Enacting English across Borders : Critical Studies in the Asia Pacific [1 ed.] 9781443867184, 9781443862196

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Enacting English across Borders

Enacting English across Borders: Critical Studies in the Asia Pacific

Edited by

Raqib Chowdhury and Roby Marlina

Enacting English across Borders: Critical Studies in the Asia Pacific Edited by Raqib Chowdhury and Roby Marlina This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Raqib Chowdhury, Roby Marlina and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6219-3, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6219-6

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .............................................................................................. vii English in a Post-Appropriation World: Facing the New Challenges Roby Marlina and Raqib Chowdhury Chapter One ................................................................................................ 1 Dwindling Minority: The Gendered Beliefs of Male English Language Teaching (ELT) Teachers Shamsul Nizam Kachi Mohideen Chapter Two ............................................................................................. 21 From SLA to Negotiation in EIL: Making Meaning Together through Different Englishes Priscilla Angela T. Cruz Chapter Three ........................................................................................... 45 Pragmatic Strategies of ELF Speakers: A Case Study in International Business Communication Mohammod Moninoor Roshid Chapter Four ............................................................................................. 72 Understanding the Role of Language: Interactions between English Language Teacher Knowledge and Identity Lilly K. Yazdanpanah and Jill Brown Chapter Five ............................................................................................. 86 “Well, just tiupan!”: Code-Switching between Language Gaps and Identity Negotiation Ahmad Bukhori-Muslim Chapter Six ............................................................................................. 104 Variety Development in the Expanding-Circle: Variety as an EIL Saya Ike

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Chapter Seven......................................................................................... 123 Pre- and Post-Practicum Perceptions of the “Professional English Teacher”: A Case Study of Pre-Service English Teachers at an Indonesian University Afrianto Chapter Eight .......................................................................................... 143 Culture Representations in Locally Developed English Textbooks in Vietnam Thuy Ngoc Dinh Chapter Nine........................................................................................... 168 Multi-Ethnic Diversity and ELT Materials Adaptation: Challenges for English Language Teachers in Manado Maya Warouw Chapter Ten ............................................................................................ 184 Perceptions on EIL in Hong Kong Manfred Wu Chapter Eleven ....................................................................................... 210 (En) Countering the Push-Out: The Changing Face of English Teaching in India Today Sunita Mishra Chapter Twelve ....................................................................................... 224 Identity and Communicative Competence: Vietnamese Students’ L2 Experiences in the UK Dung Greer, Thuy Linh Le and Tom Farnhill Chapter Thirteen ..................................................................................... 249 English Language Education in China and India: A Comparative Study of History and Politics Penelope Goward and Hongzhi Zhang Author Biographies ................................................................................ 265

INTRODUCTION ENGLISH IN A POST-APPROPRIATION WORLD: FACING THE NEW CHALLENGES ROBY MARLINA AND RAQIB CHOWDHURY In 1997 when British linguist Graddol anticipated that the number of non-native speakers of English will outnumber native speakers, he was foreseeing the inevitable global spread of English beyond just teaching and learning. Non-native speakers now outnumber native English speakers by three to one with around one quarter of the world’s population speaking English in some form. Concurrent with this changed scenario, in the last 30 years or so, we may have witnessed or encountered – either through publications or conference presentations – a paradigm shift in the Applied Linguistics and/or TESOL disciplines. As Kuhn (1962) argues, a shift in paradigm is prompted by emerging significant anomalies that consequently question and challenge the applicability of current knowledge, beliefs or perspectives. This has been observed in both disciplines especially as a result of the changing sociolinguistic landscape of the English language in the world. Naturally, these changes have generated significant implications for the ways in which the English language, its practical usage, and its approach to teaching/learning are understood, conceptualised, taught, learned and practised. The more persistent concerns of debating the usefulness of English have long given way into sustained discussions on the ownership and appropriation of a language which is no longer the prerogative of ‘native’ English speakers. The colonial and postcolonial expansion of the English language received mixed responses from scholars in academic research in the late 80s and early 90s. Another well-established and prolific scholar Robert Phillipson (1992, 2009), using the notion of ‘linguistic imperialism’, argued that the spread of English was due primarily to the attempts of developed English-speaking countries such as the UK and the US to maintain dominance over developing countries through the “establishment

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and continuous reconstitution of structural and cultural inequalities between English and other languages” (p. 47). English language teaching enterprises such as The British Council were and are one of the establishments to which the developed English speaking countries had allocated a large sum of money, with an aim to disseminate and promote English and favour its use over other languages. English learners in these enterprises were taught with the attitudes and pedagogic principles that favoured monolingualism (Phillipson, 1992). Those who learnt English from these teaching enterprises were expected to lose their mother tongue, speak the varieties of English promoted by those enterprises, and internalise American or British cultural norms. However, Phillipson’s view was not entirely shared by other scholars. Rather than viewing English as a symbol of imperialism, Pennycook (1994) insisted on the benefit of viewing English as the world’s most important international language – as a “crucial gatekeeper to social and economic progress” (p. 13). With English emerging as a first-ranked language in a variety of economic and cultural settings, many individuals in diverse speech communities decided or chose to learn/acquire the language. English has been spontaneously acquired by teeming millions all over the world since, who have appropriated and claimed ownership over English in their own, individual and unique ways, stories of which are intricately embedded in the chapters of this book. The notion of linguistic imperialism had denied the agency of learners and users of English to alter the language according to their needs. For example, it “obscures the role of Africans, Asians, and other peoples of the world as active agents in the process of creation of world English” (BruttGriffler, 2002, p. 107). In other words, the theory ignored the very natural process of languages coming in contact and the dynamic, ever-changing nature of a living language. When a language arrives and enters a particular country, it does not get passively absorbed by the speakers, but is ‘naturally’ nativised (Kachru, 1992) and appropriated (Canagarajah, 1999) to suit the speakers’ local contexts, and to project their local identities. Not surprisingly, identity has emerged as a major theme across the chapters of this book in relation to the teaching and learning of English. The outcome of the process of languages in contact can be observed in the emergence of the different varieties of English which are now collectively called ‘world Englishes’ (Kachru, 1986, Kirkpatrick, 2007). Not only has such emergence of these Englishes challenged the notion of English as a monolithic entity, but it has also redefined and renationalised the ownership of English (McKay, 2002), making it an

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‘Indonesian’, a ‘Bangladeshi’, a ‘Kenyan’, a ‘German’ or a ‘SouthKorean’ language. With the forces of globalisation, this label of English as a language of a particular nationality is becoming even more blurry, especially to those individuals who have been moving across different geographical borders, and who may have been exposed to different varieties of English as they move from one border to another. The increased phenomena of transnational migration have not only spread English; it has dispersed its active users to the point where national boundaries can no longer be drawn insofar as speakers’ linguistic identities are concerned. In this continuum, English has now acquired the status of the undisputed global language of communication to a degree that its instrumentalist benefits are almost no longer questioned in academic scholarship. Yet the inevitable conundrum we continue to face in our attempt to impose a ‘standard’ to English remains well documented in literature, especially in the last three decades. The notion of unproblematic standardisation of English, which assumes a unitary, homogenous monomodel is now widely disputed. In the backdrop of globalisation, debate on which ‘model’ should be the norm in English classrooms around the world has been heavily debated in the last three decades by authors such as Kachru (1992), Conrad, (1996), Widdowson, (1997) and Seidlhofer (2001), and this question continues to be problematised in the articles in the current book where ownership and appropriation emerge as recurring and prominent themes. However, rather than an international ‘model’ or ‘standard’, authors of this book, like Seidlhofer (2004), push forward the need for a new ‘international attitude’ – the recognition that native-like English is indeed unnecessary in most international contexts. The recognition and acceptance of indigenous and nativised varieties now reflect speakers’ cultural and pragmatic norms (Kirkpatrick, 2007). Indeed, even in teaching and learning contexts, as Kirkpatrick (2007) has shown, multilingual non-native teachers represent ideal teachers in many ELT contexts with local (or glocal) varieties of English gaining increasing endorsement in teaching and learning. With English now well established as a pluricentric language, the identity which today’s users of English choose to project or prefer to be associated with has become more complex than ever before. The traditional dichotomy between native-English speakers and non-native English speakers has been challenged in multiple ways. Traditionally, those who came from countries where English is used as a national language were labelled as ‘native English speakers’ and those from other countries were labelled as ‘non-native English speakers’. Such simple,

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binary division is no longer sufficient in explaining the complex and hybrid identities that millions of English speakers assume all over the world today. In academic literature identity has been viewed as a social phenomenon which allows us to have social identities against social ‘groups’ (for example, ‘TESOL students’, or ‘English speakers’) we think we belong to or in which we are placed (Tajfel, 1982). Within such positioning, we automatically internalise the views of ourselves due to our conformity to or membership of these social groups. In other words, subscription to groups such as ‘English speakers’ automatically impose upon ourselves identities that we project in our interaction to members of the society. However, identity is not just a passive imposition we assume. How individuals have engaged in ‘identity work’ (Loseke, 2000, p. 108) in which ‘selves are crafted out of the “messy” details of actual lives’ also depends on how individuals draw upon their biographical particulars and cultural knowledge to demonstrate different versions of themselves in specific social circumstances in order to narrate their stories. In a number of articles in this volume, participants have offered their biographies in relation to how they have assumed, acquired, transformed and created identities for themselves through their use of English and have claimed unique membership to certain groups as powerful language users. Such identity subscriptions have also empowered them into robust epistemological positions that have allowed them into creating newer and alternative roles for English. Despite this, scholars, academics, teachers, practitioners and other vested interest groups who still believe in the superiority of standard (often native) English remain in powerful positions. While it is understandable why academics who aspire to have their work published in international journals need to adhere to ‘standard’ English followed by native Englishspeakers, such logic does not stand when it comes to spoken English, where comprehensibility, often in the absence of any native speakers, is all that matters. In such contexts, English is often put to newer uses in forms that mark a conspicuous departure from norms that have long been upheld by its native speakers. The global spread of English, the birth of new world Englishes, the increased amount of exposure to English, and the changing patterns of acquisition of English in multilingual and multicultural ‘non-Englishspeaking’ countries have now blurred the distinction between nativespeakers and non-native speakers (Jenkins, 2007). In practice, users of English today may not prefer to be identified either as ‘native’ or ‘non-

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native’ because these labels do not sufficiently capture their rich linguistic repertoire as well as their complex linguistic usage or practices. They may also have different or even conflicting attitudes, perceptions and understanding of themselves as users of English. If they are teachers of English, those from countries where English was historically the language of colonial power, or those who have been ‘geographically mobile’ and whose mobility has had significant effect on their linguistic repertoire and practices, the aforementioned labels as well as conception of one’s identity are likely to be far more complicated. The changing sociolinguistic reality of English described above has further generated a number of thought-provoking questions for the teaching and learning of the English language. Since English is essentially a ‘glocal’ communication tool, and is used by today’s users of English for intercultural communication in multilingual and multicultural settings, what are the main objectives or goals of teaching? What do curriculum or syllabus materials now look like? What teaching approaches or models are employed and considered as effective? What kinds of competence are learners encouraged to develop? What is assessed and how? Whose or which cultures/Englishes are espoused, taught and discussed in class? Who are learners’ role models? Who are ‘qualified’ language teachers? What is the role of teacher-education programs in EFL countries? What are considered as important in national language policies and planning documents? Since it is beyond the scope of this book to provide ‘answers’ to these questions, one view that we believe has informed the responses to the above questions is that diversity should not be regarded as deficiency, but as a crucial core element in today’s language education. This book houses contemporary theoretical and empirical studies by emergent researchers and scholars in the disciplines of ELT, Applied Linguistics and TESOL who address some of the above issues from their own contexts (predominantly in Asian settings). Each chapter in a unique way challenges, unpacks and critiques existing misconceptions and preconceived assumptions of the use, learning and teaching of English in today’s fluid and globalised, postmodern era. While some contributors have brought such issues to the forefront through a critical consideration of histories and policies, others have explored how English is enacted, practised, learned, and/or taught across a wide range of settings in order to further illustrate the various manifestations of the worldwide expansion of the language. Together the chapters highlight the current discrepancies and inconsistencies in different areas of interest in the field of ELT, and provide carefully considered suggestions on how to address these issues.

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Studies in this volume will facilitate greater understanding into our optimisation of the delivery and use of English in Asian countries to the advantage of learners, teachers, researchers, policy makers and governments. This book does not seek to answer if and how English is beneficial. Nor does it address the numerous uses and abuses English is put into. Within such post-politicisation and post-appropriation perspective, authors consider the various manifestations of English, sometimes an instrumentalist endeavour, and at other times as a purely professional endeavour to deliver the benefits of an essentially local communication tool. These views revolve around national histories of curriculum policies and development, the status of EIL in country-specific contexts, narratives of ELT teacher training/education and reform – including in-service teacher training, intercultural communicative competence and pedagogical approaches, code-switching, materials and curriculum development, second language acquisition, as well as transformative themes around gender perspectives in the profession of teaching, ethnicities and ethnic discourses in ELT pedagogy, identity and appropriation, and themes of inclusion and nativisation. We ask, for example – to what extent is teaching (English) a gendered profession? What are the factors that contribute or influence our gendered beliefs? How does communicative competence interface with the notion of identity and social interaction? How can young and new teachers be engaged in the profession through mentoring and exposure to long-term development plans? How can universities take into consideration transferrable skills such as business English that will enhance the employability of learners in the job market? How aware are teachers of the varieties and legitimacy of ‘other’ Englishes and how much importance do they place on them? In the overwhelmingly communicative atmosphere, what accounts for the residual expectations of grammar-based language learning? In this book Goward and Zhang show how, despite marked differences in their histories, two emerging superpowers (postcolonial/outer circle India and EFL/expanding circle China) have appropriated English into a useful tool of local communication. Mohideen explores gendered views of teachers’ language ability and how heavily underrepresented males fit into the traditionally feminised profession of ELT in Malaysia. Linh, Dung and Farnhill explore themes of power relations and self-identification within a group of Vietnamese learners in the UK in terms of how they differently interact with native and non-native speakers of English. Bukhori-Muslim’s case study of a non-English speaking family living in Melbourne family

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highlights the complexities of the role of code switching in children’s bilingual development. Warouw tries to understand how teachers adapt their teaching styles and materials in response to the multiethnic diversity typical in university classrooms in Manado. Also analysing language teaching materials, Dinh examines whose and how cultures are represented in ELT textbooks in Vietnam and calls for the need to critically revisit language teaching textbooks in the light of the predominant use of English for intercultural communication in today’s globalised world. Afrianto looks into how a group of prospective English teachers are transformed into novice teachers through the teaching practicum at an Indonesian university. By looking into how workers use pragmatic strategies to overcome problems when communication breakdowns occur, Roshid questions the role of intercultural knowledge in a readymade garments industry in Bangladesh where English is the only means to communicate with the world. Rather than seeing the emerging variety of Japanese English as a deficit model, Ike argues for the need for greater recognition of nativised and truly internationalised local varieties of English, not only in Japan but all over the world. Drawing on a case study on identity and teaching, Yazdanpanah and Brown show how teachers’ personal understanding (rather than theoretical knowledge) of how language works impacts how they teach. Cruz invites us to look into the need for diversifying studies on second language acquisition and emphasising on meaning making through negotiation rather than subscribing to norms typically upheld in ELT classrooms. By comparing what teachers and students view as most conducive in learning English, Wu explores how EIL is perceived by learners and teachers of English in Hong Kong. Through a critical evaluation of a number of projects that are currently playing an important role in developing English teaching, Mishra pushes for more equitable access to English education in India where ELT has so far been the privilege of the wealthy urban population. Rather than striving to come to complacent and conclusive recommendations in terms of how English needs to be conceptualised, understood, learnt and practised, this book attempts to debunk traditionally taken for granted aphorisms and expose the complexities, indeterminability and dialogic unfinalisability (after Bakhtin, 1981) surrounding the most enacted language in the world. It shows how English metamorphosises almost at every turn, defining its users as much as it defines the very uses it is put to. Acknowledgement: The editors would like to express their gratitude for the editorial assistance of Farzana Khan and Mohammod Moninoor

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Roshid, doctoral candidates in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, for their invaluable help, especially at the early stages of this book project.

References Bakhtin, M. (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays (C. Emerson & M. Holquist, Trans.). Austin: University of Texas Press. Brutt-Giffler, J. (2002). English as an International Language. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Canagarajah, A.S. (1999). Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Conrad, A. (1996). The international role of English: The state of the discussion. In J. Fisherman, A. Conrad, & A. Rubel-Lopez (eds.) Postimperial English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 13-36. Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a Lingua Franca: attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kachru, B.B. (1986). The Alchemy of English. Oxford: Pergamon Press. —. (1992). Models for non-native Englishes. In B.B. Kachru (Ed.), The Other Tongue: Englishes Across Cultures (2nd ed.) (pp.48-75). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Kachru, 1992. Kirkpatrick, A. (2007) World Englishes: Implications for international communication and English language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kuhn, T.S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Loseke, D. (2000). Lived realities and formula stories of ‘battered women’. In J. F. Gubrium & J. A. Holstein (Eds.), Institutional Selves: Troubled Identities in a Postmodern World (pp. 107-126). Oxford: Oxford University Press. McKay, S.L. (2002). Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Phillipson, R. (2009). Linguistic Imperialism Continued. London: Routledge.Pennycook (1994). Seidlhofer, B. (2001). Closing the conceptual gap: The case for a description of English as a lingua franca. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2), 133-157. —. (2004). Research perspectives in teaching English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 209-239.

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Tajfel, H. (1982). Social Identity and intergroup relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H.G. (1997). EIL, ESL, EFL: global issues and local interests. World Englishes, 16 (1), 135-146.

CHAPTER ONE DWINDLING MINORITY: THE GENDERED BELIEFS OF MALE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT) TEACHERS SHAMSUL NIZAM KACHI MOHIDEEN Abstract As in many other nations, the Malaysian society recognises the importance of developing in its citizen’s competence and confidence in communicating globally. The teaching and learning of English are highly valued in this endeavour, yet the English Language Teaching (ELT) profession does not currently offer representative role models for learners; male teachers are heavily underrepresented. This may have important implications for learners, perpetuating a possibly gendered view of language ability, which has been widely documented (Francis & Skelton 2005; Loudini 1990; Maccoby & Jacklin 1975). This paper reports a study exploring the gendered beliefs of ‘male’ English Language teachers from different ethnic backgrounds in modern Malaysian society regarding the ‘genderedness’ of the domain of the teaching profession in general and English Language Teaching (ELT) in particular. Gendered beliefs as proposed by Ridgeway and Correll (2004) are cultural beliefs about gender within different social relational contexts in different communities or societies. In particular, this study looks at the influence of hegemonic cultural beliefs about being a male ELT teacher as a way to understand masculinity within the feminised area of ELT and the subject of English Language. Therefore, it attempts to uncover some of the negative stereotypes linked to male ELT teachers by looking into male teachers’ gendered views from their own lived experiences using hegemonic masculinity as a framework of analysis together with the notion of ‘feminisation’ of teaching. This qualitative case-study research is thus set in multicultural Malaysian secondary schools to provide an understanding

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of the gendered beliefs among male teachers through three main ethnic lenses: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Their voices elucidate the factors influencing male teachers’ gendered beliefs and show how these teachers respond to their gendered beliefs and masculinities in their everyday pedagogical practices in secondary English Language classrooms. The findings indicate that these male ELT teachers believed that they are victims of feminisation although they also enjoy the implicit advantages given to them through male roles and hegemonic masculinity practices within the teaching profession. Keywords: English Language Teaching (ELT), gender beliefs, hegemonic masculinity, male teachers.

Introduction Gender imbalances in the teaching profession have been a matter of debate in Malaysia and many other countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States in the past decades. Generally, studies show that the teaching profession in general and the English Language Teaching (ELT) profession in particular do not currently offer a balance between the number of male and female teachers. Indeed, the presence of a female-majority teaching force in most schools around the world increases anxiety among prospective male teachers. Teaching is considered as a female-concentrated occupation (Lupton 2006) and the absence of male role models in schools reduce teaching as a prospective career for boys (Lingard, Martino & Mills 2009). For example, a study conducted by Hwa (2003) regarding the trends in higher education course choices of secondary school leavers in Malaysia, reveals that Malaysian male and female school leavers tend to follow traditional gender appropriate courses rather than those based on one’s abilities and qualifications. From the 368 samples that chose education courses, 312 were females and only 56 were males. Boys seemed to prefer engineering compared to education. Similarly, Drudy (2008) suggests that the disadvantageous position of males in a highly feminised environment of school is a factor for men not wanting to join the teaching force in the West. Reports from international agencies like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] reveals that in most schools, women teachers outnumber men at both primary and secondary level (2009). Similarly, in Malaysia, more than 66% of the teachers in the Malaysian secondary schools are females (Malaysian Educational Statistics, 2008)

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and this is parallel to research findings in most western countries which suggest that teaching is a female dominated job (Francis & Skelton 2005) thus, a ‘soft option’ occupation for men (Connell, 1987). This underrepresentation of males in teaching, the domination of female teachers and the enactment of feminine characteristics, values and thinking in school curriculum (Thornton & Bricheno, 2006; Drudy, 2008) have thus been blamed by many scholars on boys taking the status of the ‘new disadvantaged’ in schools which inform the moral panic of boys’ underachievement and disciplinary concerns. As a result, it is now extremely rare to find many male English Language teachers in schools, and they are increasingly becoming a dwindling minority in schools. Many are reluctant in joining the teaching force because of the negative stereotypes associated to it. For example, many studies found that teaching is perceived as a female job (Apple 1994; Jha & Kelleher 2006) and as a women’s activity (Apple 1994) that is commonly linked to the domestic ideology of nurturing and taking care of children (Francis & Skelton 2005). This traditional feminine role of nurturing children in most traditional cultures possibly led to the perception that the ELT profession is a female job. Teaching is seen to be suitable for women because it is often associated with parenting and thus, contributes to the general view of school and education as ‘feminised’ (Jha & Kelleher 2006, p. 45). In addition to this, the English Language subject in schools is also portrayed as a ‘soft’ subject (Francis 2000; Jha & Kelleher 2006) that favours girls, and as a ‘feminine’ subject (Francis & Skelton 2005). Many scholars have also documented girls’ superiority over boys in language learning, which were found related to various factors such as biological (Maccoby & Jacklin 1975), linguistic (Sikora & Saha 2009), social, attitudinal and stereotyped (Loudini, 1990; Reyes & Stanic, 1988). All these factors have led to the perception that the ELT profession is a female job and the English Language subject is feminine. However, these findings are based in western contexts, which have different views on gender and masculinity from an Asian context such as Malaysia. Do male teachers in Malaysia consider themselves as disadvantaged or inferior in relation to the female-majority teaching population? Considering the claim that men do not want to be teachers because teaching is traditionally stereotyped as a feminine job and because of the lower status accorded to teaching by the Malaysian society in general (Abdullah & Stephen, 2010), this paper examines the gendered beliefs of male ELT teachers within their ELT profession in a non-western context – Malaysia. It attempts to understand male teachers’ gendered views from their own lived experiences using hegemonic masculinity as a

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framework of analysis together with the notion of the ‘feminisation’ of teaching. Although there are many possible reasons for the shortage of males in the teaching profession, the focus of this study is confined to these theoretical concepts in relation to their gendered views of their profession and the subjects that they taught. The next section presents the context of ELT in Malaysia and an understanding of the theoretical concepts discussed in this chapter.

English Language Teaching (ELT) in Malaysia English Language is an important core subject in Malaysia, taught in schools as a subject, which was very much structural-situational oriented until 1983 when the government introduced the New Primary Schools Curriculum (KBSR) and the Integrated Secondary Schools Curriculum (KBSM) in 1989. KBSR focuses on the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic (Pandian 2002). The KBSM stresses on an integrated syllabus with the infusion of critical thinking skills. Teachers must also instil moral and spiritual values into subjects and teaching ‘across the curriculum’ is promoted. However, over the years, the level of English language proficiency among students has deteriorated (Lee 2004) and this has spurred concerns among the Malaysian public as reported in the Malaysian mainstream media (e.g., Azizan & Lee 2011). One of the factors for this decline is the shortage of English teachers – it was reported that the shortage of more than 13000 English Language teachers would hamper the teaching and learning process in schools. In response, under the Strengthening English Policy 2010, the Malaysian Ministry of Education sought to employ an extra 13,933 English teachers. This included hiring 1,000 ‘foreign’ teachers and recruiting another 600 retired teachers (Ministry of Education 2010). The Malaysian mainstream media claimed that one of the reasons for this shortage was that the Malaysian men were generally reluctant to join the teaching force (Chin, 2009). One of the possible ways of overcoming this shortage was to attract more male candidates into the teaching job, as suggested in the media, further confirming that Malaysian boys did not consider teaching as a potential future career (Abdullah & Stephen, 2010) as it is commonly associated with women’s work. This has led to the current situation in most schools in having more female teachers while males are becoming the ‘dwindling minority’ as reported by Chin (2009) in the News Straits Times Singapore. This trend is presented in Table 1.

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Table 1. Percentage of Male Teachers in Secondary Schools 1993 1998 2003 2010 45.1% 39.4% 36.1% 31.9% Source: Malaysian Educational Statistics, 1993–2010

While the supply of male teachers in Malaysia is rather disappointing (Rohaty & Maisarah 2010) due to factors such as teacher salary, working conditions and overburdened clerical aspects of teaching (Abdullah & Stephen 2010), the Malaysian Ministry of Education is currently looking into these issues at macro and micro levels with the aim of producing more quality teachers with a balanced ratio between male and female teachers. To support this move by the ministry and to understand these issues pertaining to male teachers; this study explores and attempts to understand the gendered beliefs of three male English language teachers from three different cultural backgrounds within the English language teaching (ELT) profession in Malaysia.

Gendered beliefs, hegemonic masculinity and feminisation of the teaching profession Ridgeway and Correll (2004) defined gendered beliefs as cultural beliefs about gender within different social-relational contexts in different communities or societies. This notion of gendered beliefs in relation to male ELT teachers within their ELT profession is extended through the concepts of male hegemony and feminisation of the teaching profession. These two concepts have been widely discussed within the political dimensions of masculinity as highlighted by Lingard and Douglas (1999) in seeking for social justice and gender equity within the gender order of the society. In the following section, the impact of hegemonic masculinity in restricting teaching as a career for most men and making it feminised are explained.

Hegemonic Masculinities Masculinity does not denote the same thing to all men. It is understood, experienced and lived out differently by men as it is constructed differently by class culture, race, ethnicity and age (Kimmel & Messner 2001). Many studies on men and masculinities have focused on socially constructed differences between men and women as well as differences between men themselves (Connell, 1995; Kaufman & Harry, 1994; Kimmel, 1994).

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With the rise of the feminist movements in the early 1960’s and 1970’s, radical feminists celebrated femininity by opposing the downgrading or making women inferior to men. This is when the masculine category became something that could be analysed and examined (Connell, 1987) for the first time. The conceptual division between the fixed biological categories were now challenged and the essentialist binary division of men and women became fuzzy as humans were now interpreted as fluid social beings. This impacted subsequent study of men as it changed from the unitary concept of masculinity to the pluralised concept of masculinities. This seemed to suggest that there are hierarchies of power, not only between women and men, but also among men themselves. The hierarchical categories of masculinities as proposed by Connell (1987, 1995) and Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) are hegemonic, subordinated, marginalised and complicit types of masculinities. Hegemonic masculinity, which naturalises the dominance of men over women and is often linked to men’s risk-taking activities, sports, violent and loud behaviour, is the highest level of masculinity and often affect gender power relations in terms of domination and subordination between men and women. Connell (1995) termed this as a ‘patriarchal dividend’ to most men. Subordinated masculinity extends elements of domination to heterosexual men over homosexual, gay or effeminate man whose behaviour posed a threat to the legitimacy of male supremacy. Marginalised masculinity involves the interplay of race, class and ethnicity that may put a man in a marginalised position while complicit masculinity is performed by men who do not enjoy hegemonic status but benefit from it at the same time. Connell’s (1995) concept of ‘hegemony’ which applied Gramsci’s (1971) understanding of hegemony and Giroux’s (1988) idea of a dominant group with an authoritative power relations has led to men being labelled as traditionally superior over women or over other types of masculinity. This has led to the acceptance and legitimacy of patriarchy in most societies and can be seen in the media, business, military or even in the government of countries like Malaysia. However, at the societal level, hegemonic masculinity imposes restrictions on career options for men (Connell 1987; Mac an Ghaill 1994) as tensions in conforming to peer culture of acceptable manhood and normative stereotypical gendered views of career choice make men more concerned of their masculinity. For example, they are sensitive to homophobic slurs on their masculinity, and become more gender sensitive in career choice by defining their masculinity against femininity. This has

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led to the importance of understanding the gendered beliefs of male teachers within their profession of teaching and to explore further into the impact of feminisation within the teaching career which the next section looks into.

The Feminisation of Teaching Teaching has long been and remains a predominantly female occupation in the English speaking world such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. It has been labelled as ‘feminised’ which many scholars argue may partly explain the absence of men in teaching (Lingard et al. 2009; Martino & Rezai Rashti, 2010, 2011). In the context of Malaysia, similar views can be traced over the last few years in the mainstream media. The notion of feminisation of teaching referring to the processes by which teaching becomes a mostly female occupation (Drudy, Martin, Woods & O’Flynn 2005), is blamed among other factors for the dwindling numbers of male teachers in schools (Rohaty & Maisarah, 2010). This concerns male teachers in two ways: first, the domestic mothering roles and ideology involved within the teaching profession and second, the existence of a female-majority environment in schools. Teaching is associated with many parental roles such as nurturing and caring for the students. These qualities are seen as having opposing values within the hegemonic and patriarchal self of male teachers. This label of teaching as ‘feminine’, either imagery or real discourage men who construct their masculine self around anything ‘not being female’ (Epstein et al. 1998; Kimmel 1994). Therefore, teaching is perceived as having a lower status within the society because of the overall status accorded to women (Acker 1994) which involves misogyny, homophobia and patriarchy. Teaching is also labelled as feminine because it disparages women as mothers due to their domestic roles at home in looking after children. This is discussed earlier pertaining to Francis and Skelton’s (2005) discussion of the domestic ideology of nurturing young children in schools through motherly roles and indirectly relates to the parenting notion of asserting care to children which contradicts hegemonic masculinity.

The Study This study aims at investigating the gendered attitudes and beliefs towards ELT in general and the subject of English Language in particular among male English language teachers teaching in schools in Malaysia. It

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Chapter One

looks at male ELT teachers’ perception of the extent of the gendered domain of ELT and the English language subject in Malaysian secondary schools; the factors and effects of gendered beliefs on choice of teaching career and hegemonic cultural views on masculinity within the feminised notion of teaching English. In order to achieve the above objectives, this study was conducted within an interpretative qualitative paradigm using a phenomenological case study approach. As the study attempts to understand the phenomenon of perceptions among male ELT teachers with regards to their ELT profession and the subject English Language, this case study took the view that human reality is not a single, fixed objective phenomenon waiting to be discovered, observed or measured (Guba & Lincoln, 1998) but multidimensional, holistic and ever-changing through interactions between researcher and the subjects (Mertens, 2005). It also allows the researchers for an in-depth exploration of a few individuals (Creswell, 2008) and to retain holistic and meaningful characteristics of real-life events (Yin 2003). As a researcher I became the primary instrument for data collection and analysis, and a wide range of interconnected interpretive practices were deployed with the hope of getting a better understanding of the subject matter (Denzin & Lincoln 2008). In stage 1, an in-depth interview was conducted with all the research participants and in stage 2 teachers were asked to keep a diary to reflect their thoughts on gender while teaching and to reflect on the questions asked during the interviews. In this paper, data relating to the three research participants who represented the three major ethnic in Malaysia were reported. The next section presents background of these three teachers.

Background of the Teachers Chen Chen is an English Language teacher in his late forties with a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) from a local university. He has 30 years of teaching experience and is currently teaching in a co-ed urban Chinese secondary school and is a Guru Cemerlang or ‘Excellent Teacher’, a position given to expert teachers by the Ministry of Education. Chen comes from the Chinese ethnic group.

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Baser Baser is an English Language teacher in his mid-thirties who graduated from a twinning programme in TESL between a teacher training college in Malaysia and a university in the UK. He has 11 years of teaching experience and is currently in the position of Head of MUET (Malaysian University English Test). He is teaching in a multicultural co-ed urban school in Selangor. Baser is of Malay ethnicity and is currently doing his postgraduate studies.

Mano Mano is an English Language teacher in his mid-fifties who graduated from a local teacher training college in TESL and is currently doing his PhD out of campus on a part-time basis. He has 34 years of teaching experience and is currently the Head of MUET (Malaysian University English Test) and a discipline master. Of Indian origin, Mano is teaching in a multicultural co-ed rural school.

Findings Findings of this study are articulated in two sections: first, the gendered beliefs of the male ELT teachers on their teaching and ELT profession and second, the gendered beliefs of these male ELT teachers on their teaching subject – English Language.

Articulating Gendered Beliefs of the ELT Profession Generally, the male ELT teachers in the interview believed that the ELT profession was gender neutral. For example, Chen believes that even though female teachers dominate the profession, it does not mean that the profession ‘belongs’ to them: Although they are more female teachers than males, it does not automatically mean that females own the profession.

Chen explains that teaching is a ‘just a profession’ which delivers a service to the people. He sees himself as someone who has to impart knowledge to his students, make them better persons morally and motivate them to be better citizens of the country. However, Baser and Mano perceived it to be more feminine due to the majority of female teachers in the profession as well as the persistent

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stereotypical view that language learning is a forte with girls and female teachers. Boys and male teachers are seen as being unable to compete with the female gender because they believe that the English Language subject and teaching is feminine-oriented. For example, Baser said: I try not to think that teaching is a gendered profession…but looking around me. I can’t help but to feel it is enforced around me… especially when it comes to female teachers. There are lots and lots of them around… and to a certain extent I feel squeezed out from the profession and it becomes worse because I am teaching English…where…you know the percentage of male teacher is so low …compared to …let’s say Science and Maths.

Baser seems to feel rather ‘inferior’ in his ELT profession because he belonged to the minority gender. He used the term ‘squeezed out’ to represent his view of having more female ELT teachers in his school. He compares this to other subjects like Mathematics and Science where there are more male teachers compared to English. Indirectly, traces of insecurity and powerlessness gripped his hegemonic masculine self and this is translated into a threat – a stereotype-threat which make male teachers seen as not a real ‘man’ (Sargent, 2000). Sargent asserts that men in the teaching profession construct their identities both as men and as teachers by negotiating between being a ‘real men’ or being a ‘real teacher’. Real men do nothing feminine and fear being seen as ‘feminine’. In this context, Baser is in a state of dilemma of whether to be a real teacher or a real man. To him, being a minority gender in ELT narrows his option into becoming less masculine and a less effective teacher, especially in terms of the gendered beliefs he feels the society imposes upon him. However, in the case of Mano, he is more concerned with the level of teaching. He believes that primary level teaching suits female teachers more as it is not as challenging as teaching the upper level. He esxplains: Teaching English is less challenging for men … females are better at language…they are more poetic. Primary schools can be handled by women ... for teaching on a higher scale like college or varsity, men are more suitable.

In his view, Mano believes that men are superior and thus, should be teaching the upper level compared to females in the primary sector. In his view, men’s superiority is encouraged through the acceptance and legitimacy of patriarchy, particularly within his cultural traditions and (Hindu) religious background. This has led Mano into believing that

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teaching is ‘unchallenging’ for men because men are capable of doing more than ‘just teaching’ in schools. Interestingly, he admits that language is a strength area for females compared to men. Again, stereotypical gendered views on teaching and men influence beliefs on the subject. Females are believed to be better in learning and teaching the language while males are stereotypically perceived as unsuitable candidates for teaching languages. This is due to two reasons; first, men possess a higher intellectual ability in doing something more challenging and important as argued by Mano above – a view shared by Chen. He said: Males are just likely distracted with something else, something more important.

Chen seems to suggest that males could choose to do something more ‘important’ than teaching English. This is indicative of characteristics of hegemonic masculinity within male ELT teacher’s views. Chen and Mano both believed that the teaching profession is an unchallenging job for men because the profession does not enforce masculine values and is seen as a soft and womanly activity as found by Apple (1994) and Jha and Kelleher (2006) too. In this case, they both believe that being a male teacher means that they are doing something of lesser importance and thus implying that teaching is against the ‘nature’ of being a man. Indirectly they feel that it is a ‘lady’s job’ which denotes lower status. The second reason is that male teachers are positioned in a disadvantaged state with negative stereotypes. For example, male teachers are seen as inferior to female teachers when it comes to matters pertaining to paperwork, filing and documentation. This may limit their chances of getting a promotion in the long run. Male teachers are also frequently stereotyped as an ‘outdoor’ person and thus being forgiven if they lagged in preparing reports and other types of paper work in teaching such as yearly planning. Baser, for example, articulates these tensions in his diary entry: Being a male English teacher ¿rst off, I’m always the only male since language ¿elds are always being monopolized by women. At school, I’m the only male English teacher in the entire school. When I get involved with district/state programs, I ¿nd myself alone or if I’m lucky, I might get on with one or two male teachers. Because I’m the only male English teacher, by default I become the Head of MUET Unit even when two of my colleagues are more experienced than I am. English activities are carried out with me involved in them at time when it is not convenient for women teachers – Saturdays namely. I believe being a man gives women the idea that I’m expendable because men can do anything. Another, when

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Chapter One I get lagged behind with yearly planning, reports, etc. I ¿nd my colleagues can forgive me easily because I think the idea as long as he does it – cause he is a man, sticks very clearly. I don’t think I would be easily forgiven if I were a woman.

Based on these conflicting gendered views on male ability as teachers, male teachers in the ELT profession seemed to enjoy either a higher status by positioning themselves hegemonically above female teachers or in a disadvantaged situation as the minority and inferior gender imposed upon them by the society and the negative stereotypes that accompany them. In Baser’s case, he is chosen to lead the MUET unit due to cultural and perhaps religiously endorsed notion of male superiority. In Malay patriarchal Muslim culture men are always leaders in their own family and this value may have affected both the female and male Muslim teachers professionally at school. This reflects typical expectations in upholding and performing traditional male roles and responsibilities in a Muslimmale teacher like Baser. However, in the West, for example, Williams’ (1992, 1993) works on men’s underrepresentation in elementary teaching in the United States found that men generally experience structural advantages in their career which she labelled as the ‘glass escalator effect’ while at the same time they do encounter prejudices from people outside their profession. Although Chen, Baser and Mano seemed to believe that they are victims of feminisation in schools, at the same time they did enjoy certain implicit advantages by practising ‘hegemonic masculinity’ in the teaching profession. Therefore, while male ELT teachers themselves believed that the ELT profession was feminised, they perhaps survived and lived on within this ‘feminised space’ by practicing certain types of masculinities. However, it is quite possible that the societal negative stereotypes on men in teaching may position these male teachers into a ‘trapped door’ situation as compared to Williams’ ‘glass escalator effect’ in organisational advancement.

Articulating Gendered Beliefs on the English Language Subject Data obtained through this study seemed to suggest that there are two conflicting views among the male ELT teachers on the genderedness of the English Language subject in Malaysian schools. The first view is that the English Language subject is gender-neutral, second view is it is gendered or feminine (particularly in terms of curriculum design and topics selected in the textbooks).

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In the first view, male ELT teachers believe that English Language is a gender-neutral subject because it is seen as a ‘skill’ that could be learnt by anyone regardless of gender. For example, Baser said in the interview: It’s a language…so it is something that is gender-neutral… it is more than a subject…it is a skill… it is a life skill…so … everybody should get it … yeah …

For Baser, English Language is a basic language skill that everyone could learn and master if they are willing to put a lot of time and hard work into it. To him, gender does not play a role as language is a communication tool that merely allows people to interact with one another irrespective of their gender. As a teacher of English, Baser sees that both boys and girls in his class could perform well in the language if they are interested and willing to learn the subject. In the second view however, the subject is perceived by the male ELT teachers in this study to be gendered or feminine. This view is due to the nature of the topics selected for the subject and the curriculum itself which they perceived as favoring girls. For example, Mano believes that the English Language curriculum in schools is a female-based curriculum due to the selection of topics and syllabus content. He said: [English Language] is feminine even though the curriculum looks neutral…[because]…most of the text deals with feminine topics, [the] content in the syllabus is female based…it is basically if you look into it …very feminine. Example, if you see a text, you’ll see most of the text as regards to that ...pertaining to the mother, the daughter that sort of thing … and when it comes to man, very little … for example the Form 4 and Form 5 basically how to fix a leaking tap , those are the small minor things that you see more towards the guys … how to repair this and that … but those are very small portion … but most of the text are pertaining to … very female-based curriculum …

The problem he mentioned during the interview is to choose the best topic for both genders. Some topics are considered more female-oriented such as writing recipes and baking a cake, while others appear to be more masculine – such as fixing a tap and how to change a three-pin plug at home. However, he believes that the curriculum caters more to girls’ topics compared to boys. English Language is thus perceived to have a feminised curriculum and culture of learning. Table 2 presents a summary of participant teachers’ gendered perception of the English Language subject.

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Table 2. A Summary of Participant Teachers’ Gendered Perception of the English Language Subject Gender Neutral Feminine English is a universal language There are more female teachers in It depends on the individual teaching English. learner, not their gender. More girls are doing well in It involves language skills. English examinations. English has functional purposes Girls are more interested and and needs for communicating, willing to learn. Girls are better in writing and irrespective of gender. reading skills. Girls are better with literature and poems (as it involves emotions) The teachers in this study believe that the language curriculum is feminised even though they perceive the subject as gender-neutral in general. The reasons offered, as shown in Table 2, are not exclusive to the context of Malaysia as they have been documented widely by many scholars from various fields of study (see for example, Drudy, 2008; Thorton & Bricheno, 2006; Sikora & Saha, 2009). What emerged as significant in this study is the role played by hegemonic masculinity and the feminisation of teaching in determining whether the subject (English language) is gendered or not. The masculine self of the male teachers and the feminised context of schooling, teaching and school subjects may provide a platform in understanding the gendered beliefs of male ELT teachers within their ELT profession and the subject they taught.

Discussion and Conclusion The male ELT teachers in this study believe that the ELT profession is gender-neutral and male teachers have their roles to play. As Salwa (1996) pointed out in the context of teaching profession in Malaysia, teaching in schools generally consists of two types of tasks: academic and nonacademic. Academic tasks are those tasks closely related to the curriculum, imparting knowledge and matters relating to examinations such as marking and grading. Academic tasks, which form the core of teaching job, are closely connected to teaching and learning processes in the school. The other type of tasks in schools normally deals with aspects of school management and organisational purposes such as doing paperwork, updating databases, collecting fees, managing class finances, beautifying classrooms, school surroundings and matters related to what I label as

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‘accessories’ within the profession. These types of tasks are important yet fall under non-academic tasks. In this study, the male ELT teachers seemed to believe that the academic aspect of teaching is gender-neutral and the nature of such work are common to all teachers irrespective of their genders. The teachers believe that as teachers, both genders can perform equally well. However, the male ELT teachers are concerned about the way the curriculum and topics are selected which to them favours girls. Perhaps the curriculum could extend more boys-related topics and at the same time offer some degree of flexibility in teachers selecting appropriate topics for the students based on gender. Secondly, the male ELT teachers perceived that the ELT profession is gendered because of the issues relating to the non-academic tasks expected of them within the profession. Teachers are expected to perform clerical tasks, updating databases and help in beatifying the school compound. These ‘accessories’ within the profession led to these male teachers into seeing their profession as feminised. This is against their hegemonic understanding of being a male teacher and thus, leads them to believe that these non-academic tasks are suitable for female teachers and are of secondary status, not ‘manly’ enough for them to perform. However, in the context of Chen, who rather explicitly demonstrated that he does not conform to hegemonic masculinity, he still sees that all these (nonacademic tasks) as part of the teaching job. The argument here is that these male ELT teachers had positioned themselves between hegemonic and complicit masculine selves as shown by Connell (1995) in a fluid manner. They interacted between being a dominant man or a caring and loving man by adjusting their masculine identities. The general expectations of teachers performing parental roles and becoming a ‘motherly’ figure deter men from accepting that this profession is gender-neutral. Factors such as performing motherly and caring roles which are seen as ‘soft’ as opposed to the authoritative, dominant and disciplined manner of being masculine or ‘fatherly’ as discussed by Sargent’s (2000) ‘real men or real teachers’, are found to have influenced these teachers’ gendered beliefs of their ELT profession. Hegemonic masculinity is fulfilled by these teachers by becoming a sports trainer, discipline master or leaders in school, while after school the status of being a teacher is linked to their role of a breadwinner and being able to provide a comfortable life for their own family. This suggests that hegemonic masculinity still operates within most traditionally gendered role expectations of being a male teacher in Malaysian schools. However, subordinate and marginalised masculinities have not been traced in this

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Chapter One

study. More research involving a bigger sample can enlighten us on these important aspects. On the notion of ‘feminisation of teaching’, this study found that male ELT teachers viewed the ELT profession as feminised because of the two factors named by Skelton (2005); first the numerical factor in which male teachers are outnumbered in most schools; second, the cultural factor that encompasses the manifestation of female-driven values within the ELT profession through what I called ‘feminised accessories to teaching’. Within the academic side of teaching, the cultural factor to feminisation involves the design of the English Language syllabus, which is believed to favour girls’ topics and interests. While believing English as a gendered profession may have an impact on male teachers’ perceptions and recruitment to teaching, the effects of gendered beliefs on some aspects of teaching practices can be further researched upon – for example in extending Afrianto’s (Chapter 7 of this book) notion of a professional English teacher or Yazdanpanah & Brown’s (Chapter 4 of this book) findings on English Language teachers’ view of language and language learning in the context of teacher’s knowledge and identities. The research on male teachers in the teaching profession should move forward from issues of gender relations between male and female teachers towards the complexities of how men themselves perceive the notion of ‘feminisation’ within the males themselves. Issues of domination and subordination within the hegemonic framework suggested by Connell (1995) should be seen not only from the Anglo/Western construction of masculinity and femininity, but also from the Asian discourses and epistemologies. Further research on feminisation of teaching and hegemonic masculinity in the future within this non-western context may give a better understanding of gender power relations between men and men in teaching. In addition, future research into the hegemonic role played by English language over other languages based on the notion of linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 1992) and the discourses of colonialism (Pennycook, 1998) could be extended to address the hegemonic role played by male teachers within the patriarchal atmosphere of the society beyond the teaching profession. For example, both the English language and ‘male teachers’ are seen as having important roles and these roles can be mutually supportive in terms of the cultural hegemonic values they carry within the discourses of school and teaching. It is thus important to address the concept of ‘domination and subordination’ and ‘neutrality’ between the roles played by English language and male teachers in general.

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Francis, B., & Skelton, C. (2005). Reassessing gender and achievement: Questioning contemporary key debates. London: Routledge. Giroux, H. A. (1988). Schooling and the struggle for public life: Critical pedagogy in the modern age. USA: University of Minnesota Press. Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from prison notebooks. New York: International Publishers. Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1998). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research: Theories and Issues (pp. 195-220). Thousand oaks: Sage Publication. Hwa, Q. A. (2003). Trends in Higher Education Course Choice of Secondary School Leavers in Malaysia. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 23(1), 69-83. Jha, J., & Kelleher, F. (2006). Boys’ underachievement in education: An exploration in selected commonwealth countries. London: Commonwealth Secretariat: Commonwealth of Learning. Kaufman, M., & Harry, B. (Eds.). (1994). Theorizing masculinities. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Kimmel, M. S. (1994). Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, shame and silence in the construction of gender identity. Thousand Oaks, CA: SagePublications. Kimmel, M. S., & Messner, M. A. (2001). Men’s lives (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Lee, M. N. N. (2004). Malaysian teacher education into the new century. In Y. Cheng, K. Chow & M. Mok (Eds.), Reform of Teacher Education in the Asia-Pacific in the New Millennium (Vol. 3, pp. 81-91): Netherlands: Springer. Lingard, B., & Douglas, P. (1999). Men engaging feminisms: Profeminism, backlashes and schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press. Lingard, B., Martino, W., & Mills, M. (2009). Boys and schooling: Beyond structural reform. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave-Macmillan. Loudini, R. (1990). Is language learning really a female business? Language Learning Journal, 1, 40-43. Lupton, B. (2006). Explaining men’s entry into female-concentrated occupations: Issues of masculinity and social class. Gender, Work & Organization, 13(2), 103-128. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2006.00299.x. Mac an Ghaill, M. (1994). The making of men: Masculinities, sexualities and schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press. Maccoby, E., & Jacklin, C. (1975). The psychology of sex differences. Sanford: Sanford University Press.

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Malaysian Educational Statistics. (2008). Malaysian educational statistics: Quick facts 2008. Putrajaya, Malaysia: Ministry of Education. Martino, W., & Rezai Rashti, G. M. (2010). Male teacher shortage: Black teachers’ perspectives. Gender and Education, 22(3), 247-262. doi: 10.1080/09540250903474582. Martino, W., & Rezai Rashti, G. M. (2011). Gender, race, and the politics of role modelling: The influence of male teachers Retrieved from http://MONASH.eblib.com.au/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=956976. Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Ministry of Education. (1989). Integrated Secondary Schools Curriculum (KBSM). Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Education. —. (2010). To uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to strengthen the English language. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.my/mbmmbi/. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]. (2009). Creating effective teaching and learning environments. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/preschoolandschool/ 43023606.pdf. Pandian, A. (2002). English language teaching in Malaysia today. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 22(2), 35-52. Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London:Routledge. Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reyes, L., & Stanic, G. (1988). Race, sex, socioeconomic status, and mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 2643. Ridgeway, C. L., &Correll, S. J. (2004). Unpacking the gender system: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender and Society, 18(4), 510-531. Rohaty, M. M., & Maisarah, M. R. (2010). Boys’ underachievement: Male versus female teachers. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 7, 685-690. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.10.093. Salwa, A. B. (1996). A study on teachers’ workload in secondary schools in a district of Johor Baharu, Johor [in Malay]. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Fakulti Pendidikan. Sargent, P. (2000). Real men or real teachers? Contradictions in the lives of men elementary teachers. Men and Masculinities, 2(4), 410-433.

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Sikora, J., & Saha, L. J. (2009). Gender and professional career plans of high school students in comparative perspective. Educational Research and Evaluation: An International Journal on Theory and Practice, 15(4), 385-403. Skelton, C. (2005). The ‘individualized’ (woman) in the academy: Ulrich Beck, gender and power. Gender and Education, 17, 319-332. Thornton, M., & Bricheno, P. (2006). Missing men in education. Stoke on Trent, UK: Trentham Books. Williams, C. L. (1992). The glass escalator: Hidden advantages for men in the ‘Female’ professions. Social Problems, 39(3), 253-267. —. (1993). Doing ‘women’s work’: Men in non-traditional occupations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Yin, R. K. (2003). Applications of case study research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

CHAPTER TWO FROM SLA TO NEGOTIATION IN EIL: MAKING MEANING TOGETHER THROUGH DIFFERENT ENGLISHES PRISCILLA ANGELA T. CRUZ Abstract Studies of English as an international language have had multiple effects related to second language acquisition (SLA), whether regarding teaching, learning, or policy planning. But, as Firth (2009) argues, it is time to extend the concept of SLA beyond the English classroom and into the domains of real life interactions. Doing so will broaden the concept of SLA away from notions of ‘standard’ competence and into ‘negotiation’ (Canagarajah, 2006) where language users of various levels of proficiency in EIL situations can and do manage to make meaning together despite their language differences (Firth, 2009). This perspective acknowledges the importance of ‘extra’ linguistic resources in the creation of meaning across all users of English, whether L1 or L2 users. In arguing that meaning-making is a process, teachers or managers who work in EIL contexts must employ a pedagogy that will fully appreciate the users’ “full linguistic repertoire” (McKay, 2002) and be open to the variety of ways that English is used by multilingual users in multilingual settings. This paper, which uses data from the Asian Corpus of English, will examine how users of English in EIL contexts create meaning together. It will look at two things: the hows of negotiation, or the strategies used to make meaning and the whats of negotiation or the goals of negotiation. Furthermore, it will also examine what ‘extra’ linguistic factors and resources – such as attitudes and values – are helpful (or not) in communication. This study can be helpful for teachers, particularly when it comes to what possible approaches they can take to insure that their lessons are meaningful to their students who may live, study, and work in

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EIL contexts. It will also offer some suggestions for managers who deal with EIL training contexts as it can help identify what attitudes and values need to be addressed to insure communication and minimize mis- and missed communication. Keywords: EIL, pedagogy, Second language acquisition, negotiation of meaning.

Introduction This paper is an attempt to add to studies on negotiation in English as an International Language (EIL) contexts and interactions. Much previous work on negotiation has focused on either the theoretical underpinnings of negotiation in EIL or the hows of negotiation in EIL interactions. This paper will add to current research by examining specific manifestations of negotiation (hows) but will add to the field by also zeroing in on what is negotiated to create meaning. Previous research has also explored negotiation in conversational contexts. This paper, on the other hand, will examine targeted conversation in a professional training situation where users are required to fulfill assigned tasks. This combination of looking at the hows and whats of negotiation in a training context will offer more precise insights on what resources users need to draw on to fulfill the requirements of tasks that require the exchange of ideas and may demand a larger linguistic and ‘extra’ linguistic repertoire. This paper seeks to answer the following questions: x How does the need to fulfill a task inform the negotiation and meaning-making strategies used in an EIL training context? What negotiation and meaning-making strategies are used? x In this context, what exactly is negotiated and why? x What areas involving communication should teachers and trainers address in their pedagogic practices? The analysis and conclusions stemming from this paper will show what goes into the meaning-making process found in EIL contexts. These can inform pedagogical initiatives that are concerned with English in intercultural and multilingual interactions; hence, broadening the concept (Firth & Wagner, 1997) of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) away from just classroom interactions and into the meaning-making that goes into professional encounters.

From SLA to Negotiation in EIL

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The data The data for this study was drawn from the Philippine arm of the Asian Corpus of English (ACE) project. The ACE project, which aims to compile “a corpus of one million words of naturally occurring, spoken, interactive data of English being used as a lingua franca in Asia” (ACE Manual 2011, p. 1), is an ambitious project which involves researchers and universities across Asia. Data for this study was compiled and transcribed by the ACE team of Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. The transcription conventions used were those recommended by the ACE project. Data for this study is composed of recordings and transcripts involving the participants of a pastoral training program in the Philippines. The participants are all multilinguals from a variety of countries who are undergoing training in order to work in different pastoral contexts in Asia and all over the world. English is the medium of interaction in the training and is quite possibly the language that will be used in the participants’ future work. The data then makes for authentic examples of EIL in a professional training context. This paper will track the participants as they work toward fulfilling an assigned task. Participants are heard discussing various aspects of the task as they prepare their answers. Sadly, there are no recordings of the final outcome of their work. However, the recordings contain considerable data on the journey toward task fulfillment. It is this journey that this paper will examine.

