30.2087, Review: English; Applied Linguistics: Gimenez, El Kadri, Calvo (2017)

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Subject: 30.2087, Review: English; Applied Linguistics: Gimenez, El Kadri, Calvo (2017)

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Date: Thu, 16 May 2019 16:09:30
From: Ezekiel Bolaji [ezekielbolaji at gmail.com]
Subject: English as a Lingua Franca in Teacher Education

 
Discuss this message:
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/29/29-2082.html

EDITOR: Telma  Gimenez
EDITOR: Michele  Salles El Kadri
EDITOR: Luciana  Cabrini Simões Calvo
TITLE: English as a Lingua Franca in Teacher Education
SUBTITLE: A Brazilian Perspective
SERIES TITLE: Developments in English as a Lingua Franca [DELF]
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Ezekiel Tunde Bolaji, Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Edcation

SUMMARY

“English as a Lingua Franca in Teacher Education: A Brazilian Perspective”,
edited by Telma Gimenez, Michele S. El Kadri, and Luciana C. Simões Calvo,  is
a collection of ten articles focusing on one of the hot topics in linguistics
with a global appeal.  While the first chapter focuses attention on the global
appeal of English, its spread and implications for teaching and education,
with special reference to teacher education, Chapters Two and Three consider
the place of teacher education in an age of globalisation with English as a
Lingua Franca. Other  seven contributors discuss the burning issue of English
as a (world) Lingua Franca with focus on Brazil education practice – comparing
the past with the present, while putting necessary things in place for a
well-defined future where English is given its pride of place without
sacrificing indigenous languages.

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) was first publicly used by Jenkins in March
1996, at a PhD seminar organised by the Department of TESOL, University of
London Institute of Education (ULIE), now University College London Institute
of Education where she had completed her PhD a year earlier.  Not  relegating
non-native speakers of English to the background, ELF puts all English
language users on the same level as long as the English used makes
communication flow easily with other English users.

Until recently, no significant research  has been done on ELF in the Brazilian
world. This huge missing gap in Applied Linguistics needs to be filled. After
all, it was a PhD student from Brazil, who first guessed what Jenkins meant by
ELF on that day in 1996 when the acronym was displayed at the other side of
the arrow against ELF on the overhead projector, during Jenkins’ first
presentation of her completed PhD research. This is the gap this fascinating,
well-researched 236-page book has come to fill. 

The book begins with an introduction by Telma Gimenez, Michele S. El Kadri,
and Luciana, C. Simões Calvo, the editors, as they set the pace for the
intriguing discussions to follow by first establishing that the place of ELF
has been established on a global scale in a global context, especially in the
Anglophone countries of the world. They recognise that it remains to be seen
how the tenets of ELF will be applied by English language teachers in teacher
education to decentralise the hitherto “normative orientations’ that have
characterised this core area of Applied Linguistics.  Telma, et al identify
the need for a paradigm shift from the native-speaker model  to a
context-based model promoting autonomy devoid of any imposition and
dependence. They emphasize that the need “to adopt a perspective that reflects
the multicultural and multilingual realities” of English is paramount. Unlike
the rest of the world, the voice of Latin America has not been heard in the
global ELF debate. As a Latin American country, Brazil has a huge literature
in its native languages ( Elkadri, and Calvo, 2018) advocating alternative
pedagogies for ELF. Nevertheless, as a country in the “Expanding Circle”
Brazil has yet to tell the rest of the world her challenges and what she feels
about ELF, with particular reference to Brazil.

The book is divided into three parts. Part 1, entitled “Conceptualizing
English as a global lingua franca in teacher education”,  contains three
chapters which begin with the global versus local status of English by
Vanderlei J. Zacchi, followed by the implications of the global spread of
English and globalization on teacher education. . In the first chapter, 
Vanderlei J. Zacchi challenges the long-standing view that both globalization
and the English language are natural contemporary terms we need not worry
about. Basing the discussion on two research projects in Brazil,  the author
argues that to come to terms  with the global nature of English in an
increasingly globalised world, language teachers need to  appropriate English
and contextualize its teaching. The results presented buttress that fact that
although teachers see the growing status of English around the world as a
Lingua Franca, there is no commensurate paradigm shift in pedagogy. The author
charges language teachers in Brazil not to be lulled by the conservative
stance but rather to wake up to the realities of change  in the teaching and
learning of EFL. There must be a change from conservativism to contextualised
teaching as both the teachers and learners appropriate the language to their
benefit.

