present another EIL-informed framework to LTE
called ‘situated meta-praxis framework’ that views teacher education as “an
interaction between place, proficiency, praxis and a set of understandings
about language, culture, identity and teaching EIL” (p. 21). This chapter lays
out an outline of this interactive framework and illustrates how such
understandings can be incorporated into TESOL curricula through specialized
courses or topics concerning linguistics, sociolinguistics, second language
acquisition, and methodology.
Part 2: Teacher Preparation Programs
Part 2 of the volume “Teacher Preparation Programs” features two chapters that
share example IEL-based program curricula, one from Colombia, an Expanding
Circle country, and the other from a US context designed exclusively for
teachers of English from the Expanding Circle countries. In Chapter 3 “New
Model for Reflexivity and Advocacy for Master’s-Level EIL Programs in
Colombia”, Raul Alberto Mora and Polina Golovatina-Mora provide a brief
description of their two-year long research-based master’s program for
in-service teachers of English in Colombia that is grounded in the notions of
‘reflexivity’ and ‘glocalized advocacy’. Their EIL program may serve as an
example for teacher educators who plan to or are in the process of developing
an EIL-informed language teacher education program. In Chapter 4 “US-based
Teacher Education Program for ‘Local’ EIL Teachers”, Seong-Yoon Kang presents
a transformed curriculum of a teacher education program by comparing the old
program that was informed by the native speaker model to the new one that
incorporates an EIL-perspective that prepares ‘local’ teachers of English from
China and Korea, namely EIL teachers, to teach English in multicultural
globalized contexts. The chapter briefly explains the program goals and offers
a brief description of the core Second Language Acquisition (SLA),
methodology, and sociolinguistic courses in a six-week program.
Part 3: Courses Dedicated to Teaching EIL
The chapters in Part 3 are self-standing EIL courses offered at graduate and
undergraduate level teacher education programs from Scotland, Japan,
Australia, and Turkey. In Chapter 5 “Global Englishes for Language Teaching:
Preparing MSc TESOL Students to Teach in a Globalized World”, Nicola Galloway
describes a Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT)-informed (Galloway &
Rose, 2015) postgraduate course called ‘Global Englishes for Language
Teaching’ offered for MSc TESOL students at the University of Edinburgh. This
eight-week course aims to enable students to show a critical understanding of
GELT and incorporate a GELT perspective in their teaching context.
In Chapter 6 “Training Graduate Students in Japan to be EIL Teacher”, Nobuyuki
Hino provides a glimpse of a year-long graduate level course entitled
‘Education in Language and Culture: Principles and Practices of EIL Education’
offered by the Graduate School of Language and Culture at Osaka University,
Japan. The author shares his unique “glocal” understanding of EIL (Hino,
2001), which he forms drawing on WE and ELF, as well as local schools of
thought on Japanese English. He claims this course addresses the need for an
“EIL paradigm appropriate for local contexts”, “bridging the theory and
practice in EIL”, and “engaging students in authentic EIL interaction class”
(pp. 91-95).
In Chapter 7 “Practices of Teaching Englishes for International
Communication”, Rob Marlina shares another example teacher education course
called ‘Practices of Teaching Englishes for International Communication’
taught in the Applied Linguistics master’s program for pre-service and
in-service teachers of English at Monash University, Australia, including her
critical reflection on teaching this course in this context. The author
presents the weekly distribution of topics, which incorporates readings from
Alsagoff et al. (2012) and Matsuda (2012), and then briefly describes the
assignment tasks, designed progressively, allowing teachers to observe and
critically reflect on EIL lessons and eventually develop and deliver an
EIL-informed lesson plan for their teaching contexts.
In Chapter 8 “Preparing Teachers to Teach English as an International
Language: Reflections from Northern Cyprus”, Ali Fuad Selvi provides a
description of an undergraduate-level Global English course from Middle East
Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus. The course integrates a variety
of theoretical and pedagogical EIL materials that are aligned with Bayyurt and
Sikafis’ (2015) critical teacher education framework
(theory-application-evaluation). Drawing on his experience offering this
course in this specific context, the author points out the benefits and the
challenges of offering an EIL-informed course within the larger curriculum.