Theoretical Framework In a 2006 paper, Canagarajah argues that in the globalized relations of today’s world, communicative needs are constantly changing (Canagarajah, 2006b). One consequence is that mastering British/American English language norms is just one form of linguistic competence. As language users are more often faced with international interactions involving bi- or multilingual users, it becomes necessary to adjust to different communicative styles and norms as well as be sensitive to the “performance and pragmatics” (229) necessary in each communicative situation. Canagarajah’s work draws heavily on previous work on World Englishes (such as Kachru, 1990) which posits the existence of different varieties of English that are located in nation-states. Hence, Indians would speak Indian English, Filipinos, Philippine English, Australians, Australian English, and Chinese, China English. In a world with many varieties of

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English, users have to adjust to and accommodate each other’s language use to keep communication smooth and clear (see Roshid, this volume, for an interesting study of English use in an international business context). Canagarajah argues that different ways of using English would necessarily lead to negotiation as users calibrate to each other’s language use. This situation should necessarily lead to an attitude that is more open to “strategies of negotiation, situated performance, communicative repertoire, and language awareness” (Canagarajah 2006, p. 229) rather than a strict adherence to just one linguistic norm. Language learning, then, is not just the mastery of ‘classic’ rules of grammar but involves the ability to communicate with a variety of users for different purposes. In this case, language learning is knowing how and when to shift codes depending on context. In his paper “Doing not being a foreign language learner: English as a lingua franca in the workplace and (some) implications for SLA,” Firth (2009) echoes similar arguments. He argues that much language learning occurs in daily English language interactions in the workplace (Firth, 2009). He points out that although SLA research has been traditionally concerned with learning in the classroom, it is equally possible for SLA learning to occur outside the classroom in professional contexts and interactions. Viewing language learning in this manner supports the need to broaden SLA in order to become more context-sensitive (Firth & Wagner, 1997) and less concerned with prescribed grammatical correctness. What is necessary in this broadening of SLA is the attitude that accepts that “learning is a ubiquitous social activity that is both empirically demonstrable and methodologically describable in settings outside the classroom and, moreover, describable in ways that are important to SLA” (p. 131). Firth (2009) further argues that in daily interactions that occur outside the classroom, learner status is kept a “private matter” (p. 132) between interactants. That is, neither one calls attention to the learner status of anyone, despite aberrations in English language use. This is a very horizontal perspective that takes as important the success of the communicative act rather than any power-play between one speaker whose English may be better than the other’s. Furthermore, in this perspective, all language users are language learners (Firth, 2009) as, in every interaction, they encounter different or new linguistic forms as well as new forms of knowledge. Encountering what is new naturally leads to learning, as each user will have to adjust to and accommodate each other’s language in order to make communication successful (Firth, 2009).

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Both Firth (2009) and Canagarajah (2006) bring out two very important points about English in our globalized world. As international mobility increases through job, living, and study opportunities, communication in English is about making oneself understood in all contexts to fulfill a variety of tasks. What matters now is deploying the language in a variety of uses to make oneself understood and insure the success of the communicative encounter, whatever it may be (Canagarajah, 2006). In this respect, the task or aims of the communicative exchange are important. The second point that Canagarajah and Firth bring out is that there is now, ideally, a horizontal relationship between language users. As we are all learners and users, we all use language to negotiate zones of knowledge and expertise, argued in Mahboob’s (2011) Dynamic Approach to Language Proficiency (DALP) model.

(Mahboob 2011)

In his DALP model, Mahboob (2011) proposes four zones of language use: the zone of expertise, where there is a convergence of shared contextual knowledge and a shared linguistic code. The second zone is the zone of expanding experience, which involves a shared linguistic code but not shared contextual knowledge. The third zone is that of the expanding code, with shared contextual knowledge but not a shared linguistic code.

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The fourth zone, or zoned out, is that which does not assume a shared linguistic code or shared contextual knowledge. Mahboob uses travel metaphors to concretize these zones. The zone of expertise is realised by the native or local individual who is familiar with the language and knowledge of his/her country. The zone of expanding experience is represented by the visitor or tourist in a new place. The visitor is relatively familiar with what linguistic codes to use (maybe through research prior to the trip) but not really familiar with contextual knowledge. The third zone, the expanding code, is represented by the migrant who has moved to a new country and is familiar with the contextual knowledge of that country (maybe through immigration research and pre-immigration seminars) but may not be very proficient with the linguistic code of that country (colloquial language for example, or a different variety of English). The final zone, zoned out, is the zone of the foreigner who is in a new place or context with neither familiarity with the linguistic code nor with shared contextual knowledge. Mahboob (2001) argues that the DALP model is helpful on many levels: x DALP helps us in moving towards a model of language that is not based on ‘nativeness’ x DALP acknowledges the role of negotiation and accommodation in communication. x DALP sees linguistic ability as fluid and variable that may change based on who we are communicating with, under what situation, and for what purposes. x DALP considers our ability to engage with variable language codes in diverse contexts. The DALP model is useful for studying EIL interactions as it conflates language use and learning. Furthermore, it is a model that shows what areas of language use and meaning-making are being negotiated in a given context. As a language model, it acknowledges that language use and learning are not dependent on a single prescribed norm (such as grammar correctness) but are context-dependent. Since this study tracks a group of users as they make meaning together, this model will be useful for identifying what these users are negotiating in order to succeed in the task assigned to them.

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Methodology These were the steps followed to track negotiation and meaningmaking. First, data recordings and transcriptions were collected following the guidelines of the ACE Project.1 The second step involved identifying stages in the group’s work. Stages were identified based on questions or declarative/imperative sentences assuming the group wanted these questions or points to be discussed. Stages began with the group working out a question or idea and ending with a consensus. The third step involved plotting the group on the DALP model as a way of showing what was being negotiated in each stage. The fourth step involved identifying what negotiation or meaning-making strategies were deployed in each stage. These strategies were identified based on the work of Firth (1997) and Canagarajah and Wurr (2011). These strategies will be discussed as they are identified.

Findings As mentioned earlier, data for this study was taken from a group of pastoral workers in a training context. There are four participants in the group: S1, S3, and S4 are women from three different Asian countries. S2 is a Rwandan male. The recordings were taken from a class on migration and pastoral work. The group’s task was to identify how they, as pastoral workers, could respond to social issues caused by migration. The recordings do not contain the full task instructions of the trainer so whatever topic options were given is not clear. It seems that the trainer gave topic options and from those options, the group chose to focus on issues related to the family. These are the stages of their exchange. For each stage, only an excerpt is reproduced here.

1

Due to space constraints, it is not possible to reprint all the transcripts here. The recordings compose about one hour of data so the transcripts of the recordings span too many pages to be reproduced.

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Stage 1: Choosing the topic

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S1: to start with families? @@ usually in families. S3: yes S1: yeah S2: you want it? you like it? S1: what do you think? because the root cause is the family---- the family? ---- @@@ S2: good. good. S3: yes. S1: yeah that’s what i thought. S2: i have full supPO:RT. -----

In this stage, the group is deciding on and agreeing to work on what topic to work on. S2 and S3 are supportive of S1’s suggestion to focus on family. Furthermore, S1 offers an explanation of why family should be their topic, which S2 and S3 agree with.

From SLA to Negotiation in EIL

Stage 2: Understanding the choice

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S2: we will reflect first. huh. S1: we’ll reflect. S2: yeah. S1: on why we have selected families as individual (.) Brainstorm first S4: fa- family that mean father mother and child. S1: children (loud) S4: children (.) Ah S1: in the family in each one for sure there are migrants S4: yah. S3: @@@ S1: that is- S1: yes that’s it. that is the one with the reason why we have selected. and what can you do. the change is i-start with the family first. the i- the closest nucleus of where we are coming from for ak (.) for a change. it start (.) any change should istart in a smaller group (.) (at) the the smaller group so far is the family (.) the closest to you (.) at to your heart (.) to you everyth (.) eh to (.) to you as a human. right? S3: xxx family may x individually? they have to do something x thats father mother and key role? yeah some say. S1: action (loud) that is our action (.) later but we are brainstorming why we choose first (.) why we choose and then later on what can we do? so its nice (.) uh i (.) i give my reason why i choose families S2: yah we accept the fact but you know, according to me (.) uhn (.) we (.) we have to define which (.) type of family S1: okay. S2: because if you want to do something S1: okay. S2: you know families of migrants S1: uhuh (.) family of migrants yes S2: we could write the topic on migration S1: yeah yeah S2: so family of migrants (.) what do you mean? do we mean RESETTLEMENT? uh (.) no no no FAMILY REUNIFICATION?

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After this stage, the recording is not too clear on what is going on. S1 and S2 mutter about their ideas while one speaker, S3, seems to be reacting to something going on in the training room. S4 seems to just come in at this time. Although the muttering going on can be interesting, no consensus is reached so this data is not reproduced here. At the next stage, the group goes through what they identify as “brainstorming”, which is about the reasons why the group picked the family as their topic. In this stage, the group does something a bit unusual because they seem to have inserted an unnecessary step in the task. In Stage 1, the group had already decided on their topic and then, for some reason, they thought it best to “brainstorm” on why they chose the family as their topic. The transcript shows that S1 and S2 dominate this stage. S1 and S2 are the most vocal members of the group who speak in longer chunks and with more confidence than S3 or S4. S1 seems to be delivering her ideas in something similar to a monologue with S2, S3, and S4 interjecting at certain points. This is a bit of an incoherent, awkward stage where S1 is forcibly talking about her ideas while the others are trying to get a word in. There also seems to be something of a power-play going on between the three women. S1, who is the most proficient, cuts off S3 and S4. When S4 offers her definition of family, S1 reacts by correcting her use of “child” with “children.” Later, she cuts off S3 as well when the latter starts talking about action. S3 seems to want to talk about what family members should do but S1 interrupts her by talking about what they, as pastoral workers, should do. However, despite lack of coherence in the exchange, the data supports House’s (2003) findings of parallel monologues in lingua franca encounters. That is, each speaker recycles topics in his/her own monologue (House, 2003). Canagarajah (2006) further explains this as a chance for less-proficient speakers to control the topic (something S3 seems to be doing). Since each member is working out the topic in his/her own way, this stage shows the group falling under zone two, the zone of expanding experience. In the exchange, each member brings out different contextual opinions on the topic and on families in general. House (2003), though, argues that despite parallel monologues, communication does not break down, as eventually a consensus is reached. This consensus is seen in the next stage. In Stage 3, the group responds to S2’s very loud request for them to discuss a specific type of family. At the end of Stage 2, he asks whether the group wants to work on family reunification or family resettlement.

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Although his colleagues still continue their monologues about their ideas of family, S2’s questions direct the conversation to a consensus: Stage 3: Focusing the topic

S1: so we will put here families for reunification reunification or uni-uni-uni-uni unification? families’ unification (.) i think (.) uh (.) why there’s thing (.) well how do you S2: so according to to our saying (.) i am not talking about family reunification as an issue? S1: yeah no no no. S2: we’re talking about family that are (al)READY there. S1: yes yes ..................................... S5: yeah how do we what is the term? S3: the x is just language problem for the whole family (.) because you don’t understand S1: not yet as an individual first what can we do? so what we do first is we have to have a common uh what kind of families. S2: families set (.) families settle-settlment? S1: settlement. S4: settlement. S1: families’ settlement. S2: yeah. S1: settlement or resettlement? ah (.) settlement yeah. S4: settlement. not re. S2: resettlement ..................................... S2: and xx. what i are saying is true they are settled now the language the (contract) (.) education for the children (.) and uh (.) spirituality for the family and so on (.) education and job. S1: resettlement (.) uh what is the ispelling of resettlement? eh (.) R. sss uh? S2: what’s S? to settle? to resettle? S1: re:set:tle. S2: one S.

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In this stage, a consensus is reached and the group decides that they will focus on whole families that have migrated and resettled in a new place. S2 reminds the group that making their topic more specific will make it easier to respond to the task instructions. House (2003) and Canagarajah and Wurr (2011) say that being consensus-oriented is an important strategy for communication. Although each group member does not show a mastery of grammatical and lexical norms, communication does not break down (Firth, 1996) as the entire group is oriented toward doing what is best to fulfill the task at hand. This excerpt shows different ways of orienting to the task. To S1 and S2, who dominate the conversation yet again, a key to fulfilling the task is agreeing on the most exact terms and definitions. Although “family resettlement” is not the best term to use for what they mean2, it is important for S1 and S2 that the entire group accept this term and the meaning that comes with it. S3, though, seems to be moving on her own tangent (her own parallel monologue?), when she says “the x is just language problem for the whole family. because you don’t understand.” Her comment seems out of place considering her colleagues are deciding on terms, definitions, and spelling. However, what S3 seems to be doing is orienting to the task in her own way. Whether she has accepted “family resettlement” or not, what matters to her is actually immediately focusing on the task rather than the details of terminology. S3, in mentioning language, is identifying a problem, the language barrier, which does affect migrant families. To S1 and S2, a consensus on terms matters while to S3 what is important is responding to the actual requirements of the task itself. Despite differences in what is being said, each member of the group is offering different ways of approaching the task. In this exchange, S1 and S2 are helping each other deploy the correct spelling of ‘family resettlement’. Canagarajah and Wurr (2011) would describe what they are doing as a manifestation of a valuable attitude toward the use of correct forms. Canagarajah and Wurr argue that in multilingual encounters, it is not always important to correctly use all forms. Rather, it is more practical to focus on the forms that are necessary for the task. We see this attitude in the data when the group does not worry about grammatical issues but finds spelling to be very important. This makes sense because it seems that part of the task requires the group to present their work on Manila paper for the entire class and trainer to see. It is also clear that the group is going through some effort to make sure that all members understand ‘family resettlement’ in the same way. S2 points 2

‘Migrant families’ might be better?

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this out when he confirms that, “we’re talking about family that are (al)READY there.” In coming to a consensus, Stage 3 shows the group eventually moving from the zone of expanding code, where they negotiate linguistic forms, to their own zone of expertise as they finally decide on what shared linguistic code will realize their shared contextual knowledge. After Stage 3, the group takes a break and comes back to continue their work. Stage 4 contains their discussions on what they, as individuals, can do to help migrant families. Here is an excerpt: Stage 4: Deciding what individuals can do

S1: what (.) not accept (.) it’s kind of (.) there should be a kind of (.) what action action S3: action S4: like er what i (.) taught yesterday S1: what S4: that i (.) first time i go to (.) their house (.) xx S1: ah visit S4: yes S2: visit er S1: visit the house S4: to visit (.) to look (.) to see how how situation of the family S1: visit the house (.) okay S4: yes S1: visit the house (.) okay one S2: home visit S4: home visit? (.) home visit? S1: oh i have visit home S4: yes home visit S1: okay S4: and then (.) then we hear what the what the what -S1: listen to the stories S5: yes listen to the --S1: visit home and then listen to the stories S2: second point (.) and that two different points S1: yeah two different S2: (Be)cause they are visiting us present (.) but listening is er another skill

In this stage, the group negotiates their shared knowledge and comes to a consensus on the linguistic code that realizes this knowledge. S4, who has been fairly quiet up to now, mentions something she has just recently

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learned but lacks the precise linguistic codes to use. What S4 means is clear to her colleagues, who share her contextual knowledge. S1 and S2 immediately jump in and provide the terms ‘visit house’ or ‘home visits,’ which S4 accepts. Here, we see that S1 and S2 are in the zone of expertise as they share the linguistic code which realizes their shared contextual knowledge (the term home visits as referring to a type of pastoral task). Through repetition, confirmation, and a bit of intuition (Canagarajah and Wurr 2011), they help S4 communicate what she is trying to say. S4, who is in the zone of expanding code, is negotiating her proficiency by looking for the language that expresses her meanings. S1 and S2 help her with this. In addition, S2, who seems to be ever the voice of reason of the group, reminds everyone that visiting and listening are two different things, which is an idea that the group integrates into their response to the task. After focusing on what individuals can do, the group moves on to the parish level. In their exchange, they point out that although parishes generally want to help, they need to be made fully aware of the problems of migrant families. The group works on this idea by searching for the exact term that conveys what they mean. In this excerpt from Stage 5, the group decides that parish councils must be ‘sensitized’ on the problems of migrant families so parish offices can start to help these families. There is a lot of negotiation over what term to use. S2’s vote is ‘sensitize’ while S1 prefers ‘conscientisize.’3 In the end, S2’s suggestion is accepted. Although S2 does say that ‘conscientize’ and ‘sensitize’ mean the same, he and S1 eventually agree that there is some difference between the two terms. Sadly, the difference is not made clear but the group does settle on ‘sensitize’ before moving to the next stage. This excerpt from Stage 5 especially realises what Firth (2009) described as the conflation of language learning and language use. Canagrajah and Wurr (2011) also bring up this point when they argue that multilinguals understand that learning and use occur simultaneously. Stage 5 shows us how the group negotiates what they want to say about parish work while learning and using what they perceive to be the proper linguistic form. Whether the correct term is indeed ‘sensitize’ is not clear. Suffice to say, what the group is negotiating here again is the linguistic code that realizes their shared contextual knowledge.

3

The word is actually ‘conscientize’ but S1 seems to confuse this word with its noun form, ‘conscientization,’ which leads to her adding an extra syllable and producing ‘conscientisize’.

From SLA to Negotiation in EIL

Stage 5: Identifying how parishes can be made to help

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S1: some tradition to create one and and parish (.) council should be informed. Or should we (.) how do you call that? S2: Sensitized S1: ah ah S2: Sensitize is better S1: ah parish council S2: To sensitize the parish council on this issue (.) You know, sensitize means to to make them think that it is important issue (.) to deal with but they have to do something. They have to sup- to support. S1: Ye S2: To sensitize S1: Conscientisize S2: Conscientisize or sensitize the same S1: Yah S1: Conscientisize S1: on... S2: But conscientisize is more on a S1: Yeah, that’s true S2: is good to sensitize S1: sensi- sensitize yeah S2: To sense (.) sen (.) si (.) tize S3: xxx Sen(.)si(.)tize S1: sen(.)si(.)tize S2: Ah, ok, good. I(.)is that a draft you can rrr you can write it after S1: ok? S1: Ok, good. And then from that (.) hopefully (.) they’re (.) this is very concrete already

In Stage 6, the group starts discussing the specific details of what parishes can do to help migrant families. The group gets a bit ambitious here as they want parishes to launch a widespread initiative that will help large groups of migrant families. It seems that the group has made a distinction between what individuals can do – home visits that help one family at a time – and what parishes can and should do, which is help all families at the same time.

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Stage 6.1: Deciding what parishes should do

Chapter Two

S2: Baa (.) Ahh (.) Y- (.) You know we are talking about family settlement (.) not talk about to (.) only one family S1: Yaaa (.) many families (.) ya S2: we talk about so many families S3: Yaaa (.) (families) S2: Which means S1: So meaning you have (.) there should be a meeting?(.) Let them meet. S2: There should be an ime- (.) an emergency meeting (.) Emergency meeting for (.) to see what’s can be done in the (.) in (.) in their (.) in their (.) within? (.) short time (.) Emergency meeting S1: Meeting YaLet them meet S3: xxthe families (.) These families S1: Yeah, meetings for (.) aaaaah (.) Meetings for all aaaa (.) family resett- (.) yah (.) S2: Yah I would say eMERgent (.) meeting(.) eMERgence meeting S1: families(.) migrantYaah (.) Aah? Aah?(.) S3: Yes S1: Emergency (.) S3: emergency (.) S1: Call for emergency meeting S2: Yah?(.) xxx (the problem is there) (9) Emergency meeting

In this part of Stage 6, there are negotiations of meaning as well. When S2 brings up the problem of helping many families, S1 and S3 immediately jump in and agree. The group, through S2’s insistence, agrees that parishes should hold emergency meetings so migrant families can meet each other. Emergency meeting might not be the best term to use4 but it does communicate what the group wants to say, which is that parishes must have a way of efficiently and quickly helping large groups of families.

4

“urgent meeting” might be better?

From SLA to Negotiation in EIL

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After agreeing on emergency parish meetings, the group moves on to discuss what else parishes can do for migrant families. They converge around the term “first aid” and negotiate what they mean by it. Stage 6.2: Deciding what parishes should do

S1: So (.) group of families affected (.) Families affected (.) Ok (.) Ok (.) Next? S2: First aid (.) Another step (.) first aid S1: First S2: Aid S1: Aid S1: What kind of (.) ay (.) the AID you will be giving them S2: Yah (.) Yah (.) First aid because there will be (.) several (.) project that will be (.) ahh S3: ah Yes S2: will be(.) STARted for them (.) but (have to to) to (.) think about first aid (.) People have a right (.) They need the (.) first aid (.) S1: Ah (.) The first S3: Aid S1: ah S2: xxx S1: ah(.) What is this (.) a (.) the first (.) i-steps (.) ah (4) Service! S2: (the) Yah (.) The first services S3: The S1: For the first services you can give to them (.) immediate (.) services S2: First aid or service S4: that’s emergency? S1: Ah(.) First service you can give them (3) S3: Emergency needs (4) S2: Um-huh S1: (You) service (5) xxx S2: the first S1: This should be immediate (.) immediate S2: Yah S1: First service (.) ah (.) given (.) immediately (3) given immediately (.) so that they will response S2: QUIck response. S1: Yeah (4) First service given immediately (.) Ok?

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When S2 mentions that first aid is another step that parishes can take, S1 agrees but reacts with some confusion when she begins to ask S2 what he means. However, she recovers quickly and defines first aid for him by saying “the aid you will be giving them.” It seems that to S2, first aid does not refer to the medical services associated with expressions like first aid kit or first aid training. Rather, to S2, first aid literally means the first form of help or aid that parishes can immediately give migrant families. What first aid constitutes for him (medical services? food? clothing? counseling services?) is unclear but it does have something to do with giving a “quick response” to whatever problems migrant families might have. S3 and S4 seem to agree with him as they mention emergency or emergency services. Whether S3 and S4 are referring to emergency medical services (the usual definition of first aid) or emergency services in general (maybe providing food, clothes, or job opportunities to poorer migrant families) is unclear. Following Canagarajah and Wurr (2011), this can be described as the “coconstruct[ion] of norms in the local context” (3). What the group refers to as first aid is different from the usual sense of the term. However, to them, their definition makes perfect sense because they do want to say that there should be some forms of immediate response that parishes can do for migrant families. In this sense, their use of first aid is not so far from the usual definition as first aid in the usual sense does refer to a quick response to a medical emergency. The group ignores, forgets, or is not aware of the medical aspect and instead focuses on what they think should be done with reference to the task – as in, parishes have to respond quickly to families that are in need. In this example, “not uniformity but alignment is more important” (Canagarajah and Wurr 2011, 5). It is impossible to know whether S1, S3, or S4 had a different definition of “first aid” but all align with what S2 wants to say. The use of “first aid” also brings out what Canagarajah and Wurr (2011) have identified as an “emergent form” (3) that arises from the situation at hand. To use “first aid” in the way the group does is incorrect but their use does capture what they want to say about the first things that parishes can do to help poor migrant families. Their use of emergency meeting in the previous stage also shows the same tendency to use emergent rather than set forms. However problematic the uses of first aid and emergency meeting are, their use suggests that these users have “claimed ownership over English in their own individual and unique ways” (Marlina & Chowdhury, this volume, p. 5). After talking about first aid, the group points out that first aid is not enough and that they would like long term solutions to the problems of migrant families. They mention that parishes have to come up with ongoing services like those related to education, for instance. However, S4 brings up a very important point which leads the group to an extra stage before finishing their work. This stage is on articulating limits to aid:

From SLA to Negotiation in EIL

Stage 7: Articulating limits

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S4: We remember (.) that (.) we not? give (2) a fish (.) for them (.) but we must give (.) (what) x S2: Ok(.) Yah I get you S4: Get (.) get (.) get (.) the(.) the fish S2: How (.) how to get the fish S4: How to get (.) how to get the fish(.) That is xx important. After the (.) th- ththe first need. Ok, we give (.) but we must give (.) xx how to get the first need (.) That is important. S2: That is a very good point S3: Yeah S2: Ah(.) ah (.) what I understand from that is a S4: that (.) that S2: first of all (.) you identify (.) their skills and competencies S4: Yeah Skill?(.) You can give the (1) like in our (.) ah (.) what I talk about (.) our hospital S2: Uh-huh S4: Because our (.) spirituality of our congregation is (.) help (.) the (.) mother and the (.) (girl) S2: uh-huh S4: The mother, the single parents (.) we (.) invite them (.) to work (.) in our hospital S2: Uh-huh S4: So that we give (.) how to (.) get the fish (.) not give (.) only fish (.) (fish for them) S3: We don’t give S4: Yes. That (.) that (.) that is not good (.) That we give the xxx @@ S2: We are talking about the S4: xxx In Indonesia S3: No, she is telling about that (.) the (.) the (.) the (.) they (.) have going to do something (.) to figure something (.) They (.) they (.) also have to do (.) contribute. S4: Yes (.) to fish (.) to fish (.) to fish S3: Contri- contribute S2: To fish, yah S4: To fish

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S4, who is usually silent next to her more vocal colleagues, takes the floor here as she offers another perspective on aid. She points out that aid is not just about giving but also about helping the needy stand on their own feet. She is having trouble articulating her thoughts but her use of the word “fish” immediately makes her point clear to her colleagues. S4 is likely attempting to paraphrase the proverb, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Although S4 cannot articulate the full proverb, S2 and S3 pick up on what she wants to say. S2 mentions the importance of “identif[ying] their skills and competencies,” possibly to say that parishes should also help unemployed members of migrant families find jobs. S4 adds to what she has said by talking about how her congregation invites needy women to work for them. S3, who also has trouble articulating her thoughts, adds to the discussion by repeating the idea of “doing something” and “contributing.” This point of helping migrant families “to fish” is, unfortunately, not further discussed outside this exchange. However, it does show what Seidlhofer (2009) has identified as the idiom principle: “you cooperate with your interlocutors by using conventionally preconstructed phrases you are both familiar with... . If all parties in communication have access to these patterns as part of their competence in the language, then this clearly makes both production and processing of text easier for them” (Seidlhofer, 2009, p. 130). The idiom principle is a way for users to resort to accepted and recognized ‘prefabricated’ statements that communicate certain meanings to a community. In this example, S4, who is not very proficient, is able to communicate what she wants to say by using the idiomatic meaning of “fish” which is readily recognized by her colleagues. After this discussion, the group starts wrapping up and writing their responses.

Implications for pedagogy So far, this paper has examined the group’s journey from the beginning of their task up to the draft stage. The group went from determining the focus of their responses (family resettlement) to discussing what individuals can do (home visits) to what parishes can do (giving first aid, setting up meetings with families, finding ways to give continuing aid) and finally, agreeing that more long-term solutions should be found (helping them to fish). To reach a consensus in their response to the task, the group used a variety of strategies – the hows – of accommodation. Of these strategies, the most important is their prioritizing of the task. The group was very clear on what the task was and all their discussions focused on

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fulfilling it. This strong orientation to the task made it possible for them to come up with good responses, despite some parallel monologues going on at certain points. The second strategy they used was there was a lot of learning being done together. They would try to get the necessary linguistic forms right and would also often ask each other questions to clarify ideas. Finally, through S4, they also managed to exploit the use of an idiomatic expression that is familiar to everyone. Their discussions show a journey toward coming to and creating meaning together, given a specific task to fulfil and despite varying levels of language proficiency. What can be learned from this journey that will inform the pedagogy of English as an International Language? First, on the part of teachers, trainers, and managers of educational/work contexts that require EIL, there are two points to consider. The first is that language learning and language use require an orientation toward clear task goals and instructions. Since context is very important in successful EIL exchanges, task goals and instructions help establish the parameters of the context and give users a goal by which their language can be calibrated. In the group’s work, we see them moving from stage to stage as they use language to respond to specific aspects of the task’s goals. These clear goals provide a direction for their exchange. The second is understanding when and where language learning occurs. This paper began by citing Firth’s (2009) work on SLA which posits that language learning can occur outside the classroom when users of varying levels of proficiency accommodate each other’s language in the meaningmaking process. As the group’s work shows, there is a lot of learning going on as they attempt to find the linguistic codes that they need to realize their shared contextual knowledge. Language learning and language use indeed work together and in time, both can lead to the building of expertise. Second, regarding the whats of negotiation, the following are the points that this study has raised. First, following the DALP model, most, if not all negotiation, occurred around zone 3, the zone of the migrant, the zone of expanding code. In zone 3, there is shared contextual knowledge without shared linguistic codes. It is not surprising that S1, S2, S3, and S4 generally share the same contextual knowledge. They are, after all, all pastoral workers getting additional training in their field so they would share contextual knowledge. It is the linguistic code that all try to negotiate. So, what is being negotiated are the correct linguistic codes necessary for the task. What does this imply for pedagogy? Although the group settles on terms such as family resettlement, first aid, and emergency meeting, these may not be the most exact ways of

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realising their ideas. However, they do provide explanations that clarify them. Hence, teachers who want to prepare their students to use English as an International Language should encourage their students to explain their ideas as well as respond to questions that ask for clarification. Conversely, students should also be taught various ways of asking for clarification from other users. This supports what McKay has argued about pedagogy in EIL: “the goal in teaching pragmatics in EIL should... encourage the acquisition of interaction strategies that will promote comity. These strategies could include such things as developing ways to seek clarification, establish rapport, and minimize cultural differences” (McKay, 2002, p. 127, emphasis original). This is, of course, easier said than done. Strategies for developing comity may depend a lot on politeness, which is realized differently across cultures. Whereas it is difficult to teach differences in communication styles, what teachers can do is generally make students aware that there are differences which they will possibly encounter and it is necessary to foster an attitude that can face these differences so that comity can be achieved. This attitude would constitute ‘extra’ linguistic skills that EIL users can deploy. Second, the group does aim for a high level of precision when they try to make their shared knowledge fit a shared linguistic code. Determining the role of linguistic precision is part of what teachers of EIL can do. Family resettlement, first aid, and emergency meeting are generally clarified by the group but there is no denying that their use of these items could lead to confusion. All three items, particularly first aid and emergency meeting, are linked with general global meanings that are understood in everyday parlance. What, then, is the point where ‘new’ meanings can be attached to ‘old’ forms (first aid as referring to a quick, medical or non-medical, response to a problem)? Or, what is the point where students, who are attaching new meanings to old forms, should be corrected? One possible answer to this is to consider what goals are being established in the classroom. If the goal is to prepare students for global communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), such as business communities or academic communities, then there are some standard norms to be considered, such as styles or genres of speaking and writing (Mahboob, 2012). Although lexical and grammatical items can easily be addressed by a teacher or editor, students themselves may also want to be able to access these precise forms themselves. In the data, the group does attempt precision in their work, showing a motivation toward the proper linguistic forms that their community will recognize, such as the difference between conscientize and sensitize. Teachers should have the sensitivity to know when students should be encouraged to produce precise norms.

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Furthermore, students can also be encouraged to consider the point when clarification over an unclear utterance should be asked. Firth has discussed this in 1996, when he noted the problematics of “let[ting]” an unclear word or expression “pass” (Firth, 1996, p. 244). To conclude, when it comes to the pedagogy of EIL, it is productive to teach both the hows of negotiation along with the whats of negotiation. To just teach strategies may risk turning the EIL class into one on manners and other values-oriented goals. To just focus on the whats may turn the class into a highly prescriptive one which does not have any room for a living language (Khubchandani, 1997) which changes with use. Too much focus on either one side will do a disservice to the students who may have language learning goals that they or their teachers may as of yet not be aware. The EIL classroom, then, should be able to balance between the two.

References Canagarajah, S. (2006). Negotiating the local in English as a lingua franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 197-218. —. (2006b). Changing communicative needs, revised assessment objectives: Testing English as an international language. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3 (3), 229-242. doi: 10.1207/s15434311laq03 03_1. Canagarajah, S. and Wurr, A. (2011). Multilingual communication and language acquisition: New research directions. The Reading Matrix, 11(1), 1-15. Firth, A. (1996). The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 237-259. —. (2009). Doing not being a foreign language learner: English as a lingua franca in the workplace and (some) implications for SLA. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 47, 127-156. Firth, A. and Wagner, J. (1997). On discourse, communication, and (some) fundamental concepts in SLA research. The Modern Language Journal, 91, 757-772. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/462 6130. House, J. (2003). English as a lingua franca: A threat to multilingualism? Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 556-578. Kachru, B. (1990). The alchemy of English: The spread, functions, and models of non-native Englishes. USA: University of Illinois Press. Khubchandani, L. (1997). Revisualizing boundaries: A plurilingual ethos.

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New Delhi, California, London: Sage Publications. Mahboob, A. (2011). “Rethinking language proficiency: A dynamic approach to language proficiency.” The Fourth English as a Lingua Franca Conference. Hong Kong, Hong Kong Institute of Education, 28 May 2011. —. (2012). “Identity management and education.” University of Sydney, SFL Seminar Series. Sydney. 11 May 2012. McKay, S. (2002). Teaching English as an international language: Rethinking goals and approaches. UK: Oxford University Press. Seidlhofer, B. (2009). Understanding English as a lingua franca. UK: Oxford University Press. The ACE Team. (2011). The ACE manual: Data collection and transcription for the Asian Corpus of English. The Hong Kong Institute of Education Library.

CHAPTER THREE PRAGMATIC STRATEGIES OF ELF SPEAKERS: A CASE STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION MOHAMMOD MONINOOR ROSHID Abstract Owing to an expanding world business and economy, English has become the biggest and most important business lingua franca and plays an important role in communication in multilingual settings. It is argued that in the interactions among English as a lingua franca (ELF) speakers, misunderstandings are not frequent because ELF speakers are considered creative and innovative. For effective communication, they use different pragmatic strategies of communication. Drawing on theoretical insights from the notion of strategic competence within communicative competence, this chapter looks at different pragmatic strategies – both verbal and nonverbal – that are used to compensate for communication breakdowns in the Ready-made Garments (RMG) business setting located in Bangladesh, the third largest exporter in the world. Based on a qualitative study involving 29 RMG industries in Bangladesh, this chapter shows how business professionals in the RMG industry use pragmatic strategies to overcome difficulties when communication breakdown happens due to limitations of one or more competences. Findings show that RMG business professionals use a number of pragmatic strategies, for example, achievement strategies, time gaining strategies, interactional strategies, speech and proactive strategies to continue to communicate and negotiate meaning in the context. From the insights gained from this empirical study, the most persistent patterns in communication in a global business setting are identified. Keywords: Strategic competence, pragmatic strategies, English as a lingua franca, Business communication.

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Introduction Concurrently with an expanding world business and economy, English has become not only an international language of business (Dudley-Evans & John, 1998; Ferraro, 2002; John, 1996) or a global language of business (Neeley, 2012), but also one of the biggest and most successful business lingua franca. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is playing an increasingly important role in communication in multilingual settings (RogersonRevell, 2006). The role of English as a lingua franca in business is now firmly established in literature (Bargiela-Chiappini & Nickerson, 2003; Nickerson, 2005; So-mui & Mead, 2000). In an international business setting, where people from different linguacultural backgrounds with different levels of English language proficiency interact with each other, effective communication becomes a challenge. Linguistic limitations can create barriers to communicate with interlocutors. In such situations, innovative interlocutors apply a number of pragmatic strategies to compensate for the breakdown of communication and keep the conversation ‘alive’. While a number of studies have been conducted in academic and social settings to understand how ELF speakers maintained communication when communication breakdown occurred, there has been little research in ELF business settings. The aim of this chapter is to explore how Ready-made Garments (RMG) business professionals overcome the barrier of communication breakdown using innovative and pragmatic strategies in their communication with counterparts who represent a variety of languages, cultures and levels of English proficiency, including native speakers of English. Research has found that in interactions between ELF speakers, misunderstandings are not frequent (Pölzl & Seidlhofer, 2006). The reason behind this is the innovative nature of ELF speakers, who are creative and innovative in English (House, 2012a; Jenkins, 2008). For successful communication, they use a range of innovative strategies of communication which facilitate in creating their preferred forms for communication (Jenkins, 2008). At the same time, it compensates for the breakdown in communication because of limitations in one or more areas of communicative competence (Canale, 1983; Canale & Swain, 1980), for example, linguistic, sociolinguistic and discourse competences. Such innovative strategies enhance the effectiveness of communication (Canale, 1983) and are commonly referred to as either “strategic competence” (see Canale, 1983; Canale & Swain, 1980; Celce-Murcia, 1991) or “pragmatic strategies” (see Björkman, 2011; Cogo, 2010). These two terms have been used in this chapter interchangeably. In this chapter, I used the term

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‘English as a lingua franca in business settings’ (ELFB) based on the model of ‘English as a lingua franca in academic settings’ (ELFA) (see Mauranen, Hynninen, & Ranta, 2010). It is seen that in explaining ELF in academic contexts, scholars (see Mauranen, 2003; Mauranen et al., 2010) have used the term ELFA. Likewise, when English is used in business contexts among many it has been termed as ELFB. As part of this study, a research question was posed – what pragmatic strategies do RMG business professionals apply in the context of everyday ELF business communication? In response to this question an empirical study was undertaken within the RMG business setting in Bangladesh which explored how a business ‘community of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998) applied pragmatic strategies as shared multilingual repertories in their business communication to achieve specific communicative aims (Cogo, 2010). I further explored how they cooperated with each other to share and negotiate meaning within their business community of practice. Finally, I explored how they overcame breakdowns in communication while applying the pragmatic strategies. The RMG is an international business which involves people from different first language backgrounds in communication from all over the world. Speakers of English from Kachru’s (1992) three concentric circles – the Inner Circle (where English is used as a mother tongue, for example, the USA, and the UK), the Outer Circle (where English is used as a second language, for example, India, Bangladesh), and Expanding Circle (where English is used as a foreign language, for example, Italy, Japan), are engaged in the RMG business communication where English is the default means of communication (House, 2012a). Due to the RMG personnel being from different linguacultural backgrounds and different levels of proficiency in English, it is not uncommon for them to often face challenges in understanding others because of the varieties of Englishes, insufficient English skills as well as stress, anxiety and lack of confidence. When RMG professionals face difficulty in communication in English due to any of these reasons, they apply a range of pragmatic strategies as we will see in this chapter. The chapter begins an outline of the theoretical understandings of ELF. It then discusses the concept and components of strategic skills followed by the study design for this empirical project. Afterwards, it presents findings that address the pragmatic strategies employed in the RMG business communication in ELF contexts. The chapter concludes with possible implications for business education.

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ELF: A name for English in global communication When English is used for global communication, a range of contested names are used to describe it. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) (e.g., Gnutzmann, 2000; Honna, 2012; House, 2012a; Kirkpatrick, 2011; Meierkord, 2006; Mufwene, 2012; Nelson, 2012; Pakir, 2009; Qiufang, 2012; Seidlhofer, 2005; Sowden, 2012) is a proposed name of English which recognises the beneficial outcome of the spread of English (Mufwene, 2012). Lingua franca is “a language used for communication between different groups of people, each speaking a different language” (Richard & Schmidt, 2002, p. 309). It is a common language for communication between people from different language backgrounds. In other words, when English is considered as a lingua franca, it refers to English as a common language of mutual intelligibility amongst people who interact with each other from different first language backgrounds. ELF scholars, however, have perceived ELF from different perspectives (see Figure 1; see also Saraceni, 2008). Some scholars perceive ELF as an emerging paradigm (see, e.g. Pakir, 2009; Roberts & Canagarajah, 2009), while others (House, 2012a; Jenkins, 2007; Kirkpatrick, 2011; Mauranen, 2003) view it as a communication code or a ‘variety’ of English which has particular features that are different from ‘native’ varieties and also homogeneous in themselves (see Mollin, 2006). “Euro-English” (e.g. Jenkins, Modiano, & Seidlhofer, 2001), “ASEAN English” (Kirkpatrick, 2011) ‘South Asian English” (e.g. Kachru, 1996) are examples of local and regional varieties of English. On the other hand, Friedrich and Matsuda (2010) disagree with the above group of researchers and argue that ELF is not a variety, but a function. Figure 1 is a model of how ELF has been conceptualised in literature and offer theoretical pathways to understand data in this study. Along with viewing ELF from differ perspectives, scholars have defined ELF in more complex ways. In the 1990s, scholars defined ELF as follows: A lingua franca is a ‘contact language’ between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national) culture, and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication. (Firth, 1996, p. 240) “ELF interactions are defined as interactions between members of two or more different linguacultures in English, for none of whom English is the mother tongue” (House, 1999, p. 74)

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Figure 1: ELF in different philosophical standpoints

The above two definitions do not include ‘non-standard’ English (NSE) in ELF communication. Hence, the definitions of ELF have been rather narrowly defined. Jenkins (2006) criticises such narrow definitions and argues that it is now accepted by the majority of ELF researchers that English speakers from both Inner and Outer circles also participate in intercultural communication. Accordingly, House (2012a) has revised her definition of ELF where she views ELF as a ‘default’ means of communication among people who do not share a common language or culture. Significantly, she refuses to exclude English speakers of Inner Circle countries from ELF. Jenkins (2009) maintains that although in practice ELF is used for communication among NNSEs from Expanding Circles, it is not intended to exclude communication with people from Inner and Outer Circle countries. Any user of English irrespective of being speakers from Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles, can be a user of ELF (Jenkins, 2012). Jenkins (2008, 2009, 2012) defines ELF as a means of communication as a common language of choice, among speakers who come from different linguacultural backgrounds. ELF, therefore, accommodates all parties for mutual negotiation and intelligibility, rather than forming a particular variety for a particular group of people. ELF shares common ground among the many varieties of English (Jenkins, 2009). In short, ELF has been conceptualised from a functional perspective, rather than as a linguistic variety which recognises situationspecific linguistic choices, and use of different pragmatic strategies in communication to make interaction successful, examples of which we see later in the chapter.

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Empirical studies on pragmatic strategies A number of empirical studies (e.g. Björkman, 2011; Cogo, 2009, 2010; Mauranen, 2006) investigated the conversation of ELF speakers in different settings and it has been evident that ELF speakers use different pragmatic strategies in meaning negotiation and for communicative effectiveness. Firth’s (1990, 1996) works, for instance, are considered to be the earliest studies on conversation analysis (CA) from the point of lingua franca interaction in English. Analysing telephone conversations between Danish export managers and their clients, Firth (1996) outlines a number of ELF conversational and discourse strategies used by ELF speakers. Among these strategies are let-it-pass, make-it-normal, and interactional robustness. Similarly, another important early study on ELF pragmatics conducted by Meierkord (1996), cited in House (2012b) reveals that ELF speakers use different pragmatic strategies including turn-taking, overlaps and hesitation phenomena, a reduced variety of tokens, nonverbal supportive backchannel and little interference from L1 discourse norms in order to avoid misunderstanding. More recent studies (e.g. Björkman, 2011; Cogo, 2010; House, 2012b; Mauranen, 2006) also report that pragmatic strategies are widely used in ELF communication in meaning negotiations. Describing the context of a wedding discussion among a small group of colleagues in higher education in Britain, Cogo (2010) demonstrated that translation, elaboration, expansion of expressions, repetition for clarification, enquiring about the meaning, confirming understanding, overlapping, closest expressions (approximation) are commonly used as pragmatic strategies in ELF contexts. In the same article, to explain the working relations inside the community, Cogo (2010) states that hesitation, confirmation and repetition are used as interactional strategies. Using materials comprised of digitally recorded lectures and student group work, Björkman (2011) investigated spoken ELF uses in Swedish higher education settings, and the role of pragmatic strategies in communicative effectiveness in ELF contexts. Findings show that ELF speakers used a variety of pragmatic strategies including discourse signalling, commenting on discourse contents, and self-repair for communicative effectiveness and co-construct meaning. In addition, code switching (Cogo, 2009; Pölzl & Seidlhofer, 2006), proactive work (Björkman, 2011; Mauranen, 2006), paraphrase (Cogo, 2009), ‘cooperative principle’ (Widdowson, 1990, p. 108) are also used as pragmatic strategies to negotiate understanding and to accommodate differences in communicative practices in ELF conversations.

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Most of these studies were conducted on either social or academic settings. This study, however, looks at pragmatic strategies in an ELF business setting. The components of strategic competence identified by Celce-Murcia, Dörnyei, and Thurrell (1995) and Dörnyei (1995) have been used as an analytical tool for data related to strategic competence as used in this RMG international business communication. The next section discusses the analytical tool in relation to the analysis deployed in this study.

From strategic competence to pragmatic strategies Strategic skills are one of the components of communicative competence outlined by Canale and Swain (1980). In defining strategic competence, Canale and Swain (1980) explain that it is ‘made up of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance variable or to insufficient competence’ (p. 80). Three years later, Canale (1983) unpacked the definition of strategic competence and defined it as a component composed of mastery of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies that may be ‘called into action’ for two main reasons. One is to compensate for breakdown in communication because of limitations in one or more of the other areas of communicative competence, and another to enhance the effectiveness of communication itself. According to Dörnyei and Thurrell (1991), strategic competence is ‘the ability to express oneself in the face of difficulties or limited language knowledge’ (p. 16). It is an ability that facilitates the continuation of communication with partners if problems arise due to lack of insufficient competence in the communication process. Alptekin (2002) observes strategic competence as ‘the ability to cope in an authentic communicative situation and to keep the communicative channel open’ (p. 58). If communication is interrupted because of limited knowledge of other communicative competences, or for other factors such as fatigue, inattention, or destruction, this ability can compensate for the breakdown of communication. Based on the above concepts of strategic competence, in short, I define strategic competence as a set of skills that compensates and keeps the communication process ongoing when communication fails due to linguistic ‘limitations’ such as when an interlocutor does not find or remember an appropriate word or grammatical form to continue communication. In such situations, s/he may paraphrase to compensate for communication breakdowns. Limited vocabulary or the inability to remember a term or word cannot be a barrier in communication if a person

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is able to apply strategic competence properly to compensate for communication breakdown. Strategic competence, therefore, plays a significant role in successful communication (Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1991). There are specific ranges of skills to demonstrate strategic competence which scholars have identified (Canale, 1983; Canale & Swain, 1980; Celce-Murcia et al., 1995; Dörnyei, 1995; Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1991). For example, Canale (1983) describes the components under four areas of difficulties and factors such as grammatical difficulties, sociolinguistic difficulties, discourse difficulties and performance factors. However, Celce-Murcia et al. (1995) and Dörnyei (1995) suggest a number of components of strategic competence in five main board categories such as avoidance and reduction strategies, achievement or compensatory strategies, stalling or time-gaining strategies, self-monitoring strategies and finally interactional strategies.

Figure 2: Components of strategic competence: An analytical tool

Each of these categories in turn has different elements shown in Figure 2. As shown later, the suggested components of strategic competence by Celce-Murcia et al. (1995) and Dörnyei (1995) have been used as an analytical tool for data related to strategic competence as used in the RMG international business communication in ELF settings.

The study The aim of this qualitative case study was to understand how RMG personnel overcome misunderstanding or breakdown of communication in ELFB contexts. I asked participants the following two questions:

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1. How do business professionals handle challenges in conversation when they do not find the appropriate word(s) or technical term(s) in retrieving a particular item from memory to continue the conversation? 2. If business professionals do not understand their interlocutors, what strategies do they use?

Responses were solicited through in-depth, in person and one-on-one semi-structured interviews and also in the form of observation notes. Interview data were collected from a total of 43 RMG professionals from three levels of the administrations: marketing (N=15), merchandising (N=17) and commercial executives (N=11) from a total of 29 exportoriented garments enterprises in Bangladesh. The classification of these three levels of professional roles is generic and a well-established structure in the RMG sector in Bangladesh. The reason for selecting these three groups of professionals is that they are involved in communication in English with international buyers and suppliers in the RMG business in significantly different ways. Owners and directors of companies typically work as marketing personnel while hired employees work as merchandising and commercial personnel. Participants were selected using a combination of ‘convenience’ and ‘snowball’ sampling (Creswell, 2008; Gerrish & Lacey, 2010). The basic role of the three groups of personnel is shown in the Figure 3.

Figure 3: The basic role of different RMG professionals

The audio-taped interviews in Bengali were directly translated and transcribed into English in order to get the full ‘sense’ and meaning of the data. Thematic rather than verbatim transcription was employed after which a series of steps were followed for coding and generating themes from interview data and observation notes. NVivo 9 software was used for coding – which was ‘data driven’ rather than ‘theory driven’, and different

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codes (nodes) were sorted out into subthemes. A review of the subthemes further yielded five major themes which aligned with the main questions of this study. In analysing all data collected from interviews and field notes, I repeatedly went back to the data, categories and themes to check ‘if the constructs, categories, explanations, and interpretations made sense and if they really reflect the nature of the phenomena’ (Patton, 2002, p. 570) which ensured the credibility of the study.

Findings and discussions: Pragmatic strategies in RMG business communication The findings show that RMG business personnel adopted a wide range of communication strategies along with other communicative competences in ELFB contexts. These strategies assisted them to overcome difficulties when communication breakdowns occurred due to limitations in one or more of the abovementioned competences. The identified strategies were classified into five themes: 1) achievement strategies 2) time-gaining and self-monitoring strategies, 3) interactional and collaborative strategies, 4) speech strategies or tempo and 5) proactive strategies. The first three strategies have been suggested through the concept of strategic competence outlined by Celce-Murcia et al. (1995) as discussed earlier, while speech strategies and proactive strategies emerged from the data.

Achievement strategies Achievement strategies are perceived as the most commonly used pragmatic strategy in the RMG international business communication setting. These strategies ‘involve manipulating available language to reach a communicative goal and this may entail compensating for linguistic deficiencies’ (Celce-Murcia et al., 1995, p. 27). It includes circumlocution, approximation, all-purpose words, non-linguistic means, restructuring, word-coinage, literal translation from L1, foreignising, code switching and retrieval (Celce-Murcia et al., 1995). The different achievement strategies that were practised and perceived as required in the RMG business communication are discussed below. Approximation Analysis of interview data showed that approximation was usually the first step that RMG business professionals applied to continue communication. Approximation refers to ‘using a term which expresses

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the meaning of the target lexical item as closely as possible’ (Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1991, p. 18). A large number of the participants from all three groups of the RMG professionals (marketing, merchandising and commercial) stated that they used “synonyms” or “similar words”, “alternative words”, “substitute words” or “phrases” to explain their foreign counterparts when they did not find appropriate words for communication. Giving an example, one participant said: “I use similar words; for instance, I use word sensitive instead of meticulous”. Data further revealed that a few participants thought that alternative words should be used in such situations to continue communication. They raised the issue of having limited vocabulary in a foreign or second language. For example, Saidul said, When a person cannot recall any word in a conversation, he must try to find out alternative words because not everyone knows every word of English. So, in that case, he should use the word which has the nearest meaning to the word and which will express the meaning properly.

Another participant argued that as English was not their mother tongue, it was essential for them to ‘prepare’ adequately for communication with counterparts. Despite being well-prepared, if communication breakdown occurred due to insufficient competences or performance variables, such alternative words could be used. Such self-reporting experience of participants reflects that approximation using synonyms, similar words, alternative words and phrases were a frequently used pragmatic strategy in RMG business communication, and played communicative effectiveness of English as a lingua franca (Björkman, 2011). It seemed that professionals who were engaged in business communication needed to have skills in how to use approximation to overcome communication breakdowns. Analysis of data further indicates that to apply approximation as strategic competence, RMG personnel needed to be sound in vocabulary, synonyms and phrases so that they could deploy these to prevent miscommunication. This finding is in line with the study conducted by Cogo (2010), who showed that closest expression (approximation) is often used as an effective pragmatic strategy in ELF contexts. Nonverbal/Non-linguistic skills The need for of nonverbal or non-linguistic means of communication is well-established in intercultural communication and business communication literature (see for example, Ferraro, 2010; Lustig & Koester, 2010;

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Virkkula-Räisänen, 2010), and is recognised as part of successful business communication (Ferraro, 2010). These skills involve ‘a subtle set of nonlinguistic behaviours’ (p. 198) and is a part of the communication process (Lustig & Koester, 2010). Hall (1959) refers to nonverbal communication in business as ‘silent language’. Analysis in this study reveals that non-linguistic means were largely used in the RMG business communication. A number of participants from all three groups reported that they applied a range of non-linguistic means of communication to convey messages when it was necessary. Among these non-linguistic means were: pointing, showing real objects, drawings sketches, writing on paper, showing pictures, gestures and giving examples. Pointing was perceived as one of the important strategies which greatly supported oral communication. One of the participants reported that when a buyer talked about “shoulder stitch”, he pointed his finger to show a “shoulder stitch”, which clarified meaning instantly. Ershad explained how one of his colleagues, who had been working in their company for more than 25 years, used to explain an issue with pointing gestures. He was not skilled in English but had a lot of technical knowledge and used to explain technical aspects of garment items to customers using pointing, with little English. His pointing strategy meaningfully aided him in successful communication with customers. In addition to pointing, sometimes real objects were shown to explain something specific. Several participants stated that they could communicate with customers by showing real products/objects as samples to convey clearer understanding during oral communication. In addition, sometimes they also needed to draw a sketch to explain a topic or write a message on paper to clarify. Participants further explained that they sometimes used pictures to explain a complex issue relating to garments products while talking to partners face -to-face or on Skype. When we talk in a meeting with buyers we usually talk about a sample or a product. If we are not able to retrieve any word from our memory, we show our sample or product and explain what we mean. Sometimes we use gestures to make it clear. It is really not necessary to always talk to them in proper language.

One of the participants explained that occasionally they used examples to explain a context or situation or an abstract idea to their business counterparts when it was essential. A merchandiser, for example, shared his experience of explaining to his customer the reasons for a delay in delivery of shipment due to political unrest which is a common feature in Bangladesh. This participant once faced difficulty in explaining to his

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buyers the reason for a delayed delivery. He was able to explain by reminding his business counterpart about what had happed in the previous year. Through this example, he wanted to convey that just like previous year, this year the shipment would also be delayed due to hartal (strike) in the country. Hence, this type of example worked as an innovative strategy to communicate with business counterparts. The above analysis suggests that pointing, drawing sketches, showing pictures and displaying objects in oral communication, were commonly used as non-linguistic means of communication in the RMG business, along with verbal forms of communication. Indeed, nonlinguistic/nonverbal skills are inseparably linked with verbal skills. These findings are consistent with Ramsey’s (1979) claim that, ‘Verbal and nonverbal behaviours are inextricably intertwined’ (p. 111) to compensate for breakdowns in communication. Some of the above findings are also consistent with other studies (e.g. Björkman, 2010; Björkman, 2011) that show pointing as a pragmatic feature often used in ELF environments. Code switching, restructuring and circumlocution ELF literature (Cogo, 2009; Jenkins, 2008; Klimpfinger, 2009) suggest that code switching is a common phenomenon in ELF settings. While in the context of EFL, code mixing and code switching are seen as ‘interference errors’, in ELF contexts these are seen as bilingual resources (Jenkins, 2008). ELF scholars (such as House, 2012a; Jenkins, 2008) explain that ELF speakers are innovative in English in the sense that they use their multilingual resources, along with English, to create their preferred forms for communication. Similarly, Cogo (2010) demonstrates that translation or code switching is often used as pragmatic strategy in the ELF context. Compared with other ‘compensatory’ strategies, codes switching to L1, restructuring, and circumlocution (or paraphrasing) were commonly used in business communication as pragmatic strategies as participants reported in interviews. Two participants – a merchandiser and a commercial officer, reported that when they were not able to remember appropriate words in English, they would instinctively use Bangla words while speaking. However, when they realised that their counterparts did not understand Bangla, they stopped talking Bangla, switched to English and started restructuring sentences using similar or ‘easier’ words. In their opinion, the frequency of such situations was not very common and they consciously avoided it considering international partners’ inability to understand Bangla.