In Chapter Two, “Globalization and the global spread of English: Concepts and
implications for teacher education”, Eduardo H. Diniz de Figueiredo argues
that studies on the Global  Spread of English (GSE), when examined through the
lenses of differing theories may provide some insights into what constitutes
globalization and how it takes place. To buttress these points, he reviews
eight theories  by  O’Bryrne and Hensby (2011), such as  the theory of the
global village, liberalization, polarization, Americanization,
McDonaldization, Creolization, transnationalization, and balkanization ,
explaining  their connection with GSE and noting that the review may
constitute a theoretical basis for relating the status and practice of English
in Brazil or elsewhere to the concept of globalization. The chapter will be of
interest to those in teacher education programs, acquainting teachers with the
socio-cultural, economic, political and historical antecedents of English in
the 21st century and equipping them to understand its politics and changing
status as world Englishes, and  English as a  Lingua Franca, in the face of
such highly debated issues as Linguistic Imperialism  and  the
Sociolinguistics of Globalization..

In the last chapter of this section, “English as a lingua franca and critical
literacy in teacher education: Shaking off some “good old” habits” , Clarissa,
M. Jordão and Anderson N. Marques start off their discussion with a posthuman
(PH) perspective for the conceptualizations of the aspect of language  -
English Language Teaching (ELT), with a view to explaining how the application
of PH to ELF can help shake off some good (?)  old habits in ELT classroom. 
The authors recommend a shift from the “normative-driven approach to language,
learning and teaching to the localized agency of participants upon
meaning-making in discourse.” They focus on the relevance of language, and how
 pedagogical work, discourse and materials designed for teaching can be
contextualised. They contend that  for a success to be achieved in this
direction, ELF native-driven perspective must be overhauled to align with
contemporary views on critical literacy (CL) and PH. They proposed that to
properly integrate ELF in the Brazilian teacher education, the focus of ELF
must move away from learning-teaching coloniality of preconceived norms to the
creation of opportunities for learners to negotiate meaning in English, and
understand “this language as it is constructed in each context of use.” Thus,
there is need to shift the focus of learning and teaching from the
institutionalised grammar rules to making meaning from each communicative
encounter in English. 

Part II entitled, “Teachers and learners’ belief about  ELF”, begins with
“English as a global language in Brazil: A local contribution”, by Kyria R.
Finardi. The chapter begins with the view of English, a global language and a
multilingual franca, as an additional language in Brazil. The beliefs of the
teachers and the learners are reviewed. The author reviews the role of English
in Brazilian education , language teaching and politics (local and
international); the teachers’ beliefs, research and teacher education in
Brazil.  The author reviews the findings of a 60-student-and-teacher
participant study  in the State of Espírito, a place with the largest 
population of Italian immigrants in Brazil. Since a bill to include Pomeranian
 (an Italian dialect) as a foreign language in the secondary school curricular
has just been passed in the region, the study was conducted to find out the
teachers’ and students’ view about the status of ELF. She found that both
teachers and students believe that English is the most important foreign
language to be learned /taught in Brazil because of its role as the
international and global language. She concludes that, one, language policies
and language aims on the role of English, its learning and teaching should be
reviewed to properly reflect people’s beliefs’ and two, the role of English as
an international language and a potential multilingual franca should be looked
into.

