tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056169221809262733.post5507133957543231018..comments2023-09-05T06:15:03.447-07:00Comments on Language Education: Global English and the CLT - part 2Antônio Trevisan Teixeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11898542851006103803noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056169221809262733.post-23313879270528583072009-07-27T18:13:35.789-07:002009-07-27T18:13:35.789-07:00Hi, Viovio,
we are always teaching a specific gro...Hi, Viovio,<br /><br />we are always teaching a specific group of people, in a specific place, using a specific way of teaching. Things are very very situated or contextualized from the outset.<br /><br />To make instruction more contextualized, teachers need to have in mind who they are teaching, as well as where and why they are teaching.<br /><br />Recipes don't work well well exactly beacuse they ignore the context. Methodologies and materials should never be considered ready to use without a critical look.<br /><br />There are lots of topics that can be discussed in class that relate to the learner's life and the reality that surrounds them. <br /><br />For example, students can discuss about the city or neighborhood where they live, its problems, touristic places, etc. When discussing the use of "please", they can be asked if in their native language there are other ways of expressing politeness, such as intonation. When talking about the culture of English speaking countries, a nice topic for discussion is about cultural stereotypes that "we" think "they" have about us and vice-versa.<br /><br />These are just a few examples that come to my mind now. I hope that at least they make sense. Probably they are too obvious. What do you think?<br /><br />Thanks for the comment!Antônio Trevisan Teixeirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11898542851006103803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056169221809262733.post-65531715843166071092009-07-27T17:58:16.353-07:002009-07-27T17:58:16.353-07:00Brian,
the whole process is completely undemocrat...Brian,<br /><br />the whole process is completely undemocratic - as you said - if you consider hthe historical reasons why English has become so important. Someone has said that if Hitler had won the WWII, German would now be the international language. Alo, a very clear expression of this undemocratic process is the liguistic policies that are behind institutions such as the British Council, etc., that despite the great job they do in providing trainning and resources abroad, promote a certain variety of English as the "norm" and its national culture as a "civilizing" tool.<br /><br />This sounds pretty much like an updated version of "the white man's burden". That's why many authors nowadays talk about linguistic imperialism. "My language is better than yours; my culture is better than yours" seems to be the message.<br /><br />But, on the other hand, the same English language that was/is the language of British and American imperialism is now approriated by those who suffer/have suffered from this undemocratic process. India is probably one of the most obvious examples. In terms of numbers, they are more people speaking English in India than in England. And it is not British English anymore, but India English.<br /><br />Language is a human tool for communication (among many other things) and it is basically impossible to be controlled. So any undemocratic process related to language is going to be undermined by this very nature of language.<br /><br />What happens today is that English is most of the time used in interactions between people who both have different mother tongues - and none of them is a native speaker of English.<br /><br />So that is why we can talk about English as a lingua franca or global language. This is the language that most people speak nowadays. It is not British or American English.<br /><br />Of course, we should try to learn other languages as well to communicate with people who don't speak English (and/or Portuguese in my case). But since we have a natural limit on the number of languages we can be proficient in, English helps a lot.<br /><br />If I - a Brazilian - had never studied English, I guess we wouldn't be able to have this exchange and reflect upon this process together. So, even though English has been imposed to my culture for obvious political and economic reasons, it is now for me a tool to question this very process we are all part of.<br /><br />I enjoyed a lot your comment. Please feel free to post a comment whenever you feel like!Antônio Trevisan Teixeirahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11898542851006103803noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8056169221809262733.post-21607301272495033122009-07-27T11:44:55.885-07:002009-07-27T11:44:55.885-07:00Well, I would like to see some examples of how to ...Well, I would like to see some examples of how to contextualize the instruction in your classroom and seize the "social context" you talk about.vioviohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14600681969209877934noreply@blogger.com