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Interestingly, somewhat different experience was reported by a female participant from marketing. She reported that she sometimes used Hindi along with English with Hindi-speaking Indians. When they used Hindi simultaneously with English as a “temporary shared code”, it was not uncommon to mix or switch codes because both parties were familiar with both types of codes or languages. Accordingly, she reported that code mixing and switching were frequent in her conversation with her Indian partner. This finding indicates that the participants used code switching and mixing with Indian partners as a phenomenon as also reported by Jenkins (2008) in an ELF context in general. Such hybrid form of communication is influenced by both English and interlocutors’ own mother tongue (see, e.g. Kankaanranta & Planken, 2010). It is to be noted that while Hindi is the mother tongue of most Indians, many Bangladeshis use both languages (English and Hindi) as foreign languages and form a type of ‘hybrid’ language where their own mother tongue is entirely absent. Although interview data reflects that code switching to L1 is hardly used as a pragmatic strategy in RMG business communication, code mixing and code switching are common phenomena for Bangla speakers in their daily communication in both spoken and written contexts. They frequently use English codes with Bangla language as hybrid varieties (see Alam, 2009; Banu & Sussex, 2001). Banu and Sussex (2001) have researched the nature and the extent of business names and descriptions in code switching from English into Bengali. It was observed that even in the interviews conducted as a part of this study, participants were using different English codes intermixed randomly with Bangla. The reason for infrequently (rather than frequently) using code mixing to L1 with foreigners might be a feature of conscious avoidance. They are aware that their partners did not know Bangla, however, when they spoke to native speakers of Bangla, they recurrently mixed English codes with Bangla. Another pragmatic strategy that participants indicated was the use of circumlocation which is used to describe or exemplify the target object or action (Dörnyei & Thurrell, 1991). A merchandiser explained: “If I have to say ‘front pocket’, but I cannot remember it, in this situation, what I say to indicate pocket, is ‘between these two sleeves’”. When they used circumlocution, simultaneously they also used nonverbal communication to improve communication. The above findings show that in addition to use of code mixing, code switching, restructuring and circumlocution, they used certain pragmatic strategies to maintain communication. Most importantly, findings show that ELFB speakers do not stop communication

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as a consequence of limitation in competence; rather they keep continuing oral communication and meaning negotiation in some form or another.

Time-gaining and self-monitoring strategies Stalling or time-gaining strategies during conversation are seen as yet another pragmatic strategy that assists in overcoming communication breakdowns. Among these strategies are fillers, hesitation devices, gambits, self and other repetition. The self-reported practical experience of the participants, regardless of three groups of RMG personnel, shows that they sometimes used time-gaining strategies such as fillers, short silence or pauses to continue their communication with counterparts. Filler is widely used as a strategy to gain time in communication and fill up the breakdown of communication in RMG business settings. In their oral communication, both face-to-face and over telephone, they used different types of fillers such as “you know”, “like this”, “ya... aaa...” “I mean”. A minority of participants in marketing and merchandising acknowledged that they used fillers mainly due to their limitations of English language skills. In addition to fillers, self-repetitions were widely used in conversation. In my observation during interviews, I noticed that participants who responded in English repeatedly used fillers and self-repetitions in their oral communication. These were used not because of anxiety or pressure rather because of poor English proficiency, particularly the inability to find appropriate words and their limited fluency at the time of conversation. Some examples of fillers and self-repetitions used in a telephone conversation are shown below. This telephone conversation was between a marketing person and a foreign buyer who used English at the time of interview. 1 …we are checking also…checking also, let you know, let you know. 2 L/C was not open yet, yet, but…but ==============[conversation of foreign partner] 3. No…no…no…no need. 4. We will submit amendment..aaaaaaaaaa 5. Mr Rahman (Pseudonym) is coming…he will talk to. ============== [conversation of foreign partner] 6. So…but…yes…yes… 7. O…o…o.o…last time you told me… 8. I understand…..I-I-I will see see the inquiry. 9. Did you send it to me e-mail…please send e-mail. ============== [conversation of foreign partner] 10. Ok…ok…ok…brother.

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The above telephone conversation reflects numerous self-repetitions (such as let you know, let you know; but…but; No…no…no…no; Ok…ok…ok etc.) to continue conversation. Such repetition is occasionally used to clarify expressions and enhance comprehensibility. This finding is parallel to Kaur’s (2012) study where she demonstrates that self-repetition enhances clarity in ELF talk and plays a crucial role in the meaning making process. The above conversation also reflects the use of filler (aaaaaaaaaa…) to fill up conversation gaps and backchannel (for example, yeah) (see Cogo, 2010; Cogo & Dewey, 2006) to show attentiveness in communication. Along with fillers, some participants reported that they used short silences or the pause strategy to take time and find out suitable or alternative words to continue communication. One of the participants (Shariar) shared his experience of how he took a short pause or silence to remember a word to continue his oral communication. He explained: Well, I pause or keep silent, then try to generate the idea to fix the word in the sentence. Then I try to manage the situation saying “I will try to make you understand that …”, in the meantime I generate the words and manage the situation.

Another component of strategic competence is the self-monitoring strategy, which includes self-initiated repair and self-rephrasing (overelaboration). A participant demonstrated his use of self-monitoring strategies as follows: In these cases I try to use another simple word that he will understand or I explain a bit on that topic. If that also does not work then he asks me to email him to explain.

The above quote also indicates that e-mail itself was another pragmatic strategy that was used to negotiate meaning. Most of the participants, irrespective of their position in the industry, reported that if anything was wrong or unclear over telephone, they would communicate by e-mail. They believed that communication depended on many things. If the speaking of one person did not match with the understanding of others, communication would not be effective. In that case, they thought it would be easier if a person communicated in the written form because people have different accents in different regions for oral communication that occurred instantaneously causing breakdowns in intelligibility. However, they were unlikely to have such problems with the written form because of getting more ‘processing time’ to construct their language. An example from a merchandiser illustrates this point. He explained to me that

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sometimes he continued his conversation by saying: “Ok, no problem, I’ll send you e-mail” and later he explained his point to them electronically. Sometimes counterparts also asked RMG professionals to send them an email to make the point or message clearer. RMG personnel used different time-gaining strategies to overcome communication breakdown difficulties. Among these, fillers were short time-gaining strategies while sending an e-mail or making phone call are long time-gaining strategies. Analysis also suggests that sending an e-mail and making a phone call was often the last option to compensate for communication breakdown. Another point revealed from the analysis is that regardless of short or long time-gaining, RMG professional had to devise unique ways to compensate for communication breakdown for the interest of their business.

Interactional and collaborative strategies Interactional strategies are a component of strategic competence that includes appealing for help, and meaning negotiation strategies. There are a number of indicators in meaning negotiation strategies such as making a request for repetition, clarification, confirmation, expressions of nonunderstanding, interpretive summary, rephrasing, and comprehension check (Celce-Murcia et al., 1995). This section discusses the interactional strategies that participants deploy in the RMG business communication with their business counterparts. Most of the participants reported that it was not uncommon that sometimes they were not able to understand words of their business counterparts. In such situations they requested their business counterparts to repeat the point. In response, participants stated that they usually made a request by saying: “pardon” or “sorry”. Sometimes they added other words to pardon and sorry to express their non-understanding, for instance, “pardon me”, “excuse me”, “sorry, I do not understand”, “sorry I did not get you”, or “I did not get it clearly”. Analysis also reveals that some participants were comparatively quite direct in making requests to their business counterparts to repeat unclear messages in conversation. For example, the expressions they used are: “Sorry, please explain this” or “sorry, please say again”, “again please”, “please say again”, “would you please tell me again”, “can you please explain it again”, and “please re-phrase it”. The expressions used for repetition indicate a diversity of language use but are all explicit in making requests for meaning negotiation. Simultaneously, some participants reported that they sometimes used “sorry, boss” or “excuse me, boss” that

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reflected the colloquial forms of expressions in business settings. A few participants reported that they also requested for confirmation to meaning negotiation. If they did not understand any of the words of their business partners, they sometimes rephrased words of their business counterparts and requested confirmation saying “Did you mean that?” Likewise, request for clarification was another interactional strategy practiced in RMG business communication for meaning negotiation. Participants described that they mostly faced difficulty with understanding accents and pronunciation of their Asian business counterparts, particularly with the Chinese and Koreans. To overcome this barrier they requested their Chinese business counterparts for clarification by asking repeated questions. Nonetheless, this does not suggest that Bangladeshi RMG professionals always faced such challenges and with all Asian partners. In addition, a small group of participants, particularly commercial and marketing professionals, reported that in some cases, if they were unable to manage any of their customers or if they faced difficulty coping with their clients, they sought help from their colleagues or referred to a senior colleague who was more experienced in managing customers. This finding suggests that communication must stay open even after seeking help from others or referring the customer to another colleague. Along with internal support from colleagues for communication, mutual efforts from customers and buyers were also seen as a rational collaborating strategy that supported understanding between participants (Cogo, 2010). A number of the participants, particularly marketing and merchandising personnel, expressed their satisfaction with the cooperation of their counterparts. They reported that their counterparts were always cooperative in communication and they helped to retrieve words or terms and supported them to understand a message. As one participant reported, “we both groups cooperate with each other to make sense of a message”. This example seems to suggest that participants emphasised “mutual efforts from both sides” because both parties’ aim was doing business by selling and buying garments goods, rather than showing their “credentials” in English. They tried to minimise their “language barriers” (MarschanPiekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999) across different work contexts through effective dialogic exchange. Both parties try to understand each other even while being conscious of each other’s accents and pronunciation, and this ensured mutual intelligibility through active collaborative negotiations and ‘cooperative principle’s (Widdowson, 1990, p. 108). The above analysis suggests that asking for repetition, clarification and collaborative support are common pragmatic strategies as far as

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achievement of understanding is concerned. Both ELF and BELF studies have shown that in ELF communication these interactional and collaborative strategies are used in meaning negotiation (see LouhialaSalminen & Kankaanranta, 2011; Widdowson, 1990). Apart from the strategies discussed above, participants also pointed out certain additional strategies that potentially facilitate overcoming communication breakdowns. These strategies emerged as new from the findings of the current study. Among these strategies are speech strategies or tempo, and proactive strategies. While speech strategies are followed during oral communication, proactive strategies are followed as preplanned steps before communication to prevent problems of understanding between interlocutors. The subsequent section discusses these strategies in more detail.

Speech strategies/tempo Speech strategy refers to an ‘appropriate’ rate of speech and is employed as a pragmatic strategy to ensure intelligibility between interlocutors. The findings reveal that deliberate slow speech was seen as a strategy in RMG business communication which assisted in preventing breakdown in communication and supported smooth communication with counterparts by negotiating meaning. About one fifth of all participants reported that they usually spoke slowly to their business counterparts, irrespective of them being native or non-native speakers of English, to cope with them, especially with non-native East Asian customers. It is notable that participants believed that if conversation went slowly, the Chinese often felt more comfortable in getting meaning. Similarly, other non-native speakers, particularly from European countries such as French and Spanish customers were also considered as ‘slow’ but ‘clear’ speakers of English. Participants believed that ‘fast’ speaking caused difficulty for these EU partners to understand a message. Except a few UK business counterparts, many native speakers of English, particularly those from the UK and the USA, spoke slower with them. People from different countries have different levels of speaking fluency or speed, proficiency and styles. Yet, for reciprocal understanding, most of the participants believed that they spoke slowly with partners who came from different language and cultural backgrounds. However, it was also reported by a few participants that they observed the level of fluency of counterparts first and spoke according to the expectation and needs of their partners. Overall, these speech strategies used by the RMG personnel indicate that speed or tempo

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of conversation is relative, and largely depends on the perceived proficiency level and expectations of the counterparts.

Proactive strategies Proactive strategies – taking steps in advance to deal with an expected difficulty, are also often used to avoid breakdowns in communication and to facilitate the communication process. Proactive strategies also can be termed “proactive work” (see Björkman, 2011; Mauranen, 2006) and include employing skilled manpower – people linguistically skilled in English, engaging an interpreter to aid communication and also working in teams. Recruiting skilled manpower is a policy widely practised in successful business communication and can be seen as a proactive strategy. Several participants, particularly from marketing and merchandising, argued that for international communication with foreigners, the management of the RMG industries employed people who were particularly skilled in English communication. A marketing person argued that over time the communication skills of RMG personnel have generally improved so that now most people employed were not at such level that they would not understand English well. Both local and international business industries employed skilled professionals to handle customers. This finding also indicates that being responsive to the needs of the global competitive business market, RMG industries try to employ people who are ready to communicate in an increasingly globalised world. As such selection for recruitment can be a precautious proactive strategy in itself. Teamwork is another proactive pragmatic strategy that facilitates understanding and communication in business. Participants reported that they often worked in a team from both ends in business negotiation meetings. If anyone in the team failed to understand what was being said, other people in their group who understood explained it to the rest. This finding reveals that the RMG personnel viewed business communication quite professionally while working in teams. Accordingly, they take prior steps as strategies to prevent breakdowns in communication. Working in a team and employing expert professionals in communication reflect their professionalism for communication as a ‘community of practice’ (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). The final proactive strategy is employing an interpreter. At least two participants reported that they sometimes employed an interpreter as a proactive strategy for communication between interlocutors from two different language backgrounds. This interpreter might be a Bangladeshi or a foreigner, who worked as a ‘middleman’ to convey message to both

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parties. A participant explained: “we have some Japanese buyers; they do not say even “yes” or “no”. They bring interpreters and depend on them”. However, this was uncommon. To them, since English is widely used in a global business communication, most business professionals know and speak English. Studies have reported that in cross-cultural business communication, the use of interpreter or mediator is a common practice (e.g. Welch, Welch, & Piekkari, 2005). The finding of this research, however, suggests that although not uncommon, consequently business negotiations conducted through an interpreter or translator is considered ‘old fashioned’ and is used infrequently.

Conclusion The chapter focused on exploring the various strategies frequently used in business communication in an ELF setting. The study identified a number of strategies that keep communication open when encountering difficulties in ELFB contexts. Among these strategies some are used to explain a message to counterparts while others are used to understand counterparts’ messages. Achievement or compensatory strategies, timegaining strategies and self-monitoring strategies are used to clarify a point or message to business counterparts while interactional strategies, speech strategies, and proactive strategies are used for both – to clarify and understand a message. The RMG business is an international trade and therefore professionals are expected to understand every aspect of their trade. Non/misunderstanding might lead to potential miscommunication with counterparts resulting in a breakdown of relationship to the disadvantage of both parties. Consequently, it is necessary for them to understand words of their counterparts and rather than follow avoidance or let-it-pass (Firth, 1996) strategies – such as topic avoidance or message abandonment, they try their own unique ways in getting proper message across in their business communication. When meaning negotiation is hampered for any reason, they employ a wide range of pragmatic strategies to facilitate understanding. In addition, the study has shown that ELFB communication is a shared repertoire of linguacultural resources used in the RMG business communication for mutual understanding through active engagement in the business community of practice. Although professionals used their strategies in their own unique ways, it ensured understanding of both parties and they used strategies making those appropriate for their own purposes to promote understanding (Cogo, 2010) by being innovative and creative (House, 2012a; Jenkins, 2008).

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There is no doubt that ELFB speakers are innovative and creative (House, 2012a; Jenkins, 2008) when it comes to conveying messages across the business setting. The notion of communicative competence suggests that linguistic competence is not separated from strategic competence; rather both are inextricably intertwined and only a combination of both competencies can facilitate effective communication. Limited linguistic skills cannot be a barrier in intercultural business communication. The findings have pedagogical implications for ELF policy makers, teachers, curriculum designers and researchers. Curriculum designers may take this finding into consideration and include these communicative strategies in English courses, particularly in business communication and business English courses to make students aware of these strategies in communication. Since Bangladesh currently has no business English courses in an academic institutions, findings can be incorporated in the general English courses for general students, some of whom will later work in business settings. Teachers also can use the findings as a point of reference in classroom teaching in those courses. This study provides insights into how business professionals from an Outer Circle country interact with native and non-native speakers of English using different pragmatic strategies and how they overcome misunderstanding or breakdowns of communication in multilingual settings in a global business setting when they face difficulty. Further studies can be conducted in other groups of other businesses to enrich pragmatic strategies in ELF business settings to understand the pragmatic practices among non-English speaking groups of professionals.

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Rogerson-Revell, P. (2006). Using English for international business: A European case study. English for Specific Purposes, 26, 103-120. Saraceni, M. (2008). English as a lingua franca: Between form and function. English Today, 24(02), 20-26. doi: doi:10.1017/S026607 8408000163. Seidlhofer, B. (2005). English as a lingua franca ELT Journal, 59(4), 339339. doi: 10.1093/elt/cci064. So-mui, F. L., & Mead, K. (2000). An analysis of English in the workplace:The communication needs of textile and clothing merchandisers. English for Speci®c Purposes, 19 351-368. Sowden, C. (2012). ELF on a mushroom: The overnight growth in English as a Lingua Franca. ELT Journal, 66(1), 89-96. doi: 10.1093/elt/ ccr024. Virkkula-Räisänen, T. (2010). Linguistic repertoires and semiotic resources in interaction: A Finnish manager as a mediator in a multilingual meeting. Journal of Business Communication, 47(4), 505531. doi: 10.1177/0021943610377315. Welch, D., Welch, L., & Piekkari, R. (2005). Speaking in tongues. International Studies of Management & Organization, 35(1), 10-27. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Aspects of language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

CHAPTER FOUR UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER KNOWLEDGE AND IDENTITY LILLY K. YAZDANPANAH AND JILL BROWN Abstract Teachers’ knowledge of language and language learning is influenced by their identities embedded in the historical and political context of English Language Teaching (ELT). This can impact on the ways in which teachers perceive the role of language in ELT. This chapter examines interviews from a case study of two English language teachers and reports on the ways these teachers view language. The data suggests that the teachers’ understandings of the nature of language and language learning appear to be based on a combination of their fields of study, previous work experience as well as personal histories. That is, the teachers in the study redefined and gave direction to understandings of language and language learning in light of their individual identities to the extent that they occasionally distorted the complexities of the students’ real life language learning needs. The chapter argues that to provide students access to the language of power, teachers need to reflexively make connections between their understandings of the nature of language and language learning and their own and their students’ identities in light of the history and politics of ELT. Keywords: ELT, identity, Teacher identity, language learning.

Introduction This chapter explores the ways in which English language teacher history and identity influence knowledge of language and language

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learning. We suggest that teachers can become so deeply entrenched in their own ways of understanding the nature of language and language learning, that they distort the complexities of the students’ real needs to connect with the English language and the English language speaking world. As a result, teachers are hampered in their attempts to provide their students full access to the language of power. In what follows, we first present a brief discussion of the cognitive, socio-cultural and critical understandings of language and language learning. This discussion helps to position the various ways in which the teacher participants in this research understand language. We then discuss the importance of, and connections between, teacher identity and knowledge, which is followed by presentation and discussion of the data of this study.

Language and language learning The present study reports on interviews with two English language teachers of adults who were involved in this qualitative case study. Since in explaining their understandings of language both teachers made references to Chomsky’s linguistic theory and Halliday’s systemicfunctional linguistics, it is necessary to touch upon these theories and operationalise our own views of language in relation to the main enquiries of this study. What follows is a brief overview of Chomsky’s linguistic theory and Halliday’s systemic-functional linguistics as a framing introduction to the study’s findings. Chomsky’s theory that all human beings share a set of universal principles hardwired in their brain, which he called the Language Acquisition Device (LAD), and the argument that knowledge of language is developed prior to knowledge of language use, has had strong influences on the psycholinguistic domain, and ultimately English Language Teaching (ELT). The theories argue that acquisition of linguistic, cognitive, and pragmatic knowledge is distinct from and happens prior to language use (see Chomsky, 1965; Chomsky, 1975, 1986). That is, language learning takes place when the LAD processes “primary linguistic data” (input) to “select grammars that are compatible with the primary linguistic data” (output) (Chomsky, 1965, p. 32). In this view, language learning and production are reduced to input and output data. Another implication is that “language, whether first or second, is an aspect of human cognition”. That is, language learning is separate from the social context and happens in the mind resulting in the development of innate language blueprints (DeKeyser & Juffs, 2005, p. 437). This knowledge of

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language (or competence) can be put into practice (or performance) only after these capacities have been developed. Since deriving language rules from input is necessary, one implication is that accuracy is of utmost importance in the language classroom. Student errors are either immediately corrected or language is produced in a very structured manner. Moreover, language teaching starts from directing students’ attention to language rules before moving on to structured use of language and, finally, using language to express meaning (see, Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Halliday’s systemic-functional linguistics, which views language as a systemic resource for conveying meaning in a given context, provides another approach to language, which is also influential in ELT. Hence, language patterns used are largely dependent on the features of the context (Halliday, 1985). This highly contextualised view of language, in combination with a Vygotskyan approach to language learning, helped to shape socio-cultural approaches to language teaching and learning. Here, language is understood to be a social tool that is developed as one participates in interactions with the real world. The acceptability of the language of the new members (i.e., English language students) is determined by the dominant community of English language speakers (i.e., native speakers of English). Through legitimate peripheral participation, these new members practice their peripheral membership in the new community through the use of peripheral language (see, Lave & Wenger, 1991). In this view, “people are not free agents, but their behaviour is enhanced or constrained by the tools they have available to use and the affordances present in (or absent from) their environment” (Swain & Deters, 2007, p. 821). Classroom teaching based on these principles involves students in tasks and activities that promote interaction and exchange of information, requiring the students to consider the context in which language takes place, and to learn patterns of language in relation to their social contexts. In sum, all language learning activities focus around what language is appropriate to use in particular contexts of use (see, Richards & Rodgers, 2001). However, as Matsuda (2003) argues, ELT should be connected with language and power inequality and colonial history, therefore, we suggest that the above theories are limited in that “the asocial, apolitical, and ahistorical” (Pennycook, 1990, p. 305) view of language and language learning in the theories disregards complexities of culture and diversities of language implying a hegemonic role of the English language (Rhedding-Jones, 2002). The above views of language, when not based on a critical perspective, cause “the production and reproduction of social

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differences” (Pennycook, 1990, p. 305) and largely ignore the power relations inside and outside the language classroom. This restricts the ability of language students to reflect on and use language in ways which increase their ability to participate powerfully in the mainstream community of which they are a part (see, Norton, 1995). That is, “although it is important for language learners to understand the rules of use of the target language, it is equally important for them to explore whose interests these rules serve” (p. 18). More precisely, we speak to be both understood and “to be believed, obeyed, respected, distinguished” (p. 18). Hence, language is both a communicative tool and a tool of power (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977, p. 648). This means the broadened meaning of competence would also encompass the degree to which one has the “power to impose reception” (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977, p. 648). We, therefore, argue that English language teachers should “help language learners claim the right to speak” (Norton, 1995, p. 26) both inside and outside the classroom. This, however, is not possible when teachers’ own identities and backgrounds blind them to deciding what should be taught in the language classroom (Rhedding-Jones, 2002). In the following section, we discuss in what ways language teacher identity has strong connections with teacher knowledge of language and language learning.

Teacher identity Classroom teaching is a profession that demands active involvement of the teacher as a ‘whole’ person. That is, identity is “central to the ways in which... teachers think about themselves and their work” (Brown, 2003, p. 3). Building on studies in teacher education, we can say that good teaching does not involve only “methodology, or even ideology. It requires engagement with identity” (Danielewicz, 2001, p. 3). In different settings, we take on different identities; what gives our multiple selves a better chorus of voices is the harmony in the relationship between the varied identities (Gee & Crawford, 1998). We see teacher identity as strongly connected to what and how teachers know (Varghese, Morgan, Johnston, & Johnson, 2005; Yazdanpanah, 2011). Thus, our definition of teacher identity is a framework that teachers use to construct their understandings of what English language is and what it means to learn the English language. Merely being aware of the connections between different aspects of one’s identity and one’s knowledge is not necessarily sufficient. We see it vital that teachers see the impact of their histories (i.e., identities) on their

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knowledge and ultimately on their teaching. This is especially important because many of the existing problems in classrooms remain unnoticed by teachers and those which are partially recognised, are likely to be masked by simplistic explanations of the issue (Loughran, 2006).. Hence, it is vital that teachers’ knowledge and teaching practice be accompanied by understandings of the wider social and political contexts that influence and position them and their students as individuals (Heilbronn, 2010). Teachers need to become equipped with the capacity to connect their teaching methodology, teaching materials, teaching objectives, interactions with students, and generally whatever goes on in the classroom with themselves and the wider contexts impacting on and shaping their identities (Pennycook, 2001).

The study The data comes from a large-scale extensive study of English language teacher work and identity. The present study explores the ways in which two of the teacher participants view English language and English language learning in light of their individual identities. The teachers work in English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) centres in Australia, bring very different experiences and backgrounds to their work, and teach different levels of adult students. The case study data were generated through multiple data collection methods of semi-structured pre-observation interviews, video-recorded non-participant observation, semi-structured stimulated recall interviews (conducted immediately after the observation), correspondence with teachers (during the data collection and analysis), and field notes (during the non-participant observation). The data analysis started from the beginning of the data collection and continued up to the very last day of the project (approximately 2.5 years). The data was initially subjected to a grounded theory method of data analysis (Charmaz, 2007) and was subsequently analysed at a deeper level looking at the discourse used by the teachers. Researcher understandings were also shared with and checked by participants who were given the opportunity to correct and ‘talk back’ to the ways in which they were portrayed.

The teachers A brief outline of each teacher’s study and work history is presented below highlighting the key elements shaping their Selves as English language teachers. Rather than assigning each teacher a pseudonym, we

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have used what we perceive to be the dominant features of their identity as their names. The first teacher is called ‘the coach’ and the second, ‘the nurse’. The coach The coach is a young man in his early 30s who had taught English language for more than seven years at the time of the study. Ever since he was young, he played and coached basketball. His identity of being a sportsman and a coach was such a strong part of who he was that, without even having any knowledge of his coaching interests, his students likened his English language teaching to that of a coach. When observing his teaching, we noticed that, akin to a basketball coach who would move from discrete skills (i.e., footwork, balance, dribbling, shooting, etc.) to connecting those skills to one another, through structured activities, he compartmentalised language into discrete sections (i.e., simple past tense, simple past negative, simple past yes/no questions, simple past negative yes/no questions, simple past wh-questions, etc.). He then got the students to put this knowledge together to form a meaningful, though restricted, chunk of language (i.e., asking peers simple past questions and/or responding in the simple past). Hence, he is the ‘coach’. The coach’s first English language teaching experience was in Japan. Prior to this, he had completed a double degree in psychology and biochemistry at an Australian university. He worked in Japan for five years during which time he also trained as a teacher. The coach was introduced to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) for the first time in Japan but believes that there were context-specific cultural issues with the approach. It’s [CLT’s] been there for a number of years. There are cultural issues, especially with more traditional older people and also the younger.... It [CLT] is a very Western approach and it does have issues with a number of cultures.

Accordingly, he perceives such things as talking about oneself, which is part of a CLT approach, to be problematic in contexts where there is a different approach to education. Additionally, English language teaching in Japan regards students’ knowledge of sentence formation rules (knowledge of grammar) as the base and communicative practices (such as use of authentic language) as a method in service of bettering that knowledge base (Sakui, 2004).

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The coach enjoyed his work as a language teacher in Japan and came to see it as his “calling in life”. On returning to Australia, he immediately started work as a language teacher and completed his Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) and Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults (DELTA) qualifications. At the time of the interview, he was a CELTA teacher trainer at an ELICOS centre, and had partially completed a Masters qualification in Applied Linguistics by distance. He was teaching a group of Indonesian students who were studying English at the end of their doctoral study with the aim of preparing to write journal articles and to present at conferences. In contrast to the other teacher, the coach made little reference to his sense of Self as a teacher. His account of the past was one notably lacking in personal descriptions; rather, it was a factual recount of past events. Nonetheless, throughout the interviews, he consistently referred to himself as ‘a mentor type of person’ whose task was to equip students with the needed individual skills to become competent language users, in much the same way that he would develop sporting skills with his basketball team. The nurse At the time of the interview, the nurse was in her 50s and working as both a teacher and a teacher trainer at an ELICOS centre. At the age of 20, upon completing an undergraduate degree in communication she started working as a nurse. After 20 years of nursing work, mostly in aged care facilities, she decided to change her career. Her avid interest in reading and writing motivated her to aim for a career, which combined “language [and] young people from different cultures”. The career she thought best met these requirements was English language teaching. Initially, the nurse started teaching English to adult migrants, then to language learners at a community centre before finding her present job at an ELICOS centre. At the time of the interview, she had been teaching for 14 years, had completed CELTA and DELTA courses as well as a Masters degree in Education, and had written and published articles on teacher training and the CLT approach in ELT journals. She was enrolled as a candidate in a doctoral program studying identity issues of international students from Saudi Arabia. For this study, we observed her academic writing class designed to prepare undergraduate students for university studies. The nurse described herself as a mature and peaceful person, respectful of her students and appreciative of their differences.

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I’ve got more, perhaps, sensitivity to varying abilities. I just embrace their differences. And I’m there and I do what I can. I don’t get frustrated whereas perhaps ten years ago I may have. I can’t remember. But I’m a fairly relaxed person. I don’t know that I get frustrated anyway.

She saw her personal qualities and years of working as a nurse as shaping her teaching identity in significant ways. Like the other teacher in the study, she was enthusiastic about her work and interested in all aspects of ESL teaching. I’ve just gone from strength to strength. I’ve done the academic side of it and I’ve developed in the practical side of it. And I’ve never looked back!

How does the coach view language and language learning? For the coach, grammar is at the heart of language due to its ‘meaningcarrying’ property, as he put it. He believes that only through understanding the structure of a language and the relationships between the structural components can language learners comprehend and ultimately use language. He views language as being composed of smaller discrete elements and components, meaningfully connected through grammar (Chomsky, 1975, 1986). I think grammar is the basis of everything else... Really, it lets you access meaning and lets you manipulate that to your advantage. So that, if you can understand, say for example with present perfect, that someone is meaning that an action has started in the past and the result is continuing up to the present, if you can’t get that from the grammar, then you don’t know their real meaning. I mean you can put little bits together but you don’t have the whole picture there.

He holds the view that all human beings are predisposed with instincts for language, which he calls “feelings for language”. He believes that these feelings are always with language learners and are activated and further developed only when learners consciously analyse language and explicitly state its rules. Explicitly articulating or thinking about language rules enhances the development of feelings for language, which results in language production (Pinker, 1994). Language learners haven’t developed that kind of feel aspect to what they understand with language... It comes with experience but it also comes about, you know, really thinking about it, really going into deep details and set one or two examples and really thinking about why... But once you start noticing it, that feeling starts developing and the more you notice it, the

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This description of the language learning process suggests that language learning does not take place through interaction or practice but through noticing language rules. The teacher can help learners to notice these rules by having them think deeply about and explicitly state the rules. Looking back at the coach’s initial language teaching experience, perhaps we could connect his emphasis on the centrality of grammar learning and the articulation of grammar rules to the Japanese approach to English language teaching and to his applied linguistics study. That is, in the excerpts above, he seems to be making reference to the cognitive theories of language, proposed by Pinker (1994) and Chomsky (1975, 1986), which describe language as being innately hardwired into the brain. These understandings appear to have originated from his postgraduate study in applied linguistics, allusions to which were made a few times. How does the nurse view language and language learning? Language, in the nurse’s opinion, is a means of expressing concepts, which are best conveyed through words. Hence, the first element of language is words carrying a person’s ideas and worldview as well as imposing structure on the meanings one intends to express. You need vocabulary before you can manipulate grammar. You need a certain store of words before you could put those words into sentences. You can then create correct sentences with minimal amount of vocabulary... You need to generate vocabulary apart from generating concepts... Then, you’ve got to manipulate the concept.

Knowledge of vocabulary entails an understanding of context and the place of vocabulary and concepts within a given context (Halliday, 1985). So there has to be some attention to appropriacy before you’ve got the confidence and the ability to manipulate on the spot. When I say appropriacy, I mean having the right word for the situation at a very basic level, not at a sophisticated level... Appropriacy probably carries some sense of sophistication and register, which is going to come much later at perhaps a more intermediate level.

Language learning, in her writing class, started with the students being presented with a checklist of concepts in relation to the writing topic. Her

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purpose was to allow the better students to use the concepts in discussions. This, she reasoned, would give the other, less advanced, students reflection time as well as provide some ideas to use in discussions (Richards & Rodgers, 2001). I put up that checklist there because I anticipated that they may not have a lot of [childcare-related] experience... So I was thinking of providing ideas... Some of them [the students] have taken them [the list of ideas] on board, others not. Some of them have more sophisticated, more critical and more analytical thinking processes and they can cope with this variety [variety of ideas in the checklist provided by the teacher]... [I’m asking them to discuss in groups] So that they can support each other.... And some who may have less to contribute or the ones with no ideas can benefit from the others’ contribution... But then the others might be more passive learners or they might need more reflection time.

The students were to then demonstrate their writing skills in the implementation of those concepts in an acceptable language pattern. The language patterns were provided in the form of templates. Manipulation of the concepts into the formulaic structures of the discourse was regarded as a sign that students had perfected the target language. Thus, in her view, language is all about ‘making meaning’ by being able to generate acceptable sentence structures and discourse. It’s no good me giving it [the structure] to them and saying write this down... They’ve got a model or a template to use... because it’s convention; it’s what’s acceptable in Western discourse... They need to gain control of their sentence structure and the discourse features ... [because language is] all about making meaning and being understood.

Overall, the nurse regarded vocabulary as the most important aspect of language. She believed that concepts and ideas were best communicated through the meanings and structures that words impose on messages. On reflection, she stated that her attention to words came both from being an avid reader – “I suppose it’s [love of words] developed from a love of reading” – and from her past experience working with people with hearing loss and dementia: But with the elderly you would focus on key words. You wouldn’t think about grammar because they are native speakers in most cases. And you may paraphrase because they don’t understand it. You don’t say it louder, you say it in a different way. You approach it from a different angle.

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Hence, language learning to her is the manipulation of fixed language patterns and concepts provided by the teacher that can be learned through repeated imitation. She believes that when this has been achieved, students can create original pieces of writing. Since concepts impose structure, it is essential to know the right concepts in order to manipulate them meaningfully in their corresponding patterns. To make all these happen, collaborative exchange of ideas between the students and the teacher takes place to help the more ‘intellectually sophisticated’ students shape concepts into discourse structures. The more passive or reflective students also benefit by observing the collaboration and the process of shaping discourse. Again, we may be tempted to make connections between the nurse’s previous nursing career and her concern regarding making no mistakes, resulting in a tendency to provide everything for her students and to support and control their learning in a process which could be described as ‘spoon feeding’.

Discussion The purpose of this chapter was to explore the connections between English language teacher identity and knowledge of English language and language learning. This case study of two experienced teachers suggests that teachers’ histories have shaped their views in a number of significant ways. For the coach, learning and teaching basketball has influenced him to regard language learning as a process that can simply be compartmentalised into smaller discrete units to be carefully explored and practiced in a structured manner. Once these small units of language have been analysed, they can be connected to one another to produce a larger chunk of language. This is in line with the method of teaching basketball, which starts with the teaching of separate discrete skills and gradually combines those skills together. His undergraduate degree in biochemistry and psychology (i.e., the science of reducing humans’ actions and thinking to biochemical processes) may also have prompted the coach to filter out social, cultural, historical, and political factors when looking at the process of language learning in his students. In addition to his work and initial teacher training in Japan, his postgraduate studies in applied linguistics appear to have been significant in shaping his view that language is essentially grammar divided into feelings for language (i.e., competence) and language production (i.e., performance). For the nurse, her undergraduate degree in communication, keen interest in reading books, work with patients with dementia, and writing

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have encouraged her to see language as primarily a means to express concepts through words. These concepts, to her, are an exploration of everyday life with no connection to politics, history, or cultural complexities. What she found common in all these experiences is that words play a major role in communicating concepts; concepts, in turn, appear to be the only purpose of communication. These understandings have convinced her that language consists of patterns to be used in their appropriate contexts. Since in her experience of reading books and writing journal articles, she has relied on obtaining information from a variety of different sources, she believes that language learning takes place when students are provided with concepts and the language patterns that match those concepts. It is possible to argue that her previous experience as a nurse means that she brings a very careful and caring approach to her teaching, an approach which however does not leave room for mistakes and creativity. We did not intend to present a simplistic, linear connection between the teachers’ understandings of language and language learning and experiences. It is not possible to provide a detailed account of the interview and classroom observation data that were collected over an extended period of time. However, the absence of a critical view of language and language learning is noteworthy. Although the teachers were dealing with international students in an academic environment, they did not, in any way, point to the empowerment of students through language. The notion of extending students’ competence as powerful and critical users of language or consideration of ways to effectively communicate with students based on their cultural, political, and social complexities are not mentioned in any of the teacher interviews. Hence, the increased diversity of students due to mobility and globalisation, the inequitable power relations hindering the students’ use of English language in and outside the classroom and how the students may realise their relationship was likewise ignored. Put simply, the teachers’ identities blind their views of the real language needs of the students. That is, the coach and the nurse remain loyal to their own understandings strongly embedded in their histories. Rather than effectively communicating with students, they engage in a monologue with their own selves. What is absent in the teachers’ views is “a notion of critique that also carries with it a sense of responsibility for transformation, and exploration of the nature of and relationship between culture, knowledge, and power” (Pennycook, 1990, p. 307). That the teachers’ understandings of the English language and English language learning are strongly embedded in their histories implies that it is essential to make conscious connections between their identities and their

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daily teaching practices in the language classroom. Through such reflexive connections, teachers can recognise and appreciate students’ real language learning needs (Norton, 1995) and help them to have access to the language of power (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977) rather than the language of peripheral membership of the English language speaking community (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This should, ideally, be accompanied by understandings of the past history and present politics of English as well as the power inequalities inherent in English language teaching (Matsuda, 1996). Through such connections, the act of teaching can be appropriately contextualised and based on informed decisions rather than on a monologue with oneself.

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Loughran, J. (2006). Developing a pedagogy of teacher education: Understanding teaching and learning about teaching. London: Falmer Press. Matsuda, A. (2003). Incorporating world Englishes in teaching English as an international language. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 719-729. Norton Peirce, B. (1995). Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29, 9-31. Pennycook, A. (1990). Critical pedagogy and second language education. System, 18(3), 303-314. —. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pinker, S. (1994). The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language. New York: Harper Perennial. Rhedding-Jones, J. (2002). English elsewhere: Glocalization, assessment, and ethics. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34(4), 383-404. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, S. T. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sakui, Keiko. (2004). Wearing two pairs of shoes: Language teaching in Japan. ELT Journal, 58(2), 155-163. doi: 10.1093/elt/58.2.155. Swain, M., & Deters, P. (2007). “New” mainstream SLA theory: Expanded and enriched. Modern Language Journal, 91, 820-836. Varghese, M., Morgan, B., Johnston, B., & Johnson, K. A. (2005). Theorizing language teacher identitiy: Three perspectives and beyond. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 4(1), 21-44. Yazdanpanah, K. (2011). Teacher knowledge, identity, and practice: A mixed methods study of ESL teaching. (PhD), Monash University, Melbourne.

CHAPTER FIVE “WELL, JUST TIUPAN!”: CODE-SWITCHING BETWEEN LANGUAGE GAPS AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION AHMAD BUKHORI-MUSLIM Abstract Code-switching between two or more languages is a common language learning phenomenon, particularly among young learners. This use of the native language form in learning English is common among young English learners (Troike, 1988; Cantone, 2007) including Asian children (Sneddon, 2000). The opportunity of code-switching for English learners is bigger when they are immersed in an English speaking country, and especially when parents apply a one-parent, one language policy. In this family, the father maintains to speak English and the mother speaks an ethnic language to their children or the other way around. Many parents apply this home language policy to support their children’s English language acquisition and, at the same time, to maintain their ethnic language. This multiple case study explores several types and purposes of Indonesian-born children’s code-switching in an English immersed environment of Australia. Employing a cross-sectional method, the participants of the study were three siblings; aged 10, 7 and 4 years respectively, and their parents, who lived temporarily (16 months at the time of the study) in Melbourne Australia. To support the children’s English development, the family adopts a one-parent, one-language policy in which the father speaks English to the children while the mother speaks Sundanese, a local ethnic language in Indonesia. Data were noted on language uses in various settings such as home, shopping centers and play grounds generated for almost 12 months. The data were then analyzed using Crystal’s (1987)

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cognitive purposes and Romaine’s (1995) expressive and pragmatic functions of code-switching. Findings suggest that the three participating children not only codeswitched when conversing with the father who maintained to speak English but also with the mother who spoke Sundanese and Indonesian. As the mother spoke mostly in Sundanese, the majority of code switching occurred between English and Sundanese and only a few was between English and Indonesian or English-Sundanese-Indonesian. In addition to code-switching, the three children also demonstrated language awareness and acquired English-cultural values as manifest in their critical questions and comments. They often asked for equivalent English translations for unfamiliar words or expressions. For parents, such code-switching between English and Sundanese or English and Indonesian signified a marker in their ethnic identity. Keywords code-switching, language gaps, ethnic identity, Bahasa Indonesia. Multiculturalism results in language contact and bilingualism. As the result of this language contact, code-switching or the ability to alternate between two or more codes or languages in ‘the same conversational event’ (Toribio, 2001; p. 404), is a common phenomenon in a multicultural country like Indonesia and Australia. Code-switching is considered the ‘central issue’ of bilingualism (Milroy & Musyken, 1995; p. 7). In Indonesia, for instance, code-switching is a common practice among its people. Most Indonesians are bilinguals, speaking at least two languages (Bahasa Indonesia as the national language and a local ethnic language such as Bataknese, Sundanese and Javanese). In their inter-ethnic oral communication in various contexts, Indonesian people use code-switching, mostly between Bahasa Indonesia and one local ethnic language such as Javanese, Sundanese, Padangese, and Chinese. For instance, most people in Java Island speak Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese (Goebel, 2007) whereas those living in Sulawesi island speak Bahasa Indonesia and Bugisi (Mahmud, 2008). A less common bilingual phenomenon among Indonesians is codeswitching between Bahasa Indonesia and a foreign language such as English and other foreign languages. Only a few studies have identified this phenomenon such as a bilingual child who can speak Bahasa Indonesia and Italian in Indonesian context (Soriente, 2007) or a multilingual child who can speak Acehnese-Bahasa Indonesia-English in Malaysian context (Yusuf, 2009). Acehnese is a local ethnic language in the western most part of the Sumatra island of Indonesia. However, so far,

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no studies have been conducted to identify the bilingualism of Indonesian children between Bahasa Indonesia and English in an English immersed context like Australia. As such, it is interesting to identify the process and purpose of three Indonesian-born participating children and their parents in this study who switch between English and Sundanese and/or Bahasa Indonesia. Similar to Indonesia, with the family serving as the ‘crucial site of heritage language maintenance’ (Pauwels, 2005; p. 124), children of nonEnglish speaking background in the emerging multicultural country of Australia tend to be involved in bilingualism. In addition to English as the dominant language, the children speak other languages at home such as German, French, Greece, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Bahasa Indonesia (Clyne, 2005). This ethnographic case study explores how three Indonesian-born children and their parents, who have been immersed in an English speaking environment in Melbourne, Australia code-switch in various conversations. To support the children’s English acquisition while temporarily living in Melbourne, the family adopts a one-parent onelanguage policy. The father speaks English with his children while the mother speaks Sundanese, a local ethnic language of the Western part of Java island, and Bahasa Indonesia.

The Social Process of English Language Learning Based on how English learners develop their strategies, they are divided into inner- and other-directed learners (Riesman, 1950). The former refers to learning as a process of intrapersonal skill by focusing on language code. The latter considers language learning as an interpersonal or social approach in which the main task is conveying the message. This social learning strategy is a collaborative or interactive process between a speaker and a hearer (Schober & Clark, 1989). Other-directed young English language learners are usually assertive in their attempts to communicate their ideas with the speakers of the language. They use all means of oral communication, including a combination of gestures, facial expressions, native language forms and memorized second language social routines (Troike, 1988). The extent to which these means of oral communication are also employed by Indonesian children living in an English-speaking environment will be investigated in this study. The main environment in which young children develop and socialize their language skills is family. Parents are usually able to easily transfer language to their children. In a study, Hoff, Core, Place, Rumiche, Sentor

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& Parra (2012) found that most English monolingual children picked up their parents’ language, especially conversation, effortlessly through listening and repetition from parents and other family members, such as elder siblings and grandparents. Young children of monolingual English may be able to produce extensive English vocabulary by the age of 2-3. Parental language influences are more dominant among children aged 6-12 (Montrul, 2013). A similar phenomenon happens with children of Indonesian parents with their acquisition of Bahasa Indonesia. Hoff et al., (2012) argue that monolingual children have more advanced language development than the bilinguals on measures of both vocabulary and grammar in single language comparisons, but they were comparable on a measure of total vocabulary. On the other hand, children whose parents speak different languages may have a more complicated process of acquiring language skills, including conversation. They have to possess sufficient cognitive and language awareness to be able to select which expression matches which language (Kabuto, 2010; Baker, 2009; Sneddon, 2000). Nonetheless, bilingualism is associated with cognitive advantages from infancy through old age (Bialystok, 2005, 2009). Children raised by bilingual parents tend to comprehend and speak more than one language and have better cognitive competence if either parent consistently speaks a different language to them (Pert & Letts, 2006; Sneddon, 2000; Hakuta & Diaz, 1985). This competence is acquired because children can be bilinguals or multilinguals, depending on the language input they receive (Baker, 2009). This study explores the extent to which the influence of bilingual parents affects children’s code switching practices. The father of these children consistently speaks English in-and-out of the home whereas the mother speaks Sundanese and a little Bahasa Indonesia to them. In addition to parents, siblings are an important means of social interaction for children at home. Siblings also influence the ways otherdirected children learn conversational English (Riesman, 1950). Most children start conversing with their siblings at home prior to doing so with their peers at school. In addition, children also often learn the language of their peers in the neighbourhood (Ervin-Tripp & Reyes, 2005). Unlike parents who tend to modify their expression when talking to their children or even code-switch, siblings may provide children with discourse of similar age grouping in its authentic setting (Kabuto, 2010). The youngest participant in this study, for instance, at the time of study, has not yet attended the pre-school and only learned conversational English from his two elder siblings or peers in his neighbourhood. It is interesting to

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identify how elder siblings influence the oral communication strategies of the youngest child in this study. Moreover, peers are important for children’s English language development. Children usually socialize with their peers in the neighbourhood or schools who influence their English conversational skills (Ervin-Tripp & Rayes, 2005). The conversational skill of two elder siblings in this study, who attend a local primary school, may have been influenced by their teachers and peers at school or in the neighbourhood. Constant switching is a bilingual experience that young learners experience apart from their monolingual peers (Serratrice, 2013). As such, identifying how peers at school may influence their mastery of English conversation can be a challenging issue.

Immersion, code-switching and identity negotiation Most English learners, including children, who live in an English speaking country like Australia, are immersed into an English speaking environment. They are surrounded by various English speaking settings such as play grounds, schools, libraries, shopping centres and other public places. As such, they have to be directly engaged into social conversation in English. In the early period of their immersion, children’s English competence may still not yet be adequate for this task. They often have to code-switch between English and their native language. In this codeswitching process, as a result of language contact, children borrow some words from their mother tongue to express their ideas and mix it with English, their new language. This borrowing occurs when learners find a lexical gap in their conversation (Ervin-Tipp & Reyes, 2005). Codeswitching is also considered as a situated strategy used to achieve conversational goals (Auer, 1999; Heller 1988b). Auer (1999, p. 5) also writes that ‘code-switching serves a conversational function’. In this explorative case study, however, I do not specifically discrete between code-switching and code-mixing but only focuses on the first one. Code-switching in children is influenced by various aspects such as people, place or physical space and activity (Ervin-Tipp & Reyes, 2005), length of residence in an English speaking country and exposure to language at school and “family communication strategy” (Zheng, 2009, p. 5.1). Of these aspects, people such as parents, siblings and peers are considered most influential in determining what language to use during communication. Parents usually code-switch between Bahasa Indonesia and English to help stimulate their children’s language development. When this happens, children tend to code-switch from an early age (Pert &

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Letts, 2005), including among Indonesian children (Yusuf, 2009; Soriento, 2007). In many cases, code-switching has been considered a cognitive, social and cultural tool for language development (Kabuto, 2010). Most studies claim that code-switching is not only a gap in language development, there are more reasons for code-switching which go beyond that (Gumperz, 1982; Cantone, 2007). Crystal (1987) mentions several cognitive reasons for code-switching which include compensation for language gap, solidarity with a particular social group, and means to convey an attitude to the listener. As code-switching can also have both ‘an expressive function’ and ‘a pragmatic meaning’ (Romaine, 1995; p. 161), young bilinguals may use code-switching because they have already demonstrated good awareness of speaker identity in their conversation (Parke, 1994). He also posits that this language awareness is a person’s sensitivity to, and awareness of, the nature of language and its role in human life. Code-switching closely relates to identity negotiation. For ethnic minority children in a mainstream English speaking country like Australia, the family is the essential site for ethnic language maintenance (Pauwels, 2005). Within this context, and among non-English speaking groups, codeswitching can be used to convey various psychosocial expressions such as jokes and parental advice which show ethnic identity (Boeschoten, 2006). A similar motive of code-switching for identity also occurred among the first and second generation of Catalan immigrants in Mexico (Curco, 2005) and Italian-Americans in the United States (De Fina, 2007). In Australia, code-switching between English and an ethnic language is also a common phenomenon such as between English and Italian (Refatto, 2002), English and Chinese (Zhang, 2009), English and Japanese (Yoshimitsu, 2004) and English and Croatian (Hlavac, 2006). These minority groups used code-switching to show their affiliation with the ethnic group to which they belong. This socio-cognitive reason for codeswitching may also be employed by the participating children and parents in this study. So far, no study has been done on bilingualism and the codeswitching process between English and Bahasa Indonesia, let alone between English and Sundanese on which this study focuses. In short, this study uses Risman’s (1950) other-directed learner’s strategies to identify the types and contextual uses of code-switching as well as its socio-cognitive reasons as developed by Romaine (1995) and Crystal (1987). These theoretical frameworks can best describe the codeswitching phenomenon shown by the participants.

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The Study Research questions As an ethnographic case study, this study addresses three questions. First, what types of code-switching are used by the participating children and parents in their communication strategies? Second, how do home (parents and siblings) and school (peers) settings influence code-switching processes? Finally, what are the purposes of code-switching in the participants’ oral communication?

Settings and participants The data for this study are the language uses of code-switching by the three siblings and their parents in various settings such as home, community centre, playground and shopping centre. These code-switching expressions were noted during the first 16 months living in Melbourne. The siblings consist of a girl aged 10 and two younger boys aged 7 and 5 who were born in Indonesia. By the time of the study, the first two siblings were enrolled at a local primary school while the last child was at a preschool in Melbourne.

Data analysis The data of language uses were noted through participation observation. The researcher took notes of different types of code-switching and their contexts. These notes were then categorized into two components: oral communication strategies focusing on code-switching and socio-cognitive reasons for the use of the code-switching. The first category was analysed on the basis of language switches that is between English and Sundanese or Bahasa Indonesia. Crystal’s (1987) cognitive purposes and Romaine’s (1995) expressive and pragmatic functions of code switching were used to analyse the second category of data.

Results The findings of this study are divided into two sections: oral communication strategies with code-switching as the focus; and the sociocognitive reasons for the use of code-switching.

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Code-Switching in two or three languages The first oral communication strategy that the three participants, particularly the youngest, used when involved in conversations is codeswitching. Most of the code-switching practices are intra-sentential in which the participants mixed some words of two languages in one sentence. Only a small number of code-switching examples are intersentential or in different sentences. Furthermore, there are three types of intra-sentential code-switching identified in this study. They are between English and Sundanese, English and Indonesian, and a combination of English, Sundanese and Indonesian. Each type of code-switching occurred in various contexts and among different speakers. The first and most frequent type of code-switching is between English and Sundanese, the children’s local native language. This usually happened between the mother and the youngest sibling, Akim, who was first brought to Melbourne when he was three years old. In Indonesia, Akim had not been to kindergarten or preschool where Bahasa Indonesia as the national language is formally introduced. At that time, he only spoke Sundanese, the local ethnic language of his parents and grandparents. Immersed in an English environment, Akim has experienced a considerable language shift. During his initial residence in Melbourne, Akim spoke only Sundanese, especially with his mother. Upon setting foot in Melbourne airport, he immediately shouted in Sundanese, “Lapar, mana warung?” [Hungry, where is the shop?]. After two to three months of listening to, and playing with, a new Indonesian-born friend who shared a house with him and who has been living in Melbourne for more than two years, Akim started to pick up English. His exposure to English becomes more intensive when his two elder siblings, Ali and Isa, were enrolled at a local primary school. This direct exposure to English gradually influenced his Sundanese language. Akim started to pick up some English words but mixed these with Sundanese. For instance, Akim one day asked his father to prepare a warm chicken pie for him. When his father had just taken the pie out of the microwave, Akim asked permission to eat the pie. .

Akim: Ayah [Dad/Indonesian], I want to eat it now.

Since the chicken pie was still too hot to consume, his father said, Father: ‘Hang on. It’s still hot. Akim: Well, tiupan… [blow /Sundanese]

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In this conversation, the code-switching between English and Sundanese is intra-sentential. The child asked his father to blow on the food so that it was cool enough to be eaten. On another occasion, Akim was shopping with his father when he suddenly asked his father to hold his pants up. Feeling confused with his request, the father asked, Father: What’s wrong? Akim: My pant is logor [loose/Sundanese].

This is another example of intra-sentential code-switching between Sundanese and English. In a different situation, when watching a television program for children, Akim found that the picture quality was not really good. The picture was on and off frequently due to strong wind which hit the outdoor TV antenna on the top of the house. Realizing that the picture was on and off, Akim told his father, who was sitting beside him: Akim: Ayah [Dad/Indonesian], when it is on and off, that’s seuseut [jammed/Sundanese]

Here, he switched from English to the word seuseut in Sundanese which means ‘jammed’. One day, coming home from his university, the father found water spilt on his table. Feeling rather annoyed, he asked his three children who has made his table wet. Father: Who spilt the water on my table? Akim: Ali [the second child] makes it bahe [spilt]. Ali: Not me (pointing to Akim).

Responding to his father’s question, Akim answered quickly. He may be right that his elder brother had spilt the water on the table. Or, he may have spilt it himself but wanted to blame his brother. That may be the reason why Ali claimed that it was not his fault. In this conversation, Akim used the word bahe as he may not have learned the word ‘spilt.’ The second type of code-switching is between English and Indonesian, the children’s national language. This code-switching was usually conducted by the two elder siblings and their mother, or among the two elder siblings only. These two elder siblings learned Bahasa Indonesia at their Indonesian schools before moving to Melbourne. For instance, before going to school in the morning, the three children were dressing in front of a big mirror. Ali spoke to his elder sister, Isa.

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Ali: I wanna sisir [comb/Indonesian] my hair. Isa: Go ahead! (She gave the comb to him).

In this conversation, Ali wanted to comb his hair but did not know how to say the word ‘comb’ in English. So, he used an Indonesian word, sisir. This type of code-switching between English and Bahasa Indonesia is, however, less frequent than the first one. The final type of code-switching was conducted in three languages, English, Indonesian, and Sundanese. This type of code-switching, however, was the least frequently observed as the mother often speaks Sundanese and rarely speaks Indonesian. For instance, when sorting his school work at home, the mother asked Akim, the youngest sibling, in Sundanese language. Mother: Urang picen we ieu nya? [I will throw away this picture/Sundanese] Akim: No, Ibu [Mom/Indonesian]. Don’t piceun [throw/Sundanese] it.

Here, Akim mixed his response between English [No, Don’t and it] Indonesian language [Ibu] and Sundanese language [piceun]. Based on the results above, most code-switching occurred between English and Sundanese. This may be because the mother speaks Sundanese and the father chooses to speak English with the children. As such, only a few code-switching practices occurred between English and Bahasa Indonesia. In addition, Bahasa Indonesia and Sundanese languages share some similar words. The above-mentioned examples also indicate that most code-switching happened due to language gaps or lack of exposure to English. Being in their first year of living in Melbourne, the three participants sometimes switched from English into Sundanese or Indonesian because they have not yet acquired the English words or phrases to express their ideas. They used gestures and their native language of Sundanese or Bahasa Indonesia (Troike, 1988) to convey their message to the listeners. The level of children’s code-switching may change with context and time (Ervin-Tipp & Reyes, 2005). The longer they are immersed among English speaking people, the less their use of native language forms will be. Therefore, they may have improved their English skills but started losing their native language of Sundanese or Indonesian. This phenomenon may be experienced by the three participating children after their first year in Australia as they are continuously immersed in an English speaking environment. Akim, for instance, who had not attended

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the Indonesian school before moving to Melbourne may not develop his Bahasa Indonesia and lose his Sundanese language. On the other hand, their use of English may decrease within an Indonesian context. Once they permanently return to Indonesia, their use of Sundanese or Indonesian will increase. Their English skill will decrease and may completely vanish. However, their English skills may be more easily able to be maintained when they formally learn English at Indonesian schools or are immersed in an English speaking country once again.

