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Course Introduction
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Unit 1: Defining English
This unit introduces the idea of alternative monolithic and plurilithic conceptions of English.
- 1.0 Introduction
- 1.1 Monolithic vs Plurilithic Concepts
- 1.1.1 Monolithic Concepts of Language
- 1.1.2 Plurilithic Concepts of Language
- 1.2 ‘Standard English’
- 1.2.1 ‘Standard English’: History
- 1.2.2 ‘Standard English’: Beliefs
- 1.2.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of ‘Standard English’ for ELT
- 1.3 Rules of English
- 1.3.1 The ambiguity of the word rule
- 1.3.2 Rules of English: The Monolithic View
- 1.3.3 Rules of English: The Plurilithic View
- 1.4 Four Dimensions of Monolithism
- 1.5 Check Your Understanding
- 1.6 Reflect and Discuss
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Unit 2: Using English
This unit explores the plurilithic usage of English in diverse global settings.
- Unit 2: Using English
- 2.1 Introducing Lingua Franca Usage
- 2.2.1 Native speaker Variation
- 2.2.2 Native speakers: Accommodation
- 2.3 Englishes in the British Isles
- 2.4 World Englishes
- 2.4.1 Englishes in Your Part of The World
- 2.4.2 Owning a language (Part 1)
- 2.5 ELF
- 2.5.1 Intelligibility
- 2.5.2 ELF in Your Part of The World
- 2.6 Translanguaging with English
- 2.7 Check Your Understanding
- 2.8 Reflect and Discuss
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Unit 3: Learning English
This unit discusses how English is learned as a first or additional language.
- Unit 3: Learning English
- 3.1 First Language Acquisition
- 3.2 Back to Rules
- 3.2.1 Rules as Patterns in the Mind (Part 1)
- 3.2.2 Rules as Social Markers
- 3.2.3 Rules as Mental Representations
- 3.2.4 Rules in Schools
- 3.2.5 Rules as Patterns in the Mind (2)
- 3.3 Models and Targets
- 3.4 Learning Contexts
- 3.5 Owning a Language (Part 2)
- 3.6 Learners and Users
- 3.7 Check Your Understanding
- 3.8 Reflect and Discuss
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Unit 4: Teaching English
This unit examines the teaching implications of plurilithic conceptions of English.
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Unit 5: Changing English
This unit suggests ways to share your learning on the course with others.
- Unit 5: Changing English
- 5.1 The Challenge
- 5.2 Changing Learners’ Beliefs About English
- 5.3 Changing Teaching Colleagues’ Beliefs About English
- 5.4 Changing Policy-Makers’ Beliefs About English
- 5.5 Changing the Public’s Beliefs About English
- 5.6 Check Your Understanding
- 5.7 Reflect and Discuss
- Course Finish
5.1 The Challenge
And yet we must be realistic about teachers’ ability to effect large-scale changes in belief, and therefore influence policy decisions, in the short term. Decisions about learning and teaching English, taken at the macro level by politicians, policy-makers and textbook publishers, and at the micro level by learners, their parents and employers, will continue to be based almost entirely on monolithic conceptions of English for the foreseeable future. As Maley (2006) puts it:
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- [T]he task of implementing teaching based on E[nglish] as an I[nternational] L[anguage] would […] involve turning around the oil tanker of vested interests in international examinations, in textbook publishing, in teacher training provision, in quality-control bodies and so on. (p. 5)
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Figure 5.1: ‘Turning around the oil tanker of vested interests’ [Source: Peakpx]
But radical change does happen, and teachers around the world are becoming increasingly interested in ideas about World Englishes, EIL and ELF. It is time to meet the challenges and opportunities of the changing nature of English by changing the way people think about English.
In this unit, we’ll ask you to consider how you as a teacher might try to raise consciousness of the issues discussed here with four groups of stakeholders:
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- ● the learners you teach
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- ● your teaching colleagues
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- ● local policy-makers (including educational authorities and politicians)
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- ● ‘members of the general public’ (including parents, bloggers, media commentators and others)
We’ll offer some ideas and advice for approaching the issues with each group.