Search

Blended learning which synthesizes face-to-face instruction with distance education opportunities in educationally meaningful ways aims to take advantage of the affordances of both genuine and virtual types of teaching and ubiquitously equip learners without the limitation of time and space. Blended learning has been integrated into several pre-service teacher education courses to soundly cultivate teacher candidates with the efficient use of online and class time. Yet, to date, there has been no research on the use of blended learning in English as a lingua franca (ELF)-aware pre-service teacher education. This study aims to introduce an intensive blended learning model devised to raise ELF-awareness of pre-service teachers via critical reflection and investigate its effectiveness through their views. The data were collected by a questionnaire with closed and open-ended items and semi-structured interviews and analyzed via quantitative and qualitative analysis. The findings showed the blended learning model was rated to be effective in raising ELF-awareness of the participants. The advantages of the model were also reported along with challenges and the ways to address them. Overall, the results indicate a high level of satisfaction about the model and it is suggested blended learning be used in pre-service teacher education contexts.

Today English has become the Lingua Franca or common language of many people, regardless of their being native or nonnative speaker of English all over the world. Therefore, it has become necessary to educate pre-/in-service teachers with an awareness towards the significance of the involvement of an "English as a lingua franca" (ELF) perspective in their language teaching practice in multilingual/multicultural contexts. In a rapidly changing world, many English language teachers and teacher trainers are cognizant of the impact of migration in their teaching contexts. However, it is still not very clear to what extent and in what context they are integrating ELF related issues in their language teaching practice. In this study, we make an attempt to unveil in-service teachers' beliefs about ELF in pedagogical practice in three different countries -- Poland, Portugal and Turkey. In order to do that we have adopted a questionnaire from an earlier study investigating the involvement of culture in ELT in expanding circle contexts. The findings of the study revealed that although teachers in these contexts are aware of the significance of the inclusion of an ELF-aware perspective in ELT, they are still hesitant about its applicability in their own teaching context. This study has implications for raising English language teachers' awareness in conceptualizing how an ELF-aware pedagogical approach can be implemented in a multilingual/multicultural context.

While translanguaging has gained significant traction as a theory of language that holds implications for educational settings with students from various language backgrounds, its viability in content assessment remains an unresolved issue. Students in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs at a private university in Türkiye participated in content exams that did not impose any language constraints, and follow-up interviews were conducted to probe into the participants' language-related EMI experiences and the factors that affected their language use in their responses. Student reports showed that L1 was used by instructors to explain complex concepts or when students' comprehension was challenged. Students used both English and L1 materials for studying, and in group and individual work, a mix of English and L1 was common, driven by the aim of cognitive efficiency and overcoming language barriers. In the content exams, both monolingual and translingual practices were employed by the participants, and their language use was mainly associated with relative proficiency in L2, encoding-retrieval match, and compartmentalization of languages. The study demonstrates that students encounter challenges in L2 comprehension and production in lessons and exams and that offering language flexibility in content exams may serve as a temporary accommodation that allows fuller expression of content knowledge, particularly in time-constrained exams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study explores whether/how CLIL practice at primary English language classrooms raises English language teachers' awareness towards their language use from an English as a lingua franca (ELF)-aware perspective. English language teachers in a CLIL program completed a survey about their classroom practice and their opinions about their English language use in the classroom. They also shared their lesson plans to showcase their everyday teaching. The findings revealed that although CLIL practice presented challenges for language teachers, their experience enabled participants to conceptualize themselves as 'competent English language users' instead of non-native English language teachers. Moreover, the findings suggested that teachers' CLIL experience enabled them to become aware of the three major components of ELF awareness; namely, awareness of language and language use, awareness of instructional practice, and awareness of learning.

This paper reports on the pairing of Spanish-speaking in-service teachers and Turkish-speaking pre-service teachers in a telecollaborative intercultural project in which English was used as a lingua franca. The authors of this paper were the course leaders. Participants' discourses were examined to understand how they communicated their cultures and whether they thought they had gained any cultural understanding from their interchanges. These data came from three sources: (1) The exchanges on the online cultural rooms in the discussion board area; (2) The students' final reports; and (3) The course usage statistics. As a challenge to O'Dowd's (2003) claim that such interchanges can end up as meaningless and superficial exercises, we demonstrate that they encourage people from different cultural backgrounds to develop and further their understanding of other cultures via such exchanges.