Language Awareness and Cultural Values In addition to oral communication strategies, the three participating children have also developed language awareness and learned the cultural values of Australia. At the beginning of his acquisition of English, Akim may not have known that the new language he is learning is English but he was very curious to know more about the language. Therefore, he often forwarded questions about English. Imitating his elder siblings, for instance, he often asked the equivalent English words for many Indonesian words such as kursi [chair], meja [table] etc. Akim: What’s the English for kursi? Father: Chair. Akim: OK. What’s the English for meja? Father: It’s table. Akim: What’s the English for...?

Isa, the oldest sibling, is more aware of the difference between Sundanese and Indonesian as her first and second language and English as her foreign language. When she found a new English word that she was not familiar with from her reading, she would find out the meaning by asking her father. For example, when Isa was reading, she found a new word and asked. Isa: What does unaware mean? (pointing to a word in the book) Dad: It means not aware. Isa: I still don’t get it (shaking her head). Dad: That means, ‘you don’t know it’. Isa: OK. (nodding her head)

A similar language awareness is also shown by Ali, the second sibling. In another occasion in the kitchen, pointing his hand to a note on the fridge, Ali asked his father.

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Ali: What KAS means? Dad: Which one? Ali: That, K-A-S (pointing his right hand to the fridge). Dad: Oh… that’s an Indonesian word, cash money.

The word kas is an Indonesian loan word derived from the English word, cash. Ali may realize that this word is not English and, therefore, forwarded this question to his father. In other contexts, these three children have demonstrated their language awareness. However, the language awareness of the youngest sibling is still developing. Akim has not fully understood the concept of two languages. He, for instance, sometimes asked his father the English equivalence or translation of an English word. One day, to his father’s surprise, he asked, Akim: Ayah [Dad/Indonesian], what’s the English for train? Father: Train is an English word (smiled). Akim: What’s the English for building? Father: That’s the same. Akim: What’s the English for sky?

In this conversation, Akim may not understand and be aware that ‘train’, ‘building’ and ‘sky’ are English words. For him, English and nonEnglish words seem to be interchangeable. He might not know that train is an English word. He just imitated his elder siblings asking the meaning of a new word to his father. It seems that language awareness seems to improve with age. Isa, the eldest sibling, appears to have greater language awareness than her two younger siblings. Beside language awareness, immersion also enables the participating children to learn Australian values such as politeness. For instance, when playing with his new toy car with Ali in the living room, Akim suddenly burped. Hearing his brother’s burp, Ali reminded him to apologize. Ali: Say, excuse me! Akim: Excuse me! [smiled]

That might be the first time Akim learned that he has to say “excuse me” when burping in public. Ali may have learned this value of public decency from school. In the culture of Indonesia, burping in public is not considered rude, but blowing the nose is. This is the opposite way of the dominant Australian culture. Another ‘Australian’ value acquired through immersion is high reading habits. Having been enrolled at a kindergarten in Melbourne, Akim has a relatively higher reading interest than his two elder siblings who went to

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Kindergarten in Indonesia. Every night, before bed time, he asks his father to read at least three to four books whereas his elder brother and sister were satisfied with reading one book. Akim: Ayah [Dad/Indonesian], four books, OK? Father: Yes. Take one first.

Akim usually sits on his father’s lap while he reads the book for him. When Akim had finished one book, he would rise, pick another book and ask his father to read it for him again. Akim: Three more, OK? Father: Yes, no worries.

In the beginning, he usually asked his father to read for him while he was sitting on his lap. Due to a limited number of books the family can borrow from a local public library, Akim has to pick up similar books for several nights. As such, he often memorizes some words in a book he has read and heard several times. At this point, his father sometimes asks him to read it for himself. Akim has been proven to be able to read simple books before the age of five. His elder brother, Ali, started learning to read English when he was at preparation level. The provision of reading materials and stimulating reading activities around him in Melbourne have been able to arouse his reading interest and skill.

Purposes of code-switching among the participants The aforementioned types of code-switching have cognitive purposes. Supporting Romaine’s (1995) expressive function, the main purpose for code-switching is language gaps. The three participants use codeswitching between two or more languages in their conversations because they could not find English words to express their ideas fully. As such, they switch to their native language forms (Saville-Troike, 1988) Sundanese as influenced by their mother. As it is their first year of being immersed in an English speaking country, their acquisition of English may not complete yet (Montrul, 2002, 2008). The second identified purpose of code-switching is showing an attitude to the listener (Crystal, 1987). In this case, one child showed his refusal to his mother’s instruction. For instance, look at the dialogue between the mother and her second son, Ali, when she asked him to read some books before bed time one Sunday evening.

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Mother: Ali, baca 3 buku! (read 3 books!) Ali: Yes, I already baca 3 buku just now. (He kept playing the game on his tablet computer)

In this conversation, Ali switched from English to Sundanese to show his refusal of his mother’s instruction. He was enjoying his computer game when his mother asked him to shut down the computer and start reading books. It was Sunday evening and his mother asked him to read three books to compensate for the missed Friday and Saturday evenings of the weekend. Ali repeated his mother’s Sundanese expression to show his refusal of her order because he might have read three books as she requested. Alternatively, he may not have actually read three books but just repeated his mother’s utterance to please his mother so that he could go on playing his computer game. The last purpose of this code-switching is a means of identity negotiation (Crystal, 1987; Romaine, 1995), especially for the mother. Her English is not fluent and she feels less confident to speak English: I speak Sundanese to my children, emh ... because that is the language that I have been using so far, even before I moved to Melbourne. Although I mostly speak Sundanese, sometimes, I also use Indonesian since Indonesian and Sundanese share some similar words. Another reason is, ... because my English is not really good [laughter].

The mother who speaks Sundanese to her three children wants to maintain the skill of the Sundanese language in the children. The father also asked his wife to speak Sundanese to their children so that they will not lose their ethnic language while living in Australia. The father said: I want my children to keep maintaining their Sundanese language, even when they are learning English as their foreign language. As a SundaneseIndonesian, I feel proud when listening to my children’s speaking this language. I hope their mastery of Sundanese language will sustain, together with their acquisition of English.

The mother realizes that it is hard to do this in an English-speaking environment since the children are exposed to English almost all the time. She, however, believes that her persistence in speaking Sundanese to them will support their maintenance of this ethnic language. Although the children may not be able to speak it fluently, at least, they will still understand the language when she speaks it to them and repeat some words through code-switching. In this context, as Puwels (2005) contends, family serves as the most supportive site for ethnic language maintenance.

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It is also evidenced that code-switching shows a ‘highly complex linguistic, psychological and social phenomenon (Butler, 2012; p. 129).

Conclusions and Implications The aforementioned results and analyses confirm several conclusions. First, code-switching is the most frequently used means of oral communication among the three participating children. Their codeswitching is mainly between English and Sundanese as influenced by their parents who adopt a one-parent one-language policy. Only rarely did the children code-switch between English and Bahasa Indonesia. Second, as the result of this code-switching, the participating children have also demonstrated their language awareness by asking the equivalence of some Sundanese or Indonesian words in English. They have also acquired some Australian cultural values from peers or siblings such as apologizing for burping in public. Third, the main reason for code-switching among the participating children is language gap, as they are developing their English skills in an immersed environment. In addition, they also use code-switching to show their attitude to the listener. In one case, a child used code-switching to show his refusal to her mother’s direction. For the mother, code-switching is to show her affiliation with her ethnic background, SundaneseIndonesian. Next, English language gap may decrease with length of residence. The longer the children live in an English immersed environment, the more fully their language develops. As such, the three children may reduce their use of code-switching and speak only English. In addition, the father’s policy of speaking English with his children may help support their English development. Finally, to support the balance between ethnic and mainstream English language, this study recommends that each parent should consistently speak a different language to their children. When the English acquisition of the children improves, their use of code-switching may show other cognitive or pragmatic purposes. In the long term, parents should only speak Bahasa Indonesia to maintain this heritage language. To nurture inclusive ethnic identification and multiculturalism, parents need to also accommodate the use of the dominant language (English) when introducing Bahasa Indonesia to their children.

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References Auer, P. (1999) ‘Introduction: Bilingual Conversation Revisited’, in J.C.P. Auer (ed.) Code-switching in Conversation. Florence, KY: Routledge. Baker, C. (2009). Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism (2nd ed.). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Bialystok, E. (2005). Consequences of bilingualism for cognitive development. In J. F. Kroll & A. M. B. d. Groot (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic approaches (pp. 417-432). New York: Oxford University Press. —. (2007). Language acquisition and bilingualism: Consequences for a multilingual society. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28, 393-398. Boeschoten, R. V. (2006). Code-switching, Linguistic Jokes and Ethnic Identity: Reading Hidden Transcripts in a Cross-Cultural Context. Journal of Modern Greek Studies 24, 347-377. Butler, Y. G. (2012). Bilingualism/Multilingualism and Second-Language Acquisition In T. K. Bhatia & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), The handbook of bilingualism and multilingualism (2nd ed., pp. 109-136). Malden MA: Wiley Blackwell. Cantone, K. F. (2007). Code-switching in bilingual children. Dodrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. Clyne, M. (2005). Australia’s language potential. Sydney: UNSW Press. Crystal, D. (1987). The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Language. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Curco, C. (2005). Code switching and identity in the discourse of Catalan immigrants in Mexico. AILA Review 18, 8-40. De-Fina, A. (2007). Code-switching and the construction of ethnic identity in a community of practice. Language in Society, 36(371-392). Ervin-Tripp, S., & Reyes, I. (2005). Child code-switching and adult content contrasts. International Journal of Bilingualism, 9 (1), 85-102. Goebel, Z. (2007). Enregisterment and appropriation in JavaneseIndonesian bilingual talk. Language in Society, 36, 511-531. Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hakuta, K. & Diaz, R. M. (1985). The relationship between degree of bilingualism and cognitive ability: a critical discussion of some new longitudinal data. In K. E. Nelson (ed.) Children’s language, Vol. 5. Hillsdale NJ: Erlbaum. Heller, M. (1988b) ‘Strategic Ambiguity: Code-switching in the Management of Conflict’, in M. Heller (ed.) Code-switching:

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Anthropological and Sociolinguistic Perspectives. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Hlavac, J. (2006). Bilingual discourse markers: Evidence from CroatianEnglish code-switching. Journal of Pragmatics, 38(11), 1870-1900. Hoff, E., Core, C., Place, S., Rumiche, R., Sentor, M., & Parra, M. (2012). Dual language exposure and early bilingual development. Journal of Child Language, 39, 1-27. Kabuto, B. (2010). Code-switching during parent-child reading interactions: Taking multiple theoretical perspectives. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10 (2), 131-157. Mahmud, M. (2008). Speaking Bugis and speaking Indonesian in South Sulawesi. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 42(2), 67-92. Milroy, L., & Musyken, P. (1995). One speaker, two languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Montrul, S. (2013). Bilingualism and the heritage language speaker. In T. K. Bhatia & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism (2nd ed., pp. 168-189). Malden, MA USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Parke, T. (1994). Bilingualism and language awareness in young children. Language Awareness, 3 (3-4), 209-219. Pauwels, A. (2005). Maintaining the community language in Australia: Challenges and roles of families. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8(2-3), 124-131. Pert, S & Letts, C. (2006). Code-switching in Mirpuri speaking Pakistani heritage preschool children: Bilingual language acquisition, International Journal of Bilingualism, 10 (3), 349–374. Refatto, A. (2002). Contact phenomena between Veneto, Italian and English in the third generation in Australia. Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Riesman, D. (1950). The lonely crowd. New Haven CN: Yale University Press. Romaine, S. (1995). Bilingualism. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Schober, M. J. & Clark, H. H. (1989). Understanding by addressees and over-hearers. Cognitive Psychology, 21, 211-3. Serratrice, L. (2013). The bilingual child. In T. K. Bhatia & W. C. Ritchie (Eds.), The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism (2nd ed., pp. 87-108). Malden, MA USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Sneddon, R. (2000). Language and Literacy: Children’s Experiences in Multilingual Environments. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 3(4), 265-282.

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CHAPTER SIX VARIETY DEVELOPMENT IN THE EXPANDING-CIRCLE: VARIETY AS AN EIL SAYA IKE Abstract This paper focuses on emerging varieties of English in the ExpandingCircle, with Japanese English as a case study. Such varieties of English are classified as performance varieties (Kachru 1992b), and tend to be left out of the discussion even in the World Englishes field. Japan belongs to the Expanding-Circle in Kachru’s (1985) Three-circle model, and in English teaching in Japan, the concept of English as an International Language (EIL) is yet to be widely recognised. As a result, Japanese English, that is, English spoken by Japanese, is typically taken as referring to an incorrect and/or improper version of English. In attempts to change the common perception of Japanese English as Interlanguage to a form of EIL, it argues for the need for closer attention to developing varieties of English in the Expanding-Circle, which may go through a different developmental process to the Outer-Circle English varieties. Existing variety development models (e.g. Butler 1997; Kachru 1992a; Mollin 2007) are questioned, as English in the Expanding-Circle has its own functions and norms, and as the goal of variety development in the Expanding-Circle is different to that in the Outer-Circle. An Expanding-Circle English becomes nativised and internationalised, and develops into a form of English with full functions of EIL, while OuterCircle English becomes both nativised and localised in its own local context. It proposes a continuum of English variety development in the Expanding-Circle based on Schneider’s (2007) Dynamic model, and concludes with the argument that understanding norms and functions of

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EIL leads educators and learners in the Expanding-Circle countries to acknowledge their own emerging variety of English. Keywords: EIL, globalisation, Internationalisation of English.

local

Englishes,

Nativisation/

Introduction Crystal (2003) estimates that there are more than two billion English speakers in the world today. Although the number of English speakers in the world cannot easily be estimated, as the number of speakers of English as an additional language may be different to the number of English learners (Yang 2006), it has become common knowledge that there are more “non-native” English speakers than “native” English speakers in the world (Crystal 2003: 69). Braj Kachru (1985) proposed the Three-Circle model of English, which is now a widely acknowledged concept of World Englishes. By focusing on the functions of English in local contexts, Kachru successfully outlined the current picture of English usage in the world as well as gave a distinctive status to what are often called New Englishes (e.g. Platt, Weber, and Ho 1984) as a legitimate variety of English. Today, English is discussed in a plural form “Englishes”, and the functions of English for cross-cultural communication are discussed with a specific term “English as an International Language (EIL)”. While it is true that more and more attention has been paid to the new varieties of English in the Outer-Circle, emerging varieties of English in the Expanding-Circle have still been left behind. For example, Kachru (1992a) labels Englishes in the Expanding-Circle as performance varieties, which he argues are a premature form of institutionalised varieties of English in the Outer-Circle. In other words, Kachru does not acknowledge Expanding-Circle varieties of English as fully developed functional English. Schneider (2003, 2007) specifically focuses on postcolonial English (generally corresponding to Outer-Circle varieties of English) and proposes the Dynamic Model of English variety development. To date, however, there is no specific model proposed for English variety development in the Expanding-Circle. The lack of recognition of the Englishes in the Expanding-Circle also raises an issue of inadequate discussion in regards to EIL education in the Expanding-Circle countries. In many of the Expanding-Circle countries such as Japan, the teaching model of English is still dominantly either British English or General American English (depending on the socio-

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political local contexts), and the new varieties of English, let alone their emerging local varieties of English, continue to be excluded from the teaching materials and teaching goals. This paper proposes a model of English development in the Expanding-Circle based on Schneider’s (2003) Dynamic Model, with special attention to the functions of English in the Outer-Circle and the Expanding-Circle. It then discusses the implications for teaching EIL in the Expanding-Circle.

The context of Japanese English The recognition of newly emerging varieties of English is a recent movement from a World Englishes perspective. A descriptive study of English in Singapore and Malaysia by Platt and Weber (1980) was one of the earliest attempts to identify the features of particular varieties that have developed in a local community. Since then, more attention has been paid to varieties of English that have developed in post-colonial settings (cf. Mufwene 1994; Schneider 2003, 2007) such as India (Kachru 1983, 1985, 1992b), Singapore (e.g. Ho and Wong 2001; Lian-Hee 2008; Platt and Lian 1982; Platt and Weber 1980; Wong 2004; Zhiming 1995), Malaysia (e.g. Nair-Venugopal 2000; Pennycook 1994; Platt and Weber 1980), and Hong Kong (e.g. Bolton 2002; Gisborne 2000; Kirkpatrick, Deterding, and Wong 2008; Luke and Richards 1982 ; Setter 2008). More recently, attention has been also paid to varieties of English in Africa, such as South Africa (e.g. Coetzee-Van Rooy and Van Rooy 2005; Kasanga 2006; Klerk 2003; Van der Walt 2000; Van Rooy 2008), and West Africa (e.g. Adegbija and Bello 2001; Anchimbe 2006; Bamiro 1994, 1995). On the other hand, many scholars are still sceptical about the validity of Expanding-Circle varieties and there have been only a few descriptive studies of such varieties (Honna 2006; Hu 2004; Park 2009). Berns (2005) also points out the lack of discussion of Expanding-Circle varieties. According to Berns, the highest amount of discussion devoted to the Expanding-Circle among three well recognised books on non-native varieties of English by Kachru (1992b), Smith and Forman (1997), and Thumboo (2001), is 25%. Smith (2005) states that the lesser known World Englishes are not of lesser importance (Smith 2005: 159), devoting an issue of the journal World Englishes to the collection of papers on the Expanding-Circle varieties of English. The eight articles included in the issue (Aguilar-Sánchez 2005; Cohen 2005; Dimova 2005; Do÷ançayAktuna and Kiziltepe 2005; Michieka 2005; Nickels 2005; Reichelt 2005; Ustinova 2005) focus on sociolinguistic aspects of English in the

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Expanding-Circle countries and countries where Creole varieties of English have developed. These studies show that the socio-linguistic environment for English can be quite different from one place to another especially in the Expanding-Circle, where countries do not share a colonial history and thus the spread of English is diverse in each country. Considering the depth of observation of the varieties of English in the special issue of World Englishes in 2005, it is unfortunate that there have been few follow up descriptive studies of these varieties. Berns (2005) also compares the numbers and types of studies conducted on both Outer- and Expanding-Circle varieties, and argues for the need of further research, including studies of a full range of registers and domains of English use, investigations of intelligibility across the Expanding-Circle, and characterisation of the features of Expanding-Circle varieties. In case of Japan, the term “Japanese English” has long connoted interlanguage without proper recognition of the variety. English has almost always been seen as a symbol of “westernisation” and “modernisation” (McArthur 2003), and more recently, of “internationalisation”, and thus received admiration by the Japanese. Due to the early relationship with England and the continuing strong relationship with America in the post WWII, English is often used as an alternative word for the language in these two countries, resulting in the belief by both students and teachers that native speakers of English are the “real” English speakers. This belief can be seen in governmental policies and attitudinal surveys among teachers and students (e.g. Ike 2010), as well as the author’s classroom teaching experience (Ike 2012). While it is widely understood that English is an EIL, “international communication using English” often means communicating with “native” English speakers. Acquiring native-like competence of English, such as in pronunciation, accent, and pragmatics, is often the goal of learning English (as is the case in Hong Kong, discussed by Wu in Chapter 10 of this volume), and there is still a strong preference for American English, and British English to a lesser extent, as models of English in learning environments. American English especially dominates standardised English testing such as TOEIC and TOEFL, and English textbooks. Even if a dialogue in a textbook is between two people from New Zealand and Singapore, the listening material provided with the textbook is in American English. Having no history of colonisation, it is true that English in Japan does not play a significant role as a means of daily communication among Japanese people. However, the 200 years of contact with English has greatly contributed to the forming of Japanese English through acculturation of English into Japanese language and integrating Japanese

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cultural aspects into the English language (Crawford 2006; Honna 1995). In order to integrate the WE and the EIL concepts into practical EIL teaching in Expanding-Circle countries such as Japan, newly emerging Expanding-varieties of English should also be taken into consideration.

Variety development in the Outer-Circle: Dynamic Model Identification of a variety New varieties of English have been discussed in terms of its identification and its development process. Kachru (1992a), Mollin (2007) and Butler (1997) have proposed criteria for distinguishing an institutionalised variety of English. However, Mufwene (1994) points out that varieties have been identified and named according to scholars’ attitudes rather than to criteria (Mufwene 1994: 21). Sharifian (2011) also argues that each variety has distinctive local context, and thus one has to look into the contextualisation of the language rather than trying to meet a set of criteria in identifying a variety. Most importantly, all three proposed criteria by Kachru (1992a), Mollin (2007) and Butler (1997) fail to accurately capture the existence of the varieties of English that are emerging in the Expanding-Circle.

Variety development: The Dynamic Model Schneider (2003, 2007) takes a different approach to new varieties of English in post-colonial settings. Instead of having a set of criteria for a new variety identification, Schneider explains how English becomes a variety of English when it is introduced to a new community, with his English nativisation model, the evolutionary circle of new Englishes (aka the Dynamic Model). There are five phases in the English variety development: foundation, exonormative stabilisation, nativisation, endonormative stabilisation, and differentiation. English and an indigenous language meet in the first phase, foundation, while English is recognised and accepted as a language with its own norms and functions in the second phase, exonormative stabilisation. Partial lexical borrowing also starts around this time – local words are used for some English words and new concepts. The third phase, nativisation, is where observable changes occur in semantics, structure, phonology and so on of English. Through these changes, the speakers build up their identity in this English variety that is now starting to look different to the English introduced in the first phase. As the changes are stabilised and recognised, the new

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English starts to be accepted in the fourth phase, endonormative stabilisation. In the final phase, differentiation, the new English variety is not only recognised and accepted, but its users have strong solidarity within the language. Furthermore, the variety that has reached this phase becomes a resource for dialects within the country. Schneider argues that at this stage, the speakers of the variety start to identify themselves within their immediate community and not within the nation, and through this shift in identity, regional dialects start to emerge. Schneider’s Dynamic Model is a well described developmental process of English in a postcolonial setting. Perhaps the only drawbacks with this model are that Schneider treats in the same model and as equal the transplanted varieties that developed into dominant first language varieties (e.g. Australian English and New Zealand English) and varieties that were imposed on local populations for political purposes but where local languages remain powerful (e.g. Philippine English and Singapore English). It is argued that even if Singapore English continues to develop and reaches the final differentiation phase, the role of English within the country would probably remain the same (if not lose some functions as an official language as we have seen in Malaysian English), and therefore the cultural norms of Australian English and Singapore English would remain somewhat different. Schneider’s model fails to capture these functional differences of Englishes in a fully developed form. Alternatively, it may be argued that the variety development process is complete at the fourth phase, and the fifth phase, differentiation, is actually the first development phase of a new variety which emerges within the country.

A framework for the Expanding Circle Since it gives a concise snapshot of how English is used in the current world, Kachru’s Three-Circles model continues to be widely used to describe the spread of English in the world despite recent growing criticisms of the model. This model rightly captures the categorisation of varieties of Englishes as English as a Native Language (ENL), English as a Second Language (ESL), and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik 1972). While the three terms ENL, ESL and EFL closely relate to the three circles, Inner-, Outer- and Expanding-Circle, these terms are not equal in meaning. The three circles indicate the regions according to how English is used in each circle. In contrast, ENL, ESL and EFL merely indicate the functions of English, and thus they do not have any hierarchical order. Moreover, the ENL/ESL/EFL description fails to accurately describe the fact that in each circle English

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develops to a variety in different ways due to historical background and functions of English. In particular, because of its hierarchical order, it may give readers the idea that a performance variety (EFL) develops into an institutionalised variety (ESL) and then into a native variety (ENL). The question is “can a performance variety become an institutionalised variety?” According to Kachru (1992a: 55), an institutionalised variety starts as a performance variety and develops into an institutionalised variety. In other words, there are assumptions that a performance variety is a somewhat immature form of an English variety that is supposed to develop into an institutionalised variety when certain criteria are fulfilled. This assumption has to be carefully considered. As Goward and Zhang (Chapter 13 of this volume) explain in detail by comparing historical, political and educational English contexts in India and China, English serves quite different functions in the Outer- and the Expanding-circles: the former being a working language for intra-national communication, that is, a national lingua franca; the latter functioning as a lingua franca for international communication. In arguing for the existence of ELF varieties in the Expanding-Circle, Seidlhofer (2009) also states that ‘ELF and postcolonial Englishes are very different realities on the ground’ (243). Given the fact that the historical background of English and the primary functions of English are quite different in the Outer-Circle and the Expanding-Circle, it is highly problematic to think that the processes and stages of a variety of English are the same in Outer-Circle and ExpandingCircle contexts. Despite the contextual conditions that prevail in the Expanding-Circle, it cannot be inferred that these varieties do not exist or develop. Rather, the variety development in Expanding-Circle countries may be different to that in the Outer-Circle countries. As Jenkins (2009) argues, varieties in the Expanding-Circle are English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) varieties, with the primary function being a tool for cross-cultural communication. It should be emphasised, as Jenkins (2009) argues, that ELF is not a single variety but a cover term for Englishes that have developed through certain use (i.e. cross-cultural communication and English education in each country/community). Within the use of English as ELF, each variety presents its own distinctive features reflecting the local language, culture, and historic background. It is suggested that English becomes both nativised and localised in the Outer-Circle, while English becomes nativised and internationalised in the Expanding-Circle. English serves as an intra-national lingua franca as well as an international lingua franca in the Outer-Circle, while English only serves as an inter-national lingua franca in the Expanding-Circle. In Singapore, for example, there is a developed local English variety, Colloquial Singapore

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English (often called Singlish), and (Standard) Singapore English (Cavallaro and Chin 2009; Rubdy 2007; Tan and Tan 2008). While Singapore English is a recognised legitimate variety of English (e.g. Lim 2004) that can serve as an internationally intelligible variety of English on an acrolectal level, Singlish is said to have emerged as a unifier of three different ethnic groups in Singapore and serves as a local lingua franca on a basilectal level (Rubdy 2001). There has been much debate over the use of Singlish (Bokhorst-Heng 2005; Rubdy 2001; Tan and Tan 2008; Wee 2009). Cavallaro and Chin (2009) show that Singlish intensifies solidarity among its local users, while Standard Singapore English is perceived as a more appropriate form for international use. It is argued that the continuum of English can co-exist in Singapore because English has two different functions: one being a local lingua franca, and the other being an international lingua franca. In an Expanding-Circle country, on the other hand, the primary functions of English within the country continue to be fairly limited and English remains as a lingua franca for cross-cultural or international communication, unless the government changes its language policy and gives English official status (or a de facto official status), or opens the country for substantial immigration. Thus, it does not necessarily develop into a localised language. Instead, English develops into a nativised and internationalised variety of English. Therefore, a fully developed Expanding-Circle variety of English would be an international lingua franca, while there may be variation from basilectal to acrolectal forms within the fully developed variety of English in an Outer-Circle country.

Application of Schneider’s Dynamic Model to an Expanding-Circle variety: the case of Japanese English I have argued that a variety of English in the Expanding-Circle may follow a different variety development process to an Outer-Circle variety and an Inner-Circle variety. This does not mean, however, that the development process of an Expanding-Circle variety is completely different and does not fit into Schneider’s Dynamic Model. As Schneider himself claims, his model is designed for the post-colonial settings where English was transplanted and had certain pattern of functions and norms. It is important to consider the application of Schneider’s model in the Expanding-Circle setting. In this section, the Dynamic Model is reconsidered using Japanese English as an example of an Expanding-Circle variety.

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Phase 1 foundation Phase 2 exonormative stabilisation

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Linguistic development in a post-colonial setting koineisation toponymic borrowing lexical borrowing

Phase 3 nativisation

heavy borrowing phonological innovation, structural nativisation

Phase 4 endonormative stabilisation

stabilisation of new variety homogeneity codification

Linguistic development of Japanese English introduction of English to Japan: 1808, and then the opening of the country (1854) start of English education in early 1800s and use of English as a medium of education, emergence of loanwords in Japanese contexts and written English names emergence of loanwords that have shifted in their semantic meanings through the use in Japanese contexts (originally as a result of direct translation, but then developed through nativisation) stabilised semantics of made-inJapan English (wasei-Eigo), recognition of other features such as discourse strategies and grammar emergence of argument in support of the existence of Japanese English as a legitimate variety that is internationally intelligible and acceptable

Figure 1: Variety development in an Expanding-Circle setting

A variety seems to reach the completion of its development process at phase 4, endonormative stabilisation. Taking this point of view, Figure 1 illustrates the developmental process of an Expanding-Circle variety of English, using Japanese English as an example. One can easily see that there are phases in the developmental process, just as there are phases in the developmental process of an Outer-Circle variety. However, one can also easily see that the actual characteristics of each phase are quite different from the ones of an Outer-Circle variety. While settlers’ perspective (STL) plays an important role in the development of an Outer-

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Circle variety, views and experiences of the indigenous populations (IDG) are the key factors in an Expanding-Circle context. The differences are most evident in the first phase, foundation, due to the different introduction of English to the country in an Expanding-Circle setting. Schneider (2003) explains that the first phase is where “a significant group of English speakers settles in a new country for an extended period” (244). However, as Mesthrie and Bhatt (2008) rightly state, the spread of English to the Expanding-Circle is the spread of the English language, and not of English speakers. As a result, there is not so much need of koineization and toponym model shown in borrowing at an early stage. Instead, an English language education system is established shortly after the first introduction of English when the need of English is politically recognised. Therefore, it can be summarised that English is formally introduced to the country, but the need to acquire English is not yet recognised in the first phase. In the second phase, institutional English education systems are established and English gradually spreads throughout the country by means of the education system and through trading. It can be argued that in the case of Japan, educators at schools are English speakers from outside Japan, playing the settlers’ role and providing external norms, if only briefly. Acquiring English is the necessary pathway to become elite and to obtain higher social status. With this, English borrowings start to be used in local (Japanese) contexts. At this stage, English borrowings are mostly new concepts which do not exist in the Japanese lexicon and direct translation of the equivalent Japanese. In other words, semantic nativisation does not occur at the second phase but phonological innovation may occur in order to fit English borrowings into Japanese contexts. As Schneider (2003) suggests, this is the phase where the earliest phonological and structural changes can be seen. The structural changes – nativisation – occur actively in the third phase. By this stage, English education systems and teaching guidelines are solidly established throughout the country, and in most cases, English has gained the primary foreign language status in school education. Most people are familiar with the English language through exposure to English resources such as tourism, media and compulsory school education, regardless of individual competence in the language. Consequently, the number of borrowings has significantly increased in local language contexts, and semantic changes begin to occur. By this time, many English borrowings have gained a Japanese lexicon status by appearing in reference works, and through the daily use of the borrowings as Japanese words, they may acquire additional meanings (semantic broadening), lose

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one or more of the original meanings (semantic narrowing), or replace the original meanings with new meanings (semantic shift). Once the new meanings have settled in the Japanese contexts, they start to appear in English contexts too. This is the most crucial stage of a variety development, as Kachru and Schneider explain as nativisation. It should also be emphasised that the nativisation process is always “emergent rather than emergence” – nativisation continues to be observed even in the fourth phase. This corresponds with Pennycook’s (2010) argument that language is a local practice and defined by its environment. Now the new variety is progressing to the fourth and the final phase of the development. However, at this stage, the new meanings and other distinctive features that have emerged in the third phase fail to be properly recognised by others, such as speakers of Inner-Circle varieties and Outer-Circle varieties. The fourth phase is the stage of recognition and stabilisation. It is also the stage of identity development. Descriptive studies are being conducted, and characteristics that have been previously considered to be errors start to be recognised as distinctive features. By recognising and accepting the features as markers of Japanese English, a new variety of English instead of as inadequate forms of English, its users, Japanese, start to construct a linguistic identity within the new variety. Since the primary function of English is as a lingua franca for international communication (EIL), some of the features may be regarded ineffective in communication. The fourth phase is, then, also the stage of “fine-tuning”. The speakers of Japanese English and speakers of other varieties of English screen the features through international communication, and assess each feature in terms of intelligibility and comprehensibility. All these judgements and assessments contribute to identity establishment, and at the end of the fourth phase, Japanese English completes its development and stands as an independent new variety of English. In summary, the names of each phase, foundation, endonormative stabilisation, nativisation, and exonormative stabilisation, seem to describe what happens in each phase in an Expanding-Circle context as well as in an Outer-Circle context. That is, the overall development process of a new variety of English can be summarised in Schneider’s Dynamic Model (saving the final stage). However, if one looks at each phase more closely, s/he realises that the events in each phase are quite different in the Expanding-Circle from that in the Outer-Circle. The proposed development process model shown in Figure 1 seems to fit well in the case of Japanese English. Given the fact that the sociolinguistic characteristics of English are diverse in the Expanding-Circle, the model needs to be examined for other Expanding-Circle contexts, and it should

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remain a rrough guidelline for the developmennt of English h in the Expanding-C Circle rather than becomin ng a concretee model that fits f every country in thhe Expanding-Circle. Alternatiively, I propose that the cu urrent model oof English in the t world may be desccribed in Figuure 2 below. Th here are still tthree circles of o English according tto the socioliinguistic and historical ennvironment. However, H instead of having a hieerarchical ord der of the thhree circles based b on “nativeness””, the figure describes d the coexistence of the three circles. c A localised vaariety of Engliish (LVE), thee fully develooped form of an Inneror an Outer--Circle varietyy of English, is not the outtcome or the next step of an Expannding- circle variety, v but a necessary n outccome within the t Innerand the Ouuter-Circle couuntries wheree English is used in vario ous local communities for daily inttra-national co ommunicationn. As I have arrgued, the fully develooped form of an a Expanding g-Circle varietty is an EIL that t holds distinctive ffeatures and iss used for inteer-national com mmunication. Varieties of English ddevelop withiin each circle, following a particular paathway as discussed inn the current paper.

Figure 2: Thee Three-Circle model m

When Ennglish is used in a certain sp peech commuunity, a fully developed d localised vaariety of Engliish (LVE) is sufficient s for ccommunicatio on. When

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English is uused between the speakers from differennt speech com mmunities, they may acccommodate their English h for successfu ful communiccation but maintain cerrtain features of their varieety of Englishh. Such accom mmodated English mayy be called English E as an International Language (E EIL). The lingua francca function of EIL becomes most evidentt when the speeakers are from differeent circles. Hoowever, it sho ould be noted that English is almost always usedd as EIL in thee Expanding-C Circle. Thereffore, even if English E is used within the same cirrcle, it may bee used as an international language (i.e., internaational lingua franca) when the speakers do not share their first language. Based oon the argum ment that Eng glish becomees both nativ vised and localised inn the Outer--Circle (and the Inner-C Circle), while English becomes naativised and internationaliised in the E Expanding-Ciircle, the continuum oof English varrieties is show wn in Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Conntinuum of Engglish varieties

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Figure 3 shows that a variety development starts from the first phase, foundation, and gradually develops into a nativised variety, an EIL form both in the Outer- and the Expanding-Circles. Meanwhile, since English is used for daily intra-national communication in the Outer-Circle communities, English also develops into a localised variety (LVE).

Implications for EIL teaching in Japan and the Expanding-Circle The primary purpose of using Japanese English is crosscultural/international communication, thus the function of Japanese English is English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), and English as an International Language (EIL). Meierkord (2004) states that ELF does not have a unified form but is characterised by transfers from its speaker’s L1, which include syntactic features as well as phonological features. Similarly, Canagarajah (2007b) argues that ELF is “hybrid in nature” (926), and its form varies in grammatical patterns and discourse conventions. Therefore, the goal of English learning is no longer reproduction or imitation of an Inner-Circle variety of English but a successful communication between the speakers with different language backgrounds (Kirkpatrick 2010). Canagarajah further argues that pedagogical priorities, including language assessments, need to shift from formal grammatical competence to performance and pragmatics in communication (Canagarajah 2006; see also Cruz in Chapter 2 of this volume). Suzuki (2011) argues that what learners need in the current English education is to acquire necessary negotiation skills rather than a particular form (i.e. variety) of English. Furthermore, Canagarajah (2007a) states that what speakers of English need now are not shared codes with other varieties of English, but strategies of negotiating differences, and these communication strategies need to be incorporated into English teaching. One of the welcoming changes that have been observed recently in Japan is the fact that the focus is now more on developing teachers’ understanding of WE concepts, than on teaching pedagogy (i.e. classroom teaching methods and materials). As observed in studies such as Ike (2010) and Tokumoto and Shibata (2011), Japanese EFL learners still hold a strong desire for so-called “native” varieties as a model. In order to introduce WE perspectives into EIL teaching in Japan, it is now realised that WE perspectives need to be understood by English teachers first. Matsuda (2002, 2003, 2009) argues for the importance of incorporating WE/EIL perspectives in English teacher preparation programs in Japan, claiming that American and British Englishes have lost their privileged

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status in the current world and are no longer relevant in EIL teaching in Japan. The proposed Three-Circle model and the continuum of English development in the Expanding-Circle suggest that, not only do Englishes in the Expanding-Circle have distinctive features and sociolinguistic backgrounds, but they also have the same function as an EIL. This requires recognition of the features of the variety, acceptance of the features, and negotiation and accommodation strategies for successful communication. English educators should understand the development process of English varieties in their local contexts and goals of English teaching in the current world. Available English textbooks should be revised, especially in regard to their listening materials. Introducing varieties of English that match the conversations and topics in the textbook will raise students’ awareness of the varieties, as well as lead them to more tolerant and positive attitudes towards EIL. In addition, a chapter on EIL should be included in all English textbooks where learners can learn not only the concept of EIL on the surface (i.e. English is used for international communications) but also the appreciation of distinctive features and case studies of negotiations in EIL communication. On the other hand, what is needed now in the field of World Englishes and EIL teaching is to identify each emerging variety of English, to study each variety in reference to a universal model, such as the continuum proposed in Figure 3, and to incorporate individual study findings into EIL teaching, proposing negotiation strategies for anticipated communication difficulties. It is hoped that through collaboration WE and ELT research will contribute to better EIL education in both the Outer- and the Expanding-Circles.

References Adegbija, Efurosibina, & Bello, Janet. 2001. The semantics of ‘okay’ (OK) in Nigerian English. World Englishes, 20(1), 89-98. doi: 10.1111/ 1467-971X.00198. Anchimbe, Eric. 2006. Local meaning in the English of West Africa. English Today, 22(02), 50-54. Bamiro, Edmund O. 1994. Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English. World Englishes, 13(1), 47-60. doi: doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1994.tb0 0282.x. —. 1995. Syntactic variation in West African English. World Englishes, 14(2), 189-204. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1995.tb00349.x.

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Berns, Margie. 2005. Expanding on the Expanding Circle: where do WE go from here? World Englishes, 24(1), 85-93. doi:10.1111/j.08832919.2005.00389.x. Bokhorst-Heng, Wendy D. 2005. Debating Singlish. Multilingua – Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 24(3), 185-209. doi: 10.1515/mult.2005.24.3.185. Bolton, Kingsley. 2002. Hong Kong English: autonomy and creativity. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press; Drake. Butler, Susan. 1997. Corpus of English in Southeast Asia: Implications for a regional dictionary. In M. L. Bautista (Ed.), English is an Asian language: The Philippine context (pp. 103-124). Sydney: Macquarie Library. Canagarajah, A. Suresh. 2006. Changing communicative needs, revised assessment objectives: Testing English as an international language. Language Assessment Quarterly, 3(3), 229-242. —. 2007a. After disinvention: possibilities for communication, community and competence. In S. Makoni & A. Pennycook (Eds.), Disinventing and reconstituting languages (pp. 233-239). Clevedon, U.K.: Multilingual Matters. —. 2007b. Lingua Franca English, Multilingual Communities, and Language Acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 91, 923-939. Cavallaro, Francesco, & Chin, Ng Bee. 2009. Between status and solidarity in Singapore. World Englishes, 28(2), 143-159. Coetzee-Van Rooy, Susan, & Van Rooy, Bertus. 2005. South African English: labels, comprehensibility and status. World Englishes, 24(1, Feb), 1-19. Crawford, Laura. 2006. “What’s the next thing you want to challenge?”: A study of word associated distinctive features in Japanese English. Unpublished Masters thesis, University of Melbourne, Melbourne. Crystal, David. 2003. English as a global language (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gisborne, Nikolas. 2000. Relative clauses in Hong Kong English. World Englishes, 19(3), 357. Ho, Mian Lian, & Wong, Irene F. H. 2001. The use of ever in Singaporean English. World Englishes, 20(1), 79-87. doi:10.1111/1467-971X. 00197. Honna, Nobuyuki. 1995. English in Japanese society: Language within language. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 16(1-2), 45-62.

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—. 2006. East Asian Englishes. In B. B. Kachru, Y. Kachru & C. L. Nelson (Eds.), The handbook of World Englishes (pp. 114-129). Malden, MA ; Oxford: Blackwell Publisher. Hu, Xiao Qiong. 2004. Why China English should stand alongside British, American, and the other. English Today, 20(02), 26-33. doi:10.1017/S0266078404002056. Ike, Saya. 2010. Comprehensibility of Japanese English and attitudes towards the variety. Paper presented at the The 16th Annual Conference of the International Association for World Englishes Vancouver, Canada. —. (2012, June 18). Studying Abroad. Retrieved from http://2012eesm. wordpress.com/2012/06/14/studying-abroad-2/. Jenkins, Jennifer. 2009. World Englishes: a resource book for students (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. Kachru, Braj B. 1983. The Indianization of English: the English language in India. Delhi; New York: Oxford. —. 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realm: the English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk & H. G. Widdowson (Eds.), English in the world (pp. 11-30). Cambridge: CUP. —. 1992a. Models for Non-Native Englishes. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 48-74). Urbana: University of Illinois press. —. (Ed.). 1992b. The other tongue: English across cultures (2nd ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Kasanga, Luanga A. 2006. Requests in a South African variety of English. World Englishes, 25(1), 65-89. doi:10.1111/j.0083-2919.2006. 00447.x. Kirkpatrick, Andy. 2010. English as a lingua franca in asean: a multilingual model. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. Kirkpatrick, Andy, Deterding, David, & Wong, Jennie. 2008. The international intelligibility of Hong Kong English. World Englishes, 27(3-4), 359-377. Klerk, Vivian De. 2003. Towards A Norm in South African Englishes: The Case for Xhosa English. World Englishes, 22(4), 463-481. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.2003.00313.x. Lian-Hee, W. E. E. 2008. Phonological patterns in the Englishes of Singapore and Hong Kong. World Englishes, 27(3/4), 480-501. Lim, L. 2004. Singapore English: A grammatical description. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Luke, Kang-kwong, & Richards, Jack C. 1982 English in Hong Kong: functions and status. English World-Wide, 3(1, May), 47-64.

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Matsuda, Aya. 2002. “International understanding” through teaching world Englishes. [Article]. World Englishes, 21(3), 436-440. —. Incorporating World Englishes in Teaching English as an International Language. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 719-729. —. 2009. Desirable but not necessary? The place of World Englishes and English as an International Language in English teacher preparation programs in Japan. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), English as an international language: perspectives and pedagogical issues. (pp. 153-168). Bristol, U.K.: Multilingual Matters. McArthur, Tom. 2003. The Oxford guide to world English. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Meierkord, Christiane. 2004. Syntactic variation in interactions across international Englishes. English World-Wide, 25(1), 109-132. Mesthrie, Rajend, & Bhatt, Rakesh M. 2008. World Englishes: the study of new linguistic varieties Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. Mollin, Sandra. 2007. New variety or learner English? English WorldWide, 28(2), 167-185. Mufwene, Salikoko S. 1994. New Englishes and criteria for naming them. World Englishes, 13(1), 21-31. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1994. tb00280.x. Nair-Venugopal, Shanta. 2000. English, identity and the Malaysian workplace. World Englishes, 19(2), 205-213. Park, Kyung-Ja. 2009. Characteristics of Korea English as a glocalized variety. In K. Murata & J. Jenkins (Eds.), Global Englishes in Asian contexts: Curent and Future Debates (pp. 94-110). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pennycook, Alastair. 1994. The cultural politics of English as an international language. London; New York: Longman. —. 2010. Language as a local practice. NY: Routledge. Platt, John Talbot, & Lian, Ho-mian. 1982. A case of language indigenisation: some features of colloquial Singapore English. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 3(4), 267-276. Platt, John Talbot, & Weber, Heidi. 1980. English in Singapore and Malaysia: status, features, functions. Kuala Lumpur; Oxford: Oxford University Press. Platt, John Talbot, Weber, Heidi, & Ho, Mian Lian. 1984. The new Englishes. London; Melbourne: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Quirk, Randolph, Greenbaum, Sidney, Leech, Geoffrey, & Svartvik, Jan. 1972. A grammar of contemporary English. London: Longman.

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Rubdy, Rani. 2001. Creative destruction: Singapore’s Speak Good English movement. World Englishes, 20(3), 341. —. 2007. Singlish in the School: An Impediment or a Resource? Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 28(4), 308-324. Schneider, Edgar W. 2003. The Dynamics of New Englishes: From identity construction to dialect birth. Language, 79(2), 233-281. —. 2007. Postcolonial English: varieties around the world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2009. Common ground and different realities: world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. World Englishes, 28(2), 236245. Setter, Jane. 2008. Consonant clusters in Hong Kong English. World Englishes, 27(3/4), 502-515. Sharifian, Farzad. 2011. Cultural linguistics and World Englishes. Paper presented at the IAWE 2011, Melbourne. Smith, Larry E. 2005. Introduction. World Englishes, 24(2), 159-159. Smith, Larry E., & Forman, Michael Lawrence. 1997. World Englishes 2000: Selected essays. Honolulu: College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature Distributed by University of Hawai‘i Press. Suzuki, Ayako. 2011. Introducing diversity of English into ELT: student teachers’ responses. ELT Journal, 65(2), 145-153. doi: 10.1093/elt/ ccq024. Tan, Peter K. W., & Tan, Daniel K. H. 2008. Attitudes towards nonstandard English in Singapore. World Englishes, 27(3/4), 465-479. Thumboo, Edwin (Ed.). 2001. The Three Circles of English: Language specialists talk about the English language. Singapore: UniPress. Tokumoto, Mina, & Shibata, Miki. 2011. Asian varieties of English: Attitudes towards pronunciation. World Englishes, 30(3), 392-408. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-971X.2011.01710.x. Van der Walt, Christa. 2000. The international comprehensibility of varieties of South African English. World Englishes, 19(2), 139-153. Van Rooy, Bertus. 2008. An alternative interpretation of tense and aspect in Black South African English. World Englishes, 27(3/4), 335-358. Wee, Desmond. 2009. Singapore language enhancer: identity included. Language and Intercultural Communication, 9(1), 15-23. Wong, Jock. 2004. The particles of Singapore English: a semantic and cultural interpretation. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(4), 739-793. Yang, Jian. 2006. Learners and users of English in China. English Today, 22(02), 3-10. doi:10.1017/S0266078406002021. Zhiming, B. A. O. 1995. Already in Singapore English. World Englishes, 14(2), 181-188. doi:10.1111/j.1467-971X.1995.tb00348.x.

CHAPTER SEVEN PRE- AND POST-PRACTICUM PERCEPTIONS OF “PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH TEACHER”: A CASE STUDY AT AN INDONESIAN UNIVERSITY AFRIANTO Abstract This paper is aimed at spelling out some findings from one particular aspect of an ongoing PhD research on pre-service English teachers’ (PSETs) professional identity construction during teaching practicum at Riau University, Indonesia. This will specifically discuss how the preservice teachers understand and conceptualise the notion of ‘professional English teacher’ before and after their teaching practicum. Using a selection of PSETs of Riau University who did their teaching practicum in secondary schools in Indonesia as participants, data of this qualitative study were gathered by using in-depth interviews at pre- and post-teaching practicum, fortnightly reflective journals and a focus group discussion. The preliminary findings show that the pre-service teachers did have certain initial conceptions on the notion of ‘professional English teacher’ even before they entered teaching practicum program. While some of these concepts remained the same after they had finished the practicum, others were vastly challenged and redefined during practicum experience. Most of participants believed that a professional English teacher is someone who holds both mechanical and mental competencies, ranging from pedagogical competency, professional competency, social competency, and personal competency. In terms of professional teacher’s roles, all participants consistently emphasised the importance of being an educator and a role model who transferred values into the students, in addition to being a knowledge transmitter either before or after teaching practicum. Most of the participants also reported that their practices during teaching

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practicum were not always in line with their beliefs on a ‘good’ teacher, because some of the ideal concepts did not really work well in their class due to certain inter-related factors. Keywords: English teacher, pre-service teachers, teaching practicum, professional identity, identity construction.

Introduction This paper focuses on examining how pre-service English teachers (PSETs) conceptualise the notion of ‘professional English teacher’ (PET) before and after teaching practicum in the context of teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesia. Specifically, this paper aims to answer two questions: First, how do PSETs define the PET in terms of what skills or knowledge they should have and their roles? Second, how and to what extent has their experience in the teaching practicum contributed to such conceptualisations? The notion of the PET has been a popular term in current educational discourse and has become a focus of attention by many educational stakeholders in Indonesia, especially soon after the Law no. 14/2005 on teachers and lecturers was launched, which offered legal protection to the teaching profession in Indonesia for the first time. Unlike in the past when teachers did not have any official or standardised recognition as professionals by the government, the law now officially recognises teachers as professionals holding the same status and respect as other established professions in Indonesia, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants. The law also requires all teacher-candidates to have graduated at least with a bachelor’s degree in education to be eligible to be a teacher. This is an important development within the law as previously everyone used to be almost automatically eligible for being a teacher in Indonesia, regardless their academic qualifications and competencies as long as they had completed high school. Therefore, this Law can be considered as a significant breakthrough in the Indonesian education system in the last two decades. Not only does the Law declare teaching as a recognised profession, but it has also been the foundation for many follow up programs as a part of Indonesian education reform, such as teachers’ certification program, school accreditation, and curriculum changes. Since the Law passed, teachers have been obliged to be ‘guru profesional’ (professional teacher) holding certain essential attributes to play their socially and culturally sanctioned roles and responsibilities in

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the Indonesian society. Article 1.4 of the law defines professional as “a job or an activity performed by someone as a source of income, which requires expertise, proficiency or skills that meet certain quality standards or norms” (tanslated from Undang Undang Guru dan Dosen, 2005, p. 2). Having reviewed how the Law describes professional teachers, I argue that the definition aligns with similar terms used by researchers in this field, such as ‘best teachers’ (Liando, 2010), ‘good teachers’ (Thompson, 2008), or ‘effective teachers’ (Phern & Abidin, 2012). Therefore, the term ‘professional teacher’ in this study has been used interchangeably with other terms as mentioned before. In this study, all of these terms refer to the idea of some essential qualities teachers hold in order to be able to play their roles as teachers successfully. These qualities would subsequently enable teachers to gain recognition and acceptance by the so called professional teachers’ community, as they have already met the expected standards of being a professional (English) teacher. A culturally loaded term, being a ‘guru professional’ is a significant achievement in the Indonesian context. It is not only related to the current government’s initiatives to boost the quality of national education, in which teachers play a role of the key players in the field, but also connected to the traditional cultural wisdom of society which has traditionally placed teachers in a high status within society. A teacher is a highly valued personality in society where teaching is considered to be the most sacred and distinctive of professions. Here, teachers are addressed by the title of ‘guru’, which derives from ‘Sing diguGU lan ditiRU’ – “somebody who deserved to be listened to and modelled upon” (Gandana & Parr, 2013, p. 8). This cultural expectation still exists in Indonesia, and therefore being a ‘guru professional’ has always been an important and crucial issue to discuss, and for the same reasons studies on pre-service teachers (PSTs) are equally important. The spirit behind the Law is closely related to constant endeavours to improve the quality of education in Indonesia (Jalal et al., 2009), including the quality of English Language Teaching (ELT). Any endeavors to improve the quality of ELT also include the issue of the advancement of PSETs’ education. Among the requirements, PSTs need to participate in a period of school-based teaching practicum as part of the teacher education program. The teaching practicum plays a strategic role in preparing qualified English teachers. Here, the PSTs experience the real world of being a teacher; bringing theory into practice, including having opportunities to develop skills for designing lesson plans, delivering the lessons and managing classroom. Therefore, it could be said that the practicum is not only a crucial milestone hoping to engage PSTs in the real

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life of the school community as a ‘community of practice’ (Wenger, 1998), but it is also a place of transit where PSTs construct the very foundations of their professional identities. Despite the complexity in understanding professional identity, in this paper it has been understood as simply as teachers’ understanding of their professional practices. This relates to their understanding of what roles they are expected to play, what skills and knowledge they should have, and what attributes, values, and roles they are supposed to hold as teachers (Avalos, 2007; Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009; Cattley, 2007; Cheung, 2008). In this study, the ability to conceptualise this notion is argued as a part of student teachers’ professional identity construction. Scholars have argued that the construction of teachers’ professional identity could be closely affected by their personal biographies and cultural histories as well as by broader social cultural and political contexts (see Day & Flores, 2006; Guzmán, 2010; Williams, 2010). This means that one’s past life stories, their schooling and familial experience, their teacher education, and their school environment, for example, could contribute to the way they perceive themselves as teachers as well as on their interpretation and conceptualisation on what it means to be a teacher.

Study Design Ten PSETs from the English Education Department of Teachers Training and Education Faculty of Riau University – who were about to conduct their teaching practicum in several secondary schools in Riau province Indonesia – were randomly selected as participants. The participants were 21 to 22 years old and most of them never had teaching in formal public schools. For confidentiality reasons, all participants are reported with their pseudonyms. Two rounds of in-depth interviews with each pre-service teacher were conducted before and after the teaching practicum. The first round interview, among others themes, explored the participants’ personal and professional histories, schooling and teacher education experiences, past familial experience, as well as investigating their understanding on the notion of ‘PET’. The second-round interview focused on identifying changes in their perceptions in relation to the aforementioned themes; while a one-hour focus group discussion (FGD) was also conducted to see the dynamic and breadth of ideas across participants in answering the questions. To study the data, I first analysed the transcripts from interviews and focus group discussion in order to get a general picture of the data from all

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10 participants. With the assistance of data management tool, NVivo 10, I coded and categorised data based on themes, and then analysed the patterns and themes produced from the data by referring to extant studies on good teachers and or PETs as cited throughout this paper. Together, these phases of analysis generated the findings discussed here.

Problematising the ‘professional’ English Teacher As mentioned earlier, the notion of PET in the Indonesian context could also be substituted with a few other synonymous expressions – such as ‘good’, ‘effective’, ‘ideal’, or ‘best’ English teachers. In my analysis I collectively considered all of these terms in looking at how other studies have understood the notion of ‘PET’. Who is a ‘good’ (English) teacher is not a simple notion to discuss, as the answers may be different depending on the context, and perhaps it is even impossible or pedagogically undesirable to set up a definitive description of ‘‘the good teacher’’ (Korthagen, 2004). However, some researchers have attempted to describe some essential qualities of a good English teacher in order to enable ELT practitioners to have a framework of reference in discussing the idea of what constitutes a good (English) teacher (see Brown & Rodgers, 2002; Nunan, 1999; Thompson, 2008; Wichadee, 2010). Some researchers have described the qualities of a good (English) teacher in terms of competencies, skills, and knowledge. Thompson (2008), for example, argues that good teachers should have a combination of strong teaching skills and positive personality traits. He seems to put more emphasis on the idea of certain essential personal qualities, such as “easy-going”, “relaxed” or “open minded” (p.6), to enable them to foster student motivation in the classroom. He also states that good language teachers should build rapport by caring about their learners, demonstrating patience and respecting learners. Good teachers are also those who are well-prepared, able to select appropriate frameworks for their lessons and are able to design interesting tasks. In addition, Wichadee (2010) stresses that an effective teacher shows a wide range of skills and abilities that lead to creating a conducive learning environment where all students feel comfortable and are certain that they can thrive both academically and personally. To make students feel comfortable, Foote, et al., (2008, as cited in Wichadee, 2010) assert that personal relationships are extremely important to students, and it is crucial for the teacher to be close to the students and show interest in their personal-emotional world.

