Te a c h i n g t o w a r d s E L F c o m p e t e n c e i n t h e E n g l i s h c l a s s r o o m

C o l l o q u i u m :

“ E L F - a w a r e c l a s s r o o m p r a c t i c e s a n d t e a c h i n g m a t e r i a l s : i s s u e s a n d n e w p e r s p e c t i v e s i n E L T ”

Kurt Kohn Steinbeis-Transferzentrum Sprachlernmedien

www.sprachlernmedien.de kurt.kohn@uni-tuebingen.de

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

This presentation uses outcomes from the EU-funded projects BACKBONE, EVIVA and TILA. It reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Conceptual clarifications

From „teaching ELF“ to „teaching ELF communication“

Acceptance of non-native speakers‘

creativity

Attention to speaker satisfaction as a

criterion for success

Adoption of an enlightened/weak

SE orientation

Language learning as individual and social construction

[Kohn 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014; Grazzi 2013]

[Widdoson 2003: 49; Seidlhofer/Widdowson 2009]

[Kohn 2014; also Seidlhofer 2011:81]

[Kohn 2013]

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Key dimensions

Overall objective: to enable speakers/learners to develop and use their English to communicate

successfully under conditions of ELF communication with a focus on spoken (and written) communication

Pedagogical competence dimensions

Awareness raising

Comprehension

Production

Communication strategies

Non-native speaker creativity

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Awareness raising

To make speakers/learners attentive to lingua franca manifestations of English they might encounter in authentic ELF

communication the conditions and requirements of successful ELF communication

Essential for “third space” negotiation in contact situations between speakers from different linguacultural backgrounds (Kramsch 2009)

Helps foster learners’ linguistic and cultural tolerance – both for others and for themselves

ELF-aware tasks

Exploration of pedagogically relevant manifestations of genuine ELF communication focus on language, communication (styles), cultural differences assessment regarding efficiency and satisfaction

Reflective follow-up, e.g. journal (Moodle), in pairs (forum), in class

“Learning about”: characteristics and possibilities of ELF communication, challenges and strategies

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Comprehension

To help speakers/learners develop ELF-aware comprehension skills for coping with e.g. unfamiliar pronunciation unclear meanings weak coherence

Essential for “third space” negotiation

ELF-aware tasks

Comprehension practice with pedagogically selected manifestations of genuine ELF communication

Identification and analysis of comprehension problems (e.g. lack of accommodation)

Development of comprehension strategies (e.g. asking for clarification)

Reflective follow-up, e.g. journal (Moodle), in pairs (forum), in class

“Learning about”: understanding comprehension, challenges and strategies

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Production

To help speakers/learners develop ELF-aware production skills ELF-aware re-set of requirements of performance: fluency over correctness

(Kohn 2001) ELF communication specific extension of linguistic repertoire, e.g. politeness,

speech act functions, topic and conversation management, problems and repairs (> “pragmatic fluency”, House 2002: 262ff; > “express-ability”, Albl-Mikasa 2013)

Relevant for collaborative “third space” negotiation

ELF-aware tasks

Participation in authentic ELF interactions with a focus on communicative form and function and a weak SE orientation production practice > fluency and identification and analysis of problems focus on linguistic means of expression relevant for (intercultural) ELF

communication opportunities for (collaborative) output processing > languaging

Reflective follow-up, e.g. journal (Moodle), in pairs (forum), in class

“Learning about”: understanding production, challenges and strategies

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Communication strategies

To help speakers/learners develop ELF-aware communication strategies comprehension, production, interaction “signaling and preventing misunderstandings” (Mauranen 2006)

Relevant for “third space” construction > accommodation, meaning negotiation, letting-it-pass

These strategic processes are anchored in ordinary communicative competence and behaviour (> adaptation to ELF communication)

ELF-aware tasks

Participation in authentic ELF communication with a focus on communicative and communal objectives and how they can be achieved

Identification and analysis of problems and solutions

Reflective follow-up, e.g. journal (Moodle), in pairs (forum), in class

“Learning about”: understanding communication, challenges and strategies

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Teaching towards ELF competence Non-native speaker creativity

To help speakers/learners explore and trust their own non-native creativity a necessary condition for developing a non-native speaker feeling of agency and

ownership, self-confidence and satisfaction Creative appropriation is a natural and constitutive element of language acquisition and

development (> Widdowson 2003:43)

Necessary part of “third space” negotiation

ELF-aware tasks

Adoption of a (social constructivist) weak Standard English orientation

Re-set of requirements of performance to include speaker satisfaction (Kohn 2014)

Creative exploration and extension of one’ own linguistic resources

Critical sensitivity development through collaborative assessment

Reflective follow-up, e.g. journal (Moodle), in pairs (forum), in class

“Learning about”: understanding language acquisition/development, challenges and strategies

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Input from EU projects TELF: English as a lingua franca discussions