In an era where English is the global lingua franca, academic writing has transformed significantly. This manuscript explores academic writing in English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts, tracing the journey of English from colonization to lingua franca status and contextualizing it within evolving paradigms of English and language teaching worldwide. We delve into ELF research, where English plays a multifaceted role as a resource for multilingual communication. Our examination encompasses ELF’s definitions, diverse users, and English as a multilingual franca. Our focus shifts to academic writing practices within ELF contexts, scrutinizing unique challenges and opportunities arising from linguistic diversity, cultural nuances, and communication strategies. Through a review of existing studies on academic writing in ELF contexts, we offer practical insights for educators, researchers, and students navigating this realm. This manuscript guides readers through the intricate world of academic writing in the globalized domain of English as a lingua franca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leading position of English as a global language has evidently been continuing for several decades. This pivotal role has inevitably been influencing the agenda of English language teaching and teacher education in most domains of the profession. Although English as a lingua franca (ELF) implications and practices on teaching and teacher education are increasingly researched, they still remain a fairly untrodden territory. For this very aim, this study endeavored to shed lights on the role of teacher education programs through exploration of pre-service language teachers' perceptions on ELF related issues through a questionnaire and interviews. The findings revealed that although a large number of participants accepted the realities of ELF, however, they stated that their perspectives and teaching practices were largely shaped by inner circle native norms of English. The study has significant implications for teacher education programs involving language instructors, students, curriculum designers and material developers.

This study presents the outcome of the implementation of a process-oriented model of an intercultural competence (IC) and English as a lingua franca (ELF)-awareness development syllabus to prepare government-sponsored Turkish international sojourners for global communication in English L1 countries. Based on social constructivist research methodology, both, qualitative and quantitative data were used in the study that came from three major sources. The qualitative data included field notes obtained from a class of 10 study-abroad English preparatory students and interviews conducted with the preparatory school administrators, and the quantitative data came from pre-tests and post-tests which demonstrated a considerable shift in the attitudes of the participants of the experimental group with a boost in their ELF awareness and intercultural sensitivity compared to their control group counterparts. The outcome of the study underlines the significance of IC and ELF awareness development during language preparatory programmes prior to sojourn.

Copyright of Journal of English as a Lingua Franca is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Content-based language instruction and form-focused instruction (FFI) have been investigated extensively in the context of English as a second language. However, there has not been much research concerning FFI in the context of English as a foreign language. The study described here explores the effect of integrated and isolated FFI on the vocabulary, grammar, and writing development of foreign language learners in two separate classes at the primary level in Turkey. It also investigates students' attitudes towards integrated and isolated FFI. Findings suggest that the students receiving integrated FFI performed better than students receiving isolated FFI in all measures. In addition, the students expressed a preference for integrated FFI. (Contains 3 tables.)

This paper reports a longitudinal quasiexperimental study that investigated the effectiveness of a theme-based syllabus versus an essentially grammatical syllabus with functional elements for young Turkish learners of English (aged 10-11) in a primary school setting. The theme-based syllabus rested on two different theoretical premises, one being Widdowson's (1990) notion of systemic versus schematic knowledge in language learning and the other being Cummins' (1981) two-dimensional concept of language proficiency, involving basic interpersonal/communicative skills and cognitive/academic language proficiency. Two intact groups were randomly assigned to one of these syllabus types and received instruction for two years. Results indicate that the experimental group outperformed the control group both in listening and reading/writing skills. (Contains 3 notes, 4 tables, and 2 figures.)

This article examines the importance of raising non-native English language teachers' awareness of different dimensions of culture in the teaching of English as an international language. The author believes that the more critical English language teachers become about the involvement of culture in their English language teaching, the more they equip their students with the necessary linguistic and cultural resources to be able to communicate with people from other cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The study comprises the development and implementation of a semi-structured interview. The participants are a small group of Turkish teachers of English working in public and private schools in Turkey. Drawing on the results of the interview study, the author shows that there is a general consensus among the participants of the study on the practice of referring to an "international culture" with special emphasis on English-speaking Anglo-American cultures, as well as the learners' local culture in the English as a Foreign Language classroom. Moreover, the results also reveal the participant teachers' belief that being a non-native English-speaking teacher is an advantage as far as cultural and linguistic issues in the English language classroom are concerned. (Contains 4 notes.)