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In the context of ELT, Nunan (1999) proposes that a language teacher needs to have two kinds of knowledge – procedural and declarative – to be an effective language teacher. He further states that declarative knowledge includes everything teachers know and can articulate – for example, knowledge about grammar rules. The procedural knowledge refers to the ability to do things or knowing how to do things, such as being able to communicate in English, knowing how to plan lessons and understanding how to conduct pair work. Korthagen (2004) explains that the attempt to describe the notion of ‘good English teacher’ in terms of list of skills and competencies as reviewed above is usually supported by educational policy makers as they generally focus on the importance of outcomes in education. This is also happening currently in Indonesia, for example, where professional teachers are described in relation to standardised competencies as written in the Law no. 14/2005 on Teachers and Lectures. The Law specifically stipulates that a professional teacher should hold a required academic qualification and a set of knowledge, skills and behaviour to successfully perform his/her professional tasks. Article 10 of the Law states that the competencies include “pedagogical, personal, social, and professional competencies acquired through professional teacher education” (translated from Undang Undang Guru dan Dosen, 2005, p. 5). The description of section 10 of the law further specifies, pedagogical competency refers to the ability to manage students’ learning; personal competency refers to strong, moral, wise and respected personal ability to be a good model for students; professional competency refers to the ability to master lesson materials extensively and comprehensively; and social competency refers to teachers’ ability to communicate and interact effectively and efficiently with students, fellow teachers, students’ parents/guardians, and nearby community (translated from Undang Undang Guru dan Dosen, 2005, p. 29).

Despite the widespread practice of the use of competencies to describe the characteristics of a good (English) teacher, some researchers have raised concerns about the validity, reliability and practicality of such lists. Many question whether it is actually possible to describe the qualities of good teachers in terms of competencies (for others who have registered scepticism, please see Barnett, 1994; Hyland, 1994 as cited in Korthagen, 2004). This question is rooted from their understanding that being a good teacher relates to complex variables and therefore cannot be simply described through a list of competencies.

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My present study therefore considers these complex variables in problematising what constitutes a ‘professional’ (English) teacher by emphasising that the notion of PET goes beyond the competencies issues per se. Brown and Rodgers (2002) introduce the notion of a combination of a mechanical and a mental component in order to be a good teacher in an EFL class. The mechanical component of a lesson includes the skills required for the content of the lesson to be presented in the most effective ways for students, while the mental component encompasses the teacher’s belief system about teaching and learning as well as the teacher’s personality. After reviewing a number of ‘classic’ as well as some current models of teachers’ education, especially in terms of defining the essential qualities of good (English) teachers, Korthagen (2004) proposes a new model called the onion model. The onion model of Change in Figure 1 below explains the relationship among teachers’ identities and their beliefs, competencies, and teaching behaviours. The most important point from the onion model is that the notion of good teacher relates to many interrelated factors at various levels – from inner to outer. It does not only relate to competencies, but is also closely related to the provision of mission, identity, belief, behaviour and environment.

Figure 3.1: The Onion: A model of level of change, adopted from Korthagen (2004, p. 80)

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The onion model also suggests that the notion of PET deals with complex variables and does not always deal with tangible factors, such as environment and behaviour, but also some more intangible ones, like teachers’ mission, identity, and beliefs.

Findings Questions in both pre and post practicum interviews were developed to explore how PSETs define a PET; what skills or knowledge an English teacher should have, what an English teacher’s roles are, and what the expected characters of a PET are (before and after practicum). Participants’ answers to these questions could be classified into two main themes as follows.

Teachers as multi roles persons with a set of competencies The findings suggest that PSTs did have some initial conceptualisations on ‘PET’ before practicum. Their views on ‘PET’ could be generally summarised as someone with multi roles, holding a set of competencies, knowledge and skills, and particular attributes as PET. Referring to the framework of professional teachers defined by Law No.14/2005, the competencies mentioned by the participants of this study could be aligned to the ideas of pedagogical competency, professional competency, personality competency, and social competency as mentioned in the previous section. Although these categories can be questioned and contested, I consider the categories as a useful starting point for categorising my data. These competencies could be observed in the answers given by the participants through both pre and post practicum interviews. In terms of pedagogical competency, some participants believed that the PET should have some effective teaching skills and strategies to enable English learners to improve their English proficiency as set up in the current English curriculum for secondary schools in Indonesia. They mentioned that good English teachers should have an ability “to create a live, dynamic, and interactive class” (Ayi, pre-practicum interview), and “to create better techniques for teaching, creating new methods to enable the students can learn better in a dynamic, live, and open mode” (Selly, prepracticum Interview). To emphasise the importance of the pedagogical competence, some participants claimed that English is commonly regarded as a ‘hard’ subject for most of the students to achieve. Therefore, they believed that using creative, enjoyable, attractive and motivating techniques would be

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effective pedagogical strategies to inspire students to learn English. Otherwise, English will keep remaining as a ‘disease’ (Arul, pre-practicum interview) for most of the students in Indonesia. In terms of professional competency, in the pre-practicum interviews most participants emphasised the importance of having a high level of English language proficiency, so that English language teachers could communicate competently in English during their teaching process. To be precise, they considered that PET should be “master in English”, “proficient in English” and that it is highly important for them to consistently use English as medium of instruction. However, after having observed students’ low English language proficiency during practicum, some participants in the post practicum interviews stated that a PET does not have to use English all the time in a classroom. Although they kept stressing the importance of being highly proficient in English, they also believed that an English teacher needs to be flexible in using both English and students’ native language. This is especially crucial when majority of their students cannot understand English well enough. For this reason, they suggested that the teachers sometimes could code-switch to ensure that the students understand what the teachers are saying. It could be understood that most participants experienced a paradigm change in the second round interview, shifting from stressing the importance of being proficient in English and using it as a medium of instruction to the focus on issues of intelligibility in communication. In other words, they tended to be more pragmatic in the sense that they would employ any teaching strategies which would enable their students to learn to communicate intelligibly or clearly. After teaching practicum, most were open to the possibility of using students’ native language as a medium of instruction if necessary. … related to the professionalism of the teacher, in my point of view before was that an English teacher should be capable in speaking English, should be fluent. But, when I see the reality, actually an English teacher should not always be that good English speaker. But, the most important one is how an English teacher could, even a bit, but motivate the students to speak. (Demire, post-practicum interview)

Another competence mentioned by the participants is related to social competency. In order to be able to socialise well with students, some participants mentioned during the pre-practicum interviews that the teachers should be friendly and approachable, while still being respected by students. Two participants, Maysil and Dewinta, even mentioned that the students can regard them as their ‘friends’, the one whom the students

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can talk to about their personal problems. According to Maysil, such a close friendship could enable teachers motivate students to “perform better in their learning” (pre-practicum interview). Similarly, Dewinta argued that a close relationship with students could facilitate an enjoyable learning atmosphere as the students do not need to worry about the teacher’s power and rigid authority over them in the classroom. A good teacher should be someone friendly but respected by his or her students, not someone to be afraid of. The way he/she teaches should make the students enjoy the process of learning. By being friendly, a student doesn’t have to worry to raise a question if necessary. Otherwise, students will worry to express their ideas freely. (Dewinta, pre-practicum interview)

After the practicum, however, some participants reminded the importance of keeping ‘boundaries’ in a student – pre-service teacher relationship. Otherwise, that kind of relationship could jeopardise the authority of the teachers. This was voiced especially by Maysil who encountered a student – teacher relationship issue during her teaching practicum. She thought that some students misinterpreted her ‘nice’ approach to them. She came to this conclusion when she found that some students went beyond boundaries by merely seeing her as their peer by not showing ‘sufficient respect’ to her as their teacher. We should not being too close with students, because the students need to know that there are still some boundaries necessary between students and teachers, so they can respect us as their teachers – they don’t step on our heads. (Maysil, post-practicum interview)

Furthermore, it can also be generated from the data that a PET should demonstrate personal competency. This feature relates to the idea that a good English teacher is someone who has ‘good personality’ or who holds strong and positive moral and ethical values. Some important characteristics mentioned by the participants across methods of data collection were having a strong faith, being steadfast, thinking out of the box, decisive, caring, discipline, reliable, tolerant, responsible, punctual, open-minded, flexible, and approachable. These indicate that a teacher should be a good model with a good personality for their students. One participant, for example, mentioned that PET should first have strong faith in God as it would be an important basis for them to play their roles as educators, What I mean by a professional English teacher is that s/he should first have a good faith in God (imaan and taqwa). I think that faith is the foundation

Pre- and Post-Practicum Perceptions of the “Professional English Teacher” 133 for everything. If a teacher has strong faith, it will help them easier in educating students (Elvina, pre-practicum interview)

Elvina’s emphasis on the importance of having a strong faith for an English teacher is a unique finding of this current study as an English teacher is by default not supposed to teach religious content. However, in the case of Indonesia where teachers have been widely perceived by the majority of the people as a role model, this issue is highly relevant and important. This is especially in line with the goal of national education in Indonesia which places emphasis on guiding students to be religious and pious as the most important point. Article 3 in the national education Law no. 20/2003 specifically states that the national education development is an “effort to develop the intellectual life of the nation and improve the quality of faithful, devout, and moral of Indonesian people who master science, technology and the arts to create a modern, fair, prosperous and civilized society based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia” (Law on National Education System, 2003, p. 2). As mentioned in the law, the emphasis on morality as well as religion is closely related to the notion of Pancasila or the ‘five pillars’ which has been the official philosophical basis of the Indonesian state. The first pillar explicitly declares that the nation is based on the Belief in the divinity of God, (in Indonesian, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa). This pillar has been the source of inspiration of Indonesian society in many aspects of life, including education. Therefore, it is understandable that the student teachers also consider the religious aspect in defining the notion of professional English teacher as an important component. Other participants mentioned the importance of being a teacher with steadfastness in dealing with students’ diverse behaviours and uniqueness. This point was specifically raised by student teachers during postpracticum interview after they had experienced some of the real challenges in dealing with students’ behaviour. Some participants made a reference to the fact that a class might consist of extremely aggressive and ‘naughty’ students. The mischief might range from the students’ ignorance to teachers’ instructions to the disavowal shown by some students with the student teachers’ placement in their schools. Having experienced these challenges, one participant – Rike –concluded that an ideal teacher is supposed to be “the most patient person in the world” as they have to deal with many students with diverse characteristics, habits, and behaviours. In regard to the challenges, they mentioned that PET should also be someone who is decisive, disciplined but caring and approachable at the same time. However, being decisive seemed to be a difficult matter for student teachers as they were regarded ‘only as a practicing teacher’ by

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most of the students. Some of them indeed felt that their presence was largely ignored by the students.

Teachers’ Roles: Beyond Knowledge Transmitters In regard to the teachers’ role, nearly all participants perceived that a PET is someone with multi roles and responsibilities – ranging from being a knowledge transmitter, an educator, a learning facilitator, a classroom manager to being the students’ second parents as well as being a hero for the students, as Table 2 summarises. These roles have been repeatedly mentioned by most of the participants either in the pre-practicum or postpracticum interviews as well as throughout their reflective journals and a focus group discussion. The comparison of the specific roles identified during two periods of data collection could be seen from the table below: Table 2. Teacher’s Roles: Identified from Pre- and Post-practicum Interviews Pre-Practicum Interview Post-Practicum Interview knowledge transmitter knowledge transmitter educator – values transmitter educator – values transmitter role models – personality and role models – personality and English learning English learning learning facilitator learning facilitator students’ friend students’ friend – partner classroom manager classroom manager supervisor supervisor – a guide motivator motivator learning accelerator ‘writer of students’ blank paper’ students’ second parents students’ hero As shown in the table, most participants shared the same view on the roles that a PET should play. However, compared to data from prepracticum interviews, more roles have been identified in the postpracticum ones. Analysis has suggested that these new perceived roles are generated from the student-teachers’ complex interactions with members of school community during practicum. The participants believed that the role of a PET should go beyond merely transferring skills and knowledge. Instead, they are supposed to play multi roles as listed above. What stood out along interviews as well as

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in the FGD was that nearly all participants emphasised the importance of the role of teachers as educators. This means that participants perceive that being a good English teacher in Indonesia should go beyond teaching the four English skills; he or she should also have roles and responsibilities for transferring good values to his or her students. I would like to emphasise that a professional teacher should focus more on the educating process, not only transferring the knowledge. Building characters of the students are more important than merely teaching language skills, so that the students can behave properly to their teachers, their parents. So, teacher is an educator. (Dewinta, FGD)

In addition to these roles, participants also mentioned that a good English teacher should also be a classroom manager, a students’ supervisor and being students’ friends at school. Although some participants reinterpreted their beliefs in relation to being ‘a friend of students’, as previously discussed, some others, such as Dewinta still believed that good teachers could maintain some degree of friendship to encourage the students to “freely tell us their problems, so we could advise them some solutions” (post-practicum interview). As the table suggests, after practicum some participants proposed some stronger notions in defining the roles of PET , such as teacher is a hero and teacher is like a writer of the student’s ‘blank paper’. Calling teachers as heroes is likely related to the nature of some demanding works the student teachers have during the practicum. Having been practicing ‘like other senior teachers’ (Elvina, post-practicum interview), they could see and feel that playing roles as a teacher is timeless and moving beyond schools’ walls and classrooms. This calling has specially been widely known in Indonesia where the nation calls teachers their ‘unsung heroes’. The blank paper mentioned above does not mean to indicate that a student is like an empty box (or vessel) or is going to school without any background knowledge at all. This seems to be a metaphor used to showcase that status of teachers in Indonesia is really strategic and powerful in determining students’ future life. The teacher is the one who will significantly determine what path a student chooses in his or her future life. Students’ skills, knowledge, values, and characters are inseparable from ‘the colour of teaching’, which their teachers have crafted onto them during their schooling period.

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Discussion Although the findings did not necessarily reveal participants’ thorough understanding on PET, several points they mentioned – either before or after teaching practicum – have indicated that they already held some initial images of what constitutes PET. This understanding is important for them as future English teachers, because such images showcase that they could be said to have constructed some parts of their initial professional identity during their PSTs’ education program or even long before that. It is very likely that this perception will subsequently affect their practices as PET in the future. Referring to Thompson’s (2008) and Brown and Rodger’s (2002) frameworks in defining who a good English teacher is, it could be said that the PSETs in this study have already been able to formulate the concept of PET representing two important elements proposed by Thompson – “a combination of personal characteristics and teaching skills” (p. 5) or having a mechanical and a mental component at the same time. However, the findings show that their conceptualisation has not yet adequately addressed issues on mission and identity as other important elements of being good teachers as proposed by Korthagen (2004). The fact that some participants had already proposed some definitions of PET might relate to their personal biographies or their previous experience interacting with some significant others in their life trajectories. Seen in Dodi’s case, the significant other in his case is a good English teacher whom he admired in his previous education. Their concepts on PET could also be constructed during the courses they have done within their pre-service English teacher education program at their universities. What is evident in the context of this paper are some of the conspicuous changes in the participants’ perceptions in relation to their perceptions of PET over the duration of their engagement in the teaching practicum. Some participants emphasised the idea of flexibility in employing particular teaching approaches, including in the possibility of code-switching in an English class albeit the discouragement of the Communicative Language Teaching-based Indonesian ELT curriculum (Ivone, 2005). This kind of flexibility, however, is necessary especially in the situation where a particular recommended teaching approach could not work well. The four months practicum seemed to have enabled the student teachers to understand that what is happening in the field is often more complex and more complicated than the ones portrayed in books. The

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complexities often lead many of these student teachers to reflect, to interpret and reinterpret their experiences during practicum. This reinterpretation has enabled them to challenge some of their initial beliefs and practices on teaching and learning, leading to their new conceptualisations on what professional teachers should be and should do in a classroom. I argue that the flexibility is an important attribute of good English teachers to have in their classroom. This is especially the case for teaching English as a foreign language in Indonesia. Some studies (see for example, Alwasilah, 2001; Basalama, 2010; Lengkanawati, 2005; Lie, 2007; Marcellino, 2008) have shown that ELT in Indonesia is still far from success primarily because of a large number of Indonesian students who are unable to speak and use the language. The 2011 English Proficiency Index released by English First – a world leading English institution – reports that Indonesia ranks at number 34 out of 44 with ‘very low’ English proficiency among non-English speaking countries in the world surveyed in terms their adult English proficiency (EPI, 2011). In light of this, English teachers need to be wise in the sense as not to rigidly enforce whatever is written in the official curriculum in their class. Another change that can be observed in this study is some students’ beliefs on the importance of the close relationship between teachers and students. In regard to this issue, some research has actually confirmed that students who enjoy a close and supportive relationship with a teacher are more engaged in that they work harder in the classroom, tougher in the face of learning problems, listen to teacher’s direction and criticism, cope better with stress, and attend more to the teacher (Skinner & Belmont, 1993). However, the findings in my study seem to contradict with Skinner and Belmont’s (1993) suggestion. A story told by Maysil, for example, illustrates how the friendship mode has seemed to have mislead some of her students to act disrespectfully towards her as their teacher. Maysil’s shifting beliefs on the importance of close relationship with students indicates one’s sense of professional identity is indeed shaped through the process of interpretation and reinterpretation of experiences (Kerby, 1991 as cited in Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). The way the student teachers enact their professional identity and interpret their experience is closely affected by one’s personal biographies and cultural histories as well as by broader social and political contexts. In the case of Maysil, her personal traumatic experience with the students – teacher relationship issue has prompted her to change her mind in defining good teacher’s attributes.

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From the perspective of teachers’ stages of development as proposed by Fuller and Brown (1975), what Maysil experienced could be considered a common experience. This is due to the fact that Maysil is still in her very early stage of becoming a teacher. Using the words of Fuller and Brown, Maysil seemed to be in a survival stage of her journey to become a novice teacher, and those who are at this stage typically would concern more on herself as a teacher, rather than focusing on the students or the impact of her teaching. In this case, Maysil prefers to choose to feel ‘personally safe’ by setting up clear boundaries with her students, rather than thinking beyond her safety – how she could find more effective strategies to win her students’ hearts. Another thought-provoking finding from this study is the PSTs’ concerns on the ultimate roles of good English teachers as an educator. The emphasis on being an educator transferring values to students is closely related to a special status of teachers in many cultures around the globe, especially in Asian countries such as Indonesia. Despite incomplete debate on the proper reward teachers deserve to have, majority of people still put significant respect to this profession, and keep considering teachers as important role models for people and society (Gandana & Parr, 2013). Teachers often become someone to whom many people seek advice and wisdom from. Therefore, it is very likely for people around them to regard a teacher as a living example as well as a good reference on how good values in life are practiced and manifested in daily interaction. For this reason, a good teacher should also be someone with a good personality and proper behaviour. Elvina has even made it much stronger when she believes that a professional English teacher should be someone pious and have a strong belief in God. Considering their roles as a role model, after finishing their teaching practicum, some participants reported that they had become aware of their personal attitudes, including the way they speak, the way they act and even the way they get dressed. One participant recalled that she decided to wear only ‘proper dresses’ in front of her students as she realised that she is now a teacher from whom her students will learn, including on the issue of proper dressing. Looking at these personality changes, we could say that the teaching practicum has in some ways been effective in nurturing the foundations of teachers’ professional identity construction. The title of ‘guru’ has been addressed to these student teachers during their practicum, either inside or outside of the class. They have been standing in front of the class, interacting with the school community, wearing teachers’ uniforms, and acting like a real teacher. As a result, these student teachers should take

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into account what society expects from PETs. They would intuitively adjust some of their identity attributes with the new identities attributed to them in their roles as new teachers.

Conclusion This study reveals that PSTs already held some initial understandings on what constitutes PET before they entered teaching practicum. Such preconceptions originated from their prior experiences or personal biographies during their childhood, their schooling experience, or their pre-service education. This initial conception is contested, strengthened and developed during teaching practicum. The dynamic interaction they have made with some members of school community, such as the students, their mentor teachers, and school principal, has led them to reinterpret their understanding on the notion of PET. Some of their initial beliefs and conceptions on good English teachers have changed after teaching practicum, while some entirely new ideas have emerged. Overall, what has been mentioned by participants of this study could refer to good English teachers’ framework proposed by Thompson (2008), stating that good English teachers should hold both essential qualities: good teaching skills and some personal characteristics. The student teachers’ definitions on PET either pre- or post-practicum could also be referred to the professional teachers’ framework written in the current teachers Law No.14/2005 – that professional teachers should hold four major competencies: pedagogical competency, professional competency, social competency, and personal competency. The findings indicate that the way the student teachers enact their professional identity (in conceptualising the notion of PET and interpret their experience) is closely affected by their personal biographies and cultural histories as well as by broader social cultural and political contexts. Although being conducted with different focus, the finding of this study is similar in certain ways to the study by Yazdanpanah, and Brown (Chapter 4 of this book) who examine two language teachers in terms of how they view language and language learning. Their study revealed that the way teachers understand language and language learning appears to be the result of complex interaction and combination of their fields of study, previous work experience, and personal histories. The influence of the socio-cultural context could be especially seen from the way they conceptualise the roles of the teachers as well as the fact that they have been adjusting some parts of their behaviour with some code of conducts expected by the Indonesian society at large. The findings also

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imply that teaching practicum does matter as an important context which has influenced the dynamics of student teachers’ perceptions in defining and redefining the notion of PETs. I expect that this study could enrich and or fill in the gap on the issue of pre-service teacher’s professional identity construction in the Indonesian context. The findings could be used to reconceptualise the concept of ‘English language teaching professionalism’ in Indonesia.

References Alwasilah, A. C. (2001, Mon, 07/23/2001). Is there such a thing as ‘Indonesian English’?, The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from http://www. thejakartapost.com/news/2001/07/23/is-there-such-a-thing039indonesian-english039.html. Avalos, B. (2007). Teacher Identity Construction In Reform Driven Contexts: A Chilean Study. Ejournal Of All India Association For Educational Research, 22(2). Basalama, N. (2010). English teachers in Indonesian senior high schools in Gorontalo: A qualitative study of professional formation, identity and practice. Ph.D, University of Victoria, Melbourne. Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: an overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175-189. Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering Research on Teachers’ Professional Identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2004), 107-128. Brown, J. D., & Rodgers, T. S. (2002). Doing Second Language Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cattley, G. (2007). Emergence of professional identity for the pre-service teacher. International Education Journal, 8(2), 337-347. Cheung, H. Y. (2008). Measuring the professional identity of Hong Kong in-service teachers. Journal of In-Service Education, 34(3), 375-390. Day, C., & Flores, M. A. (2006). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 219-232. EPI, E. (2011). EF EPI English Proficiency Index Retrieved 23/05, 2012, from http://www.ef.nl/sitecore/__/~/media/efcom/epi/pdf/EF-EPI-2011 .pdf. Fuller, F. F., & Brown, O. H. (1975). Becoming a Teacher. In K. Ryan (Ed.), Teacher Education (74th Yearbook of the National Society for

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the Study of Education (pp. 25-52). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Gandana, I., & Parr, G. (2013). Professional Identity, curriculum and teaching Intercultural Communication: an Indonesian case study. Language, Culture, and Communication, 26(3), 1-19. Guzmán, N. P. T. (2010). The Teacher Self Construction of Language Teachers. PhD Unpublished, University of Exeter, Exeter. Jalal, F., Samani, M., Chang, M. C., Stevenson, R., Ragatz, A. B., & Negara, S. D. (2009). Teachers Certification in Indonesia: A Strategy for Teacher Quality Improvement. Jakarta: Departemen Pendidikan Nasional Republik Indonesia. Korthagen, F. (2004). In search of the essence of a good teacher: towards a more holistic approach in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 77-97. Law on National Education System, 20, Indonesian Consultative Council (2003). Lengkanawati, N. S. (2005). EFL Teachers’ Competence in the Context of English Curriculum 2004: Implications for EFL Teacher Education. TEFLIN Journal: A publication on the teaching and learning of English, 16(1). Liando, N. V. (2010). Students’ vs Teacher’s Perspectives on Best Teracher Characyeristics in EFL Classrooms. TEFLIN Journal: A publication on the teaching and learning of English, 21(2), 118-134. Lie, A. (2007). Education Policy and EFL Curriculum in Indonesia: Between the Commitment to Competence and the Quest for Highest Test Scores. TEFLIN Journal: A publication on the teaching and learning of English, 18(1). Marcellino, M. (2008). English Language Teaching in Indonesia: A Continuous Challenge in Education and Cultural Diversity. TEFLIN Journal: A publication on the teaching and learning of English, 19(1). Nunan, D. (1999). So you think that language teaching is a profession. TESOL Matters, 9(4), 3. Phern, C. V. S., & Abidin, M. J. Z. (2012). Student Voice Contribution in Determining the ‘Effective English Language Teacher’: A Collective Case Study as a Concept Paper International Journal of Humanities and Social Science 2(22), 307-315. Skinner, E., & Belmont, M. J. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. . Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(4), 571-581. Thompson, S. (2008). Defining a good teacher simply! Modern English Teacher, 17(1), 5-14.

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Undang Undang Guru dan Dosen, 14, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia (2005). Veenman, S. (1984). Perceived Problems of Beginning Teachers. Review of Educational Research, 54(2), 143-178. Wichadee, S. (2010). Defining the effective English language teacher: Students’ and teachers’ perspectives. Paper presented at the JALT2009 Conference Proceeding, Tokyo. Williams, J. (2010). Constructing a new professional identity: Career change into teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 639-647.

CHAPTER EIGHT CULTURE REPRESENTATIONS IN LOCALLY DEVELOPED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS IN VIETNAM THUY NGOC DINH Abstract English, with its recent geographical, demographic and structural changes across the globe, has further signified its status as an international language. With this status, as McKay (2002, 2006, 2012) and Sharifian (2013a, 2013b) argue, English is attached to multiple cultures, not a single monolithic one. The learning and teaching of English, as such, should aim at intercultural communication, which stresses the salient role of cultures in the curriculum. In many Southeast Asian nations where English is used as a foreign language, the exposure to English and its cultures is predominantly reflected in ELT textbooks (Dinh, 2012). It is, therefore, necessary to examine how cultures have been represented in the region for the implications for teaching and specifically curriculum development. This study draws on the case of Vietnam in which English is seen as “a key to local and global participant” (Le, 2000, p.73) and implements textbooks produced by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training at high school levels nationwide. It attempts to unpack the representation of cultures in terms of how cultures have been incorporated in the books, particularly English 10 and 11 for senior high school students in Vietnam. Mainly based on the EIL paradigm and cultural semiotic visual plus text analysis approach, the study revisits the notion of culture in ELT textbooks, proposes a novel analytical framework to work with culture and proffers implications for curriculum development in the country in particular, and other regional contexts. Keywords: culture representation, ELT textbooks, visual analysis, text analysis.

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English today is not linked to any one country or culture; rather it is attached to multiple cultures as it belongs to those who use the language (Brown, 2012; Canagarajah, 1999; Maley, 2010; McKay, 2002, 2012; Pennycook, 1995, 1998, 2003; Sharifian, 2009; Smith, 1976, 1983; Matsuda, 2012; Widdowson, 1998). The spread of English across over 70 nations (Sharifian & Clyne, 2008), the emergence of Englishes (Kachru, 1982; Jenkins, 2009, Kirkpatrick, 2007) and the role of English as a lingua franca in various settings (Cogo & Dewey, 2012; Mauranen & Ranta, 2009; Kirkpatrick, 2009; Seidhofer, 2011) signify that English is truly a global language. English, therefore, according to Smith (1976), McKay (2002), Sharifian (2009) and Matsuda (2012), is a means of communication among people of different cultures in various parts of the world. These demographic, geographical and structural changes to English have significant implications for English language teaching (ELT) practices and curriculum. As English is used to communicate across cultures and simultaneously to express cultural norms, the role of culture is dramatically highlighted and should be revisited in ELT (McKay, 2002, 2003a, 2003b, 2006, 2012). In this context, as argued by many scholars such as McKay (2003); Marlina (2011); Matsuda (2012); Nault (2006); and Rubdy & Saraceni (2006), it is essential to introduce more than one single variety of English or one culture in the materials for international communication. As Rubdy and Saraceni (2006) highlight, “English as a globalised means of international communication is expected to transcend all communal and cultural boundaries” (p.10). In that spirit, it has been important to examine the current materials used worldwide to see how much they facilitate intercultural communication, promote cultural diversity and present cultures at different levels. Elsewhere in this book, Warouw (Chapter 9) reiterates the role of teaching materials and the need for a “better” and “more relevant” curriculum, especially in a multiethnic country like Indonesia. This research focuses on Vietnam where the importance of materials has also long been emphasised and seen as the primary source for both teachers and learners of English. Taking a broader perspective on materials, Warouw addressed the adaptation of materials among teachers while this chapter gears towards a specific aspect of materials-culture representation, which proffers implications for both the curriculum adaptation and development process. There has been a dramatic surge in ELT materials research, especially looking into how cultures are represented in English textbooks of different levels. What has been found in the literature so far is that the representation of cultures can be uncovered in the use of proper names,

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adjectives, text content and visual images with the use of various analytical frameworks such as text analysis and document analysis. In Vietnam, since the new English textbooks written by the Vietnamese authors (locally developed English series) were released in 2008, there has been much discussion about their quality in various conferences and publications. For example, Nguyen (2011) investigates how pragmatic norms were presented in speaking sections, arguing that the textbooks did not showcase the diversity of communication scenarios across cultures and what was presented was limited to a particular culture. Dinh (2012) concurs that there has been an overrepresentation of the Vietnamese society across the textbooks, leaving minimal chance for students to get immersed in the reality of diversity. Nonetheless, there remains a need for further research in ELT materials, especially in the climate of integration and educational reform in Vietnam with the implementation of the National Foreign Language Education Project 2020. This study takes into account the global and local needs regarding culture and ELT materials and examines the locally developed English textbooks currently used among Vietnamese high school students. The research questions that the study addressed included: x x x x

How are cultures represented in the ELT textbooks in Vietnam? In what forms are cultures represented? At what levels are cultures represented? Whose cultures are represented?

The major intent in the analysis was an investigation of the representation of cultures at different layers across visuals and texts in the textbooks. Through the analysis, the study aims to propose an analytical framework to deal with cultures in ELT materials in concurrence with the new paradigm of English as an international language (EIL).

TEIL and implications for cultures in ELT materials EIL refers to functions of English in international communication rather than any particular variety of English (Sharifian, 2009). It “emphasises that English, with its many varieties, is a language of international and therefore intercultural communication” (Sharifian, 2009, p. 2). It therefore challenges previous notions of proficiency and competency as defined in traditional ELT.

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In TEIL, the ultimate goal is competence in intercultural communication rather than native-speaker-like competence. New notions of competence have been advanced and these include intercultural communicative competence (ICC) presented by Byram (1997, 2000), multidialectal competence (Canagarajah, 2006) and metacultural competence (Sharifian, 2013). To achieve the goal of intercultural communication, TEIL establishes fundamental principles for teaching and developing curricula. Matsuda (2012) and McKay (2012) propose that they should reflect the reality of English use today. Curricular materials should also incorporate linguistic and cultural diversity. Baxter (1980) holds that “teaching materials should be drawn from all the various English using communities, not only L1 communities, so as to introduce students to the different manners of speaking English and to build an attitudinal base of acceptance (p.67). McKay (2002, 2012) argues for the need to present a variety of grammatical norms, lexical use, topics and teaching methods. This means ELT materials should not be mass-produced for an international market, regardless of local contexts. The design or choice of materials should be based on numerous factors including learners’ needs, course objectives and available supplementary resources. For both English for specific purposes and general English, the awareness of other varieties and knowledge of multiple cultures are stressed. McKay (2003a) adds that cultural knowledge is dramatically important for it provides the basis for the content and topics that are used in language materials and classroom discussion. Furthermore, Matsuda and Friedrich (2012) propose that the diversity reflected in ELT materials, “is not only a matter of different pronunciation features, but rather a much more encompassing manifestation of cultural, linguistic and other values” (p. 24). McKay (2006) gives multiple reasons to “put aside the traditional emphasis on native speaker cultural content” (p.122). These scholars call for a need to re-examine culture in the curriculum so that cultural diversity and intercultural communication are brought to attention in this globalised era. These proposals collectively emphasise the significance in setting focus on culture representations in textbooks and the necessity to revisit the issue in the existing curriculum across the world.

Culture analytical framework To address the need for investigation into culture in the current materials in Vietnam, this research opted for the cultural semiotic approach, which is also referred to as an integrationist or multimodality

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approach. These approaches, differently as they may be termed, lay emphasis on the analysis of signs and symbols that convey meanings, that is, both texts and visuals. Multimodality or integrationist approach originated from the social semiotic metafunctional view of communication proposed by Halliday (1994) which was further developed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996), and Royce (2002). It provides the tools of analysing the role of the image vis-à-vis language and the relation between image and language, that is, whether visual and verbal (written) modes complement each other. In brief, multimodality highlights the analysis of the visual in addition to the text itself. Literature in the area has shown that the analysis of culture has normally been conducted on either texts or visuals, not the two in relation in former studies. Grounded in cultural semiotics approach, this current research has implemented the visual analysis framework put forth by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) and text analysis for aspect of culture/level of culture by Murayama (2002). As far as visual analysis is concerned, the semiotic visual analytical method (based on the systematic-functional analysis of Halliday, 1994) proposed by Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) is used. The significance of visuals to language learning and the relationship between the two have been given increasing attention (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996; Canagarajah, 1996; Kress, 2000; Royce, 2002). Kress (2000) stated that it “is now impossible to make sense of texts, even of their linguistic parts alone, without having a clear idea of what these other features might be contributing to the meaning of a text” (p. 337). The reason is each component appears in textbooks and performs a function; hence, visual illustrations also convey certain messages, either to reinforce or supply more information for text content. To be specific, images serve four main functions: they activate students’ background knowledge, reduce textshock, elaborate the content (restate the same content through a different channel) and relay information (add where new and different meanings) (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996). Visual analysis has been widely used in researching culture in ELT materials (Canagarajah, 1996; Kress & Van, 1996) for any conclusion based on text analysis alone is insufficient. Canagarajah (1993), and Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) explain that images can also convey rich cultural messages and the analysis of images reveals ideologies. Images will be investigated under two categories: how images represent the world (message/content of the images and origin of the images) and how they relate to form a meaningful whole (the relationship between text and visual representation). Once the visuals have been

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analysed, a comparison between visual and text content was made to see if they are consistent and complement each other, exemplifying the same culture and conveying the same message. Thus the aims of the visual analysis are to examine what the message of the image is, whose image is captured and whether or not it matches the text content. The researcher proposed categorisation into culture-general/ culturespecific texts based on the four criteria – topics, participants’ roles, actions and attitudes proposed by Orton (2009), who originally based on the work by Ramirez and Hall (1990), Gee (1999) and Freebody (2003). The researcher also employed Murayama’s (2000) work on aspect of culture and level of culture. Culture in texts can be categorised into culturegeneral (addressing general issues, non-identifiable country’s culture) or culture-specific (capturing a specific country’s culture through cultural hints) based on the four elements proposed by Orton (2009), as they are expressed in the content of texts. Besides, this study also adopted Murayama’s (2000) framework on the aspect of culture and the level of culture (also implemented in Shin’s 2011 study of with Taiwanese English textbooks). The merits of this framework are that aspect of culture helps identify whose culture is represented while level of culture helps identify forms of culture. Forms of culture include big C and small c cultures (which will be further explained below) as well as the way culture is presented – either as communication-oriented or knowledge-oriented. Communication-oriented, according to Shin et al. (2011), indicates the manner in which culture is presented in the form of information exchanges involving interaction among people. In other words, texts or tasks aim to promote communication skills and intercultural competency through activities like discussion or comparing ideas are also communicationoriented (Shin et al., 2011, p. 260). Knowledge-orientation, on the contrary, is the traditional way of presenting cultural information through the presentation of facts (Shin et al., 2011, p. 263). To investigate the aspect of culture or at what level culture is represented, the study employed the categorisation of culture into the big C and small c cultures, which has been researched upon since the 1970s. The current time witnesses more specific definitions. According to Standards for Foreign Language Learning (National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project, ibid.), Big C culture includes ‘products’ and little c culture consists of ‘practices’ and ‘perspectives’. Moran (2001) subsequently adds ‘persons’ as another element of small c culture. Persons here mean real figures not figures in literary works. The difference between big C and small c culture are summarised in the table below.

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Table 1. Big C and small c culture Products Big C culture (books, tools, foods, laws, music, games) Practices small c culture (patterns of social interactions) Perspectives (meanings, attitudes, values, ideas) Persons (actions, values, beliefs) As can be seen, the Big C and small c framework allow for analysis of culture under different layers. In brief, in light of the EIL paradigm, the study relied on the two primary frameworks of visual and text analysis for data on whose and how cultures are represented in the current ELT textbooks in Vietnam.

Methods Materials The materials under study are English 10 and English 11, which are currently used for students of grade 10 and 11 across the country. The locally developed English textbooks for Vietnamese high school students included junior high school series (from English 6 to English 9), and senior high school series (English 10, 11 and 12). These series of English textbooks were under production from 2002 to 2007 and began being used in schools in 2008, following the Decree No 14/2001 TC-TTg of the Vietnamese government requiring reform in English curriculum. There are two versions of English 10, 11 and 12: the basic and advanced versions. The basic version is used at most high schools in Vietnam while the advanced set is used at high schools for the wealthy or in classes for students majoring in English at several high schools. Based on its widespread use and the fact that it is representative of locally developed curricular materials, the basic version of English 10 and English 11 were selected for this study. Each textbook has 16 units focusing on 16 topics. Each unit contains material dealing with the four macro-skills of reading, listening, speaking and writing plus a language focus section which focuses on grammar and pronunciation. The structure of each unit is a reading text followed by different tasks (comprehensions questions during the while reading stage and speaking/ writing in the post stage) and other skills. Hence, even though each macro and micro skill is presented separately, a reading text

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normally generates the integration of skills. The reading text plays the key role in each unit. It exemplifies the topic of the unit and provides the lexical, grammatical input and topics for the other three skills (Hoang, 2006). Images are inserted in each text as illustrations. To examine the presence of culture in the high school curriculum, reading texts from the two textbooks English 10 and 11 were analysed.

Culture analysis procedure This section outlines the analytic procedure applied to all the data. The procedure is composed of four stages as follows: All reading texts and images in the textbooks were analysed with text analysis and visual analysis tools. Text analysis was carried out keeping in mind: x Whether general culture or specific culture is represented x If specific culture is identified, whose culture is represented x The different forms of culture represented in the textbooks. Visual analysis looked for: x General culture or specific culture representation x Whose culture is represented x The relationship between texts and visuals. During the analysis, the text analysis was conducted first, followed by a visual analysis. The units from 1 to 16 were coded as U1 to U16.

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Analysis and discussion Culture representations in texts Table 2. Culture representations in texts in English 10

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Table 3. Culture representations in texts in English 11

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The tables of analysis on culture in texts in English 10 and English 11 have proffered four major findings: x There are both culture-general and culture-specific texts, which showcased both global and local issues. x Culture represented in texts is at Big Culture level, depicting cultural products rather than small c level of cultural perspectives and beliefs. x The pattern that the textbooks adopt is knowledge-oriented, presenting facts about a particular society, not communicationoriented. x The specific culture that the textbooks mainly capture is the main Vietnamese ethnic group, the Viet. In detail, the two textbooks mostly introduced specific rather than general culture, which can be seen in only six and four culture-general units out of 16 units in total in English 10 and 11 respectively. General culture covers such topics as technology, undersea world, conservation, music and films in English 10 and friendship, world population, nature and sources of energy in English 11. In these units no specific countries are represented and general factual information such as the history or reality of these issues is discussed across the texts. It can be seen that culture at deeper levels was not highly focused since a large coverage of content was shed for information on cultural products such as sports, places, TV programs and labour tools. In English 10 these Big C items include tea, schools, historical sights, national parks, and famous cities in the word. Similarly, English 11 exemplifies cultural artefacts such as New Year food, ornaments, competitions and wonders of the world. These pieces of information, according to Kramsch (1991), project culture from four narrow angles of 4Fs: food, facts, festivals and folklores. At a more profound layer of culture, limited information in the texts encapsulates cultural perspectives including worldviews or cultural values and beliefs. Most commonly, the textbooks manifest people’s daily activities in relation with family and community members, through which certain cultural practices are displayed and how the society is organised in a particular country. For example, Unit 8 from English 10 exhibits the activities of the villagers’ settling in houses, sending children to college/ university and the children coming back to make contribution to the place. From these details, how education is viewed and how people should act in Vietnamese society are made clear.

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Hoang, V.V. (Ed.). (2006). Tieng Anh 10 – English 10. Hanoi: Education Publisher, pp. 82-83

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As can be seen, the view on education is evident in the details “they hoped that with an education of science and technology, their children could find a way of bettering their lives”, “when they came back from college or technical high school, they introduced new farming method” and “our life have changed a lot thanks to the knowledge our children brought home”. It shows that education can bring pride and positive changes to people’s lives at individual, family and community levels. This is in accordance with long-established Vietnamese tradition which places high emphasis on knowledge (Doan, 2004). Education is seen not only as a means to acquire knowledge but to make contributions and bring satisfaction to the whole family and community. This unit, like most units in the two textbooks showcases the Vietnamese community. In English 10, eight out of 11 culture-specific texts are Vietnamese oriented; the rest three address French (Unit 3), American (Unit 15) and different countries such as Uruguay and Brazil. (Unit 14). In English 11, out of 11 culture-specific units, 4 units are local culture-based while the rest are about American (Unit 2, 3, 4), British (Unit 14), Russian (Unit 15) and Egyptian (Unit 16). The largest number of texts focus on the Vietnamese culture, followed by the American and other cultures take up a minimal share. In terms of patterns in which culture is represented, across the two textbooks the texts are displayed in the form of knowledge-oriented pattern which presents factual information rather than interaction and communication among interlocutors which are therefore facts-based rather than communication-based. To recapitulate, a large number of texts concentrate on Vietnamese culture, mostly at the level of Big C culture and modestly at deeper levels of small c culture. In terms of the manner in which culture has been treated, knowledge-orientation is the dominant pattern since in all 32 units in the two textbooks, the presentation of facts is given. There is no situation in which cross-cultural communication appears and so none in which people exchange information and simultaneously negotiate cultural differences for intercultural communication implications and cultural awareness. As a result, the culture in these textbooks is predominantly the presentation of cultural facts.

Culture representations in visuals Tables 4 and 5 demonstrate the representation of cultures in terms of how culture and whose culture are represented in visual images in both English 10 and English 11.

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Table 4. English 10 – culture in visual

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Table 5. English 11 – culture in visuals

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From Tables 4 and 5, the visuals are mostly culture-specific, picturing a particular people and country. As can be seen, in English 10, there are only four out of 16 units with unidentified culture visuals whereas the rest 12 units capture the Vietnamese community (Units 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14), French (Unit 3), American (Unit 15), Brazilian (Unit 14) and mixed cultures (Unit 12). In English 11, the trend is similar but there seemed to be less of the Vietnamese but more of American and Caucasian images. This can be seen in merely four Vietnamese-based images, two American, two Caucasian, two mixed and one Egyptian among 13 culture-specific images. Culture-general visuals are those with objects and backgrounds not specific to any country but they can be found in many parts of the world. The following example from Unit 10, English 10 illustrates this type of visual.

Hoang, V.V. (Ed.). (2006). Tieng Anh 10 – English 10. Hanoi: Education Publisher, p.104

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The participants in the photographs above, an elephant, a monkey and trees, can be found in many parts in the world; hence, it is hard to identify which country is represented and the culture as such is non-specific. In English 11, visuals sometimes represent many cultures as in Unit 15.

Hoang, V.V. (Ed.). (2006). Tieng Anh 11 – English 11. Hanoi: Education Publisher, p.166

In this photograph no single culture is represented but three composed of an American (Neil Armstrong), a Russian (Gagarin) and a Vietnamese (Pham Tuan). They are some of the first astronauts that went into space from their countries. Another finding in this textbook is the culture-specific but unidentifiable visuals which can be seen in Unit 13 and Unit 14.

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Hoang, V.V. (Ed.). (2006). Tieng Anh 11– English 11. Hanoi: Education Publisher, p.146

It can be clearly observed that Caucasian people appear in these two illustrations from their blond hair and facial features. However, from a choice of American, British, Danish culture, exactly which cannot be identified. Nevertheless a certain association is created. Especially when the text focuses on Britain, it is likely that the visuals are intended to represent British culture. The uncertainty about which culture is represented in this visual regardless of the explicit information in the text is due a mismatch between the two channels.

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The visual analytical framework was employed not only to classify visuals as culture-general or culture-specific but also to examine whether or not the visuals and texts correspond. From Table 4 and 5, it can be seen that an occasional mismatch between texts and images occurred when visuals are culture-general whereas texts are not or vice versa. In English 10, 10 out of 16 units demonstrate a match between the two for they both complement each other in presenting Vietnamese culture (U1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16), French culture (U3) and British culture (U15). They also correspond to each other in that they do not represent any specific culture when both visuals and texts – culture-general – present global issues and products such as technology, nature, and wild animals in U5, 9 and 10 respectively. Nevertheless, in the cases of U7, 12, 13, and 14 a mismatch exists. In these cases the images and texts do not convey the same cultural messages. These images mainly feature Vietnamese people, local products and venues such as a Vietnamese woman in traditional dress playing a musical instrument. In U12 and Vietnamese National Cinema Centre in U13, the texts are generally about the development of the history of music and cinema in the world respectively. In U14, the image of the Brazilian football team appears with the culture-general text about the World Cup. In English 11, the mismatch does not happen as frequently as in English 10 since it occurs in only one unit, U10. In this unit, the text is about the general topic of nature in danger while the images are restricted to one photograph of Vietnamese life. This mismatch however does not hinder or clash with the text content for it is related to the topic of the unit and can be used to elicit information from students. To sum up, an analysis of visual illustrations in English 10 and English 11 yields three findings. First, culture-specific, mostly Vietnamese culture images outweigh culture-general and other cultures explicit images, both in the sketches and photographs. Second, there are some culture-specific visuals but which specific culture is represented cannot be easily identified although it may be inferred based on the readers’ interpretation and text content. Third, there is a mismatch between the visuals and texts since the text can be about a general global topic while the photograph captures an image of a particular culture.

Concluding remarks The text and visual analytical frameworks have allowed for various findings on culture representation in English 10 and 11. Culture is embedded in the textbooks in different ways and at different layers but mostly at the big culture level. Vietnamese culture is represented widely

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across texts and visuals followed by American and other cultures. The knowledge about culture is revealed in the information-oriented rather than in the communication-oriented form; henceforth, limiting the representation of culture from different perspectives, especially from the reality of interaction among users of English. What is more, the analysis on visuals indicates that image illustrations and text co-appearing in the same unit do not always correspond to each other and display different cultures. Or in some cases, cultures in visuals cannot be easily identified exactly due to common features of appearance and background shared by people from different countries. This study examined the representation of cultures in the locally developed English textbooks, particularly English 10 and English 11 of the senior high school series. Based on the EIL paradigm and drawing on various analytical frameworks for both visuals and texts, which can be generally called semiotic analytical approach, the study has explored possible answers to the proposed research questions. Cultures are represented in the knowledge-oriented form, which display cultural facts across reading passages. Both the texts and visuals demonstrate people, artefacts and settings in a static manner not in interaction with each other. Cultures are addressed at the big Culture level, introducing cultural products such as food, entertainment, objects, and geographical details rather than small culture level, which reveals cultural values, beliefs and the worldview of a particular community. There are some texts capturing the daily activities of a person or a group of people, from which cultural practices, values and beliefs can be inferred such as the view on education, gender role in a family, community bond and New Year among many of the Vietnamese people. However, these texts take up a modest coverage across the textbooks. The findings also show that the Vietnamese culture is predominantly represented across both texts and visual illustrations in these two locally developed English 10 and 11. Regarding other cultures, America and Britain receive higher focus than other countries, most noticeably no regional (Southeast Asian) cultures are represented in the books. The study with the employment of mainly the semiotic approach made up of text and visual analytical frameworks has uncovered the representation of cultures in the currently used English textbooks at the high school level in Vietnam. Despite the differences in the use of theoretical and analytical frameworks, the current findings correspond with those in some former studies, especially those that explored local English textbooks, by Alemi and Jafari (2012), Ali Al-Issa (2005),

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Baleghizadeh and Motaheh (2010), Lee (2009), Majdzadeh (2002), Rashidi and Najafi (2010), Wu (2010) and so forth. These studies have displayed the two “extremes” existing in the current locally developed ELT materials: local culture based or American/ British culture based. This, according to Kirkpatrick (2010), should be revised. He proposes that the regional cultures need to be incorporated for the sake of integration in the area as in Southeast Asian, which is approaching 2015 of a borderless region where English is used as a lingua franca. This study hopes to contribute to the Vietnamese case that presents literature in culture in ELT materials, and propounds the semiotic approach drawing on different frameworks in light of EIL to deal with culture. In conclusion, it can be argued that there is an urgent need to revisit the current ELT textbooks in a new atmosphere where English is used to represent various cultures for intercultural communication at the local, regional and global levels.

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Rubdy, R., & Saraceni, M. (2006). Introduction. In R. Rubdy & M. Saraceni (Eds.), English in the world: Global rules, global roles (pp. 516). London: Continuum. Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sharifian, F., & Clyne, M. (2008). English as an international language: Synthesis. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics. 31(3), 36.1-36.19. Sharifian, F. (2009). English as an international language: An overview. In F. Sharifian (Ed.), English as an international language: Perspectives and pedagogical issues (pp. 1-18). Bristol, UK, Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters. —. (2011). Cultural conceptualisations and language: Theoretical framework and applications. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. —. (2013a). Cultural Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. In F. Sharifian & M. Jamarani (Eds.) Language and Intercultural Communication in the New Era (pp. 60-80). Oxford: Routledge/Taylor and Francis. —. (2013b). Globalisation and developing meta-cultural competence in learning English as an International Language. Multilingual Education 3(7), 1-11. Shin, J., Eslami, Z. R., & Chen, W.-C. (2011). Presentation of local and international culture in current international English-language teaching textbooks. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 24(3), 253-268. Smith, L. (1976). English as an international auxiliary language. RELC Journal, 7(2), 38–43. Smith, L. E. (1983). English as an international language: No room for linguistic chauvinism. In L. Smith (Ed.), Readings in English as an international language (pp. 7–11). New York: Pergamon. Widdowson, H. G. (1998). EIL: Squaring the circles. A reply. World Englishes, 17(3), 397-401. Wu, J. (2010). A content analysis of the cultural content in the EFL textbooks. Canadian Social Science, 6(5), 137-144.

CHAPTER NINE MULTI-ETHNIC DIVERSITY AND ELT MATERIALS ADAPTATION: CHALLENGES FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN MANADO MAYA WAROUW Abstract In response to the positive impact of materials adaptation highlighted by academic scholarship, this study investigates how English lecturers in Manado adapt the content of ELT materials in relation to the diverse ethnic backgrounds of their Indonesian students. This research attempts to establish the correlation between the teachers’ pedagogy in the selection of materials and the ethnic diversity of learners of English. To achieve the objective, a qualitative case study approach was employed, in which the data were collected from English lecturers using semi-structured interviews, document reviews and observations. Initial findings of this ongoing study indicate that most lecturers were aware of the importance of teaching materials adaptation for their students. Better lecturer-student interaction has created optimised understanding of how students’ multiethnic backgrounds can be acknowledged in more pronounced ways in English teaching practices. A variety of teaching strategies has also been applied to overcome the challenges which emerged in teaching and teaching material adaptation. Keywords: multiethnicity, materials adaptation, English teaching, identity. Teaching materials are an essential component of English teaching practice and are used in diversified forms across university settings in Indonesia. In my context of study, teachers’ heavy workload and the lack

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of time may account for the main reasons why textbooks (rather than teaching materials) are preferable. Using textbooks, however, is insufficient to guarantee learning outcomes. The ‘irrelevant’ cultural content of the textbooks may demotivate students to learn English (see Dinh’s study in chapter eight of this book) and, thus, may result in compromised student participation in learning activities such as group discussion and self-study. This undesirable effect of irrelevant contents of teaching materials becomes the concern of English lecturers who attempt to bridge the gap between the existing materials and their students’ background knowledge through their teaching practices. Choosing appropriate teaching resources and making content relevant to students’ interests and knowledge are becoming the key processes in teaching activities in the university especially as tertiary teachers have the freedom in deciding what teaching materials are to be used. Teachers’ influential roles in establishing the link between the role of textbooks and students as a means to make more positive results have been highlighted in an important study by Hill (2005). There are further claims that “most teachers are not creators of teaching materials but providers of good materials” (Richards, 2007, p. 260) and a good provider of the materials is “a person who can choose the appropriate component from the existing textbook, be creative with the available materials, provide additional activities and suit these activities for particular students” (Dudley-Evans & St. John, as cited in Richards, 2007, p. 260). This discourse points to the direction that most effective and relevant materials need to be suited to the student’s backgrounds and can only be produced by teachers with knowledge of their students’ profile and learning inclinations. Inspired by scholars’ perspectives on teachers’ roles in adapting materials, this chapter examines the practices of English lecturers in the English Department of Universitas Sumikola (a pseudonym) to discover their experiences when creating the connection between their teaching materials and learners of English. This study needed to be conducted in a university setting as higher education institutions are expected to provide better quality of education and, more importantly, prepare students, regardless of their socioeconomic status and ethnic backgrounds, to be more competitive in the job market. The increasing number of students of diverse ethnic backgrounds come from many areas outside Manado or North Sulawesi province to study English in a state university. This has triggered a challenge dealing with teaching materials, which have an important role in English language education when these are used for creating students’ enthusiasm and increasing students’ comprehension. The

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following part of this chapter presents the illustration of the multiethnic context in Indonesia, especially in my research setting, Manado. The explication of the concept of multiethnicity is linked to students’ backgrounds which, according to Richards (2007), should be considered as one of the influential factors in selecting and developing relevant materials for second or foreign language teaching and learning.

Ethnic dynamics in the Indonesian society Indonesia is an archipelago consisting of more than two hundred million people spread over 17,000 islands and hundreds of ethnic groups with a range of diverse languages and dialects as well as a variety of religion systems, art, medication, cuisines and many other customs. The non-homogeneity of people in Indonesia is reflected by Babcock (1982) in his notes about Sulawesi, one of the islands located in the eastern part of Indonesia. As Manado is the capital city of North Sulawesi province, the population consists of a mixture of different ethnic groups. The dominant ethnic groups in the capital of the province of North Sulawesi, Manado are Minahasans, who are overwhelmingly Christian, followed by Sangirese groups, who are also mainly Christian, and Muslim Bolaang Mongondow. Beside these three ethnic groups, there are Chinese and Arabic descent immigrants. The other ethnicities who populate this province are from Java and Gorontalo. The following figure shows that the Minahasans dominate the ethnic composition in Manado. However, the percentage of other ethnicities/ sub-ethnicities in Manado is nearly 60 per cent of the Manado population (Zainuddin, Syahra, Suprihadi, & Suhada, 2005). Since Minahasans are the major ethnic group, the cultural practices and ways of life in Manado are mainly influenced by Minahasan culture. This culture is marked by a love of food, partyING, and dancing. In contrast to the Indonesian population, which is dominated by Muslims, the Christian ideology influences religious activities in this area. Though the dynamic of life in this city is characterised by Minahasan religious and cultural practices, the heterogeneity of other ethnic cultures and customs is accepted and appreciated. While the uncomfortable feeling of being in the minority, riots or mistreatment are occasionally present in Indonesia as a result of the ethnic diversity, people in Manado generally live harmoniously, which is reflected through the motto of the local government in this region: torang samua basudara – “we are all family”.