The next chapter in the section “English as a lingua franca and teacher
education: Critical educators for an intercultural world” by Sávio Siqueira is
a discussion on the political, ideological, and pedagogical reverberations of
ELF. The author feels things are not right and proposes needed changes towards
adaptations and re-positioning of teacher education to achieve a worthwhile
pedagogical goal. The evidence for the author’s claims is drawn from the
results of the survey carried out on pre-service teachers at Bahia Federal
University, Salvador, Bahia. His main question during the study centred on the
relevant issues (i) the status of English as a global language and its effects
on the English language itself;  (ii) the implications of this status on the
participants’ day-to-day  ELT practice; and (iii) what language educators
think they are preparing language learners for.  The author found out that
although there are traces of ELF awareness on the part or the educators, there
is need to connect with other educators internationally. He therefore
challenges language educators, to develop a new attitude toward their calling
as language teachers and  toward English as a lingua franca; they should
promote inter-cultural teaching and join the inter-cultural world, lest the
country is left behind.

The next chapter written by Gustavo Berredo and Gloria Gil is entitled, “
Teachers’ and student-teachers’ perceptions of English as a lingua franca
(ELF) and the teaching of culture in the language classroom”, is a departure
from earlier chapters.  The authors delve into the view of Postgraduate
faculty of the Departments of English/Linguistics and Literary Studies of the
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil on education, language and
culture, using a qualitative method of inquiry. They reason that if ELF should
have as one of its goals de-cantering the domain of the native speaker in such
core areas of language teaching as pronunciation, lexicogrammar, and
pragmatics, and that the same should apply to the cultural aspects of English.
To the authors, in a truly all-inclusive ELF program, culture  should not be
restricted to a situation where learners merely internalize foreign culture
wholesale. Rather, in teaching ELF, English should be denationalized,
intercultural teaching and cultural pluralism should be promoted, to properly
account for the interconnectivity and inseparableness between language and
culture. To this end, data was collected through structured interviews.
Open-ended questions were used. The aim of the researchers was to see whether
teachers were more traditionally inclined with respect to teaching culture or
were more interculturally inclined.  Two questions drove the whole study, (1)
What kind of approach to culture do the participants have? (2) Do the
participants have a view of culture that meets  the tenets of EFL pedagogy? 
The results showed that (1) some language educators are more traditionally
inclined, having a ‘neutral’ integrative discourse; and (2) others welcome an
intercultural perspective with an empowering discourse.

The last chapter in the section has the title, “English as a Lingua Franca:
Representations and practices of English learners and teachers in Brazil”, by
Jeová A.R. Filho, Mayara Volpato and Gloria Gil. The chapter discusses the
perceptions of teachers and learners from a formal educational context about
ELF.  The focus of the chapter is on whether the English used inside and
outside the language classroom by the learners and teachers are close enough
as to show  their understanding  of ELF as the legitimate linguistic practice.
A research was conducted with a focus on teachers’ and students’
representations and practices in relations to their perceptions of ELF in a
formal educational context.  The study was based on the Extracurricular Course
of Additional Languages offered by the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
with 400 students of varying competencies and 8 teachers used as the study
sample. Questionnaires were administered to them.  The results showed that
although students use English as a lingua franca inside and outside of the
classroom and that the teachers bring in additional materials to teach the
subject as it should, the perceptions of the learners that English is a 
foreign language belonging to  the US and England remained
unchanged.Theachers, both in  linguistic-oriented and pedagogic-oriented
disciplines, are called upon to help learners deconstruct traditional views
and embrace ELF.

Part III and  last section of the book entitled, “ ELF in the teacher
education programs” has three chapters. The first by Ana P.M. Duboc has the
title, “ The ELF teacher education: Contributions from postmodern studies” 
with twofold purposes: first, the author addresses some of the positive
aspects of ELF as seen in the contributions from postmodern studies as she
brings together some intersections between ELF pedagogy and three
conceptualizations from postmodern scholars, the weak thinking ,the imperfect
education,  and the notion of interruption; second, she illustrates how a
supposedly postmodern English curriculum still relies on old methods “the
cracks”. Her goal is to make student teachers  question the mainstream. She
emphasizes the need for constant critique of the notion of “communication” and
 “native speaker”    in order to avoid generalization and romanticization. The
author calls for localized actions by teacher educators to problematize and
deconstruct both traditional and pedagogical  knowledge and practices in order
to embrace the ELF principle-based “postmodern curriculum”. 