Part 4: EIL-informed Courses on Another ELT Topic
The chapters in Part 4 introduce EIL-informed ELT courses from Vietnam,
Brazil, and Indonesia. These chapters are distinguished from the chapters in
Part 3, which are entirely dedicated to WE, GE, or EIL, in that they integrate
EIL perspectives into ELT courses as described below.
In Chapter 9 “Preparing Preservice Teachers with EIL/WE-oriented Materials
Development”, Thuy Ngoc Dihn presents a 15-week undergraduate elective
‘Materials Development’ course at a university in Vietnam. The course
incorporates theoretical and practical readings from ELT textbooks, EIL and
WE, mainly drawing on the works of scholars such as Matsuda, Marlina, McKay,
Sharifian, and Smith, and it is divided into four main parts: material
selection and evaluation, material revision, material design, and lastly use
of materials. Students initially investigate selected textbooks from an
EIL-based curriculum evaluation framework (p.136-137) and later in the
semester they revise/devise and teach their own materials to better
understand the application of EIL principles in classroom.
In Chapter 10 “Addressing Culture from an EIL Perspective in a Teacher
Education Course in Brazil”, Eduardo H. Diniz de Figueiredo and Aline M.
Sanfelici describe a course called ‘Culturas Anglofonas’ (Anglophone Cultures)
that is a part of an ELT program curriculum at a federal university in the
state of Para in Brazil. The chapter provides a description of a modified
version of the course from an EIL-informed perspective. The main aim of this
expanded course is to have teachers reflect critically on the notion of
culture with regard to globalization and its implications for ELT in the local
context. The authors showcase and reflect on the particular tasks they
performed in this course.
In Chapter 11 “Practicing EIL Pedagogy in a Microteaching Class”), Nugrahenny
T. Zacharias gives an account of a 14-week undergraduate level methodology
course entitled ‘EIL-Microteaching’. This practice-oriented course aims to
introduce “an alternative pedagogy that takes into account the lingua franca
role of English and the changing demographic of English usage and users
worldwide” (p. 158) by taking into consideration the recent changes regarding
the role of English as the official lingua franca for the Association of
Southern Asian Nations. The author briefly describes the sequence of the tasks
in the course highlighting how she incorporated the EIL perspective and
scaffolded the student teachers towards gaining an EIL understanding in their
pedagogy.
Part 5: Independent Units on Teaching EIL
The chapters in Part 5 illustrate EIL units that are a part of ELT related
courses. The short length of the units gives teacher educators the flexibility
to integrate them in any ELT related courses, particularly in teacher
education programs that do not offer self-standing EIL courses.
Chapter 12 “A Global Approach to English Language Teaching: Integrating an
International Perspective into a Teaching Methods Course” is an example of how
Heath Rose infused an EIL unit entitled ‘A Global Approach to English Language
Teaching’ into a masters level 11-week elective Second Language Teaching
course at Trinity College Dublin. The course introduces the history of ELT
methods, practices and issues related to the field. The unit is situated in
the middle of the course timeline after the historical overview of the
traditional methods. With this unit, students are invited to explore the
current global context of teaching English through the GELT framework
(Galloway & Rose, 2015). The author outlines the unit content by explaining
the six pillars of the unit drawn from the GELT framework, which are (1)
increasing World Englishes exposure, (2) respect for multilingualism, (3)
respect for diverse and fluid culture and identity, (4) awareness of Global
Englishes, (5) changing English teacher hiring practices, and (6) awareness of
interaction strategies for using ELF/EIL (pp. 172-175).
While the chapters thus far in Part 3, 4, and 5 describe courses or units from
primarily face-to-face courses, Chapter 13 “English as a Lingua Franca in an
Online Teacher Education Program Offered by a State University in Brazil” by
Michele Salles El Kadri, Luciana Cabrini Simoes Calvo, and Telma Gimenez
introduces a unit from an online course offered in an undergraduate online
teacher education program in Brazil. The primary aim of the unit is to raise
students’ awareness on the global growth of English and the political and
social, linguistic, and educational implications this brings. To achieve this
goal, two of the authors organized a variety of resources into 20 tasks. The
tasks are ordered to allow students to reflect on the current role of the
English in their local context, the history of WE and ELF, and how this has
impacted English language teaching in relation to notions that include
varieties of English and teaching of pronunciation and culture.