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Ethniic composittion in Man nado Others 14.61%

Minahasa 40.17%

Jaawa 4.991%

G Gorontalo 17.31%

B Bolaang Moongondow 1.76%

Sang gir 19.75 5%

Talaud 0.48%

Tontemboan 0.86% Tonsawang 0.16%

Figure 1: Ethnnic Percentagess in Manado

Tertiaary educatiion in Manaado Being thhe establisheed state institution locate d in North Sulawesi province andd the only insstitution with a department of English lan nguage in Manado, Unniversitas Sum mikola is conssidered to be the tertiary in nstitution that can prrovide better quality educcation and, m more importaantly, can prepare the students to bee more compeetitive in the joob market. Itss strategic location, whhich is only a few minutes away a from thee middle of th he city, its state-ownedd status, and its i affordable tuition have successfully attracted students to choose this institution am mong many oother higher education e institutions. The peacefu ful interrelatio onship amonng ethnic gro oups and religious grroups in this city, as expllained in the previous secction, has added to thhe attractiveneess of this campus, resultting in the in ncreasing number of sttudents cominng from outsid de the provincce. The good reputation and a popularity y gained by th this university y also has had a posittive impact on Faculty of o Letters, eespecially thee English Department.. In the last four fo years sincce 2010, apprroximately 30 00 tertiary students whho majored in English camee not only from m the local so ociety but also from otther cities andd islands with hin the Indonnesian archipelago, and have diverse socio-econoomic and ethn nic backgrounnds. English language proficiency of the studennts varied deepending on ttheir backgrou unds and

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learning experiences. While teachers’ low English proficiencies and qualification, low salary, large class sizes and cultural barriers are listed by Dardjowidjojo (2003) as the reasons why English learners cannot achieve successful outcomes in English, the participants of my study assumed that the students from rural areas or eastern part of Indonesia have low levels of English because of financial reasons and the unequal distribution of good quality facilities for learning English. In addition, the students’ low achievement in English may be caused by the failure of past English learning experiences. The lecturers of the English Department are dominated by those who have more than 15 years of English teaching experience and a master’s degree in linguistics. In general, lecturers in the English Department have been involved in English teaching and training for both internal students and staff of Universitas Sumikola and external institution members such as the public community, school teachers and school students. For these purposes, the teaching staff of the English Department are ready to be assigned for additional roles such as teaching English for other faculties, and being involved in English related events/ programs conducted both at university level and faculty level. However, the main role of the English teacher is preparing their students to be competent in English. The qualification of most of English Department lecturers is a master’s degree in linguistics. The linguistics study is offered in the postgraduate program of the same university and run by the professors from Faculty of Letters. Although the need for knowledgeable English language teachers has emerged as a result of a recently introduced new curriculum, only a few lecturers, including myself, have chosen to study Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) or Applied Linguistics in overseas educational institutions. A degree in TESOL is not popular among the teachers because this subject has been misinterpreted as a specialised subject for the lecturers of teacher training institutes. The majority of tertiary teachers find it more convenient to continue their studies “locally”. Apparently, the teachers with a linguistic background outnumber the teachers with English teaching degree so that this situation influences the English teaching dynamics in the faculty, particularly in the teaching materials adaptation.

Conceptual Framework: Materials Adaptation This study focuses on tertiary teachers’ practices in making a connection between teaching materials and their multiethnic students. Considering the focus of this research, I have chosen to employ materials

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adaptation as a conceptual framework for this study. In this section, the advantage of using textbooks is presented and the meaning of adaptation is defined. In addition, the techniques of adaptation are provided with the explanation of how these processes can promote better teaching learning processes in a multiethnic classroom setting. The use of teaching materials is desirable regardless of the disadvantages caused by its “inadequacy, irrelevance, limitation, homogeneity, overeasiness” (Ur, 2002, p. 184). The availability of syllabus, the readiness of texts and tasks in the textbooks, and some other considerations including the economy, convenience, guidance, and autonomy factors have made textbooks favoured by teachers (Harmer, 2007; Ur, 2002). Furthermore, the sense of “continuity”, “direction”, “consistency” (Hill, 2005) supply the sense of “confidence and security” to the teachers (Hutchinson & Torres, 1994) so that teachers prefer to use textbooks in their classrooms. The popularity of textbooks is mainly influenced by their positive qualities such as promoting a better organised and smoother teaching performance as well as more effective learning. Most definitions of adaptation are dealing with the processes of matching, connecting, and changing the contents of teaching materials (McDonough & Shaw, 1993; Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2004). However, as adaptation is viewed as either preparation processes or as “on the spot” changes resulting from learners’ responses (Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2004), it can be seen as an integrated process. This integration begins at the moment teachers attempt to select their material and continues through the whole process of materials development, including the evaluation of the textbook contents and the decision to add, delete, modify, simplify, or reorder them. The purpose of adaptation itself is to create a linkage between materials and their circumstances so that the appropriateness of teaching materials can be maximised for particular classrooms in particular environments or circumstances (McDonough & Shaw, 1993; Tomlinson, 1998; McGrath, 2002). It is also believed that adaptation is done “to compensate for any intrinsic deficiencies in the material” (Madsen & Bowen, 1978, as cited in McGrath, 2002, p.64), such as “linguistic inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity” (Madsen & Bowen, 1978, as cited in McGrath, 2002, p. 64), and “lack of variety” (Tice, 1991, as cited in McGrath, 2002, p. 64). In some particular circumstances, in which the textbooks are officially mandated by government or by higher institutions (for example, the case in Jazadi’s study, 2003), or the availability of suitable textbooks is limited (as indicated in Zacharias’

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study, 2005), I conceptualise adaptation as a solution to bridging the gap between existing materials. In addition to the definition and the purpose of materials adaptation mentioned previously, Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004) list five components that usually need to be matched. These components are also related to kinds of adaptation that are termed by McDonough and Shaw (1993) as “personalizing”, “individualizing”, or “localizing” the contents. Personalising the contents is dealing with the connection made between the content and students’ “interests and their academic, educational or professional needs” (McDonough & Shaw, 1993, p.87) Individualising aims at the “learning styles both of individuals and of the members of a class working closely together” (McDonough & Shaw, 1993, p.87). Localizing considers the “geographical features” and realises that “what may work well” in certain places may not do so in other places. Of those five components, the one I want to highlight is teachers’ teaching environments, and how teaching materials need to be adapted accordingly. McDonough and Shaw (1993) state that the majority of textbooks published in the market are not prepared for the classroom with its learners’ heterogeneous ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Due to this situation, based on the definition given by McDonough and Shaw (1993), the connection that can properly be done is localising the content by using such techniques as adding, deleting, modifying, simplifying and reordering. As the students who major in English in a tertiary institution represent diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, one of the lecturer’s challenges is to provide English teaching materials that are culturally appropriate and engaging for these multiethnic background students. According to Tomlinson (1998), there are underlying ideas in ELT materials development which predominantly focus on learners. Furthermore, Richards (2007) also claims that the learners’ needs become the main objective of material developers. Thus, I emphasise that the appropriateness of the contents in the textbooks may impact on students’ understanding. Learning from these scholarly articles on ELT materials adaptation, this article explores the answers to the following questions: What challenges do teachers encounter in that process of materials adaptation? What are the implications of such practices for English teaching?

Methodology This study employed a qualitative, constructivist case study approach. This approach was chosen as I attempted to understand, interpret and explain the reality of participants’ experiences with the reliability of

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language education materials in conjunction with multiple social influences including social, cultural and economic realities. However, considering that each lecturer’s experience in preparing his or her teaching materials might be constructed differently depending on individual and contextual basis, I understand that the “construction” is not an isolated process and could not be objective. Rather than focusing only on the meaning resulting from the interaction between English educators and their textbooks, my study emphasises the participants’ subjective construction of teaching English through their adapted materials for such heterogeneous ethnic background students. In addition, such materials are likely to interact with a set of historical, socio-cultural and political factors governing Indonesian teachers and learners in their multiethnic settings together with the influences of educational policy. To reach a depth of understanding into educational materials use, it is important to map out these factors because as Stake (2005) suggested, most case studies embrace complex entities which may only be achieved as the contexts of the case are analysed in detail. To explore deeply my participants’ underlying reasons, expectations, and progress in preparing materials for their heterogeneous classrooms, I chose interviewing as the tool for data collection. This accords with Rubin and Rubin (1995, as cited in Lichtman, 2006) who view interviewing as “a great adventure” and “it brings new information and opens windows into the experiences of the people you meet” (p. 118). The participants for this study were lecturers from the English Department, Manado City University, in Manado, Indonesia, who met the criteria of professionalism, accessibility and educational background. The eight lecturers who participated in this study represent various levels of teaching experience and age groups. They evaluated the teaching materials which were used in the following English subjects: Grammar and Structure, Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

The Challenges in ELT Teaching Materials Adaptation and Pedagogical Implications In general, teaching materials used in the faculty were mostly in the form of a compilation from a variety of textbooks. The compilation of teaching materials in the department was the result of group discussions among teachers involved in team teaching of specific subjects. As soon as the teaching tasks were distributed to teachers at the beginning of the semester, the members of the team teaching discussed which topics could be included in the subjects. In this process of topic selection, the teachers

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found the freedom to choose what teaching materials that could be used in their classrooms, and the faculty was flexible in regard to their choices. My participants were aware of the challenges they faced in the process of adaptation as they were providers of suitable materials for students. In each stage of teaching preparation, my participants identified challenges which were related to their teaching tasks, teaching materials and students’ backgrounds. These challenges and their implication to teachers’ adaptation practice are presented and discussed in the following sections.

Challenge 1: Material availability and teachers’ workload The issues of availability and contemporaneity of teaching materials arose from participants’ talks during the interview. They often found difficulty in accessing diversified teaching resources with reasonable costs. The variety of books sold in the market were also limited and most learning materials contained topics that were outdated and irrelevant to the students’ interests, cultural backgrounds and knowledge. Corry, one of the participants, stated that the availability of new books in the library were usually from donations from lecturers who had studied abroad. This situation forced teachers to be creative in using whatever resources were available. Jessy, for example, adjusted the content by adopting local content in her teaching materials. But her effort was constrained by the lack of funding provided for developing materials. Since the teaching materials development was a time-consuming process, the lecturers’ workload was the main issue in the process of adaptation. As discussed in an earlier section, the deficiency of lecturers with academic knowledge in the English teaching area causes the overloaded task distribution of skill-related subjects taught by the teachers specialising in TESOL. These TESOL background teachers also have teaching commitments in linguistics and literature related subjects and at the same time they are expected to be responsible for the content selection of teaching materials and the planning for the implication of the content. Moreover, teachers have additional administrative tasks such as supporting the programs of the English department. Grace recounted her passion to provide some adapted authentic materials for her students, but she could not actualise her ideas because of her heavy workload. This was reflected in her statement below: I really like to have kind of authentic materials like newspaper, textbook, magazine that I can adapt and then give it to the student as teaching materials, but the problem is because of too much time consuming to really develop material from the text… I must take……. It’s just the problem

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here is you know, our teaching responsibilities here so much, the workload of teaching is too big and that’s why kind of difficult to deal with the productivity in terms of making their own material.

This suggests that creating teaching materials containing authentic and local values was, as stated by Jessy and Grace, a solution to the issue of teaching materials’ scarcity and irrelevancy. The use of ‘high technology media’ was also suggested by other participants. Instead of depending on the textbooks in the market, Fecky, for example, had been using the Internet to obtain materials. By using the Internet, teachers are able to take advantage of the contemporaneity of the topics which are usually more attractive and informative for the students. However, as highlighted by Corry, some students may not be able to buy or rent such supporting facilities as a laptop or a computer, or some students may have limited knowledge on how to browse or operate a computer, thus alternative strategies need to be applied to this situation. Discussion of how students’ ethnic backgrounds challenge teachers’ adaptation practices is outlined in the following section.

Challenge 2: Students’ backgrounds, learning styles and English competencies The majority of teachers of the English department have good knowledge of their students’ backgrounds. They explained that most of their students were from Sanger, Talaud, Kotamobagu, Gorontalo, Java, Sumatera, Kalimantan, Timor Leste, Maluku, Papua and Batak. This knowledge was an advantage for the purpose of teaching materials selection and adaptation, as the lecturers could identify the relevant adaptation techniques and accommodate students’ needs and preferences. In regard to the diversity of students’ ethnic backgrounds, lecturers’ professional tasks become more challenging as they were providing the best English teaching books for the students, while connecting the teaching materials to students’ ethnic background knowledge. Some participants of my study believed that there was a connection between students’ ethnic backgrounds and English learning preferences and competence. The following quotation reflects Jessy’s awareness of her students’ diverse ethnicity and her perspective of the relationship between students’ ethnic backgrounds and their preferred learning activities. I noticed here, there are many from outsiders. They are Bataknese, Chinese, yah. I can even see that the Chinese students still like working by themselves, they don’t like to group. They don’t like to share problem.

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Chapter Nine Manadonese like to work in groups, like a song or something like that. So different culture, Manadonese, Bataknese, they want to learn English, need the song, they want to have more active activities; but Chinese students, they want to have a class on memorising, they want to work individually, more individually. Irianese, they are little bit different, they are more shy, they are from villages, they are shy and they tend to be grouped together. They don’t want to mix with others. We can group them together.

From the statement above, Jessy’s students showed different preferences for language learning activities. While Manadonese and Bataknese students preferred group activities, her students with Chinese and Irianese ethnic backgrounds enjoyed the individual tasks. She stated further that Irianese students tended to work with their own ethnic group rather than mix with other ethnicities. Furthermore, Corry argued that her students’ low English competencies are related to the students’ proficiency in Indonesian language. Bahasa Indonesia is the national language of the Indonesian people and commonly used as a language of instruction in the classroom. In some cases, because of the predominant use of ethnic language in a particular ethnic group and limited interaction with people from other regions, members of this group cannot speak Indonesian proficiently. Ok, we have some students from Papua, and usually, students from Papua are not as good as the students from here, the local students that are from Manado or from Java. So far they quite umm, what is it, there’s no, also teach in Indonesia, they’re not good in Indonesian language. So it’s a problem for us to teach them, yeah, like we teach another student from other ethnicities. That’s one of the examples.

Teachers viewed the variation in students’ learning styles and levels of English competency resulting from students’ ethnic backgrounds as challenges in their daily teaching practice. Teaching English in a multiethnic classroom setting with mixed English competence and mixed learning styles required teachers’ ability in anticipating unexpected learning situations, and such anticipation was only possible if teachers had sound knowledge of their students’ background, and maintained open and continuous interaction with them. The lecturers’ interaction with their students enhanced the lecturers’ awareness of their students’ ethnic backgrounds and as a result better material selection and adaptation to suit their students’ multiethnic backgrounds was made. Teachers may gain information about their students’ characters and personalities, origins, English proficiency levels, their cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds through their teaching activities and informal, often out-of-class interactions.

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Donny, one of the teachers, explained that he was able to maintain good relationships with students through informal conversations during break times and believed that as a result he was in a better position to obtain more information about students’ backgrounds and expectations, which were essential for the modification of materials and teaching practices.

Pedagogical implications Adaptation is usually viewed as a single independent process, and is differentiated from the selection and evaluation process, but from my observation I argue that the adaptation practice shown by my participants was an ongoing process which started from the process of selection and continued with the implementation of teaching materials adaptation in the classroom. The implementation includes teaching strategies and adaptation techniques used by teachers to meet the challenges. The following paragraphs present the dynamics of university teachers’ implementation of adaptation in the English department. Teachers may interact differently with their materials as a result of their unique teaching experiences, styles, areas of expertise and weaknesses. All the teachers who participated in my study were Minahasans with a variety of educational backgrounds and various length of teaching experiences. These eight participants can be classified into influential and less influential groups, depending on their involvement and influence on the process of teaching material selection and adaptation. Within these classifications, two indicators were found. The first indicator related to how long these teachers had worked for the institution and the other one was in relation to whether they had a masters or a doctoral degree. The privilege to voice choices over topics and teaching resources was more likely to be given to the experienced lecturers with an academic degree obtained from overseas universities. Teachers with shorter teaching experience and a degree from a local institution were those who belonged to the less influential group of lecturers. However, confident junior teachers in the second category were able to commit to making more decisions than the less confident ones. In regard to teachers’ academic experience, younger lecturers ‘created’ the term ‘seniors’ to label their colleagues who had worked longer in the department. As teachers usually teach a subject together in a teaching team, which consists of a coordinator and one or more assistant lecturer(s), the decision to select topics or supporting materials cannot be separated from such practice. The senior lecturers were more authoritative in making decisions than the junior lecturers. It seemed that young lecturers were

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often hesitant to express their thoughts and ideas about what were suitable and interesting topics for their students. Such hesitation may have been caused by the culture within the Indonesian community which valued the seniority in the top hierarchy of social class. Therefore, people who belong to this class deserve the respect from the ‘juniors’. Teachers with TESOL background knowledge showed their understanding of suitable teaching methods for their multiethnic background learners. Similarly, the experienced teachers knew how to overcome the emerging challenges in the classroom. In addition, teachers’ knowledge of other ethnic groups’ culture was observed to be an advantage in the implementation of teaching strategies. Fecky, the participant who obtained his master’s degree in TESOL, applied such strategies as comparing or contrasting to explain the unfamiliar context of the books. Rephrasing sentences either by using simple English or by using Manado Malay dialect and/or Indonesian language and mixing students in discussion groups, was mentioned by Jessy and Donny as their ways of explaining the meaning. In the learning activities, Archie and Jessy preferred mixing students with different ethnic backgrounds and different levels of English proficiency into one group. Most of the adaptation techniques were applied to the content of materials, including the cultural content areas. Due to teachers’ heavy workload and lack of funds, the localisation of the content was done mostly on the spot during the teaching activities. The lecturers believed that the inclusion of ethnic cultural content through the topics in teaching materials could motivate their multiethnic students to be more engaged and active. This stimulated teachers to integrate culture into their teaching materials. However, the practice of adaptation of cultural content in the textbook is still an on-going debate. As indicated in Gray’s (2000) study, teachers intend to censor sensitive cultural topics since these might be offensive and irrelevant. However, the practice of avoiding some topics containing Politics, Alcohol, Religion, Sex, Nudity, Israel, Pork, and Smoking (colloquially referred to as ‘PARSNIPS’) is viewed as “unethical” (Phillipson, 2004, as cited in Hill, 2005). Hill (2005) declares that a textbook can be bland, incomplete and inadequate without mentioning these taboo topics. For example, discussing alcohol in a business English class might be needed since the aim of the course is to help a businessman learn how to socialise with business partners from European countries. The failure of including this might lead to the learners’ ignorance of cross-cultural differences and so the aim cannot be successfully achieved. In addition to the debate on cultural content, the more “radical” techniques are proposed by Saraceni (2003), who claims

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that introducing controversial issues can provoke learners’ ability to express their opinions. However, the inclusion of some sensitive themes for promoting intercultural understanding can only be effective in a safe and familiar classroom. In relation to the debate of which cultural values should be included in the materials, the teachers in the university were trying to localise the cultural content based on their students’ ethnic backgrounds. Some of the teachers mentioned the need for cross-cultural learning in the classroom, in which the culture of English speaking countries is introduced to their students, but they believed that the content of their materials might be unfamiliar to their students’ knowledge and so this content should be minimised. The need to censor such sensitive cultural topics as religionrelated topics was highlighted by a participant since these topics might be offensive and irrelevant to her students’ ethnic culture. Jessy stated as follows: For Indonesian context, these considerations should be taken into account since they are a very sensitive issues. Eg: Don’t use the Bible or the AlQuran to be an example in your language class activity.

While Jessy totally avoided including this topic in her teaching material, some teachers decided to keep some topics that were related to Christian religious practices. They included these topics in their teaching materials as they believed that these practices were familiar to the majority of their students.

Conclusion In summary, teaching materials availability, teachers’ heavy workload, and deficiency of funding were found to be challenges that affected teachers’ adaptation practices. In addition, students’ mixed English proficiency and variety of learning styles which were related to students’ ethnic backgrounds made the adaptation process more challenging. To overcome the challenges, teachers employed certain strategies in adaptation often idiosyncratic in nature. This practice was affected by teachers’ academic and cultural backgrounds and teaching experiences. In addition, the participants highlighted the importance of their knowledge of the students’ backgrounds and needs. Most teachers acknowledged the ethnic diversity of their students. They could identify students’ ethnicities from informal interaction with their students either inside or outside the classroom. This awareness stimulated teachers to incorporate this knowledge into their professional practice, especially in teaching material

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selection and adjustment. Understanding the ethnic backgrounds of students within the educational context in the Indonesian setting enabled teachers to be more sensitive in adapting teaching materials to engage students when learning English, and so motivate them to be more active in expressing their ideas in the classroom. Though Minahasans outnumber other ethnic population groups in the English department, the number of other ethnicities is increasing year. This has made the issue of cultural inclusion more central in this context, especially when including a range of topics in English teaching materials. This indicates that the lecturers were trying to include relevant cultural topics in their teaching materials and create culturally appropriate and engaging teaching materials for their multiethnic background students. The absence of certain cultural aspects in the materials may be caused by issues related to culturally sensitive and taboo topics, for example the topic of certain religious practices and politics. The outcomes of this study indicate that the challenges in the process of adaptation have significant implications for English language teaching. However, these findings cannot necessarily be extrapolated to other education settings. Further research needs to be conducted in different regions which have different cultural contexts from Manado to determine if there are any similarities with the outcome of this study.

References Babcock, T. G. (1982). Discussion notes: Notes on ethnic factors related to development in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, 10(1), 116-123. Gray, J. (2000). The ELT coursebook as cultural artefact: how teachers censor and adapt. ELT Journal, 54(3), 274-283. doi: 10.1093/elt/ 54.3.274. Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching (4th ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson Education. Hill, D. (2005, September). Course book blues: Marrying materials and context. Paper presented at the EA Education Conference, Australia. Hutchinson, T., & Torres, E. (1994). The textbook as agent of change. ELT Journal, 48(4), 315-328. Jazadi, I. (2003). Mandated English teaching materials and their implications to teaching and learning: The case of Indonesia. In W. A. Renandya (Ed.), Methodology and materials design in language teaching: current perceptions and practices and their implications (pp. 142-160). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.

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Lichtman, Marilyn. (2006). Qualitative research in education: A user’s guide. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. McDonough, J., & Shaw, C. (1993). Materials and methods in ELT: A teacher’s guide. Oxford, UK ; Cambridge, USA: Blackwell. McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Richards, J. C. (2007). Curriculum development in language teaching (8 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Saraceni, C. (2003). Adapting courses: A critical view. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing Materials for Language Teaching (pp. 72-85). New York: Continuum. Stake, Robert E. (2005). Qualitative case studies The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 443-466). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Tomlinson, B., & Masuhara, H. (2004). Developing language course materials. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre. Ur, P. (2002). A Course in language teaching: practice and theory (9th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zacharias, N. T. (2005). Teachers’ beliefs about internationally-published materials: A survey of tertiary English teachers in Indonesia. RELC Journal, 36(1), 23-37. doi: 10.1177/0033688205053480. Zainuddin, Dundin, Syahra, Rusydi, Suprihadi, & Suhada, M. (2005). Modal sosial dalam pengembangan budaya sipil komunitas etnik: Studi kasus di Kota Manado, Sulawesi Utara & Pekanbaru, Riau. Jakarta: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia.

CHAPTER TEN PERCEPTIONS ON EIL IN HONG KONG MANFRED WU Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the perceptions of learning English of learners and teachers in Hong Kong from the perspective of English as an International Language (EIL). Survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were administered to learners and teachers, and follow-up interviews focusing on selected EIL issues were conducted. Results indicate that learners regarded learning a foreign language as a matter of learning vocabulary, grammar and translation. While learners perceived that it is best to learn English in an English-speaking country, contrary to the findings in many existing studies, they did not regard culture learning as important. In addition, learners emphasised on the importance of excellent pronunciation and on the instrumental goals in English learning. Teachers mostly shared learners’ views on these aspects. Compared to learners, however, teachers tended to put more emphasis on culture learning but less emphasis on the importance of an ‘excellent’ accent. Findings of the follow-up interviews confirm the lack of awareness of both learners and teachers on certain key issues in EIL. Implications and suggestions for pedagogic practice for the teaching of EIL in Hong Kong are suggested. Keywords: English as an International Language, Perceptions on Language Learning, BALLI, Vocational Education, Hong Kong.

Introduction The seminal works of Kachru (1985) on the three ‘concentric circles’ of World Englishes marked a paradigm shift of EIL among TESOL researchers and practitioners in the 1980s. A lot of debates have continued since (see Jenkins, 2006; McKay, 2003; Seidlhofer, 2003; Sharifian,

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2009a). According to Sharifian (2009a: 2) for example, EIL is a paradigm that guides thinking, research and practice. It marks a paradigm shift as it emphasises on the role of English as an international and intercultural communication, rather than adopting any variety of English as the lingua franca. This shift in paradigm resulted in much resonance in the academic community. Nunn (2005) called for a re-evaluation of the traditional notion of ‘communicative competence’ which is biased towards the ‘native-speaking’ culture. According to this traditional notion, students’ own norm is regarded as inappropriate and hinders communication. This calls for a re-consideration of the goals of learning English. Because English has been denationalised, communication with native-speakers should no longer be the goal of learning English. This means that the learning of native-speaker cultures should no longer be one of the goals of English learning under the new paradigm of EIL (see also Introduction of this book). Another implication is that the current communicative approach to English teaching developed in the West is also no longer the most productive way of teaching EIL. Despite the acceptance of pluricentric models, Strevens (1992) pointed out that the two components of grammar and vocabulary are taught and learned without variation across contexts. Another widely debated issue is the norms for linguistic benchmarks in EIL learning (Sharifian, 2009b). McKay (2002; 2003) proposed nativespeaker competence should not be used as the benchmark. Jenkins (1998) has been focusing on pronunciation and concluded that native-like accent as the goal of pronunciation learning should be abandoned. However, there has not been any, or more realistically speaking, will be not any consensus on whose norms should be adopted as the benchmark. Despite a rejection of the teaching of native-speaker culture, there has been a call for a pluricentric approach that focuses on localised culture in EIL teaching (Kirkpatrick, 2007; see also Sharifian, 2009b). Other issues that are related to this recognition of the shift in paradigm of EIL include the materials to be used for EIL teaching, choice of appropriate English teachers, the tension and management of EIL practitioners in implementing EIL pedagogy (see Sharifian,2009b), to name a few. Among the different issues related to EIL, three are relevant to the focus of this chapter: x The nature of English learning and importance of culture learning x The goal of learning English x 7KHLmportance of native-speaker-based norm

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The first part of the findings introduced in this chapter is part of the findings of a larger project focusing on the perceptions of English learning of learners and teachers conducted at a vocational school in Hong Kong. The second part contains findings of follow-up interviews focusing on selected EIL issues. This chapter aims to identify implications relevant to the paradigm shift of EIL in Hong Kong related to EIL. This paper is divided into six parts. After a presentation of the sociolinguistic and contextual features of Hong Kong in relation to EIL and a review of relevant literature, the methodology and findings will be presented. These will be followed by a conclusion and implications. Pedagogical recommendations given will be centred on the teaching of EIL in Hong Kong.

Contextual information The sociolinguistic scenario of Hong Kong can be said to be unique in several aspects. To facilitate findings, it is necessary to first contextualise the socio-linguistic environment of Hong Kong in which participants of this study are located. Hong Kong, with a population of over six million, is an international centre of trade, finance and commerce. Since 98% of the Hong Kong population is Chinese, Cantonese is the predominant language in the daily life of Hong Kong people. During the colonial period, English had enjoyed the status of a privileged language as it was the major language used in the judiciary system, government, education, as well as in industry, trade, business, finance and communications (Bolton, 2002). The privilege of English in both the society and in education has remained even after the return of sovereignty, despite the promotion of the ‘trilingual biliterate’ language policy of the Government (i.e., Cantonese, Putonghua and English as spoken English, written Chinese and English as the written language) (Lau, 1995). In fact the continuing privileged role of English was confirmed through the findings of a study conducted by Evans and Green (2001). Compared to Cantonese, in the social life of most Hong Kong people, English is far from popular. In Hong Kong, Cantonese remains the language for informal intra-ethnic spoken communication, and enjoys a pre-eminent position in social and family life, employment, public life, and even in government, civil service, education, and popular culture (Lai, 2001). Although English is regarded as important by the young generation in Hong Kong, it is not really used in their daily life (Pennington, 1994).

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In Hong Kong English was first introduced in primary school almost as a ‘foreign’ language. At the secondary school level, schools have the choice of using either English or Chinese as the medium of instruction. Because of the economic and educational potential of the knowledge of English, most parents choose English-medium secondary education for their children. Parents recognise the instrumental value brought by the knowledge of English (Pang, 2003), and this attitude has continued even to present-day Hong Kong (Bolton, 2002). In the secondary system expatriate native speakers of English were introduced, although their presence was restricted to English lessons and therefore has had minimal effect (Walter & Balla, 1992). Worth mentioning too is that there is clear dominance of native-speaker-based pedagogic models in the English curriculum (Bolton, 2003; Li, 2009), with a concurrent ‘stigmatisation’ of localised Hong Kong accent in class and oral exams (Li, 2009). Tsui and Bunton (2000) found that English teachers in Hong Kong rely heavily on external study resources and widely adopt an exonormative model in their teaching.

Studies on EIL in Hong Kong The critical review in this part addresses materials related to the three foci of this study, i.e., the perception of the nature of English learning, the goals of learning English, and the roles of native-speaker-based norm, of both learners and teachers. Particular reference is given to research conducted in Hong Kong. Perceptions are important for several reasons. Studies have found that attitudes of learners on accent can affect their stereotypical assumptions (Major, Fitzmaurice, Bunta, & Balasurbramanian, 2002) and their perceptions of social status (Cargile, 1997). The former is important in the teaching of EIL because stereotypical assumptions can affect the motivation of learners on their learning of different varieties of native and non-native Englishes. The differences in social statuses learners hold might also affect their motivation. Beliefs on pronunciation have also been found to affect the teaching of EIL (Sifakis & Sougari, 2005). Language attitudes also affect the growth and decline of language variations in a society (Crismore, Ngeow, & Soo, 1996). Research focusing particularly on how beliefs affect the learning and teaching of EIL has been scant. Therefore, in this section research on beliefs on language learning conducted in Hong Kong is detailed. Peacock (1998) reported that students in Hong Kong rated error correction and grammar exercises much higher than their teachers, and in

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two subsequent studies Peacock (1999; 2001) found that students placed higher importance on vocabulary, grammar learning, and pronunciation than teachers. Wu (2008) investigated the perceptions of their English learning at the same institution as this study on students with a similar background. He reported that participants perceived the learning of vocabulary and grammar as important. In addition, excellent pronunciation was highlighted as another important aspect of English learning by the participants. In this same study, Wu (2008) reported that only 27.6% of his survey participants regarded culture learning as important. Peacock (2001), on the other hand, reported that among his teacher trainee participants, 40% regarded culture learning as an important aspect of English learning. The emphasis on excellent pronunciation, as well as the emphasis on vocabulary and grammar learning while at the same time a negligence of cultural learning are particularly relevant to EIL according to this study. The emphasis of excellent pronunciation confirms the preference of both teachers and learners in Hong Kong for native-speaker models – a strong barrier to the successful EIL learning, which will be discussed below. The heavy emphasis on vocabulary and grammar, on the other hand, coincide with Strevens’s (1990) observations. This emphasis is facilitative to EIL learning for local learners. Similarly, the negligence of cultural learning might be facilitative for local learners on EIL learning. However, since the above studies did not focus on EIL learning, no information on whether local learners and teachers support the learning of localised and other non-native cultures, as suggested by EIL advocates, is currently available. Regarding the goals of learning English, in the abovementioned study by Wu (2008), it was found that there was a prevalence of a high level of instrumental motivation. Littlewood, Liu and Yu (1996) focused on the spoken English of university students in Hong Kong and found that respondents learned English for purely practical/instrumental reasons. Similar findings have been found among English learners of different profiles in the local Hong Kong context (e.g., Balla & Pennington, 1996; Liu & Littlewood, 1997; Peacock, 2001; Richards, Tung, & Ng, 1991). Teachers, on the other hand, viewed their main goals as enabling their students to ‘pass’ examinations and to get a good job (Richards, Tung, & Ng, 1991). These goals are facilitative to EIL learning, despite the lack of information gathered in these studies on whether the goals actually include communicating with non-native in addition to native speakers. As far as perceptions on native-speaker-based norm are concerned, Li (2009) found that Chinese-English bilingual speakers in Hong Kong preferred to speak English with a ‘native-based’ accent. In an earlier study,

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Luk (1998) identified the preference of Hong Kong Secondary Three students’ of RP (Received Pronunciation) accent. Luk attributed the negative feelings towards localised Hong Kong accented English to the stigmatisation in class and oral exams as well as to the embedded prestige of the RP accent in teaching materials. Hu (2004) also reported a similar finding that mainland Chinese university students regarded British English and American English as the only two acceptable standards. As Llurda (2009) advocated, non-native speaking English teachers are in the best position to be teachers of EIL, despite the repeated pervasive view that the native speaker is the best teacher of a language. These findings are highly relevant to EIL learning. For a number of reasons, the preference for native-based accent of students imposes a strong barrier to successful EIL teaching. This preference might lower their receptiveness to other varieties of native and non-native English. The negative feelings towards localised Hong Kong accent, on the other hand, hinder the appreciation of the value of localised variety and other varieties of non-native English. This might also create resistance in the learning of localised Hong Kong culture in the English learning of local learners.

The Study This study employed both triangulations of sources and mixed data collection methods. In this study, student interviews were conducted after the student survey, while teacher interviews were conducted after the teacher survey. A series of follow-up interviews focusing particularly on certain issues in EIL were conducted with both students and teachers. Aggregate particulars of participants, instruments and procedures are given below.

Participants Students undertaking vocational education were selected as the sample for the student survey. Out of a sample of about 338 students (10 classes with about 33 students in each class), 324 participated in the student survey. 13 English teachers were randomly selected from a total of 30 English teachers for participating in the survey. Volunteers for student interviews were recruited through the English teachers. Ten students were contacted, and six agreed to participate in the interviews. Due to the small pool of teachers available, teachers who participated in the survey were also invited to be participants in the teacher interviews. Three of them agreed to participate. Altogether, six students

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and three teachers participated in the interviews, all of whom were Chinese speaking. Follow-up interviews focusing particularly on specific key issues in EIL were conducted with three students and four teachers randomly selected from the same pool for the first stage of data collection.

Instruments and procedures The first part of the student questionnaire was a Chinese-translated version of the 34-item BALLI1 (Horwitz1, 1987) designed specifically for ESL students while the second part of the student survey questionnaire contained items on background information of participants, including demographic details. The 27-item teacher BALLI was used in the teacher survey. The first part of the semi-structured student interview focused on the background information of the study, while the second part focused on perceptions on English learning. Topics for discussion were mainly around the aspects covered by BALLI. Just like the student interview, the first part of the teacher interview focused on introducing the purposes and background information of the study and part two focused on teachers’ perceptions. As mentioned, follow-up interviews were conducted after the first round interviews. The purpose of the follow-up interviews was to elicit more detailed information on three aspects that were specifically related to EIL: participants’ views on varieties of English, World Englishes and EIL learning and teaching. Each interview lasted for about 30 minutes. The researcher administered the questionnaire to the 11 selected classes at the beginning of their English lessons, with the presence of their teachers, in 20 minutes. The 13 teacher respondents completed their survey questionnaire in the presence of the researcher in about 15 minutes. All six student participants were introduced the background of the research at the beginning of each student interview. All of them agreed their interviews to be audio recorded and each interview lasted for about 30 minutes. Three teachers were invited, and all agreed to participate and to have the interviews recorded. The above procedures of data collection and principles for data analysis were also applied to the follow-up interviews, in which three students and four teachers participated.

1

I acknowledge Professor Elaine Horwitz for her kind permission of using the BALLI in this study.

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Findings and Discussions This section contains two parts: the findings of the main stage and follow-up interviews. The main stage contains quantitative findings gathered from survey questionnaires and qualitative findings from the semi-structured interviews.

Stage One Background information Among the total of 324 student survey respondents, almost all were male (303, or 97.4%), and their mean age was 20.2 (SD = 6.56). More than half of them (55%, or N=155) perceived their English proficiency to be poor, and 42.2% of them (N=119) perceived their English proficiency to be average. Most of them (94.7%, or N=268) regarded English as ‘important’ or ‘very important’. Reasons given for the importance of English proficiency included career (52.0%), English as an international language (17.3%), and the need of the Hong Kong society (14.7%). Six of them pointed out that they loved the English language and Englishspeaking culture, and that knowledge of English allowed them to become more ‘educated’ and more confident. All six student interview participants were males. All except one interview participants had been learning English for more than ten years, starting from primary school or kindergarten. One participant came from mainland China and started studying from grade Two in Hong Kong, The mother tongue of all participants was Cantonese. The ages of the six interview participants ranged from 16 to 21, with a mean age of 20 (SD = 5.90). A total of 13 teachers were surveyed, three (23.1%) were males and 10 were females. The mean year of teaching was 6.4 (SD=4.5).

Findings As mentioned, the findings of this section are a part of a larger research project. Therefore, only the findings that are related to the three foci of this chapter are detailed in this chapter. Details of the original descriptive statistics of student and teacher data can be found in Appendix A and B respectively. As suggested by Miles and Huberman (1984), the qualitative data gathered in this study were content-analysed and were put into a table. Quantitative findings were also tabulated for further comparison.

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Quantitative findings Quantitative data from the questionnaire survey show that about half of the student survey participants believed learning a foreign language was a matter of learning vocabulary, grammar and translation. Teachers, on the other hand, were quite divided in their views on whether foreign language learning was learning vocabulary and grammar. About half of the students believed it would be best to learn English in an English-speaking country. However, teachers agreed overwhelmingly that it would be best to learn a foreign language in a foreign country. Only a third of student survey respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the importance of culture learning in relation to learning to speak English, but about half of the teacher survey respondents endorsed the importance of culture learning (53.9%). A high level of motivation, particularly instrumental motivation, was displayed among the survey participants. Worthy of re-iterating too is that in the responses of background information, 17.3% of student survey participants provided the reason of English being an international language for their English learning. Similar to learners, most teacher survey participants endorsed the importance of English in Hong Kong as English proficiency increased chances for learners to get good jobs. More than half of the student survey participants endorsed the importance of excellent pronunciation in English speaking. However, only one-third of teacher survey participants valued the importance of an ‘excellent’ accent. Qualitative findings Among the six student interview participants, only Kenny (a pseudonym2) and Robert expressed their views on whether learning English was a matter of translation. Kenny regarded learning English as partly translation. Robert explained that it was unavoidable for him to translate English into Chinese because he thought in Chinese. Teachers, however, did not provide much information on this topic. All six student interview participants agreed that staying in an Englishspeaking country would be useful for different reasons such as being forced to speak English and greater opportunities for learners. Among the six of them, only Martin ignored the importance of culture learning. Each of the teacher participants had a different view regarding the nature of learning. Sandy was an advocate of culture learning, and emphasised the importance of learning how native speakers think. Peggy regarded English learning as purely the learning of culture. 2

All participant names in this chapter are pseudonyms

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Among the student interview participants, Mickey pointed out that pronunciation is important but not essential because pronunciations of different countries are different. Kenny too agreed on the importance of pronunciation. The only teacher who expressed opinions on this issue, Sandy, regarded speaking with a good accent as important because other people might think a person’s English is good because of their accent. Among the above findings, several were related to the theme of the shift of the paradigm in EIL, i.e., the focus of this study, as outlined below. Firstly, both student survey respondents and interview participants regarded English learning as a matter of learning vocabulary, grammar and translation, while teacher participants tended to disagree with this view. This finding confirms Peacock’s (1999) earlier finding mentioned above. At the same time, this finding shows that student participants adopted a more functional view of their English learning. Students’ perception of the nature of English learning coincides with Strevens’s (1992) observation. The perception of student participants that English learning is a matter of translation might be explained by the fact that most of the class time in secondary schools in Hong Kong is spent on translating textbooks into Chinese (Luke & Richards, 1982). The functional view adopted by students echoes with the shifting conceptualisation from communicative to linguistic competence in EIL (Nunn, 2005). The existence of gaps between learners and teachers in this aspect might also reflect the differences in the conceptualisation. While student participants’ perceptions were more compatible with the EIL paradigm shift, teachers seemed to have held more traditional assumptions of the native-speaker-based communicative approach in that English learning was more than just for linguistic competence. It is possible that such views originated from the fact that teachers were all trained under the traditional communicative approach. Secondly, compared to teacher participants, student survey respondents placed less emphasis on culture learning. Together these two findings provide information on the first focus of the perception on the nature of English learning and culture learning. Thirdly, the high prevalence of instrumental motivation found in this study confirms earlier findings (e.g., Lai, 2001; Pang, 2003; Wu, 2008). This finding provides details to the second focus of the aims of English learning. Findings from all the four data sources mostly indicate that both student and teacher participants perceived speaking with a good accent as important. However, around 10% of student participants and a third of teacher participants disagreed on the importance of speaking in excellent pronunciation. This mixed finding only partly confirms the observations

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and findings introduced in the literature review of a dominance of an exnormative native-speaker-based norm in their English learning. The preference for native-speaker-based accent is a possible outcome of the stigmatisation of localised Hong Kong accent in class and oral exams (Li 2009). The mixed findings provide information on the third focus of this study – the role of native-speaker-based norm.

Follow-up qualitative findings Findings from follow-up interviews consist of participants’ views on three main areas, namely varieties of English, World Englishes and EIL learning and teaching. These are briefly described as follows. All the three students interviewed, Jade, Mandy and Simon, had been studying in Hong Kong for more than ten years, they were all 17, and their mother tongue was Cantonese. All three of them were only aware of British and American English, and said that they were unaware of the Englishes of other native-speaking countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Neither did they know the differences of these Englishes as compared to the Englishes of Britain and America. The reason, as all of them mentioned, was that British and American Englishes were ‘mainstream’ English, and most people they knew spoke these two varieties of English. It is also for this reason that they thought these two varieties should be learned by all. All of them were aware of the different varieties of non-native English, especially those spoken by speakers of other Asian countries such as Japanese and Indian. Simon explained that the existence of different nonnative varieties was a natural phenomenon, because people of a country would, quite naturally, modify their English due to the influences of their own culture. All the three students held negative views on Hong Kong English. They explained that Hong Kong English contained a lot of mistakes, and people used it only for convenience, and they were not proud of their Hong Kong accent. They added that it should be avoided, because it gave a poor image of Hong Kong to people of other countries. Jade and Mandy held strong views that Hong Kong English should not be promoted. Jade was concerned Hong Kong English should be avoided because speaking Hong Kong English caused students to lose marks in examinations. This finding reflects the dominance of native-speaker-based pedagogic models (Bolton, 2003; Li, 2009) and the stigmatisation of localised Hong Kong accent in class and oral exams (Li, 2009), and clears the doubt raised in stage one of the study. Jade added that it was difficult for her, as for most

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students in Hong Kong, to avoid Hong Kong English as they were too used to using it. Among the different aspects of English learning, all three regarded intelligibility to be of primary importance. Jade thought that accuracy in grammar should not be too strictly followed. Simon, on the other hand, pointed out that one important criterion for intelligibility is that the English spoken by an individual should be understood by people ‘out of the classroom’. This finding is consistent with the function role held by students in stage one of this study. Despite holding a functioning view, student participants viewed that having a native-speaker accent is still desirable. While Jade did not provide any reason for her view, Mandy pointed out that a native accent could be understood by more people, and is therefore more desirable. The preference for a native speaking accent again confirms the previous findings on the dominance of native-speaker-based pedagogic models (Bolton, 2003; Li, 2009) and the inferior status given to localised Hong Kong accent in class and oral exams (Li, 2009). This preference is also consistent with the findings on the emphasis of accent and pronunciation gathered in stage one of this study. However, these responses show that the attitudes of Hong Kong English learners are far from ready to adopt the pluricentric approach that focuses on localised culture advocated by Kirkpatrick (2007, see also Introduction of this book) and Sharifian (2009b). On whether English should be taught by native or non-native teachers, the views of Jade, Mandy and Simon differed. Jade preferred a non-native English teacher who shares the same socio-linguistic background with her because she thought the teacher could translate English directly into Cantonese when she did not understand – a view also shared by Mandy. Simon thought that both native and non-native teachers have their own strengths – students can learn ‘pure’, correct English from a nativespeaking teacher, while a non-native teacher who shares the same sociolinguistic background with students can understand their difficulties in learning English, and is familiar and more patient with common mistakes made by them. These mixed responses, as will be shown below, are quite similar to teachers’ views. The recognition of the strengths of non-native over native English-speaking teachers by both students and teacher participants shows the compatibility of the perceptions of students and teachers with EIL and the readiness of students and teachers for EIL teaching and learning. However, this view appears to be inconsistent with the preference of students and teachers for native-like accent.

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Amongst the four teacher participants in the follow-up interviews, three were females. Two of them had two years’ teaching experiences, while the other two had about eight years. All of them held a master’s degree in TESOL or related field. All four teachers recognised the existence of different varieties of English. However, they did not show strong awareness of the differences in the different varieties of English, and did not provide too many examples on the differences between the different varieties of English. Susanna, the first teacher participant, was of the opinion that English is mostly used in written correspondence in Hong Kong. There are no major differences in the different varieties of English in terms of written materials, and therefore the varieties of English are not really a significant issue in Hong Kong she thought. More important was grammatical correctness and intelligibility. As for which variety should be adopted as the norm for English teaching in Hong Kong, all the four teachers unanimously focused on British English, mostly due to the obvious reason of the colonial history of Hong Kong. Susanna mentioned that English teachers in Hong Kong were educated under the British system, therefore, whether they liked it or not, Hong Kong students had always been taught under the British norm. She added that students nowadays were not aware that they were taught British English. The other three teacher interviewees shared this view. She and Samuel thought that the more advanced students could sometimes tell the basic differences in the different varieties of English. The other two teacher interviewees, Sharon and Tiffany, were of the opinion that all students, no matter what their level was, should be taught the basic differences between the different varieties of English. What is worth pointing out here is that their common view is that the teaching of varieties of English can only be optional, and is preferred only if resources are available. Sharon pointed out that exposing students to different varieties of English could add value to students’ learning. Regarding World Englishes, teacher participants held similar views as those on the varieties of English. They recognised the need for exposing learners to different non-native varieties of English. However, they appeared to be quite ambivalent in their views. Two of them, Susanna and Samuel thought that for learners of elementary levels, the emphasis of teaching should be on the linguistic aspects that build up learners’ communicative competence. Exposure on other non-native varieties of English is more suitable for advanced learners, such as learners studying at the tertiary level who specialise in teaching English. Samuel added that the extent to which the varieties of English and World Englishes should be included in teaching depends on the age, maturity and motivation of

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students. Sharon and Tiffany however thought that students should be exposed to different non-native varieties of English from the primary level. Regarding pronunciation none of the teacher participants, as none of the student participants, were proud of their Hong Kong accent. Susanna, Samuel and Tiffany thought that this was unavoidable and changing it was unrealistic. Sharon thought that Hong Kong English should be avoided while Tiffany argued that since the Hong Kong accent is not a ‘major variety’, Hong Kong people should not be proud of it. She pointed out that using Hong Kong accent in teaching was quite unacceptable. Indeed Samuel viewed using Hong Kong accent as a shame. Susanna was very conscious of the ‘inferiority’ of Hong Kong English – she explained that starting from primary education students’ Hong Kong accent was corrected and there was a widespread belief that candidates with more ‘native-like’ accents could impress the examiners more in public examinations. This response, again, is similar to students’ views and confirms the earlier finding of the preference of Hong Kong students for a native-accent and the perceived inferiority of Hong Kong English. Even when Sharon was doing her master’s degree, she wanted to have nativespeakers teaching her. She explained that there was no conflict in exposing students to varieties of English and achieving native-like accent. In response to the follow-up question on the perceptions of their colleagues (other English teachers), students and parents, all of them unanimously thought Hong Kong people would prefer native-like accent, which was the most recognisable indicator of good English. Sharon pointed out that there was widespread expectation of students to achieve native-like accent and fluency – a perception Chowdhury and Marlina point out in the Introduction of this volume, and which scholars, practitioners and those with vested interest groups enjoy in the superiority of native English. Regarding their strengths in teaching as non-native speakers, their responses vary. All the teacher participants except Tiffany thought that they had strengths over native-speakers in teaching English. The strengths they pointed out include understanding the difficulty in learning English as non-native speakers with Cantonese as mother tongue, having first-hand knowledge on the education system, and having experiences in learning English locally in Hong Kong. Tiffany rejected these views and considered non-native English teachers having no advantage over their native-speaker counterparts. Finally, teachers endorsed the need for EIL teaching. However, their responses reflect that their understanding of EIL was rather narrow and

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constrained. When being asked what the key elements in EIL teaching should be, all of the focused on correct grammar and intelligibility. Studies have shown that these two criteria are not pertinent goals of EIL teaching (Kirkpatrick 2007). There was also a tendency amongst the teacher interviewees in ignoring other aspects of EIL, such as recognition of Hong Kong accent and culture learning as indicated in their responses. At best, most of them regarded EIL learning as more suitable for advanced level learners, for example, those pursuing postgraduate degrees or specialising in English teaching (such as Samuel and Tiffany). Sharon added that lexical variation was acceptable, but only on the condition that it was intelligible to other speakers of English.

Conclusion and Implications Findings of this study provide evidence for the shift of the EIL paradigm in Hong Kong. The trend of adopting a more functional role of and instrumental motive in English learning, as well as the compromised emphasis given on the learning of cultures of native-speaking countries and external native-speaker-based norms are more evident among student participants compared to their teachers. Findings of follow-up interviews also show some evidence on the awareness of World Englishes, the preference for the teaching and learning of EIL, and a recognition of the strengths of non-native over native speakers of English as teachers. Student and teacher participants of this study were mostly similar in their perceptions, and findings of this study generally confirm findings of previous research conducted elsewhere. Both similarities and differences provide pedagogical implications and future research as described next. Given the low level of awareness of World Englishes found in both students and teachers in this study, more EIL elements should be incorporated in English teaching in Hong Kong. For example, teachers should introduce to students the existence of different native-speaking varieties of English, the varieties of non-native English used in the different regions of the world, recognise the status of local Hong Kong English, and de-stigmatise it by introducing the concept of ownership, a theme emphasised in the Introduction of this book. As McKay (2009) advocates, given the diversity of socio-cultural backgrounds of EIL speakers, teachers have to emphasise on communicative strategies, particularly those focused on the linguistic aspects. Hassell (1996) emphasises on the need for communication between non-native speakers of different cultural backgrounds, and regards communication between non-native speakers as cross-cultural encounters. Findings of this

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study have shown that both student participants emphasised on the functional role of their English learning. Given this lack of awareness of both the learners and teachers in Hong Kong, as reflected in the findings of this study, effective communication, particularly which focuses only on the linguistic aspects such as the core components of grammar and vocabulary suggested by Strevens (1992), should not be the primary goal of teacher education. Hassall (1996) suggests the concept of communicative capacity (adapted from Widdowson, 1983) as the true objective of EIL teaching. According to Hassall (1996), capacity is a broader concept than competence, and it includes the capacity to understand and produce varieties of English. In this study, the adoption of an exonormative native-speaker-based norm was found to be more pervasive among teachers. Therefore, there is a need for teachers to be more aware of the EIL paradigm shift and the existence of pluricentric norms. Wider promotion to teachers, such as in the form of professional seminars, should be made. Elements on EIL should also be incorporated into the teaching training curriculum. On the other hand, as Jenkins (2006) suggests, there is a need for teachers to introduce to learners other varieties of English in addition to nativespeaker-based pedagogic models. However, the discrepancy between the recognition of the strengths of non-native over native English-speaking teachers and the preference for an exonormative norm also deserves further investigation. There is a need for re-evaluating the English curriculum of Hong Kong. In line with Bamgbose (1998), Kirkpatrick (2007) advocates the implementation of a local model -in this book Dinh (Chapter Eight) and Warouw (Chapter Nine) have described the adaptation of ELT teaching materials and textbooks for local teaching. An obvious example in Hong Kong that should be re-evaluated, for example, is the NET (Native-speaker English Teacher) scheme. Jenkins (2006) in her review of the teaching of World Englishes identified several trends. Three of them are highly related to the above implications. Firstly, there has been a serious challenge to the communicative language teaching approach that is heavily biased toward Western communicative styles and mores. Two other trends that promise developments are the accommodation of teachers and learners of other varieties of English into the classroom, and the recognition of the strengths of non-native teachers (see Jenkins, 2006). Hong Kong is no longer a monolingual society. Academics and social researchers have begun to identify the number of Chinese-English bilinguals and people claiming to have knowledge of Putonghua., the

200

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increased use of English in electronic communications, and the ‘intrusion’ of English into the private domain of Hong Kong people (Bolton 2002). These trends will increase the demand of the future generations on the need for learning English as an EIL. Language planners and practitioners should therefore re-orientate themselves to this shift in paradigm and align their planning and practices to the realities of a ‘post-appropriation’ (Chowdhury & Marlina, 2014 – this volume) world.