The Chapter by Lucielen Porfirio entitled “the concept of ELF and English
teachers’ education: What to expect from this relationship?”  has as its main
aim “to show that raising awareness among preservice teachers might contribute
to  a king of education that questions the idea of homogeneity “and
consequently prepares them to deal with diverse context  in which variability
of cultural backgrounds are considered  during interactions, teaching and
learning. A research was conducted with data gathered from undergraduate
students, at different semesters of the course from the State University of
Bahia. The program was comprised of subjects such as English  Language,
English Literature, language pedagogy, applied linguistics, and linguistics.
The researcher found out that students wanted to learn more, requesting an
extended course sessions in the first semester. In the second semester,
students not originally included wanted to participate. The analysis was
finally based on six student diaries with answers to the questions raised 
during the meetings. Although in its initial stage, the findings showed that
the project promises to be instructive and have positive impact on ELF
pedagogy, the author concludes that it is not his aim in the study to  promote
ELF-only in all English learning contexts. .

The final chapter of the book by Teima Gimenez, Michele S. Elkadri and Luciana
C,S Calvo is entitled “Awareness raising about  English as a lingua franca in
two Brazilian teacher education programs”. The chapter presents two preservice
training initiatives. The focus is to challenge the ‘traditional’ way which no
longer fit in with the status of ELF. One of the initiatives is a course
entitled, “ English as a global lingua franca: epistemological and pedagogical
issues”. It is a 30-hour elective course. It is to stimulate the learners’
interest in ELF and its pedagogical consequences. The other is a 136-hour
course, “English teacher education practice””, designed for undergraduate
language language program in a university in Parana, Brazil. carried out
during a curricular course. Here, “ELF” as a topic was implemented in 16
lessons spread over 8 days of 12 hours. The activities in the courses were
taken from “English in the contemporary world” by El-Kadri and Calco (2005). 
The aim was to discuss the various beliefs about English language and generate
reactions and reflections about ELF.  The approach adopted focuses on  a)
cognitive engagements with ideas presented by ELF authors ; and b) on the
development of analytical skills to the extent they have to access the
authentic ELF uses ( both oral and written).

The authors conclude that the initiative presented  showed the important roles
of teacher educators and education courses in incorporating ELF discussions in
the curriculum. They hope that some teacher educators will incorporate their
methods in ELF classrooms.

EVALUATION

This book is truly a huge  and enlightening contributions from Latin America. 
The discussions are robust and the methodologies adopted are novel.  This
contribution is a clarion call to the Brazilian government and educators on
the need to detach from a traditional pedagogical style that is at variance
with the modern world, engender an EFL-compliant traditional method, and by
all means, forge ahead with the rest of the world to embrace and promote the
principles of ELF.

I do hope that this will not be the first and the last contributions from this
great country; and it is equally my hope that other Latin American countries
will imitate Brazil in lending their voices to the debate on ELF.

REFERENCES

Elkadri, .S. & Calvo, L. C.S. (2018). Introduction. In Gimenez, T, El Kadri,
M.S. & Calvo, L.C.S (Eds.) English as a lingual franca in teacher education: A
Brazilian perspective. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter , pp. 1-9

De Figueiredo, E.H.D. (2018). Globalization and the global spread of English:
Concepts and implications for teacher education,  In Gimenez, T, El Kadri,
M.S. & Calvo, C.S (Eds.) English as a lingua franca in teacher education: A
Brazilian perspective. Berlin/Boston: Walter de Gruyter, pp. 31-52

Jenkins, J (2017). The future of English as a lingua franca? In Jenkins, J.,
Baker, W., and 
Dewey, M. (Eds.).The Routledge handbook of English as a lingua franca. New
York: Routledge, pp. 594-605

O’Byrne,D & Hensby, A (2011).Theorizing global studies  Newyork: Palgrave
Macmillan


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Ezekiel T. Bolaji is at present a PhD student at Babcock University. He is a
reviewer to the Journal of cognitive study, Seoul Korea, He specialises in
phonology and language contact





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