Higher Level of English Learning: A Social and Critical Perspective ofChinese EFL Learners’ Language Awareness

Yamin QianKangxian Zhao

Fang Liu

Overview

• Introduction• Literature Review • Research Questions• Research Methodology• Research Findings• Discussions• References

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Introduction: Research Context

• A univeristy at South China: One of the top three universities in foreign language teaching

•  Syllabus: Four year English courses (N=506) compared with two year courses in other universities (N=230)

•  All-English campus culture •  Extracurriculum

activities:Pronunciation contest, Debate contest, Drama contest, and etc.

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Introduction: Research Participants•   Second year Bachelor of Education

students (N=60)•   Multilingual background:          L1: Cantonese or Haka         L2: Mandarine as the second language          L3: English • Reading course: Sixteen weeks (N=24

hours)       Reading comprehension (12 hours)       Reading skills (12 hours)

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Literature Review

o English as a Second Language (ESL)/EFL learners hold different attitudes toward varieties of English.

o Beliefs about NES and NES teachers

Researching Questions

1.What kind of English do you prefer: US or UK English?  Why?

2. Do you think native speakers of English will be better  than non-native speakers of English in English teaching? Why?

3. Do you want to speak English all day? Why?

4. When you forget a Chinese word, but you do remember how to say it in English, how do you feel? Why?

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Research Methodology

• This presentation is drawn on a broader research

•  Qualitative research: 3 reflective journals with both open-ended and close-ended questions.

• Mixed code analysis• Wordings. • Participation in and answers to this

research are not subsumed as a part of evaluation plan for the course.

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What kind of English do you prefer: US or UK English?

 

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Why UK English? Why US English?21 participants related their preference to their

understandings in theLinguistic domain• UK English had stronger accent and was

more standard. For these students, UK English speakers speak “slower.”

•  US English was “quicker,” “comprehensive,” “high pitch,” and “simple pronunciation.”

• Contradictory comments were found at both categories.

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Do you think native speakers of English will be better than non-native speakers of English in English teaching?

• Native speakers are better (N=21)

• Non-native speakers are better (N=14)

• Both NS and NNS can be good (N=8)

• No answer (N=1)

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Why NES? • NES teachers  have better knowledge of

English culture and better pronunciation. • NES teachers’ lack of understandings of

learners’ culture and language became a contradictory disposition.

•  NES teachers were believed to be better at teaching listening and speaking.

• More participants preferred NES (Quantitative data), more participants preferred NNES (Qualitative data)

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Why NNES?

• NNES teachers understood students’ needs and shared the history of learning.

• NNES teachers were better teachers at subjects such as grammar and pronunciation

Do you want to speak English all day?

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When you forget a Chinese word, but you do remember how to say it in English, how do you feel and what will you do?

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Research Findings• Pure linguistic perspective, namely,

improved language proficiency or limited language proficiency,

• Mother language and foreign language.

• Participants’ perception of ideal application of a certain language

• Participants’ understanding of language use in a social context

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Discussions

• Accents and its related social identities of speakers

•  NS and NNS as English teachers•  "English Only"= A better life

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References• Ahmed, F. (2004). ESL/EFL students’ attitude to native and nonnative speaker teachers

of English in two university settings. Unpublished master’s thesis, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

• Barratt, L., & Kontra, E. (2000). Native-English-Speaking teachers in cultures other than their own. TESOL Journal, 9(3), 19-23.

• Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

• Donmall, B. G. (1985).  Language awareness: NCLE reports and papers 6. CILT.

• Fairclough, N. (1999). Global Capitalism and Critical Awareness of Language. Language Awareness, 8(2), 71–83.

• James, C. & Garrett, P. (1991). The scope of Language Awareness. In C.  James, & P. Garrett, (Eds.). Language awareness in the classroom ( pp. 3-20). London, UK: Longman.

• Ladegaard, H. J. (1998). National stereotypes and language attitudes: The perception of British, American and Australian language and culture in Denmark. Language and Communication, 18, 251-274.

• Llurda, E., & Huguet, A. (2003). Self-awareness in NNS EFL primary and secondary teachers. Language Awareness, 12(3&4), 220-233.

• Marr, T. (2005). Language and the capital: A case study of English ‘language shock’ among Chinese students in London. Language Awareness, 14(4),239-253.

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References

• Moussu, L. (2006) Native and Nonnative English speaking English as a Second Language Teachers: Student Attitudes, Teacher Self Perceptions, and Intensive English Program Administrator Beliefs and Practices. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

• Norton Peirce, B. (1995) Social identity, investment, and language learning. TESOL Quarterly, 29(1), 9-31.

• Pennycook, A (2001), Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

• Philipson, R. (1998). Globalizing English: Are linguistic human rights an alternative to linguistic imperialism? Language Science, 20(1),101-112

• Pousada, A. (2006). Language awareness: A history and implementations. (Review of the book Language awareness: A history and implementations). Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 16(2), 291-292.

• Svalberg, A. M-L. (2007) Language awareness and language learning. Language Teaching, 40(4), 287-308.

• Swain, M. (2008). Introduction to Leo van Lier. The Modern Language Journal, 92( i), 3-5.• van Lier, L. (1995). Introducing language Awareness. London, UK: Penguin Group. • Wallace, C. (1992). Critical literacy awareness in the EFL classroom.  In N. Fairclough

(Ed.), Critical language awareness. London, UK: Longman.

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Thank You