References Balla, J. and Pennington, M. 1996. The perception of English-medium instruction by tertiary-level vocational students in Hong Kong. Education Journal 24 (1): 131-53. Bamgbose, A. 1998. Torn between the norms: innovations in world Englishes. World Englishes 17 (1): 1-14. Bolton, K. 2002. The sociolinguistics of Hong Kong and the space for Hong Kong English. In Hong Kong English: Autonomy and Creativity, ed. K. Bolton, 29-55. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. —. 2003. Chinese Englishes: A Sociolinguistic History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cargile, A. C. 1997. Attitudes toward Chinese-accented speech: An investigation in two contexts. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 16: 434-443. Crismore, Avon., Ngeow, Karen Yeok-Hwa, and Soo, Keng-Soon. 1996. Attitudes towards English in Malaysia. World Englishes 15(3): 319-35. Evans, S. and Green, C. 2001. Language in post-colonial Hong Kong. English Worldwide 22: 247-68. Hassall, P. J. 1996. ‘Where do we go from here? TEIL: a methodology.’ World Englishes 15 (3): 419-425. Horwitz, E. 1987. Surveying student beliefs about language learning. In Learner Strategies in Language Learning, ed. A. L. Wenden and J. Rubin, 119-29. London: Prentice-Hall. Hu, X. 2004. Why China English should stand alongside British, American, and the other ‘world Englishes’. English Today 20 (2): 2633. Jenkins, J. 1998. Which pronunciation norms and models for English as an International Language? ELT Journal 52 (2): 119-26. —. 2006. Current perspectives on teaching World Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly 40 (1): 157-81. Kachru, B. 1985. Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle. In English in the Word: Teaching

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and Learning the Language and Literatures, eds. R. Quirk and H. Widdowson, 11-30. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kirkpatrick, A. 2007. World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lai, M. 2001. Hong Kong students’ attitudes towards Cantonese, Putonghua and English after the change of sovereignty. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 22 (2): 112-33. Lau, C. 1995. Language of the future. South China Morning Post, 18 September, 19. Li, D. C. S. 2009. Researching non-native speakers’ views toward intelligibility and identity: Bridging the gap between moral high grounds and down-to-earth concerns. In English as an International Language, ed. F. Sharifian, 81-118. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Littlewood, W. Liu, N. F., and Yu, C. 1996. Hong Kong tertiary students’ attitudes and proficiency in spoken English. RELC Journal 27 (1): 7088. Liu, N. F. and Littlewood, W. 1997. Why do many students appear reluctant to participate in classroom learning discourse? System 25 (3): 371-84. Llurda, E. 2009. Attitudes towards English as an International Language: The pervasiveness of native models among L2 users and teachers. In English as an International Language, ed. F. Sharifian, 119-34. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Luk, S. 1998. Hong Kong students’ awareness of and reactions to accent differences. Multilingua 17 (1): 93-106. Luke, K. K. and Richards, J. C. 1982. English in Hong Kong: Status and functions. English Worldwide 3 (1): 47-64. Major, R. C., Fitzmaurice, S. F., Bunta, F., and Balasubramanian, C. 2002. The effects of nonnative accents on listening comprehension: Implications for ESL assessment. TESOL Quarterly 36: 173-190. McKay, S. 2002. Teaching English as an International Language: Rethinking Goals and Approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press. —. 2003. Toward an appropriate EIL pedagogy: Re-examining common ELT assumptions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 13 (1): 1-22. —. 2009. Pragmatics and EIL pedagogy. In English as an International Language, ed. F. Sharifian, 227-41. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Miles, M. B. and A. M. Huberman 1984. Qualitative Data Analysis. London: Sage.

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Nunn, R. 2005. Competence and teaching English as an International Language. Asian EFL Journal 7 (3): 61-74. Pang, T. T. T. 2003. Hong Kong English: A stillborn variety? English Today 19 (2): 12-18. Peacock, M. 1998. Exploring the gap between teachers’ and learners’ beliefs about “useful” activities for EFL. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 8 (2): 233-250. —. 1999. Beliefs about language learning and their relationship to proficiency. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 9 (2): 247-65. —. 2001. Pre-service ESL teachers’ beliefs about second language learning: A longitudinal study. System 29: 177-95. Pennington, M. 1994. Forces Shaping a Dual Code Society: An Interpretive Review of the Literature on Language Use and Language Attitudes in Hong Kong. Research Report, 35. Hong Kong: Department of English, City University of Hong Kong. Richards, J., Tung, P., and Ng, P. 1991. The Culture of the English Language Teacher: A Hong Kong Example. Hong Kong: Department of English, City University of Hong Kong. Seidlhofer, B. 2003. A concept of International English and related issues: from ‘real English’ to ‘realistic English’? Strasbourg: Council of Europe. Sharifian, F. 2009a. English as an International language: An overview. In English as an International Language, ed. F. Sharifian, 1-20. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. —. ed. 2009b. English as an International Language. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Sifakis, N. C. and Sougari, A. 2005. Pronunciation issues and EIL pedagogy in the periphery: A survey of Greek state school teachers’ beliefs. TESOL Quarterly 39 (3), 467-88. Strevens, P. 1992. English as an international language: Directions in the 1990s. In The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures, 2nd edn., ed. B. Kachru, 27-47. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Tsui, A. B. M. and Bunton, D. 2000. The discourse and attitudes of English language teachers in Hong Kong. World Englishes 19 (3): 287303. Walter, S. and Balla, J. 1992. English Medium of Instruction at City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, Research Report No. 17. Hong Kong: Department of English, City University of Hong Kong. Widdowson, H. G. 1983. Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Wu, M. M. F. 2008. Beliefs about language learning of Chinese ESL learners undertaking vocational education in Hong Kong. New Horizon in Education 56 (2): 1-17.

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Appendix A Descriptive Statistics of Student BALLI % Strongly disagree BALLI items Foreign language aptitude 1. It is easier for children than adults to learn a foreign language. 2. Some people have a special ability for learning foreign languages. 6. Hong Kong people are good at learning foreign languages. 10. It is easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language to learn another one. 11. People who are good at mathematics or science are not good at learning foreign languages. 16. I have a special ability for learning foreign languages. 19. Women are better than men at learning foreign languages. 30. People who speak more than one language are very intelligent. 33. Everyone can learn to speak a foreign language. The difficulty of language learning 3. Some languages are easier to learn than others. 4. English is (Pease circle one answer) (a). a very difficult language (b). a difficult language (c). a language of medium difficulty (d). an easy language (e). a very easy language 5. I believe that I will learn to speak English very well.

N

324

Strongly agree

Mean (SD)

1

2

3

4

5

3.96 (.972)

1.9

6.5

18.8

39.8

33.0

1.9

4.0

23.2

43.7

27.2

324

3.90 (.909) 3.00 (.802)

2.5

22.8

48.8

24.1

1.9

324

2.97 (.968)

6.5

24.4

38.9

25.9

4.3

19.8

32.2

33.1

10.5

4.3

19.1

45.1

29.0

5.2

1.5

12.4

19.6

41.0

18.9

8.1

323

323 324 322

2.47 (1.06) 2.25 (.878) 2.91 (1.10)

4.6

17.3

38.9

24.4

14.8

323

3.27 (1.06) 3.74 (.995)

2.5

7.7

27.9

37.5

24.5

321

3.53 (.990)

3.1

9.7

35.5

34.3

17.4

(a) 11.1

(b) 30.7

(c) 49.0

(d) 8.4

(e) .7

6.50

29.3

45.4

14.2

4.6

324

296 324

2.57 (.825) 2.81 (.920)

Perceptions on EIL in Hong Kong If someone spent one hour a day learning a language, how long would it take them to speak the language very well: (Please circle) (a). less than a year (b). 1-2 years (c). 3-5 years (d). 5-10 years (e). You can’t learn a language in 1 hour a day. 25. It is easier to speak than understand a foreign language. 34. It is easier to read and write English than to speak and understand it. The nature of language learning 8. It is necessary to know about English-speaking cultures in order to speak English. 12. It is best to learn English in an English-speaking country. 17. The most important part of learning a foreign language is learning vocabulary words. 23. The most important part of learning a foreign language is learning the grammar. 27. Learning a foreign language is different than learning other academic subjects. 28. The most important part of learning English is learning how to translate from my native language. Learning and communication strategies 7. It is important to speak English with an excellent pronunciation. 9. You shouldn’t say anything in English until you can say it correctly. 13. I enjoy practising English with the people from Englishspeaking countries I meet. 14. It’s o.k. to guess if you don’t know a word in English. 18. It is important to repeat and practice a lot.

205

15.

292 324

2.81 (1.14) 3.12 (1.02)

324

3.10 (1.09)

11.3

31.5

32.9

13.7

10.6

5.9

19.1

42.0

23.1

9.9

7.4

20.7

37.7

22.8

11.4

5.3

21.5

38.0

27.1

8.1

323

3.11 (1.01) 3.80 (1.00)

1.5

8.7

27.6

32.8

29.4

324

3.56 (.904)

2.2

7.7

36.4

39.5

14.2

324

3.59 (.888)

1.2

9.6

32.4

42.9

13.9

321

3.63 (.903)

1.6

7.8

33.3

40.8

16.5

324

3.51 (.933)

1.2

12.3

35.8

35.8

14.8

322

3.75 (.984)

1.2

10.2

25.8

37.9

24.8

320

2.53 (1.13)

19.7

32.8

29.4

11.3

6.9

4.3

13.7

42.5

27.0

12.4

3.4 2.5

9.9 8.7

34.1 35.1

36.5 38.8

16.1 14.9

321

322 323 322

3.30 (.997) 3.52 (.988) 3.55 (.933)

206 I feel timid speaking English with other people. 22. If beginning students are permitted to make errors in English, it will be difficult for them to speak correctly later on. 26. It is important to practice with audio-visual materials. Language learning motivations 20. People in Hong Kong feel that it is important to speak English. 24. I would like to learn English so that I can get to know people from English-speaking countries better. 31. I want to learn to speak English well. 32. I would like to have friends from English-speaking countries.

Chapter Ten

21.

323

3.42 (1.00)

3.1

14.2

35.0

33.1

14.6

4.3

26.0

38.1

28.5

3.1

323

3.00 (.919) 3.32 (.899)

1.5

16.4

38.7

35.0

8.4

324

4.10 (.867)

.9

3.7

16.4

42.6

36.4

3.8 0

18.2 4.0

39.8 18.2

31.0 32.1

7.2 45.7

.3

7.7

34.1

30.7

27.2

323

319 324

323

3.29 (1.92) 4.19 (.874) 3.77 (.948)

Perceptions on EIL in Hong Kong

207

Appendix B Descriptive Statistics of Teacher BALLI % Strongly disagree BALLI items Foreign language aptitude 1. It is easier for children than adults to learn a foreign language. 2. Some people are born with a special ability which helps them learn a foreign language. 26. Hong Kong people are good at learning foreign languages. 8. It is easier for someone who already speaks a foreign language to learn another one. 23. People who are good at math and science are not good at learning foreign languages. 17. Women are better than men at learning foreign languages. 25. People who speak more than one language well are very intelligent. 27. Everyone can learn to speak a foreign language. The difficulty of language learning 3. Some languages are easier to learn than others.

N

Mean (SD)

Strongly agree

1

2

3

4

5

(.93) 4.2

0%

7.7%

0%

30.8%

61.5%

(.6) 2.6

0%

0%

7.7%

69.2%

23.1%

(.92) 3.2

7.7% 0

30.8% 1

46.2% 8

15.4% 4

0% 0

(.6) 2.1

0%

7.7%

61.5%

30.8%

0%

(.54)

7.7%

76.9%

15.4%

0%

0%

(.70) 3.5

0%

23.1%

53.8%

15.4%

7.7%

(1.04)

7.7%

0%

30.8%

53.8%

7.7%

0%

0%

15.4%

38.5%

46.2%

0%

0%

23.1%

46.2%

30.8%

4.4 13

13

13 13

13

2.9 13 13

4.2 13

(.87) 4.1

13 (.7)

Chapter Ten

208 4.

The language I am planning to teach is: (Please circle) (a). a very difficult language (b). a difficult language (c). a language of medium difficulty (d). an easy language (e). a very easy language 11. If someone spent one hour a day learning a language, how long would it take him to become fluent? (Please circle) (a). less than a year (b). 1-2 years (c). 3-5 years (d). 5-10 years (e). You can’t learn a language in 1 hour a day. 18. It is easier to speak than understand a foreign language. 22. It is easier to read and write a language than to speak and understand it. The nature of language learning 6. It is necessary to know the foreign culture in order to speak a foreign language. 9. It is better to learn a foreign language in the foreign country. 12. Learning a foreign language is mostly a matter of learning a lot of new vocabulary words. 15. Learning a foreign language is mostly a matter of learning a lot of grammar rules. 19. Learning a foreign

12

13 13

3.5 (1.86)

(a) 0%

(b) 8.3%

(c) 91.7%

(d) 0%

(e) 0%

2.9 (.54) 2.3

(a) 0%

(b) 23.1%

(c) 76.9%

(d) 0%

(e) 0%

(.90) 2.4

23.1%

15.4%

53.8%

0%

7.7%

(.81)

7.7%

53.8%

30.8%

7.7%

0%

(1.13) 4.6

0%

23.1%

23.1%

38.5%

15.4%

(.67) 3.0

0%

0%

7.7%

23.1%

69.2%

(1.00) 3.1

0%

38.5%

30.8%

23.1%

7.7%

(1.14) 3.6

7.7%

30.8%

30.8%

15.4%

15.4%

13

3.5 13

13 13

13

Perceptions on EIL in Hong Kong language is different from learning other school subjects. 20. Learning another language is a matter of translating from Chinese. Learning and communication strategies 5. It’s important to speak a foreign language with an excellent accent. 7. You shouldn’t say anything in the language until you can say it correctly. 10. It’s o.k. to guess if you don’t know a word in the foreign language. 13. It’s important to repeat and practice a lot. 14. If you are allowed to make mistakes in the beginning it will be hard to get rid of them later on. 16. It’s important to practice with audiovisual materials. Language learning motivations 24. People in Hong Kong think that it is important to speak a foreign language. 21. If students learn to speak English very well, it will help them get a good job.

209

13 (.81)

0%

7.7%

30.8%

46.2%

15.4%

15.4%

61.5%

7.7%

15.4%

0%

(1.01) 1.5

7.7%

30.8%

30.8%

30.8%

0%

(.52) 4.2

53.8%

38.5%

0%

7.7%

0%

(.6) 4.3

0%

0%

15.4%

61.5%

23.1%

(.65) 2.6

0%

0%

7.7%

61.5%

30.8%

(.81)

0%

53.8%

23.1%

23.1%

0%

15.4%

30.8%

23.1%

30.8%

0%

(.50) 4.5

0%

0%

7.7%

53.8%

38.5%

(.52)

0%

0%

0%

53.8%

46.2%

2.4 13 (.92) 2.7 13

13

13

13 13

2.6 13

(1.13) 4.4

13

13

CHAPTER ELEVEN (EN) COUNTERING THE PUSH-OUT: THE CHANGING FACE OF ENGLISH TEACHING IN INDIA TODAY SUNITA MISHRA Abstract English language teaching in India has arrived at a very important turning point today. On the one hand we have increased awareness about language endangerment and the importance of teaching in the Mother Tongue in schools (Skutnabb Kangas: 2004, 1994. Sridhar, 1996). On the other, there is demand for English medium education from the marginalized sections that see English as a means of empowerment, and accessing opportunities available in the fast growing Indian economy (Ilaiah: 1996, Chandrabhan Prasad: 2010, Gopal Guru: 2011). This, along with the pressure from a fast growing Corporate, has made English language teaching in India more important than ever before. Unfortunately, however, the kind of ELT that has largely been prevalent in the Indian education system has significantly marginalized experiences and knowledge capital of many learner groups resulting in large- scale push-out. This has resulted in alienating the access factor from the disadvantaged sections, limiting the possibility of “opportunities” to the urban elite. In the recent years, however, as a response to demands from various pressure blocks and the fast changing role of English as an international language, there have been intense deliberations on issues like pedagogy and “representation” in the materials used for teaching English. Attempts too have been made to reorient the school curriculum, negotiate issues of culture and identity and take it to the disadvantaged students in a way they can accept and use it.

(En) Countering the Push-Out

211

This chapter will look into this shift in perception and the changes being attempted to negotiate new socio-political realities both at the national and international level. Specifically, it will focus on examining some important projects like the “Sarva Siksha Abhijan”, the “District Primary Educational Project” (DPEP) and the “2005 National Curriculum Framework” of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which have been instrumental in bringing about the changes. Keywords: Globalisation, ELT, power and hegemony. English in India today is at a very interesting and important turning point. On the one hand we have the unquestioned fact that it is part of the construction of an upper class /upper caste hegemony. On the other, it has been instrumental in challenging the same hegemony. Its role in the construction and sustenance of a globalised Indian economy and culture has further enhanced its importance and made it one of the important points for consideration in all debates and thinking pertaining to development, education and hegemony construction. Part of this paper will be a discussion on some of these issues. It will look into how English and English language teaching in India has always been enmeshed with questions of power, hegemony and also ways of countering the hegemony. The rest of the paper will reflect on how these factors have shaped the changing face of English and English language teaching in the fast moving society and economy of India. As has been detailed by Goward and Zhang in Chapter Thirteen of this book, English education in India began as a closing point to the debate in the East India Company on “how to spend not less than one lakh of rupees” that was stipulated in 18131. It paved way for the (in) famous Macaulay’s minutes in 1835 which decided once and for all that not only the “not less than one lakh” but many more hundreds of lakhs in the following decades would be spent to establish English education in India. At this point, if the British were motivated by hegemonic intentions, there were the Anglicists in India who thought English would genuinely be a 1

After Charles Grant became the Chairman of the East India Company, the following clause was introduced in the Charter act of 1813. …out of any surplus, which may memain of the rents, revenues and profits arising from the said territorial acquisitions…a sum of not less than one lakh rupees in each year shall be set apart and applied to the revival and improvement of literature and encouragement of the learned natives of India and the introduction and promotion of the knowledge of the sciences…(in Krishnaswamy 2006: 17)

212

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way of development. Macaulay and J.S.Mill favoured English because they thought that as a medium of mass education it would create a group of Indians who would “interpret English values to the rest of the Indian society”. They also thought of it as an instrument to keep the Indian population under ideological subjugation. However someone like Raja Rammohan Roy – an Arabic and Persian scholar along with being well versed in English – perceived it as necessary for the development of the country. To quote from his famous 1823 speech, ….It will consequently promote a more liberal and enlightened system of education, embracing Mathematics, Natural philosophy, Chemistry, Anatomy, with other useful sciences which may be accomplished with the sum proposed (Mukherjee 2001:121)

The process of establishing English in India, however, was neither easy nor smooth. Soon after independence in 1947 English got embroiled in a number of contradictory issues. On the one hand it was the language of “eternal slavery” and on the other there were views like that of C. Rajagopalachari, the first and last Indian Governor General of independent India who viewed English as “Goddess Saraswati’s2 gift to India” (Krishnaswamy 2006:110). The Radhakrishna Commission in 1949 suggested that “English should be replaced as early as practicable by an Indian language” (Hindi, in the Devnagiri3 script) but this attitude soon led to controversies between the non-Hindi and the Hindi speaking states. The official language commission in 1958 again suggested that English should be replaced by Hindi after 1965 and continue only as a subsidiary language. This had immediate repercussion as many of the non-Hindi speaking states felt that Hindi was as much a foreign language to them as English. They demanded that English be continued as the language of the Union without limit. Anti-Hindi riots broke out in 1965 in the South and finally the Centre had to concede that English would continue as the Official Associate language. This, however, was not the end of trouble. There was the Angrezi Hatao (banish English) movement in the Hindi speaking belts in 1989 and similar repercussions have surfaced intermittently. It was only in the 1990s, with the beginning of the open market in India, and the emergence of English as the International language that English education emerged as the undisputed choice.

2

Goddess Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess of knowledge and wisdom. The Devnagari script is the most commonly used script for writing Sanskrit and Hindi.

3

(En) Countering the Push-Out

213

English is important in India today not only as a “pipeline” within the country and a “window” to the rest of the world but a language of opportunity and upward social mobility in the fast growing multinational corporate. The unprecedented rise of English education began with the shift into market driven economy in the 1990s. One of the major sectors of employment in the last decade has been the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector that has generated the need for a massive workforce with a certain kind of English proficiency which focuses largely on communication skills. The workforce here is not expected to have literary or intensive language based training. They are primarily expected to be able to handle basic communication and telephonic conversation skills – giving and receiving information – and of course some ability to handle reading and writing proficiency. Apart from this, there is of course the burgeoning IT industry where being good at language skills is one of the primary requirements for upward mobility. The skills that are required here are of course more sophisticated. Employees need to be proficient in skills like “technical writing”, “interpersonal communication”, “negotiation”, “conducting meetings” and “interviews”, etc. One of the matters of concern here is that many of the aspirants into these sectors of employment belong to the weaker sections and often their exposure to English is inadequate. The institutional training given at various levels has been found to be insufficient and as the result, at least 50% of the graduates from various technological universities have been categorized by employment agencies as “unemployable”4. The primary cause for this kind of situation is probably the kinds of skills – culturally alien and unfamiliar – that are being demanded of students (especially the disadvantaged students from the weaker sections), and the difficulty they face in both accessing and acquiring them. What cannot be ignored here are ways in which “communication skills” has been defined, marketed, and the ways in which it is defining learners and learnability in turn. Robert Phillipson calls this “a shift from linguistic imperialism to communicative imperialism” (Phillipson 2009: 5). To counter this problem, there have been drastic changes in the curriculum in the recent years. Both text books and teaching pedagogy have been revamped, and Structural English teaching has been replaced by communicative language learning which focuses on skills like “telephonic conversation”, “attending interviews”, “group discussions”, “presentations”, “team work”, “role4

According to a survey made by Nasscom, the percentage of unemployable graduates in the field of Engineering education is almost 50%. Another report published in The Economic Times (7 April, 20011) says, only 25% of graduated working in IT is readily employable.

214

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plays”, “simulations’, etc. .. How effective this has been, however, remains to be evaluated. At this point it is important to note that English in India has historically been the privilege of the upper class and the upper caste. Beginning from Raja Rammohan Roy to the various commissions that were set up at various points of time, English has always empowered the already powerful, aided the construction of hegemony in Indian society. It has often been pointed out that English has been the means of keeping the society divided. To quote Madhu Kishwar one of the leading journalists today, By retaining English as the medium of elite education,… we have ensured that the schism that was deliberately created by our colonial rulers between the English educated elite and the rest of the society has grown even further and acquired deadly dimensions. (Mukherjee 2001:48 )

However, the emergence of a new middle class and the changing demography of students have brought about a significant change in the situation. English has become linked to the ambitions of the more mobile and affluent middle class. Apart from the growing corporate, the other group that has very vociferously demanded English education is the Dalits5 or the backward classes who have been denied the rights to education and other privileges for centuries. Though present in the writings of B.R.Amedker6, this debate has acquired new life in the writing of Kancha Illaiah, the Dalit Bahujan leader and Chandrabhan Prasad, the Dalit writer.7 5

The word “Dalit” can literally be translated as the “oppressed”. The Dalits are the social groups that were kept out of the Hindu caste system, treated as the untouchables but made to do the most difficult and unpleasant of tasks like manual scavenging, leather tanning, etc. 6 B.R. Ambedkar called English “the milk of lionesses” which one has to drink to become strong. 7 The Dalits’ demand for English has to be seen as a need to learn the standard variety of English which can help them achieve social mobility. This is different from the need to carve out a variety of English that can distinguish the Dalit identity. The latter can be found in the works of Dalit writers and/or their English translations (most Dalit writers prefer to write in their regional languages even now). But since the Dalits are spread across the different regions of India, they have different cultural and historical affiliations. The kind of English they would use or get translated into therefore would also vary. Given below is a sample from the translation of a novel The Untouchable Spring, written by Kalyana Rao, one of the well-known Dalit writers of Andhra Pradesh. The novel has been translated by

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Kancha Illaiah draws parallels between the Dalits in India and the Blacks in South Africa. According to him, English can become a mass language in India like South Africa. In his Buffalo Nationalism: A Critique of Spiritual Facism (2004) he says: “In India, English is spoken by the so called highly educated class. We get a feeling that it is their language”. But after his Durban visit during the U.N. conference on racism, he realized that English could become not only a Black but a Black nationalist language. And he feels that in the Indian context too “it can become a mass language”(Illaiah 2004:169). Chandrabhan Prasad, the Dalit writer, gives this issue an interesting twist. On October 25 2006, during the celebrations of Macaulay’s birthday, he unveiled the painting of “English, the Dalit Goddess”, made by Shant Swaroop Baudha, a Dalit artist. He argues that English education can contribute to the socio-cultural and economic growth of the Dalits and enable them to act as empowered subjects. He says: “For complete emancipation, Dalit/Adivasi parents ought to give English education to their children at all costs – if necessary work more hours, borrow money, sell jewellery, even mortgage property.” (Prasad: English, the goddess). In an interview given to a journalist Sheela Bhatt he further says: The English speaking Dalit will not be made a sweeper or a cleaner of toilets. Good knowledge of English will emancipate him and give him leverage to liberate himself from traditional occupations. (Bhatt 2007)

All these factors have contributed to a staggering rise in the demand for English education in India. According to a report on school enrolment published by National University of Planning and Administration (NUEPA), English is the second largest medium of instruction in India. It says: The last eight years have seen a staggering rise in the number of children studying in the English medium schools across the country. During 201011, the number of children enrolled in English medium schools from class I to VIII has crossed the two crore mark – a 274% rise since 2003-01. (The Times of India March 2, 2012) Alladi Uma and M.Sridhar, well known for their translations from Telugu to English. After eating the kernels, he would go towards the ridges in the fields. He would string thin snail shells with palm withes into a necklace. If he shook the necklace rhythmically, it would sound just like water rolling down. He would keep the necklace near crab holes and make a sound. The crabs would think water was entering the holes and come up… (Rao 2010: 24)

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It has generally been argued that this situation is largely because of the increased size of the middle class and the simultaneous increase in the number of English knowing bilinguals. Some social scientists see this as a positive movement (Viniti Vaish 2009, Hannum and Fuller 2006, Fishman 1998). They see it as process that has positively impacted the economic process, and even resulted in access to the linguistic capital of English. In the present accelerated need for English, many schools feel that grade 5 or 6 (the desirable grade stipulated by the Three language formula8 for the regional medium government schools) for the beginning of English is rather late. Most states in India (about 26) have introduced English in government schools as a language from class one and many others have introduced it in either class three or five. According to one report, in Andhra Pradesh many schools which have Telugu (the local language) as the medium of instruction, would prefer to change their affiliation to CBSE9 education and become full-fledged English medium schools (Cited in Meganathan 2009: 4). In fact research shows that many lower middle class families in India would prefer to educate their children in English medium schools in spite of financial constraints. A study conducted by David Faust and Richa Nair in the Hindi belt of India shows that most people from the lower middle class would prefer to have their children in English medium schools to make sure they do not face the discrimination and humiliation they faced for not knowing English. This study says, “The testimonies of these people shows the symbolic and material power that comes from English medium education, and the manner in which those

8 The three language formula suggests that in school students should be taught in at least three languages and by the time they pass out, they should have adequate knowledge of these languages. It also stresses on the fact that the language should be taught for at least three years continuously to ensure proficiency. This formula has been enforced on the State run Government schools. It includes the learning of one modern Indian language (one of the Southern languages in the Hindi-speaking belt and Hindi in the non-Hindi-speaking States), the regional language and of course, English. As recommended by the NCF, this has been done to “foster bilingualism and multilingualism, improve cognitive growth, social tolerance, divergent thinking and scholastic achievement”. 9 CBSE, Central Board of Secondary Education is an all India organization “constituted to be responsive to the educational needs of those students whose parents were employed in the central government and had frequently transferable jobs. Now, of course, it is one of the most popular Boards of Education with more than 12500 schools affiliated to it across the country. Its primary job is to prescribe conditions of examination, conduct public examinations for classes X and XII and also grant qualifying certificates to successful candidates of the affiliated schools.

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who do not speak English experience social marginalization and disenfranchisement” (Faust and Richa 2001: 2880). What cannot be ignored in this process are the pain and the conflict of identities it often generates in many. Given below is an account of a rural student learning English. For me, (that school) was a prison. Nothing could provide a more shocking contrast to my home and the familial relationships, my neighbourhood, the kids I played with and the people I was attached to. As soon as I started going there, I lost my voice. Yet, ironically, when I grew up, it gave me choices that I could have never dreamed of had I not been educated in that school. (Faust and Richa 2001: 2881)

Though necessary in some ways, this kind of development can be seen as lopsided and even harmful for the society in the long run. And in spite of all the “goods” of English education it cannot be denied that it has created serious rift in the society between the techno managerial elite and the common masses, the majority. Though unavoidable in many ways, English education has been responsible for the construction of hegemonies, legitimizing hierarchies and inequalities in the society. In fact, studies have shown that English education has not only created chasms in the society but also caused the disappearance of many languages from the formal education system. As Srinivas Rao points out, according to the Sixth All India Educational Survey conducted by the NCERT(National Council for educational research and training) in 1995, the number of languages used in schools in 1973 was 67 but it came down to 41 in 1993. The report shows that in a span of 20 years almost 25 languages have disappeared from the school system. What this implies is that more children have been pushed to learn in a language that is not their “home language” even during the beginning years of their education. It is ironic that in spite of overwhelming evidence supporting the early education of children in their mother tongue (Cummings 1991, 1999), Indian mainstream schooling has been moving firmly and steadily towards “English only” education system or at the most a bilingual learning situation. But in spite of increased access and a growing demand for English, it still remains to be the language of the very few. This eventually would mean that opportunities and scope for development also will remain the privilege of the few. The National Knowledge Commission (2007) brings out this paradox. It says: There is an irony in the situation. English has been part of our education system for more than a century. Yet English is beyond the reach of most of our young people, which make for highly unequal access. Indeed, even

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This factor gets highlighted by the fact that the drop-out rate in India continues to be high. And the students dropping out belong to the weaker sections of the society. Even among the students who continue education, English remains one of the primary concerns for anxiety. A study done by A.N. Reddy and Santa Sinha shows that out of more than 27 million children in India who joined school in class I in 1993, only 10 million reached class X. This is about 37% of those who entered the school system. In more than half the states, only 30% of children reached class X. (Reddy and Sinha 2010: 3 ) The same study shows that apart from poverty and lack of social and institutional support, one main factor responsible for drop out is the feeling that the curriculum is irrelevant and uninteresting. This is largely because the material used, the classroom pedagogy, the evaluation system and even the privileged knowledge capital largely favour the middle class/upper middleclass urban students and alienate the rural poor. Needless to say, English continues to be one of the crucial factors for both – moving towards a post-globalised India and making available the advantages of this economy to the weaker sections of our society. The next part of the paper will discuss some of the moves made in this direction with regard to the teaching of English in India.

Position Paper on Teaching of English—2005 NCERT The Position Paper on Teaching of English—2005 by NCERT (National Council of Education Research and Training) is one of the major documents in present day India which addresses the issue of equitable and modern education in schools. It is basically a set of guidelines for teaching at the primary, secondary and higher secondary level. Specifically, it recommends changes in four major areas of the school curriculum. i.e., Language, Mathematics, Science and Social sciences. The deliberations in this document recognize the importance of English as an international language, as a language through which the texture of global culture and economy is undergoing radical changes. But it also addresses the need for Indian society to retain its multilingual character and allow children to grow up securely and confidently in the linguistic and cultural setup that is their own. It states, “The multilingual

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character of Indian society should be seen as a resource to promote multilingual proficiency in every child, which includes proficiency in English” (IX). Interestingly, it describes English as “a global language in a multilingual country. It recognizes that English is a symbol of “people’s aspirations for quality in education and a fuller participation in National and International life”. However, it also vehemently puts forth the view that “English does not stand alone… It has to be appropriately placed along with other Indian Languages”. With this motto as its prime concern, it seeks to strengthen the three language formula and suggests that multilingualism, which is the inherent characteristic of every Indian classroom, has to be used as a resource; language barriers have to be broken; and transfer of skills from one language to the other has to be encouraged (Position Paper on Teaching of English 2005:14). This, the report says, can be done by providing an “input rich environment”, adopting means like the “Interactive Radio Instruction” and the “Taskbased communicational approach”. In most learning situations, especially in the rural and the less developed areas, the teacher and the classroom happen to be the only source of input. Therefore the Position paper stresses on improving teacher proficiency through regular teacher training programmes. This, it suggests, should be “addressed urgently”. In spite of the NCF 2005 guidelines, the English curriculum of the Central boards like the CBSE has remained primarily Eurocentric. But there has been significant change in the English text books of some of the State boards. The text books of the Tamil Nadu state board, for example, developed post 2005 are much more inclusive in terms of class and gender, and carry a strong flavour of the local culture and sensitivities. In these text books, the language too is moulded into a variety of Indian English that represents the known and the familiar. Many of the lessons in these textbooks significantly focus on marginalized experiences and different childhoods that are not generally part of the “normative”.10 10

In spite of vast differences in culture, the English that gets reflected in the textbooks of various states adheres to predominant features of Indian English. The primary differences in the Englishes we find in India are variations in pronunciation. Given below is an extract from one of the lessons of the Tamil Nadu State board text books, titled “The Boatman”: Any time now, the sun would pierce the blue grey of the dawn sky and the pale moon would fade away. It was Aditya’s favourite time of the day. He took a deep breath, cupped a handful of cold river water and let it down his throat. Fish nibbled at his feet. He untied his small boat and pulled it towards the water. He heard the call of the calf from his village and the reassuring answer of his mother. He sat on a wooden plank in his boat

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The District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) The DPEP, launched in 1994 with the help of World Bank funding, focused on Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (Education for all). The programme was primarily aimed at making education inclusive, expanding the confines of institutional education to the weaker and the deprived sections. As part of this programme, text books and other learning materials were developed centrally in each state. In this programme special care was taken to create gender sensitivity in the education system and teaching material was consciously developed to free the girl child from images of domesticity. Though this programme took care to revamp all the subjects, English and Social sciences were specifically looked at and attempts were made to strengthen skill sets and equip students from the weaker sections to successfully join the mainstream. English Language Teaching, as we have seen, has a very ambivalent position in India today. It is wanted and there is a massive demand for it as an international language, the language of opportunity. But at the same time there are equally strong voices concerned with learning the home language, the problems of reaching English to the weaker students, and the chasm English is creating between the English educated “literate” and the “illiterates”. The primary reason for this is perhaps the kind of English that is taught in India and the way it is taught. English language teaching, especially in third world countries like India, cannot be looked at without considering the colonial baggage it carries. ELT was not something that was produced in Europe and then exported to the colonies. As Pennycook (1998) puts it, “it was also produced by that voyage” (19). India, in fact, was the experimental ground for Michael West’s Reading theory” and the “Essential service list” for teaching vocabulary to L2 learners – experiments that eventually evolved into major theories of English language teaching. Unfortunately in India, ELT has largely remained very much the way it had evolved in the late nineteenth century. Apart from changes in the themes being discussed, inclusion of more Indian contexts and authors or exercises encouraging communicative tasks, there has been very little attempt to alter the ideological slant of the discipline or relocate it for the vastly altered demography of students wanting English. The methods and the materials have remained predominantly Euro-American centric, ideologically marginalizing the majority, creating conflict with their identity and self – esteem. It is in the NCF (National Curriculum waiting for his first customer. (English Standard VI Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation)

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Framework) 2005 and the Position Paper Teaching of English—2005 that for the first time we find voices seeking a major change in the kind of English that is to be taught in country – not only because of the importance of English as the international language but also because of the ways it is linked with the ambitions and possibilities of upward mobility of a majority of the population. This is evident in the “Foreword” of NCF written by Yash Pal, the former Chairperson of University Grants Commission. All this (the wide spread discussions) is accompanied by frequent reminders that specificities matter, that the mother tongue is a critical conduit, that social, economic and ethnic backgrounds are important for enabling children to construct their own knowledge…I was struck by the frequency of words like ‘pluralism’, ‘equity’ and ‘equality’ during our discussions. I do not believe that they are part of a political rhetoric, because we talked very little politics in our extensive discussions. I believe this came about because we were led to a conviction that our strength lies in the presently deprived three-fourths of our people. Marrying their socially acquired competences and skills with academic pursuits in our educational institutions would lead to a special flowering of talent and skills. (National Curriculum Framework 2005: IV)

The NCF 2005 vision has been instrumental in changing the school curriculum of some States. In these text books we find attempts to make English Language Teaching more inclusive, factoring in the knowledge capital of students coming from the margins. Adapting the interactive taskbased approach and making communication skills training more intensive is evident in the recent curricular changes of the mainstream too. Also significant are the experiments being carried out by smaller groups (NGOs like Ekalavya) to bring in multilingual education, introduce or mould material that would complement the belief structure of the marginalised, experiment with pedagogy and ensure that these students join and compete with the mainstream successfully. Similar experiments have been reported in other chapters in this book. Warouw, for example, in Chapter Nine talks of how English teachers in Manado modified material to suit the diverse ethnic backgrounds of Indonesian students. Hopefully, the results of these experiments will impact the mainstream and English language education will cater to international demands and simultaneously ensure that the students at the margins get equal space and opportunity to benefit from a “post- globalised India”.

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References Bhatt, Sheela 2007. “Indian Languages Carry the Legacy of Caste.” March5, 2007. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/mar/05inter.htm. Last visited on 6 June, 2012. Cummins, J. (1991) Interdependence of first- and second-language proficiency in bilingual children. In Bialystok, E. (ed), Language Processing in Bilingual Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. English, Standard VI . Tamil Nadu Book Corporation. Directorate of Teacher Education Research and Training. Chennai: Tamil Nadu Text Book Corporation, 2010. Faust, David and Richa Nagar. 2001.Politics of Development in Postcolonial India: English-Medium Education and social fracturing. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol.36, No.30. Illaiah, Kancha. 2004. Buffalo Nationalism: A Critique of Spiritual Facism. Kolkata: Samya. Krishnaswamy, N. 2006. The Story of English In India. New Delhi, CUP, Foundation books. Mukherjee, Alok K.2009. This Gift of English: English education and the formation of Alternative Hegemonies in India. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Limited. Meghanathan, Rama. 2009. English Language education in Rural Schools of India: The Situation, the Policy and the Curriculum. October 30, 2009, http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/rama-meganathan/english -language-education-rural-schools-india-situation-policy-curriculum. Last visited 6 June, 2012. National Knowledge Commission . 2007. New Delhi: India. NCERT. 2005 National Curriculum Framework—2005. New Delhi: India. —. 2005. National focus Group Position Paper on Teaching of English. New Delhi: India. Pennycook, Alastair, 1998. English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge. Phillipson, Robert. 2009. Linguistic Imperialism Continued. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan Private Limited. Prasad, Chandra Bhan. 2006. English, the goddess. http://indianchristians. in/news/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=1093. Last visited 29 September, 2012. Reddy, A.N. and Shantha Sinha. 2010. School Dropouts or Pushouts: Overcoming Barriers for the right to Education. Research Monograph

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of Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity. National University of National Planning and Administration. Rao, Kalyan, G. 2010. The Untouchable Spring. (Tr Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar) New Delhi: Orient Blackwan. Srinivas, Rao. 2008. India’s language Debates and Education of Linguistic Minorities. Economic and Political weekly. September 6, 2008.

CHAPTER TWELVE IDENTITY AND COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE: VIETNAMESE STUDENTS’ L2 EXPERIENCES IN THE UK DUNG GREER, THUY LINH LE AND TOM FARNHILL Abstract Advancing the ‘social turn’ in Second Language Acquisition research requires further research exploring the relationship between identity and second language (L2) acquisition in different contexts and with different groups of L2 learners. In this study, identities considered most relevant to L2 learning and communication are identified and understood among a group of Vietnamese students in London. A mixed methods approach – combining focus group interviews and self-completed diaries – is endorsed as an effective strategy for capturing and understanding such relationships. Data were collected from 14 postgraduate Vietnamese students in UK higher education establishments over a period of 12 weeks. Participants were required to keep daily structured diaries and attend monthly focus group interviews. This study utilises Norton’s definition of social identity, Barna’s definition of communicative competence and Giles and Byrne’s Intergroup Model to understand how ‘identity’ is implicated in shaping participants’ L2 interaction experiences and their L2 communicative competence. In particular, this chapter examines the sense of communicative competence the frequency of L2 interactions, the management of stumbling blocks in communication, self-identification in relations to groups, and the power relations in social interactions. The findings confirm the relationship

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between ‘identity’ and both the patterning of social interactions and communicative competence. Keywords: Identity, communicative competence, second language acquisition, power relations.

Introduction In response to Block’s (2007) call for further research on the importance of social identity to the second language (L2) acquisition process – in different contexts and with different groups of L2 learners – this chapter focuses on establishing whether social interactions influence the L2 acquisition process for postgraduate students in a study abroad (SA)/naturalistic context. It investigates the L2 learning experiences of a group of Vietnamese postgraduate students in the UK and utilises Norton’s (2000) theory of power relations and Barna’s (1998) six stumbling blocks to understand the extent to which social interactions impact their intercultural communicative competence. Investigating the impact of identities on L2 proficiency also means examining the impact of identities on intercultural communicative competence. The social turn in second language acquisition (SLA) theory is growing in importance, however, there is widespread confusion in terms of defining what is meant by ‘identity’ and identifying types of identity that are most likely to impact on SLA. Overall, significantly more research on identity is needed to establish its explanatory power, and to evaluate this vis-à-vis other (perhaps more traditional) factors assumed to affect the SLA process. Cruz’s research (Chapter Two of this book) looks at the need for diversifying studies in second language acquisition by emphasising meaning through negotiation rather than subscribing to typical norms in ELT classrooms. This chapter, in contrast, explores themes of power relations and self-identification within a group of Vietnamese learners in the UK to explain variations in how they interact with native and nonnative speakers of English. The chapter shows that their low L2 communicative competence can be attributed to the limited social interactions they experienced whilst living in the UK. The following can therefore be positioned as part of a steadily growing body of literature seeking to ‘nudge’ the social turn along and is focused on the SLA experiences of a small cohort of postgraduate Vietnamese students in two cities in the North of England, UK. It is part of wider research which, it is hoped, will benefit both Vietnamese students in the

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UK and generally international students in SA contexts to improve their communication experiences in a Target Language (TL) environment. What follows constitutes part of a wider research project exploring the contribution of L2 learners’ identity in their experience of L2 communication: in particular, how language learners’ identities and social roles impact their efforts to access opportunities to improve their L2 in a native TL environment. Improvements in L2 speaking and listening skills are here measured in terms of how successful participants judge their communication in the English language to be – how competent participants believe they are as communicators in an intercultural context.

‘Identity’ as utilised in the research Our research maintains that the identities of L2 learners in SA contexts influence the types of L2 interactions that they have. L2 learners bring with them certain identities, but new ones – wanted and unwanted, adopted and ascribed – may also be formed during the SA experience. These identities shape both the quantity and quality of learners’ L2 experiences. This, in turn, may influence L2 learners’ behaviours; how they make sense of and adapt to L2 encounters and, ultimately, their L2 communicative competence. This can be conceptualised as a three-stage model of SLA, crudely comprising inputs (identities), L2 encounters (quality and quantity) and outcomes (L2 communicative competence). However, the relationships between these stages are iterative. Identities may influence encounters, but certain encounters may also contribute to identity reconstruction. Similarly, certain aspects of L2 interaction may be associated with positive or negative communicative competence outcomes; however the precise outcome is likely to be influenced by individual factors including those linked to motivation, expectations and personality. Before presenting this study it is important to understand the concept of ‘identity’ used in the research and the theoretical frameworks utilised to understand the data.

Defining social identity We find Norton’s (2000) definition of social identity as “the relationship between the individual and larger social world as mediated through institutions such as families, schools, workplaces, social services and law courts” (p.19) helpful. We are also persuaded by Norton’s insistence that identity must be considered a dynamic concept; one that can change over time and which varies from one social context to another

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and/or when subjected to shifts in personal disposition. Our interpretation of identity is that it is the way a person views themselves, and which is socially and culturally constructed, vulnerable to change over time, and shaped by the particularities of community and experience. It follows, then, that Norton’s (2000) definition of social identity is focused on understanding tensions between people at the micro level of daily interactions, which are characterised by asymmetries of power including unequal access to symbolic and material resources. A social interaction is therefore a negotiation between people and embraces context (the ‘frame’ in which the interaction is occurring), conduct (how interlocutors interact) and content (the subject of what is negotiated). Social interactions therefore exist at daily micro levels such as a simple transaction in a shop or a small talk with strangers at a bus stop etc. Social interactions also exist at a macro level manifested through the unequal distribution of power relations, which is further discussed below.

Intergroup Model The native speaker (NS) – non-native speaker (NNS) nexus – and its relevance to intercultural communicative competence is also implicated in the SLA process. Giles and Byrnes’ (1982) Intergroup theory is considered particularly relevant. They investigate the relationship between a learners’ language group and the TL (Target Language) group. Intergroup Theory sees the interaction between groups of learners and those of the TL as dynamic. This dynamism is strongest between groups possessing different ethnolinguistic identities. Giles and Byrne see ethnolinguistic convergence as progressively related to social integration and L2 proficiency but is also highly contingent or influenced, for example, by the presence, accessibility and integrationist behaviour of L1 cultural/linguistic support networks.

Stumbling blocks in communication Barna (1998) identified six practical ‘stumbling blocks’ in intercultural communication which help to explain the ‘struggle’ that someone from a different culture may encounter and reinforce the view that the SLA process (in SA contexts) has a social dimension and is about more than just vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The first is an ‘assumption of similarities’. Barna argues that we easily fall into making assumptions that others are the same as us, that we have similar social, psychological and biological conditions and needs and that we see and understand epiphenomena in the same way. In fact, we are

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heavily conditioned by the culture we have been brought up in. Unless it is recognised that people are different, communication with people from different cultures is problematic. The second and third stumbling blocks are linguistic ones, or in Barna’s terms: language differences and nonverbal misinterpretations. Miscommunication attributed to differences between the L1 and L2 is, of course, unsurprising, and proficiency in and knowledge of the lingua franca is important in many cultural encounters (see, for example, Roshid’s study in Chapter Three of this book). However, Barna does not privilege either of these, which implies that he does not believe learning the TL or understanding nonverbal cues are determinants of success in intercultural communication. The fourth stumbling block concerns the preconceptions and stereotypes that we might hold and espouse. In the context of this research, stereotypes refer to the beliefs that people from different cultures have of one another. Stereotypes are considered a stumbling block for communicators because they interfere with objective thinking. Stereotypes exist because we all possess and construct shorthand preconceptions of people from different cultures and evaluate their behaviour accordingly. The fifth stumbling block is the ‘tendency to evaluate’. People tend to agree or disagree with others’ statements and actions rather than trying to comprehend and ‘make sense’ of what they do from the actors’ own perspectives. This tendency to judge acts as a barrier, preventing an open mind towards others’ behaviours and attitudes. The last obstacle is termed ‘high anxiety’ (tension or stress). This is a natural feeling for most when people from different cultures attempt to communicate. This is common and should be kept under control, so as not to ‘get in the way’ of communication. This study generated significant amounts of qualitative data which were interrogated (using content analysis) to marry participants’ statements to particular stumbling blocks, thus identifying the presence/absence of each stumbling block and their impact on participants’ L2 experiences.

Identity and L2 communicative competence in SA contexts Researchers have attempted to chart the types of identities that emerge over time in SA contexts and their impact on L2 communicative competence. Lantolf (2000) and Trueba (1989) for example emphasise challenges associated with one’s sense of identity and identification upon moving from one country and culture to another. Studying abroad

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generally presents international students with certain psychological, social, economic and cultural challenges and opportunities which they must encounter and navigate. Wilkinson (2002) looks at how identity is manifested in teacher-student relations. His research describes how participants feel when they are seen as learners (or rather inexpert speakers of the target language) not only in the classroom but also with host families and strangers in public areas. Being corrected by interlocutors, no matter how respectfully, still resulted in participants losing faith and subsequently performing to a lower standard. Indeed, Wilkinson (2002) concludes that identifying identitybased obstacles to L2 proficiency in SA contexts seems to be easier than identifying the benefits. Acton and Walker de Felix (1986), Laubscher (1994), Bacon (1995), Wilkinson (1998b) and Isabelli-Garcia (2006) have examined possible ‘stages’ that SA participants go through. In her study, Isabelli-Garcia (2006) was interested in whether or not four Americans on an SA programme in Argentina were able to join the established speech communities and build up social networks (Milroy, 1987) in their host environment. In general, her participants continued to project a superior American national identity (towards the TL speakers). Counter-intuitively, the SA experience enhanced affiliation to an inherited national identity, as opposed to the development of greater intercultural sensitivity. Mismatches in expectation and perception between TL speakers and L2 learners may also influence the quality and quantity of L2 interactions in SA contexts. Boxer (2002, p.179) studied cross-cultural gate-keeping encounters in an American university context. She based her study on the theories of Gemeinschaft (membership of a society through birth) and Gesellschaft (instrumental relationships not merely based on common history or background) developed by Scollon and Scollon (1995). The research focused on the face-to-face communication between international students and two staff members who worked in the International Program Office in the university. Boxer (2002) concluded that the work of staff members in the university was not enough to promote “relational talk and gate opening” (p. 204). Students failed to recognise and take advantage of the opportunities even when the staff attempted small talk or used terms of endearment because there was a lack of knowledge on the part of students regarding how to engage effectively with their interlocutors. The staff, on the other hand, were considered to have judged the students too ‘harshly’. International students, having passed TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to enter an American university were expected to understand the norms and rules of interactions in America. If they failed to do so, it

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was considered the students’ own ‘fault’ because, as one staff member commented, “they are not mixed enough with Americans”. Boxer states that ESL teachers agree that passing TOEFL tests with a score of 550 or 600 (out of 750) does not necessarily mean a student can understand bureaucratic detail and immigration laws. In short, there was a ‘disconnect’ between the staff’s intentions/ perceptions and students’ perceptions/reactions. The experiences of the international students in Boxer’s research are evidence of how students have to ‘struggle’ even in a university setting which is considered to have relatively favourable conditions facilitating effective communication with TL speakers (staff members). Our research confirms the impact of various psychological, social, economic and cultural factors influencing L2 learners’ progress and reinforces the view that second language acquisition – even when performed in naturalistic and immersive contexts – is a contingent process.

The Study This study employed a mixed methods strategy which included both self-completed diaries and a series of focus group interviews. The triangulation of diary and focus group data was attempted to validate the reliability of data collected from the diaries and interviews in themselves. Pilot focus groups were conducted at two different locations in the UK over a period of four months. The data collected from the pilot focus groups were used to inform the process of designing a semi-structured diary for participants to complete each day for the duration of the study. The diary was then piloted after six months. The findings from the pilot studies suggested that diary and focus group interviews were effective tools for collecting data capable of addressing the research aims. The highly structured diary template and interview agenda were reviewed and amended in accordance with feedback received from the pilots in preparation for the main study. The main study (diary) was conducted over three months, interspersed by focus groups which were held regularly over several months. The highly structured/guided diaries were in the format of daily questionnaires, which were used to collect information on participants’ experience of communicating in English. The variables were: 1) how long participants spoke English; 2) who they spoke English with; 3) types of interactions; and 4) how they rated the experience. There was also an extra column for participants to describe reasons for their rating of their experience for the day if they wished to.

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Participants were recruited via the Vietnamese Societies of the Universities of York and Leeds. 14 MA students – two from York and 12 from Leeds – agreed to participate in the research by maintaining a daily diary and attending monthly focus group interviews.

Findings and Discussions Communicative competence and frequency of L2 interactions: The Challenges Evidence from both the diaries and focus groups supports MacIntyre and Charos’s (1996) belief that communicative competence is manifested in L2 communication frequency: the more opportunities L2 learners have to practice the TL language, the more satisfied they feel with their communicative competence. Accordingly, the low rating of L2 communicative competence reported by Vietnamese participants can be understood in terms of the limited social interactions they had in the UK. However, in addition to limited opportunities to interact in the L2, Vietnamese participants also experienced problems in taking advantage of opportunities even when they became available (including at university). University and campus life provided the majority of L2 interaction opportunities but participants reported several obstacles preventing easy access to them. ‘Hard’ external obstacles include: demanding academic workloads, the high cost of socialising and inadequate support from university authorities. Quynh cited the curriculum and academic pressure as an explanation for her limited interactions: My MA course requires a lot of self-study at home or in the library. I don’t have time to go out and talk to people.

Nga described her typical day as ‘just university and then work at home. There is no more opportunity (to speak English)’. Academic pressure also shaped Thao’s daily routine: After lectures I have to sit in the library for the rest of the day, come home late, cook something to eat and then next day the same routine starts. I don’t have time to go out and practice my speaking.

However, participants also cited ‘soft’ cultural differences and their own sub-optimal L2 skills as additional obstacles. With regards to the latter, participants generally struggled to communicate effectively in an

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academic setting due to their limited vocabulary, inaccurate pronunciation and inadequate listening skills. Vietnamese participants did not consider themselves especially active in such discussions and attributed this to their L2 proficiency, in particular, inadequate level of vocabulary and (perceived lack of) fluency in speaking skill, listening comprehension and pronunciation. In terms of vocabulary, especially in academic contexts, Luyen explained: Sometimes during the middle of a discussion, I have to pause for not being able to recall a technical term. And you know, when this happens I have to tell others to wait till next time after I look it up again.

Luyen believed that in situations like this she “had already lost in the debate” even though she believed she had strong arguments. Sang agreed, saying that in most debates those with more fluent English speaking skills tended to dominate the discussions, leaving the less-fluent with minimal opportunities to express their ideas, even though the former did not necessarily possess the best arguments. Sang suggested that he sometimes felt he had better ideas but that his English speaking skills were holding him back. Luyen and Sang found such situations extremely frustrating and intimidating. Cultural differences and misunderstandings undermined the appeal and success of various initiatives designed to transcend national and cultural barriers and occasionally functioned to erect invisible barriers between different geo-cultural student groups, limiting intermingling and/or L2 interactions. A mix of social, cultural and individual (cultural and skill-centred) factors is therefore implicated in shaping participants’ precise L2 interaction experiences. Another reason for the dissatisfaction with their L2 interactions was the fact that interactions with NNSs were far more common than interactions with NSs, although participants valued interactions with NSs more than with NNSs. The results suggest that participants’ interactions with NNSs were not considered as ‘useful’ learning experiences – because they themselves were thought to have sub-optimal L2 skills – resulting in fairly high levels of persistent dissatisfaction. Relatively low satisfaction scores might also reflect participants’ irritation at their continued inability to successfully access the TL community. The overall downward trend in satisfaction ratings can then be understood as linked to the decrease in NNS encounters relative to encounters with NSs over the course of the study – participants see tricky encounters with hard-to-reach NSs as the litmus test for their communicative competence, with more-or-less easygoing encounters with NNSs serving to offset any disappointments. Data from the focus groups confirm that participants were both unhappy with

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the limited L2 speaking opportunities they had in the UK and with aspects of the actual encounters themselves. The majority of these Vietnamese participants reported limited L2 interactions and dissatisfaction in their diaries. They also admitted overestimating both the L2 interaction opportunities available in the UK and improvements to their L2 skills associated with prolonged exposure to the TL community. For example, Sang said: Before I came to the UK I thought my speaking skill would be ‘cool’ after one year but now I understand that it is not going to happen.

The fact that these high expectations were not met may explain their high levels of dissatisfaction – in contrast, those with more conservative expectations reported more L2 interactions and higher satisfaction. Chau believed universities did not generate many opportunities to speak English: It is terribly wrong when many (Vietnamese) people believe that they can improve their English by going to the university every day. I find more opportunity to practice English when I go out.

Chau emphasised that most of her contacts and interactions occurred outside her studies and off-campus. She explained that most students spoke relatively rarely during seminars. In seminars, no matter how enthusiastic they were, they could only speak for 5 or 10 minutes at most because they had roughly one hour to share among the group. Nga agreed with Chau claiming that there were no discussions in lectures and that speaking opportunities at seminars were minimal: I just sit and listen in lectures. There is no discussion with teachers. I mainly talk with classmates but only few minutes and then I go home.

For An, talking with her tutors was the only chance to speak English on campus but these opportunities were rare: I think I don’t speak much English when I’m at the university. The only time I can think of speaking English is with my supervisor but such a meeting is not often.

Such dissatisfaction can be understood using the concept of identity. These highly motivated students hoped to experience substantial opportunities to improve their English proficiency, especially their speaking skills. Once here, however, their real life experiences were

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considerably disappointing. This also links in with the concept of investment (Norton, 2000), which will be discussed in the following section.

Stumbling blocks in participants’ L2 communication As proposed, Barna’s (1998) six stumbling blocks were found helpful to make sense of the data collected regarding participants’ social interactions. Five out of the six stumbling blocks were found relevant: language differences; anxiety in communication; tendency to evaluate; assumption of similarity and stereotype. There is, however, enough data to confirm the last stumbling block – non-verbal misinterpretation – is also relevant.