TELF: small group discussions about a critical incident topic among non-native (and native) speakers of English from diverse linguistic & cultural backgrounds 36 discussions (ca. 100,000 words) with 160

speakers from 30 different linguistic backgrounds transcripts; corpus query support speaker profiles and retrospective interviews demo access; on request for educational purposes

ELF-aware tasks listening for ELF comprehension with or without

transcript support follow-up activities, e.g. summary/account,

discussion, over to you identification & analysis of characteristics,

challenges and strategies of conversations assessment regarding effectiveness, satisfaction

Awareness raising

Com prehension

Production

Communication strategies

NNS creativity

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Input from EU projects BACKBONE: Interview corpora

Backbone: Pedagogic Corpora for Content and Language Integrated Learning video interviews („natural narratives“) in 6

European languages with pedagogical annotation and transcripts

50 video interviews ELF speakers from France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Turkey

transcripts; corpus query support available as open educational resource (OER)

ELF-aware tasks (comparative) listening for ELF comprehension

with or without transcript support follow-up activities, e.g. summary/account,

discussion identification & analysis of characteristics,

challenges and strategies of „natural narratives“ assessment regarding effectiveness, satisfaction

Awareness raising

Com prehension

Production

Communication strategies

NNS creativity

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Input from EU projects PELLIC: Practice Enterprise

Awareness raising

Com prehension

Production

Communication strategies

NNS creativity

PELLIC: Practice Enterprise for Language Learning and Intercultural communication virtual learning environment (VLE) based on

Moodle and Google Apps students in different European countries set up

Practice Enterprise companies to engage in business interactions in English

authentic tasks from different areas of business life, e.g. starting a company, advertising, buying and selling, trade fairs and exhibitions

ELF-aware tasks mainly written ELF interactions in business contexts identification & analysis of characteristics,

challenges and strategies of ELF communication creative explorations and extension of own

linguistic resources assessment regarding effectiveness and satisfaction

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

Input from EU projects TILA: intercultural telecollaboration

Awareness raising

Com prehension

Production

Communication strategies

NNS creativity

TILA: Telecollaboration for Intercultural Language Acquisition the project explores the use of telecollaboration for

intercultural foreign language learning in secondary schools

Blended Learning ensembles: F2F/classroom, forum, blog, chat, VC, 3D virtual worlds

focus: synchronous oral communication in videoconf (BigBlueButton) and virtual worlds (OpenSim)

tandem and lingua franca constellations

ELF-aware tasks spoken (& written) lingua franca interactions in pairs follow-up activities, e.g. summary, discussion identification & analysis of characteristics, challenges

and strategies of communication creative explorations & extension of own linguistic resources assessment regarding effectiveness and satisfaction

ELF 7, 4-6 September 2014, The American College of Greece, Athens

References

Albl-Mikasa, M. (2013). Express-ability in ELF communication. JELF 2/1.

Grazzi, E. (2013). The Sociocultural Dimension of ELF in the English Classroom. Rom: Anicia.

House, J. (2002). Pragmatic competence in lingua franca English". In: Knapp, K. & Ch. Meierkord (eds.). Lingua Franca Communication. Frankfurt (Main): Peter Lang, 245-267.

Kohn, K. (2007). Englisch als globale Lingua Franca. Eine Herausforderung für die Schule. In Anstatt (Hrsg.) (2007). Mehrsprachigkeit bei Kindern und Erwachsenen. Tübingen: Narr, 207-222.

Kohn, K. (2011). ELF and the Standard English misunderstanding. In De Houwer & Wilton (eds.). English in Europe Today. Sociocultural and Educational Perspectives. John Benjamins, 72-94.

Kohn, K. (2012). ‘My English’ - Second Language Learning as Individual and Social Construction. TESOL Convention Philadelphia, 28-31 March 2012 [http://bit.ly/1uAQDEF]

Kohn, K. (2014). A pedagogical space for ELF in the English classroom. In Bayyurt and Akcan (eds.). Current Perspectives on Pedagogy for ELF. De Gruyter Mouton.

Kramsch, C. (2009). Third culture and language education. In: V. Cook (ed.). Language Teaching and Learning. Continuum, 233-254.

Mauranen, A. (2006). Signaling and preventing misunderstanding in English as lingua franca communication. Int’l. J. Soc. Lang. 177, 123–150.

Mauranen, A. 2012) Exploring ELF. Academic English Shaped by Non-native Speakers. CUP.

Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. OUP.

Seidlhofer, B. & H. Widdowson (2009). Conformity and creativity in ELF and learner English. In Albl-Mikasa et al. (eds.). Dimensions of Second Language Research. Tübingen: Narr, 93-107.

Widdowson, H. (2003). Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. Oxford. OUP

[See Kohn publications on https://uni-tuebingen.academia.edu/KurtKohn]