In Chapter 14 “WE, EIL, ELF and Awareness of Their Pedagogical Implications in
Teacher Education Programs in Italy”, Paola Vettorel and Lucilla Lopriore
describe two cases from two teacher training programs in Italy for novice and
practicing teachers in which the EIL perspective is incorporated into a module
and a part of an ELT course, one from University of Verona and the other from
Roma Tre University. The first case illustrates three units from the English
Language module dedicated to examination of the spread of English from WE and
ELF perspectives through readings, discussion and reflections and its
implication in the teacher’s own teaching context. The second case details how
the EIL perspective is integrated into the ELT component of the program at
certain points throughout the training by including key elements into tasks,
readings, and lesson planning activities that enabled trainee teachers to
revisit their beliefs about the English language.
Part 6: Lessons, Activities and Tasks for EIL Teacher Preparation
Part 6 (also referred to as Chapter 15 in the book) consists of fifteen
teaching ideas ranging from lesson plans and activities to the description of
tasks that teacher educators who incorporate an EIL perspective into their
courses have designed and implemented. The purpose of this chapter is to put
together specific, tangible yet adjustable materials for teacher educators who
wish to integrate EIL perspectives into their teacher education courses and
programs. Lesson plans and activities follow the same format. They start with
the goal of the lesson or activity, and the details about which course it can
be suitable for, how much time is needed, the procedure, and when necessary
appendices are provided. The content, length and purpose of these lessons and
activities are wide-ranging and can easily be adapted to any teacher education
context.
EVALUATION
This volume is a significant contribution to the field of EIL and ELT
education. Each chapter responds to fill the gap about teaching of EIL that
still remains at theoretical level (Matsuda, 2012) in teacher education. Thus,
it is clear that this volume achieves its purpose of bridging the
theory/practice division and offering both theoretical models and a wide range
of sample materials for teacher educators who are interested in adopting or
integrating EIL perspectives in their teacher education programs, courses,
units, or lessons. One strength of the volume is the coherence across the
sections in terms of the unity of the structure used in each chapter and the
connections between the theoretical and practical chapters. It is natural for
the readers to make connections to the theoretical frameworks presented in
Part 1 while examining the example courses, units, and activities described in
the following parts although, interestingly, these frameworks are not
explicitly used or referenced in any of the following chapters. The overlap
between the principles of the models and teacher educators and scholars’
practice of teaching EIL to pre- and in-service teachers of English
demonstrates that this book itself is an example of how the theory/practice
division can be eliminated in the teaching of EIL. Another achievement of the
volume is that it proves that regardless of different departing orientations,
critical scholarship (WE, ELF, GE, EIL) can come together to create
complementary models and practical tools to inform language teacher education
all over the world. Overall, this book could serve as useful resource for
language teacher educators and EIL scholars, providing rich and varied
frameworks, courses, units, and activities for them to use to prepare teachers
to English as an international language.
REFERENCES
Alsagoff, L., McKay, S.L., Hu, G. and Renandya, W.A. (eds) (2012). Principles
and Practices for Teaching English as an International Language. New York:
Routledge.
Bayyurt, Y. and Sifakis, N. (2015). Developing an ELF-Aware Pedagogy: Insights
from a Self-Education Programme. In Vettorel (ed.) New Frontiers in Teaching
and Learning English (pp. 55-76). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars
Publishing.
Galloway, N. and Rose, H. (2015). Introducing Global Englishes. Abingdon:
Routledge.
Hino, N. (2001). Organizing EIL studies: Toward a paradigm. Asian Englishes, 4
(1), 34-65.
Matsuda, A. (2012). Introduction: Teaching English as an international
language. In A. Matsuda (ed.) Principles and Practices of Teaching English as
an International Language (pp. 1-14). Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Şeyma Toker is currently working as a lecturer in the Department of Applied
Linguistics, Pennsylvania State University, from where she also received her
MA in TESL. Her major research interests include L2 teacher education,
multilingualism, migration and second language socialization.
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