Language differences and anxiety Inadequate L2 competence has been reported by Vietnamese participants as an obstacle preventing participants from engaging in L2 conversations. Accounts by participants show that their English proficiency remained a problem across a range of interaction types from simple transactions to academic debates. Even though all participants passed the English language requirements to gain entry to UK universities, they reported ‘shock’ upon arrival in the UK. Vietnamese participants blamed this on being “ill prepared” for the“real English” spoken in the UK. As Boxer (2002) suggests in her research on international students in America, international students, having passed English language tests, typically fail to understand the norms and rules of interactions in the TL environment. As a result, they failed to recognise and take advantage of opportunities to practice the TL language. All of the Vietnamese participants had passed either the IELTS or TOEFL tests before coming to the UK. They were confident about their English in Vietnam and expected it to improve further after one year of studying in the UK. However, Vietnamese participants soon discovered that the opportunities to practice speaking English were not as plentiful as they had expected. There is evidence to suggest that Vietnamese participants experienced high anxiety in communication in English, especially in interactions where native speakers were present. This may explain why participants found it difficult to access and function successfully in academic settings (including with their supervisors) i.e. in an institution which they have paid to receive a service and which should ostensibly afford them a degree of power. Further, several participants reported experiencing anxiety

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during the focus groups but did not interpret these as negative L2 interaction experiences because they believed the problem was a personal one, not an inherent product of their L2 encounters. Anxiety on the part of the participants is therefore likely to explain certain unsuccessful L2 encounters. Accounts from the focus groups show that Nga, for example, found herself “mumbling” in front of her classmates, whilst Ha chose to remain silent in academic discussions (and attributed this to her ‘soft voice’ which she thought would cause difficulties for her classmates). According to Tu, his “lengthy presentation style” meant he lost his audience’s interest and patience. Tu did try to amend his speaking style and make more concise contributions, but it did not come ‘natural’ to him and, again, he felt under pressure. Nga also admitted that the ‘pressure to present well’ in academic discussions made her nervous. Towards the end of the research Nga even reported that the situation “is getting worse” and she realised that her problem was not purely language related: I find myself mumbling in front of people, I don’t understand why. It is getting worse... I only have that problem in English not in Vietnamese... I think it is due to psychological problem...

Nga admitted to fear of being judged when speaking English to NSs even though she never actually experienced any negative comments or attitudes from them. Inadequate vocabulary and fluency in speaking placed Luyen, Sang, Nga and Tu at a disadvantage because they believed they could have participated in academic discussions more successfully if only their L2 was better. Ha also feared being judged and reported remaining silent most of the time in seminars. Ha also thought that her natural soft voice made it hard for people to hear and understand her well, and she chose to be silent to be ‘on the safe side’. Bac also considered himself frequently ‘lost in debates’ due to his listening comprehension: Their (his classmates) English is better than me so in academic debates I often lose because I cannot understand them.

Bac avoided interactions with the British and reported the lowest number of interactions among the group. Apart from listening skills, Vietnamese participants also reported problems with their pronunciation. Bac said that even in a more relaxed environment, such as a one-to-one discussion with his supervisor, Bac’s pronunciation caused difficulties for the teacher. Typically, after several attempts of re-pronouncing the same word(s) Bac gave up:

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Chapter Twelve When I talk to my teacher the other day, I was trying to say things but he could not understand me. After repeating several times, I gave up.

After several attempts trying to make himself understood in conversations he would often just give up and withdraw completely. He also reported experiencing anxiety, possibly caused by the fear of being judged by NS. Anxiety is viewed by Norton (2000) as the result of unequal power relations between NNS and NS. However, Barna’s concept of anxiety challenges this interpretation. Barna explains high anxiety as a common feeling when people from a different culture encounter a new culture/country. For most participants, studying in the UK represented the first time they had lived away from their homeland for a long period of time. Some participants, clearly evaluated UK culture from a Vietnamesecentric perspective, which according to Barna (1998) is the cause of another stumbling block – a ‘tendency to evaluate’. Data from focus group suggest problems rooted in participants’ own Vietnamese centric perspectives. During the first focus groups, Thao considered cultural differences as the major problem: Cultural differences are the main reason to really put me off. Sometimes after 5 minutes of discussion I just want to leave. The cultural clashes just make it so hard to see an agreement...

Thao believed that a lot of disagreements in group work resulted from her judgments based on Vietnamese cultural practices. Thao described a situation when she volunteered to be the coordinator of a group discussion, only to find that her classmates were “very rude”. They turned up, discussed and then left straight afterward, not even expressing thanks or showing appreciation of her effort. Thao was very disappointed because such behaviour was unacceptable in the Vietnamese culture. Outside classroom contexts too, Thao faced problems in understanding cultural references such as jokes. She found “their (British) jokes nonsense, everyone else was laughing while I felt it was not funny”. Thao mentioned that such a situation made her feel uncomfortable because she had to either ‘force a smile’ or ‘just sit like an idiot’.

Stereotypes and the tendency to evaluate Stereotyping occurred when Vietnamese participants failed to have as many interactions as they had wished to have with NSs. In fact participants’ views regarding the ‘unfriendliness’ of British people are

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themselves stereotypes. Some participants found the British in general ‘unfriendly’ whilst others felt that this mainly applied to younger British people. Another stereotype about the British was their impatience with NNSs. Participants believed this deterred British people from both initiating conversations and engaging fully with them. This was a two-way street however, with both Vietnamese participants and British people holding particular views about one another and approaching interactions cautiously, ultimately shaping the content, conduct and frequency of their interactions. For example, one participant believed that the British considered all Asians to be “boring” and on the “bottom list to make friends with”. Another believed that the British think Vietnamese people look like Chinese and “all Chinese tend to stick to themselves” so the British would not initiate any conversations for fear of being a nuisance. It is important to note that there is also evidence of cultural learning occurring – of stereotypes being abandoned, of open mindedness and of ‘difference’ being accommodated and even celebrated. Sang, for example, initially considered the UK’s socialising habits boring and less stimulating than those in Vietnam, but he persisted, concluding eventually “I used to find it boring here. However, recently I have started to find out the experience here is quite interesting actually. It has its own right”. This account shows that the participant fell into the stumbling block of ‘tendency to evaluate’. The participant used to evaluate interactions in the UK and compare them (unfavourably) with those in Vietnam. He was consequently unhappy because “hanging in the pubs in the UK are not the same as in Vietnam”. Two participants experienced considerable changes in their attitudes towards the British culture. They both thought to have achieved ‘proficiency’ in understanding and participating in certain British cultural practices. During the first interviews, they both considered British people and society as ‘arrogant and hierarchical’. However, towards the end of the data collection period they both enjoyed spending their leisure time with their NS peers. At the time of the study one even considered staying in the UK for several years. This suggests that once participants stopped evaluating, they started to enjoy their interactions in the TL more.

Assumption of similarity Barna’s (1998) first stumbling block – the assumption of similarities – asserts that people mistakenly assume that as humans we are all similar and consequently should be able to communicate relatively easily. He believes that the inevitable revealing of difference generates ‘shock’,

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hindering communication. He also argues that culturally different interlocutors are prone to stereotyping and a ‘tendency to evaluate’, which interferes with the development of mutual understanding. Encounters with interlocutors who are (considered) less culturally and experientially different would therefore generate less anxiety and fewer opportunities to evaluate.

Self-identification in relations to groups Barna (1998), by attributing L2 success or failure to individuals’ abilities to overcome and manage ‘shock’ and to cultural distance, in part reintroduces the centrality of ‘the individual’ to his/her L2 progress. Barna’s (1998) Intergroup Model blends social level perspectives with individual level explanations and would explain variation in terms of the attractiveness of own-group formal and informal institutions and networks which function either as a bridge to intercultural interactions or a barrier to them. Variation in time spent speaking English – particularly the betweensubject variation which is more pronounced – suggests that it is individuals themselves who exercise most influence over their L2 communication experiences, albeit operating within a social world which constitutes a structuring backcloth and natural limits. Yet there is also evidence that the different linguistic and cultural ‘camps’ identified in this research do interact – they are not sealed from each other. In fact, the boundary is dynamic, and Giles and Byrne (1982) are primarily interested in understanding the processes governing the interactions and movements that occur here – why, for example, are some people able to traverse the boundary more so than others? Lantolf (2000) and Trueba (1989) consider moving to a new culture/country as a challenge to one’s self identification. According to Miller (2003), the identities of L2 learners are often linked to their first language when they travel away from their homeland. However, data from this research contradicts Miller’s suggestion. The social role of ‘Vietnamese’ was ranked very low among participants in the main study. This can be explained by the fact that Vietnamese participants had difficulties relating to and expressing their Vietnamese identity during their early time in the UK. The finding that ‘Vietnameseness’ was not an important social identity supports Giles and Byrne’s (1982) suggestion that the dynamism between two groups is strongest when they share similar cultural and linguistic features. However, diary and focus group data show that participants in the pilot study, having resided in the UK for a longer time, claimed a stronger sense

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of ‘Vietnameseness’: once acclimatised, they were in a stronger position to express their cultural identity and ‘Vietnamese’ was chosen as one of the most important social roles by the pilot study participants. According to Phan Ngoc (1998), the Vietnamese people generally have a strong sense of community. The personal identity of a Vietnamese person is shaped by his/her relations with surrounding people. Upon travelling to the UK, Vietnamese students instantly experienced more limited interactions with other Vietnamese people: their interactions were divided unevenly between English and Vietnamese languages. Their sense of ‘Vietnameseness’ was challenged by the unequal power relations in interactions with British people (the aforementioned ignorance about or ‘uninterest’ in Vietnam, etc.) and prompted participants to feel ‘inferior’ during their communication with the British. Our research shows that only two participants asserted their Vietnamese identity during their L2 communications.

Power relations manifested in social interactions Norton (2000) argues that L2 learners have a complex social identity, which can be understood through power relations. Power relations are manifested through five social interactions which are discussed below.

In interactions with Native speakers Vietnamese students were keen to interact with the TL community and attempted to participate in events where they could meet British people. However, many of these events were often considered to be culturally unsuitable and participants deliberately avoided them. ‘Lion’s share’ Norton (2000) argues that L2 learners have to perform the ‘lion’s share’ during interactions with NS. Discussions from the focus groups seem to support this. Vietnamese participants felt obliged to put the ‘lion’s share’ of thought and effort into interactions with NSs simply because they had a stronger preference for interactions with NSs. Whilst residing in the UK, at-home interactions in L2 were mainly with other international students, even when interaction opportunities with English NSs were readily available. Evidence from this study shows that Vietnamese participants did not have many interactions with British housemates. Any L2 interactions at home were mainly with other Asian or

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international housemates. Reported interactions with British housemates support the ‘lion’s share’ argument. For example, Quynh described how she exercised care when in conversation with a NS chef housemate. Their conversation focused on Vietnamese cuisine because the chef was interested in Asian cooking. Quynh however refrained from talking about other topics because she could see that the housemate was not interested. Their relationship therefore could not develop further. In Quynh’s account, despite having performed the ‘lion’s share’, her relationship with her British housemate still did not develop, neither did her L2 interactions at home. Quynh was, however, ‘luckier’ with an African British friend who always showed ‘sympathy’ for the difficulty that L2 learners had when talking to NSs. The participant felt touched when her African British friend listened to her carefully and politely corrected her mistakes. She clearly wanted to be treated similarly by native speakers but she reported this only happened to her once. She believed that the African origin of her friend helped her develop insights into the difficulties of L2 learners, and so she was willing to ‘pull her weight’ into the conversation. This challenges some SLA research which suggests that interactions with NSs are more beneficial than those with NNSs. The participant was clearly supported to improve her English by her African friend, whilst left feeling inadequate and irritated by conversations with NSs. Another participant also emphasised the need to be ‘patient’ in conversations with the British. She believed the British people are ‘nice and friendly’ but they expected other people to ‘take the initiative and talk first’. In other words, in interactions with the British, Vietnamese people are expected to make greater efforts. This was supported by two participants from the pilot focus groups. Each believed that British people wanted to talk to them too, but the latter had to initiate the conversation. While both participants experienced and understood ‘the rules of the game’ in conversations with the British, one said he did not mind, but the other expressed his disappointment that he had to ‘talk first all the time’. ‘Ambivalent’ attitudes of TL speakers Norton (2000) also describes how immigrants in her research felt ‘marginalised’ by the ambivalent attitudes from the native speakers of the TL. Data from focus groups also support this. Three participants believed that younger British people were more “arrogant” and “less interested in other cultures than older British people”. They described older British people as “kinder and more patient” in their conversations.

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Younger people did not listen carefully, repeat words or offer proper/clearer explanations to their Vietnamese interlocutors. The data shows that Vietnamese participants’ views of British people ranged from “uninterested” to “discriminatory”. Though the problems were attributed to cultural differences, participants in general considered British people unsupportive. Towards the end of data collection process, several participants withdrew completely from interactions with British people. In response to a suggestion from one that the Vietnamese should be more understanding and patient in their interactions with the British, another participant commented “it’s not worth it”. His point of view supports the literature regarding ‘respect and responsibility’ in Vietnamese culture. According to this cultural norm, interactions between people are equal regardless of their economic or social status. The participant therefore requires and expects equal effort from interlocutors, and was not comfortable taking the ‘lion’s share’ in interactions with the British. His behaviour also supports Kim’s (1993) and Davis and Proctor’s (1989) description of middle class Asian men as strong, responsible and demanding respect from their family, friends and the wider society. Another finding which possibly supports the ‘ambivalent’ attitude from the TL speakers is that the Vietnamese’ relationships with British classmates was never as close as that with international students. The ‘ambivalent’ attitude from British people was also found at work (though not intentionally) from one participant’s colleagues. This participant was told to ‘stop talking’ to a British chef in the kitchen where they were working together because he needed to concentrate. Though she understood the reason for this request, she was clearly upset by it and by the fact that she could not talk to a colleague even during a break. Her account can help understand why even though half of the participants had part-time jobs only one participant reported regular L2 interactions at work. The work environment therefore was considered poor in terms of providing opportunities to practice speaking English. This was due to the pressure of work – the fact that participants either worked limited hours or as lone workers – as well as the unfriendliness of colleagues at work. The ‘ambivalent attitude’ from British people that Norton (2000) describes in her research caused problems in L2 interactions among Vietnamese participants and was undoubtedly a surprise to many participants, given how much they preferred interactions with NSs and their assumptions regarding the benefit of interactions with NSs before leaving Vietnam.

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‘Catch-22’ Norton (2000) also describes a Catch-22 in which L2 learners have to ‘perform’ while being judged by NSs. This situation was also observed among this study’s Vietnamese participants. There is some evidence to suggest that participants adopted the identity of a ‘learner’ when they spoke English in front of NSs. One participant, for example, hoped that his British friend would correct him when he made a mistake. At the same time, just like a student in front of a teacher, another participant was afraid of making mistakes. If the NS interlocutor did not correct him, he thought that person was insufficiently supportive; but if corrected – although grateful – he also felt embarrassed. The participant admitted he often lost confidence whilst interacting with NSs. This is similar to the Catch-22 that Norton describes: L2 learners do not have enough ‘space’ within which to develop their skills because they constantly feel nervous about being judged by native speakers. In the aforementioned participant’s case, to put himself at ease he chose to speak English with a NS that he already knew and who had become ‘accustomed’ to his inaccuracies. The strongest evidence for the Catch-22 possibly comes from the participants’ accounts. For example, three participants described how they felt ‘lost’ in academic debates due to their inadequate language proficiency, especially in comparison with their NS classmates. One of these participants admitted to the fear of being judged when speaking English to NSs even though she never actually experienced any negative comments or attitudes from them. The fact that English is their second language and making mistakes is a natural part of any learning process did not put participants at ease. They were clearly embarrassed and under pressure to perform well in front of NSs.

Limited social interactions The majority of L2 interactions occurred on university campuses although participants reported surprisingly few opportunities to practice speaking English either during or after classes because they were engaged in independent study. Off-campus social events were rarely attended by Vietnamese students. The difficulties associated with accessing L2 interaction opportunities support Norton’s suggestion that access to TL speakers occurs within and is patterned by specific social contexts (e.g. campus life and course regimes) and must be negotiated and managed – they are not automatic. According to Norton, the success of these negotiations will reflect asymmetries of power between language learners and the TL community.

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More simple than complex interactions Participants were asked to record daily how many hours they spoke English and what it was about. The three most common types of L2 interactions were: ‘Socialising’, ‘Simple Transactions’ and ‘Small Talk’ which together accounted for approximately 75% of all L2 interactions. Approximately 24% of encounters were complex transactions and academic discussions. Vietnamese participants engaged in minimal academic discussions. Data show that academic discussion accounted for about 12% of total interactions. This is a modest figure given that participants were enrolled in full-time MA courses. In addition, academic discussions decreased over the three months, together with interactions with ‘University/Academic Staff’. Focus group data suggest that this reflects the timing of the Easter holiday in the last month of the data collection process. ‘Complex Transactions’ slightly increased in the last month. Evidence from the focus groups shows that a number of participants were holidaying, sightseeing and/or attending conferences during that month, which may have influenced the ‘Complex Transactions’ headline figure. Most of the time participants were therefore engaging in simple and relatively undemanding conversational activities more so than complex ones. This may simply reflect participants’ sub-optimal L2 skills. An alternative, positive, way of understanding this is to see the acquisition and maintenance of simple and undemanding conversational skills as an essential requirement for day-to-day life. Rather than being restricted (against their wishes) to mundane conversations (by forces beyond their control) participants are instead routinely exercising a skill which they have more-or-less mastered – one which functions to preserve their overall L2 confidence and compensates for shortcomings elsewhere. However, participants were generally dissatisfied with their communicative competence over the research period which casts doubt on this explanation. There is nothing to suggest that such interactions were gradually being replaced by more complex conversations – as might be expected under Barna’s framework – as participants got acclimatised to and overcame ‘shock’. The persistence and relative dominance of ‘Simple Transactions’ and ‘Small Talk’ therefore endorse Norton’s theories regarding L2 learners’ failure to be considered ‘worthy to speak’ and/or ‘worthy to listen’ by attributing L2 interaction experiences to social forces and roles which individuals cannot quickly or easily amend/overcome. This view is reinforced by focus group data in which participants commented that some British people were reluctant to enter into meaningful conversations with

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the Vietnamese, displaying “impatience” and a desire to terminate any conversation as quickly as possible

Limited types of interlocutors In terms of the interlocutors with whom participants interacted in English (or Interlocutor ‘Types’), the number of L2 interactions also generally decreased over time, mirroring the overall reduction in time spent speaking English. ‘Friends’ are the most common L2 interlocutors by a large margin; followed by ‘Student’ and ‘University/Academic Staff’. Interactions with other types of interlocutors were all relatively rare. Within-subject variation is limited for ‘Friends’, suggesting participants were able to sustain certain key relationships and/or patterns of socialising, but more pronounced for ‘Students’ and ‘University/Academic Staff’, possibly reflecting course regimes and university closures.

More interactions with NNSs than NSs According to diary data, the number of NNS encounters was three times that of NS encounters. The gap between NS and NNS interactions narrowed by the end of the third month of the study. However, this was due to reduction in interactions with NNSs rather than an increase in interactions with NSs and is consistent with data from the focus groups, suggesting that most participants’ classmates and friends on campus – participants’ main interlocutors – were fellow international students. Very roughly, participants tended to speak to NNSs whilst on campus and NSs off campus. As mentioned previously, one exception includes participants’ L2 interactions at home, where they mainly spoke English with other Asian housemates even while sharing accommodation with British students. Vietnamese participants mainly spoke Vietnamese with other Vietnamese or English with other (non-Vietnamese) Asian housemates. The patterning of L2 interactions described above is generally compatible with the theories of Norton’s (2000) power relations – of Vietnamese participants’ inability to impose the ‘right to be heard’ by compelling interlocutors from the TL community to ignore and/or overcome their own reservations vis-à-vis intercultural communication. Since non-Vietnamese NNSs were viewed in the same situation as the participants, power is more evenly distributed, facilitating greater communication.

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Conclusions and Implications Power relations in social interactions Norton (2000) describes four ways in which power relations can be reflected in social interactions. There is evidence that Vietnamese participants experienced unequal power relations. The first concerns the ‘Lion’s share’ of effort which L2 learners must contribute when conversing with TL speakers. The second refers to the ‘Ambivalent attitudes of TL speakers’. The third is the ‘Catch 22’ where participants reported that they felt being judged whilst practicing English. There is focus group evidence confirming the presence of these manifestations of ‘power’, especially in interactions with NSs. This confirms Norton’s (2000) central argument that power relations are central to understanding social interactions. Nevertheless, similar to the link between social roles and social interactions, power relations were not experienced or interpreted in the same way by all participants. For each of the four ways in which ‘power’ is manifested in interactions there were a few individuals who ‘bucked’ the trend and saw things differently. This possibly suggests that those individuals constructed their identities in a manner which might have helped them acquire power. Power relations undoubtedly exist within social interactions; and power relations can help understand the majority of participant’s identities in relation to their L2 communication. However, just as social roles do not absolutely determine the types of interactions everyone will have, the power relations manifested during interactions do not mean that everyone will experience and interpret the same type of interaction identically. Thus participants with the same identity report different interaction experiences, and even those with the same identities in identical interactions may possibly experience and respond to these encounters differently. Therefore in terms of understanding the types of interactions that L2 learners have and their conduct within these interactions, the conclusion is that identity remains a helpful tool, however its explanatory power is not comprehensive.

The link between social roles and communicative competence The inter-mingling of power relations and social roles in social interactions described by Norton (2000) has been observed in our participants’ social interactions. That power relations and social roles influence the L2 learners’ identity, and also how L2 learners view the

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communication process, is supported by the data. Immigrants in Norton’s (2000) research were described as being upset by their limited social roles, and by the loss of their social status which was due to asymmetrical power relations in social interactions. The Vietnamese participants also seem to have experienced a similar asymmetry of power, and occupied limited social roles. In terms of outcomes, most rated their experience of speaking English rather low. This is interesting in that as students, participants had paid to study in the UK, but they still faced roughly similar communication problems as immigrants. This supports findings from Boxer’s (2002) research on the communication of international students in the TL environment.

Stumbling blocks in intercultural communication and communicative competence Of the six stumbling blocks that Barna (1998) identifies, five were found relevant to the experiences of Vietnamese participants: language differences, assumption of similarities, tendency to evaluate, anxiety and stereotyping. According to Barna communicative competence is the inner capacity of a person to overcome ‘stumbling blocks’ in intercultural communication. This is confirmed by those participants who reported fewer difficulties in overcoming the five stumbling blocks and more positive self-perceived communicative competence. However, Barna (1998) does not provide an explanation of why some participants are able to overcome the stumbling blocks more successfully than others; and does not really acknowledge that different people may interpret each stumbling block differently. Accordingly, there is evidence that participants varied in the way they experienced or responded to Barna’s ‘stumbling blocks’. Also Barna was not explicit on whether or not the six stumbling blocks represent an exhaustive list. There is one more stumbling block -‘cultural differences’- suggested by Kim (1991), which is supported by the data but is not covered in Barna’s list. To sum up, the findings of the research suggest that identity of L2 learners can help make sense of their communicative competence, though individual perspectives should be taken into account. The interplay of power relations and social roles seems to be important to Vietnamese, young, intellectual, middle-class students – just as it is for the working class immigrants commonly discussed in the literature. It is also suggested in this research that identity is a context-sensitive concept. Therefore, we advocate Block’s (2003) call for widening the context in the field of

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identity to develop a better understanding of this concept and the link between identity (of L2 learners) and their language learning process.

References Barna, L.M. (1998). Stumbling blocks in intercultural communication.In M. Bennett (Ed.) Basic concepts of intercultural communication.USA: Intercultural press. Boxer D. (2002). Applying ssociolinguistics domain and face-to-face interaction. Amsterdam: John Benjamin. Davis, L. E. and Protoctor, E. K. (1989). Race, Gender and Class: Guidelines for practice with individuals, families and groups. USA: Prentice Hall. Kim, Y. Y. (1991). Globalisation and intercultural personal identity.In L. A. Samovar & R. E. Porter (eds), Intercultural communication: A reader. CA: Wadsworth. Kim, M. (2003). Transformation of family ideology in upper-middle-class families in urban South Korea.International Journal of Cultural and Social Anthropology.32, 70. King, Victor T., Phuong An Nguyen and Nguyen Huu Minh (2008). Professional middle class youth in post-reform Vietnam: Identity, continuity and change. Modern Asian Studies, 42(4), 783-813. Lafford, B. (1995). Getting into, through and out of a survival situation: A comparison of communicative strategies used by students studying Spanish abroad and ‘at home’. In B. Freed (ed.) Second Language Acquisition in Study Abroad Context. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Lantolf, J. P. (2000). Introducing sociolcultural theory. In J. P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Macintyre, P. D., & Gardner, R. C. (1991). Methods and results in the study of anxiety and language learning: A review of literature. Language Learning, 47, 265-287. Macintyre, P. D. (1994). Variables underlying willingness to communicate: A causal analysis. Communication Research Reports, 11, 135-142. Macintyre, P. and Charos, C. (1996). Personality, attitudes and affect as predictors of second language communication. Journal of Language & Social Psychology.15, 1, 3-26. McKay, S. and Long, S. (1996). Multiple discourses, multiple identities: Investment and agency in second language learning among Chinese adolescent immigrant students. Havard Educational Review, 3, 577608.

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Norton Pierce, B. (1993). Language learning, social identity, and immigrant women.Unpublished PhD dissertation. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. —. (1995). Social identity, investment and language learning.TESOL Quarterly, 29, 1, 9-31. —. (1997). Language, identity, and the ownership of English.TESOL Quarterly. —. (2000). Identity and language learning.London: Longman. —. (2001). Non-participation, imagined communities and the language classroom, in M. Breen (ed.) Learner contributions to Language Learning. London: Longman. Nguyen KhacVien (1974). Tradition and revolution in Vietnam. Berkeley: Indochina Resource Center. Nguyen, P. A. (2004). Pursuing success in present-day Vietnam-young graduates in Hanoi. In D. McCargo (Ed.), Rethinking Vietnam. London: Routledge Curzon. —. (2007). Relationships based on love and relationships based on needs: Emerging trends in youth sex culture in contemporary urban Vietnam. Modern Asian Studies, 41, 287-313. Phan N. (1998). Ban sac van hoa Vietnam (Core cultural characteristics of Vietnam). Hanoi: Van Hoa Thong Tin.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN CHINA AND INDIA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HISTORY AND POLITICS PENELOPE GOWARD AND HONGZHI ZHANG Abstract It is well known that English is increasingly the global language and so often acts as a neutral communication tool between and within nations. However, an awareness of the broader social systems and backgrounds of a nation can aid understandings of how national and regional curriculums have been developed. This can lead to expanded insights into learners’ motivations, which in turn can inform teaching approaches in the classroom. This paper, based on personal experiences in teaching and learning across two major education systems reflect on how each of these nations have different approaches to teaching English and how English is used in daily life. In India English is one of the national languages widely used in government and the media. Although less than one per cent of Indians speak English as a second language, with a population of over one billion people, that means there are at least 10 million English speakers. In contrast, China has an estimated three hundred million learners and ten million speakers, and learning English is part of its economic strengthening strategy. This chapter make a comparative study into how English and English education has evolved over the decades and centuries making their way into policies in India and China and how despite historical similarities they are now enacted in very different ways in the lives of people in these two countries. Keywords: English language policy, colonialism, curriculum and pedagogy.

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This paper started from a conversation between Hongzhi and Penelope. Hongzhi lives in Australia, is from the north of China, and has a Chinese heritage. His research interests are in Asian education theory and policy. Penelope, also lives in Australia, with an English heritage. Her research interests are in cross-cultural competence and identity, and English language education. Hongzhi and Penelope met while sharing an office together and had many discussions about cultural difference and the nature of humanity. When Penelope returned from a teaching stint in China, they began to compare China and India. They were curious about how the two countries used the English language. In their conversations, it appeared to Penelope that in India the motivation to learn English was because of the status that it furnished; and in China, although the Chinese government and Chinese companies put enormous amount of energy and resources to promote English teaching and learning at school, according to the 2013 English Proficiency Index Report, the proficiency levels remain moderate to low across the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) (Education First, 2013). Penelope further observed that “China is quite self-contained … it is a large country that in many ways does not need the outside world, and the majority of its citizens do not need to speak English with foreigners.” Both of them were also curious about how these two nations were grappling with globalisation as their economies were developing, and what if any were the connections between globalisation and the English language. It was from these conversations that they wanted to explore and understand the different histories and policies of English language education in China and India, and whether they had any bearing on today’s English language policies and implementation. Our exploration was an enquiry into why the English language was and is important to China and India, how China and India are situated in a globalised world, the histories of how the English language was introduced into these countries, and the politics that surrounds English as an additional language. From our exploration, we started to understand why and how the English language is used in each country today. We believe that for China and India, English has moved from a language that is alien, and in India’s case a signifier of power and conquering, to that of a powerful utilitarian tool that can be used for economic negotiation in a globalised world.

Why English language is important to China and India English is now considered to be the global language, and importantly is used as a lingua franca (Bryson, 1990, pp. 22-23; Crystal, 1997, 2003,

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2006; Pennycook, 1994, 2007), as Marlina and Chowdhury in the Introduction to this book discuss more fully. Careers in business and commerce, high government positions, diplomacy, academia, sport, science and technology, and emerging industries such as tourism and hospitality all require fluency in English in a globalised world. Accordingly, English is the main language of books and newspapers, airports and road signage. Furthermore, Roberts (2006) claims that English will be difficult to dislodge from this global status, because it is the first language to achieve global domination in an age of global communication. Thus, the ability to communicate in English elevates English language learning on to most nation’s language policies, and ensures that it is an essential subject in national education curricula, including China and India. China and India have a shared border stretching 3,000 kilometres, a tie that has stood the test of time over many centuries as geographical neighbours (Sen, 2005; Smith, 2007), including the most recent re-opening of the historic Silk Road in 2006, which extends over 8,000 kilometres from Asia to the Middle East and Europe. It is also interesting to note that in 2005 Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister of the time, invited his counterpart from China, Wen Jiabo, to India for talks. Singh declared that “a new era was dawning. India and China can together reshape the world order (Smith, 2007, p. 220)”, and indeed they have. These two nations have had stupendous economic growth in just over two decades. China no longer is seen as a producer of cheaply made manufactured goods and India as a producer of crafts and textiles. Today, they are emerging as strong global economies. For example, China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is well over 2 trillion US dollars and India’s around 1 trillion US dollars (Alessandri et al., 2012; Bharati, 2009; Meredith, 2007; Smith, 2007), and their combined populations make up 40% of the world’s population. Each country has liberalised their economic policies to extend trade with their foreign investors. As a consequence, each nation has had enormous economic growth, and a steadily increasing middle-class. Their most obvious difference lies in their political regimes, India democratic and China centralised, but both acknowledge that education is the key to innovation and prosperity in the future. Both countries recognise that for the most part, education for the masses enables a move away from traditional physical labour and discrimination based on class and race, to the knowledge-based economy (Merrill, Taylor, & Poole, 2010). Nevertheless, although China and India have a high percentage of people ready to work, it is their adequacy and preparedness to work in a

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globalised world that is a major concern for both governments (Merrill et al., 2010). For instance, Meredith (2007) argues that only ten per cent of Chinese graduates from Chinese institutions are suitable for global work because of their poor English language skills. Furthermore, in both China and India their traditional teaching practices of rote learning inadequately prepare graduates for work in a global world. Graddol (2010), Meredith (2007), Rothermund (2008) and Stanley (2013) maintain, in a global world workers need creativity, problem solving and collaboration skills. This is further complicated by highly educated graduate students remaining in the countries that they have travelled to study in. They have become the diaspora instead of investing their skills, including their English language skills, back into their home country. Although many have started to return with the economic improvements (Mishra, 2012). Despite all this, the English language in education curriculum remains firm. To some degree this rests on the predication that the English language is required for globalisation, even though globalisation is a “highly contested notion” (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010, p. 22). For some observers, “globalisation entails the Westernization of the world, while for others it involves a cover for the ascendancy of capitalism. Some see globalisation as generating increasing homogeneity, while others see it producing diversity and heterogeneity through increased hybridization. For business, globalisation is a strategy for increasing corporate profits and power” (Kellner, 2000, p. 300). However, Rizvi and Lingard (2010) are clear that it also includes mobility and transnational flows with the use of information and communication technology. It enables the possibility of international online banking – for example the ability to transfer large amounts of money from a personal computer, and the possibility of holding transcontinental meetings via either an audio or video-conference link. And it also includes mobility through communication with a common language. We propose that it is the belief that competency in English will improve communication for these types of transnational interactions, is the reason why China and India see the importance of learning English today. Not because they want their people to become Westerners or global citizens but so they can use English as an added communication tool in which to negotiate with a global world and so support and sustain their economic growth. As it is not the intention of this chapter to discuss the advantages, disadvantages or problems of learning a perceived global language or a discussion about the issues related to globalisation, as these can be found elsewhere (Bolton & Graddol, 2012; Graddol, 2010; International Business Communication, 2013; Rizvi, 2012; Rizvi & Lingard, 2010; Stromquist & Monkman, 2014; Tochon, 2009). We now

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return to the beginning of our exploration. How did the English language find its way to China and India? Once ensconced, were the English language education policies that were developed relevant for today’s world?

Evolution of the English language in China and India Although English is now considered a global language, it has not always been so. In China and India the introduction of the English language had inconspicuous beginnings about two hundred years ago. It is historically curious that while in China government officials learned English to acquire Western science and knowledge, in India it began as a trading language in a pidgin tongue. China’s early brush with the English language was initially in the late 17th century, when an early rival to the British East India Company attempted to trade. Later, as curiosity about the West increased, the English language was learned for practical reasons to negotiate between countries (Bolton, 2002). During the mid-part of the Qing Dynasty (16441912), the last imperial dynasty of China, the English language was used for purposes of negotiation with the West where a few privileged officials used it as a tool to learn about Western science and technology. At this time, the dominant philosophy of the Qing Dynasty government was to study Chinese culture for essence and the Western culture for practical usage. English was considered a barbarian language of foreigners and was despised by many in China. Thus, “a sound knowledge of Chinese would endow students with status and position in society, whereas a knowledge of English promised an uncertain future” (Adamson, 2004, p. 26). Therefore many people did not want to learn English during this time, but this changed as graduates gained opportunities to work in various government departments where English language skills were sought after. Furthermore, during the Opium Wars (1839-1842, and 1856-1860) the Chinese government lacked officials who could speak English to negotiate with western countries in relation to economic, trading, military and other diplomatic issues. Later in the Qing Dynasty, the governors recognised the importance and the necessity of cultivating English speaking professionals, and so established schools to teach English (Adamson, 2004). However, to some degree, the same philosophy of essence and practical usage has remained and continues to underpin English language education policies in China today. In comparison in India, according to Nilekan (2008) and Chaudhary (2009), the English language first came to India as one of the major

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trading languages or a ‘port’ language in the 1500s, following Vasco de Gama’s exploratory travels. It began as a pidgin tongue, and was made up of a blend of Hindustani, Portuguese, French, Dutch and English. Later, in the 1600s, the East India Company, a trading company established under the British Queen Elizabeth 1st, began to trade with India and China. And so, the English language’s singularity of power in India was firmly established. Over the next two hundred years, the East India Company took direct control of India as the British Raj, when the Government of India Act was enacted in 1858 (Keay, 2011). Although India appears to have had a linguistic advantage because of British colonisation for over 200 years, English was an imposed language, used and taught by and for the privileged – a language of authority, power and status. It was viewed with suspicion, and seen as representing colonialism and a divider of people (Nilekani, 2008). When the British colonisers left in 1947, the English language was tainted with this legacy. Paradoxically when India became a republic, the English language performed a different role but still with power attached and has since played a major role in unifying the country, acting as a joining and linking language – their lingua franca. Furthermore, for the Dalits or what was previously known as the Untouchable caste, the English language signified freedom from the nuances and historical ties to Indian literature and Hindu texts, where the caste system was deeply embedded and where Untouchables were imbued with the stigma of low status in society and outright discrimination. English for the Dalits then, was appropriated as a representation of hope for emancipation, and the ability to unite through a medium where their voices could be heard (Lyer & Zare, 2009; Mitchell, 2009; Nilekani, 2008). By the middle of the nineteenth century both countries were developing education systems that included teaching of the English language. In China in 1862, the Imperial Tung Wen College (School of Combined Learning) was established by the Qing Dynasty, specifically for teaching Western languages and later scientific subjects. It was the first government-run English language school in the history of China (Cheng, 2008). At the same time in India (1857) the first three English universities were established in the cities known then as Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and Madras (Chennai) (Ghosh, 2009), and by 1904 the Indian Universities Act was implemented to support post-graduate teaching, study and research in the Arts and Sciences (Dheram, 2005). The implementation of these universities was met with a mixed response, ranging from declarations that English was “a tool of imperialism” to cultural prestige and status, and a career language. This historical move still haunts India

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today, where English embodies both repression and emancipation (Chaudhary, 2009; Keay, 2011; Mitchell, 2009). The English language was also brought into these countries with an uneasy tension between education and religion by Christian missionary schools. Christian missionaries and Christian schools were key instigators of the English language in China and India. They were permitted because they were English native speakers with education skills, and as a compromise their proselytizing practices were tolerated. In India, during the East India Company and British Raj regimes Christian schools were encouraged and they flourished through the Charter Act of 1813 (Dheram, 2005; Keith, 1961). In China they were abided only because it was assumed that the Western culture could also be learned and understood from them. Both countries also recognised that Christian schools set high standards for teaching English, introducing texts and teaching methodologies well established in English speaking countries (Adamson, 2004). Christian schools still provide primary and secondary education, with English as the medium, throughout both countries today. However, the standards set in the Christian schools were not and even today are not always replicated in the government or public schools, due to politics and resourcing issues (Bolton & Graddol, 2012; Yang, 2005). In both countries English language teaching expanded to a point where education policies began to be developed but were not introduced in parallel with other national language and educational policies, but came about organically as each nation grew.

Education and English language politics in China and India Education policies and language education policies were formed in both countries approximately one hundred years apart when each country recognised the benefits of mass public education. The first modern mass education system in China was established in 1903, by the Empire of the Qing Dynasty which promulgated the Gui Mao Educational System. The Gui Mao Education System included primary education, secondary education and higher education. The system stipulated that students in primary schools should focus on the Chinese national education, and were not to learn foreign languages such as English. However, because the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to the teaching of English it was a compulsory course in secondary schools, and made up one fourth of the total academic hours. In higher education, English language education made up more than 25 per cent of the total

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academic hours (Zhao, 2011). In 1912, following the Chinese Revolution, the Republic of China (later to be called the People’s Republic of China) was established as China’s first government and ended the domination of the Empire of the Qing Dynasty. From its formation until 1949 it was based on mainland China, however its central authority was challenged in response to warlords (1915–28), Japanese invasion (1937–45), and the Chinese Civil War (1927–49). The Ministry of Education in the Republic of China reformed the education system and promulgated the Ren Zi – Gui Chou Education System (1912-1913), the Ren Xu Education System (1922) and the Wu Chen Education System (1928). After these series of reforms, the English language education system was firmly established. Zhang and Ding (2002a) highlighted the main characteristics of English language education in the secondary education level at that time: some schools paid attention to the comprehensive training of listening, speaking, reading and writing of English; the study and introduction of Western linguistics and language teaching methodology started; some empirical research of English language teaching methods began to emerge (for example, the ‘The Direct Method’ and ‘The Communicative Approach’); and, although textbooks in some schools were directly sourced from the United States of America and the United Kingdom, some schools began to use local textbooks for English language teaching. Also, supplementary materials such as Western classic literature were introduced. Further political changes impacted the extent of English language teaching when the Chinese Communist Party was formed in 1921 and in turn collaborated with the Soviet Communist Party in Russia. This collaboration ensured that the Russian language was one of the major dominant foreign languages and so was strongly encouraged across the education system. The total number of graduate students studying the Russian language was about 13,000 between 1949 and 1956 (Zhang & Ding, 2002). In contrast, English language education dwindled (Hui, 2001). However, by 1960 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) withdrew all of its experts from China and stopped all aid projects and contracts. Politically, this created an environment that was unstable and vulnerable because China was alienated from both Russia and the West. This situation, according to Clark (2008), enabled the Cultural Revolution, which was led by Mao Zedong in 1966, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China. The ideology associated with the devastation of China’s history, culture and traditions. The Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976) also affected the teaching of foreign languages and education generally with a further decline in the English language uptake (Tsang, 2000). However it was under Deng

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Xiaoping’s leadership in the early 1980s, that a utilitarian attitude towards national development and education began to gain dominance (Hui, 2001). The Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress April 12, 1986 and promulgated by Order No. 38 of the President of the People’s Republic of China on April 12, 1986) (China Internet Information Center, 1986) stated clearly that one of the purposes was “the building of a socialist society that is advanced culturally and ideologically as well as materially” and would “institute a system of nine-year compulsory education”. The Chinese leadership at the time recognised that many educational deficiencies were undermining national competitiveness and so staged a new wave of educational reforms, led by the Central Committee and State Council in 1993. The new reforms in an attempt to deliver quality education changed the existing educational structure, updated teaching content, included professional development from Western nations and renewed pedagogy (Adamson, 2004). At the beginning of the 21st century there was a further attempt to expand English into the primary school curriculum. According to Tsang (2000) this was prompted by three developments. First, China had an opportunity to join the World Trade Organization. Second, Beijing city was bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games and was highly likely to win. Third, a major contributing factor was that efforts to improve the quality of English language teaching at secondary school level in the 1990s had not produced significant improvements. And so, in January 2001, the Ministry of Education issued a directive that English language teaching was to be taught in primary schools which is still in place (Ministry of Education, 2001). As a result of English language education in schools, Bolton and Graddol (2012) cite a 2010 China Daily article, where it was stated that there are approximately 400 million ‘learners’ of English or one third of China’s population. And most of those are in the education system. However, Bolton and Graddol also contend that it is difficult to find out what the range of uses of English are for, as information is incomplete because of the insufficient understanding of the role of English in the everyday lives of people in China in the first place. India had a different political journey around education. During the ‘East India Company’ era, the East India Company Act 1813, also known as the Charter Act of 1813, through an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, renewed the charter issued to the British East India Company, which continued the Company’s rule in India. The Act expressly asserted the Crown’s sovereignty over British India; it allotted Rupees 100,000 to promote education in India; and, allowed Christian missionaries to come

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to British India and preach their religion through schools. Also, a financial provision was made to encourage Indian literature and the promotion of science (Dheram, 2005; Keith, 1961). This Act laid down the foundation for English language education in India. In 1833 when the East India Company was facing bankruptcy, and wanted to reduce administrative costs a proposal for cheaper local Indians was accepted. It was decided that to save money they would employ local Indians to do the administrative and clerical tasks, rather than use the expensive English clerks brought from England. Thus, English became a ‘library language’ used for reading and the translation of texts, and not for everyday usage. Another significant milestone for the English language in India was established when Thomas Macaulay, a law officer to the Supreme Council, in 1835 drafted ‘Macaulay’s Minute on Education’ (Clive, 1973; Ghosh, 2009; Sabin, 2002). Henceforth, he was credited with introducing the English language into the education system in India. Although according to Graddol (2010), the Minute “appears to deprecate the value of Indian languages, elevate the qualities of English, and declare that English should henceforth become the medium of education in India” (p. 62). There has been much discussion and debate about his Minute ever since because of its underlying prejudices (Clive, 1973; Dheram, 2005; Hussain, 2012; Jayate, 2007; Keith, 1961; Reddy & Reddy, 2012; Srinivasan, 2008). Nevertheless, it was a significant factor in the establishment of the use of English throughout the colony and beyond. Following the departure of the English colonisers in 1947 an education legacy was founded, the British Council, established in 1948. Its mission was and still is to “promote a broad and wider appreciation of British culture and civilisation [by] encouraging cultural, educational and other interchanges between the United Kingdom and elsewhere” (The British Council, 2013a). Since then, it has developed library services, training programs and reports, and is still highly active in the development of English language policy and programs today (Dheram, 2005; Graddol, 2010; The British Council, 2013b). In 1950, when Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, declared English to be the official language for 15 years, this was written into Article 343 (1) of the Constitution of India (Nilekan 2008; Guha 2007; Chaudhary 2009) for the Proceedings of the Courts, and administrative bureaucracy. However, in 1967 the Language Act was amended so that both English and Hindi were deemed official languages (Nilekan 2008; Guha 2007; Chaudhary 2009). Both languages then served to link the south and the north, which according to Nilekan 2008, was politic, and in hindsight managed to prevent internal power struggles that could have

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broken the newly forming India apart. For further explanation of the politics and history of the introduction of English across India, see Mishra in Chapter 11 of this book. A reflection at this point about China and India in the middle of the twentieth century, is that both nations went through a significant period of revolution. Each country had to adjust to changes in alliances and national identity, and so sought out new ways of going forward. Included in these strategies was the role of the English language. In China it eventually became a language of connection with other nations, and in India it became a language of connection within to unify the nation. By the early 1960s the first national education system in India was established by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (Ghosh, 2009; National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2011), and worked towards building a national system of education. The Three Language Policy was codified in 1968, so that in primary schools the language of instruction would be the local language; in secondary schools the regional language or Hindi would be incorporated to communicate across and within the nation; and, at university level English would be the medium to connect to the world (Graddol, 2010). This model was adopted across the nation, and was monitored by the National Council of Educational Research and Training using several surveys, the most recent in 2009 (National Council of Educational Research and Training, 2013). In summary, according to Meganathan (2011) by the new millennium it would appear that most states taught in their mother-tongue or a regional language, students usually learned a neighbouring state’s language or Hindi (one of the official national languages) and / or English or another foreign language; depending on the state and region, the language of instruction would be either the mother-tongue or English. But a universal or mass free education, for primary school children in India was only introduced in 2001, with the Sarva Shiksa Abhiyan programme, which is part of India’s ‘Education For All’ initiative. In contrast to China who first introduced mass education in 1903. Thus in India, English in the curriculum is taught somewhere in all 32 states and Union Territories, and increasingly English is the medium for instruction or is taught as a second language in secondary schools. Today, the English language in India is widely used in the media, higher education, government papers, is central to science and technology, and is the language used in the judicial system. It generally remains a common means of communication throughout India with approximately four to five per cent of the Indian population or approximately 55 million who can speak English, however according to the 2001 census data (released in late 2009) 10.4% of the population

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claimed to speak English as a second or third language – that equates to around 126 million speakers in 2010 (Graddol, 2010). But Kachru (2005) suggests 330 million people can use English in some form or another, based on the magazine India Today national survey. In sum, according to Graddol (2010, p. 66) “English proficiency in India is distributed very unevenly across the various socio-economic groups. The reality is that English now plays some role in the lives of all Indians, even those who say they cannot speak or read it.” Lastly, we also reviewed the literature and policies in China and India about whether the English language was or would become the national language or mother-tongue. It is interesting to note that there were no references to this fact, except in India where English was proposed as one of two official languages for the purpose of linking the southern and northern states, as discussed earlier. China has no such plans.

Summary and conclusion When we explored the literature on globalisation, and the history and politics of the English language in China and India and compared them, this is what emerged – in China, English has always been considered an “other” language, the language of foreigners and barbarians, used practically for trading and learning about the West. Although English is taught across the curriculum, it seems that it will remain as an additional language. We suggested that in China the essence of China will be maintained by its culture and variety of Chinese dialects, and English will most likely be used by those who logistically and practically need to communicate outside of China. To some extent this supports William Overholt’s remarks from the Rand Center for Asian Pacific Policy, that China “has embraced the global economy enthusiastically” but in doing so “does not seek to alter any other country’s way of life” (Smith, 2007, p. 236) and correspondingly it appears to us, that it does not want its country’s way of life altered either. And so Penelope’s initial observation that “… the majority of its citizens do not need to speak English with foreigners” from our exploration became clearer, and shifted to “that most of its everyday citizens do not require to speak English on a daily basis”. In India, English began as a trading language and later British colonisation imbued it with power, status and control. After the English left it was resurrected as a lingua franca or linking language to unite a nation and is now considered one of the official languages. It seems then that both countries recognise that English is essential today because both nations have mass education policies with free education, where English language

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teaching is in all government primary and secondary schools and universities. Our conclusion is that the individual histories of China and India have demonstrated an interest in English as an additional language, which has influenced and shaped educational policy and curriculum over the last few centuries. However, it is only in the last fifteen years or so, as each country has expanded its economic policies for international commerce in a globalising world, that the demand for English has increased, and governments have changed their English language education policies in response. We believe it is because each nation recognises the need to speak a global language for transnational communication. Furthermore, English will continue to be held in high regard to communicate within and without, as these two nations grapple with their burgeoning economies and seek their place in a global world. A final reflection is that although in both countries English was and is a status language, used in government and commerce; it is interesting to observe that neither country has adopted or enforced the English language as part of their vernacular. There are no policies past, current or proposed for this purpose. We suggest that perhaps it is because in each of these ancient cultures there is a hard won wisdom. That is, despite the impetus to adopt English, they wish to protect their traditional languages and cultural identities, which are so intrinsically bound together, as they hurtle into a globalised world.

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES Dr Saya Ike obtained her MA (Applied Linguistics) and PhD from University of Melbourne. She is currently lecturer in the School of CrossCultural Studies at Sugiyama Jogakuen University, Japan, where she teaches courses related to sociolinguistics and World Englishes, and works as an editor of Asian Englishes. She has also taught various English skills courses. Her research interests are in varieties of English that are emerging in the Expanding Circle, and the negotiation and accommodation strategies in EIL settings in particular. She has been working on discourse analysis of EIL conversations, with special focus on backchannel behavior. She is also interested in cultural creativity of the new varieties of English in various forms of writing. Ms Penelope Goward has had a long and varied career both in and out of academia. She commenced in nursing and community health, and in the last few years has worked as an academic teaching information and communication technologies, and more recently as a language and learning adviser; she also teaches English in China. Penelope is a finalyear PhD student, and her research interests are in cross-cultural competence, identity, and higher-education learning support. Dr Hongzhi Zhang is a research assistant in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. His main research interests are inclusive education, education policy, higher education and Asia study. He has published over 10 peer-reviewed articles. Hongzhi is one of the main editors of the book Equality in Education: Fairness and Inclusion (Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2014). He is also leading another book project, entitled Asia as Method in Education Studies: A Defiant Research Imagination. This book will be published by Routledge in 2015. Dr Lilly K. Yazdanpanah is a lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Monash University. Her research interests centre on the construction of teacher knowledge and identity, reflective teaching, and cultural diversity in English language classrooms. She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students in TESOL and general education.

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Dr Jill Brown is a senior lecturer in TESOL in the Faculty of Education at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests include second language identity and teacher work and identity. She is currently working on a narrative study of the experiences of research students and children’s understandings of identity as expressed through drawings. Mr Ahmad Bukhori Muslim is an academic at the Indonesia University of Education. He earned his master’s degree in language and literacy from Boston University and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Monash University in psycho-sociolinguistics. His interests include language maintenance and identity, language and literacy development. Dr Dung Greer was awarded PhD by the University of York, Department of Education. Her thesis focused on the L2 communication experience of Vietnamese students in the UK context. Since then she has been working as an education consultant for a violence prevention program targeted at children in secondary schools in Vietnam. Dr Greer has written handbooks and training materials for teachers which are currently in use in Danang, Vietnam. Her research interests include identity, language, culture and intercultural communication; and recently social justice. Before pursuing her PhD in England, DrGreer was lecturing in Hanoi University of Business and Management and several other universities in Vietnam. Dr Thuy Linh Le has been a lecturer at the Faculty of English, Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) in Viet Nam since 1999, and completed her PhD study at Monash University, Australia in 2013. She is also the co-director of the Centre for Development Studies and Education, under the Institutes of Social Sciences, HNUE. Her research interests cover the field of English Language Education; professionalisation of English language teaching; Teacher education; and language, culture, and identity. Dr Tom Farnhill was awarded his PhD by the University of York, UK. His thesis focused on understanding how and why UK trade unions are engaging in the environmental agenda. Since then Dr Farnhill has taught political science at Sheffield International College and is currently a Teaching Associate in the School of Languages and Social Science at Aston University, Birmingham in the UK where he teaches Public PolicyMaking and Analysis, Global Social Policy and Comparative Public Policy. Before pursuing an academic career Dr Farnhill was a full-time trade union official in the UK civil service and an Employee Relations Officer in the UK’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

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Mr Mohammod Moninoor Roshid is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has recently completed his doctoral studies in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia. His research interests are: English as a lingua franca, English in Business communication, and workplace learning. Dr Manfred Wu has more than 10 years’ experience as an English teacher in Hong Kong, mainly of secondary schools students and young adults receiving vocational education. He received his MA in Applied Linguistics / TESOL and Doctor of Education specializes in ESL teaching from the University of Leicester. In addition to English as an International Language and socio-linguistics, his research interests include languagelearning strategies and language-learning styles of Chinese L2 learners, language-learning motivation, beliefs on language learning, and out-ofclass English language learning activities. Dr Shamsul Nizam Kachi Mohideen was a secondary school English Language teacher in Malaysia for more than a decade before pursuing his PhD in Education in Monash University. He has involved in many language training activities and teacher training for secondary school teachers before taking up a TESL (Teach English as a Second Language) lecturing job in a private university. His research interests are gender studies, English Language Teaching (ELT) and Teacher Education. He graduated with a PhD from Monash University and is currently attached to the R&D Unit in the Institute of Teacher Education, Ministry of Education Malaysia. Mr Afrianto has been teaching English for more than 10 years in Indonesia, ranging from primary school to university level. Currently he is teaching in the English Education Department, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Riau University Indonesia. Apart from teaching, Afrianto is also active as a freelance writer in a number of local and national newspapers in Indonesia. He is currently a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. Dr Sunita Mishra is an Associate Professor at the Centre for English Language Studies, University of Hyderabad, India. She is interested in teaching and researching in the following areas: English Teaching in India, Critical Discourse Analysis and the History of Indian language Philosophy. She is also interested in developing ELT material for students

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from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and translating Literature from her mother tongue (Odiya) to English. Ms Maya Pinkan Warouw is a lecturer in the Faculty of Letters, Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia and has been teaching in English Department for more than 8 years there. She earned her Master’s degree in Linguistics from the same university and her MEd (TESOL International) from Monash University. She is about to complete her PhD research at Monash University which looks at how teachers’ form adaptation strategies in response to the ethnic diversity of their learners. Ms Thuy Ngoc Dinh is currently a PhD candidate in EIL and a teaching associate in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia. She is a Lecturer of English at HCMC University of Pedagogy, Vietnam and a visiting scholar at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Her research interests include EIL, intercultural communication, culture and ELT curriculum, cultural conceptualisations, World Englishes and ELT methodology. Ms Priscilla Angela T. Cruz is a faculty member in the Department of English, School of Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She has been teaching English for several years now and is currently working on her dissertation. Her research interests include Systemic Functional Linguistics, educational linguistics, language variation, and interfacing language and literature teaching. Apart from teaching and research, she also conducts teacher-training workshops for language and literature instruction. Dr. Roby Marlina lectures in the program of English as an International Language (EIL) at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. His research interests lie in Curriculum and Pedagogy of English as an International Language (World Englishes), Multicultural Education, and TESOL. He has published in international journals including International Journal of Educational Research, Multilingual Education, and Asian EFL Journal. He is one of the main editors of the forthcoming book, The Pedagogy of English as an International Language: Perspectives from Scholars, Teachers, and Students (Switzerland: Springer International Publishing). Dr Raqib Chowdhury taught English literature at Dhaka University, Bangladesh from 1997 and then joined Monash upon completing his PhD in 2008 where he currently works. He holds Master’s degrees in English Literature and Education. He has been teaching English for 18 years in a

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wide range of settings. He is author of Desiring TESOL and International Education: Market Abuse and Exploitation (from Multilingual Matters, Bristol) and has published widely in the areas of EAP, culture and pedagogy, English teacher education, TESOL and ELT, EIL, international education and identity.