Earning the Keys to the Kingdom: Students’ Language Awareness, Identity and Representations of English-Speaking Others
Keywords:
English Language Teaching, Young Learners, Textbooks, CLIL, Intercultural Awareness, TextbooksSyllabi Design
Abstract
The present linguistic reality involves finding ways of communication in the globalized environment, where people move all around the world in order to find work, learn, or share experiences. One issue arising from English language teaching is that it has mainly overlooked teaching culture across the curriculum, thus allowing the increase of negative attitudes and stereotypes.
This paper is set out to determine to what extent English language teaching (ELT) materials demonstrate the traits of the English-speaking Other, it what ways children are accessing the target ‘Kingdom’, and which are the best teaching strategies to provide them with the keys to the target world. Anchoring our perspective in CLIL and the 4 Cs, this study looks at ways of developing cutting-edge syllabi to develop intercultural awareness and preventing stereotypes. Findings from the application of the syllabi and resulting from an analysis of the cultural content of two internationally distributed ELT textbooks are reported. The present research put in evidence that cultural aspects are practically absent from the analyzed textbooks, thus lacking a key dimension in English Language Teaching and Education. Therefore, some recommendations for future textbook writers and EFL classroom practice are suggested.
References
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Näslund, J. C., & Schneider, W. (1996). Kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological skills and memory processes: Relative effects on early literacy. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 62, 30-59. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1996.0021
Pavlenko, A. (2003). ‘Language of the enemy’: foreign language education and national identity. Language Policy, 6, 313-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050308667789
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
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Scarborough, H. S. (1998). Early identifications of children at risk for reading disabilities: Phonemic awareness and some other predictors. In B. K. Shapiro, P. J. Accardo, & A. J. Capute (Eds.), Specific reading disability: A view of the spectrum (pp. 75- 119). Timonium, MD: York Press.
Scarborough, H. (2002). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy development (pp. 97-110). New York: Guilford.
Shatil, E. (2001). Haver Hadash [A new friend]. Kiryat Bialeek, Israel: Aha Books Press. Shatil, E., Share, D., & Levin, I. (2000). On the contribution of kindergarten writing to grade 1 literacy: A longitudinal study in Hebrew. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 1-21.
Schumann, J. H. (1978). The acculturation model for second language acquisition. In R. C. Gingras (Ed.), Second language acquisition and foreign language teaching (pp. 27-50). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent Literacy as a Perspective for Examining How Young Children Become Writers and Readers. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-5-8-4
Wells, G. (1985). Pre-school related activities and success in school. In D. Olson, N. Torrance, & A. Hildyard (Eds.), Literacy language and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing (pp. 229-255). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/027112149401400405
Wells, G. (1985). Pre-school related activities and success in school. In D. Olson, N. Torrance, & A. Hildyard (Eds.), Literacy language and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing (pp. 229-255). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (2002). Emergent literacy: Development from prereaders to readers. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy development (pp. 11-29). New York: Guilford.
Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54, 119-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00250.x
Ben-Rafael, E., & Brosh, H. (1991). A sociological study of second language diffusion: the obstacles to Arabic teaching in the Israeli school. Language Problems and Language Planning, 15, 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1075/lplp.15.1.01ben
Byram M., & Carol M. (1994). Teaching-and-learning-Language-and-Culture. United Kingdom: Multilingual matters. ISBN-13: 978-1853592119
Byram, M. (2002). Foreign language education as political and moral education - an essay. Language Learning Journal, 26(1), 43-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571730285200221
Byram, M., & Feng, A. (2005). Culture and language learning: teaching, research and scholarship. Language Teaching, 37, 149-168. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444804002289
Catts, H. W., Fey, M. E., Zhang, X., & Tomblin, J. B. (2001). Estimating the risk of future reading difficulties in kindergarten children: A research based model and its clinical implementation. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in School, 32, 38-50. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2001/004)
Chaney, C. (1998). Preschool language and metalinguistic skills are links to reading success. Applied Psycholinguistics, 19, 433-446. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716400010250
Clements, M. A., Reynolds, A. J., & Hickey, E. (2004). Site-level predictors of children’s school and social competence in the Chicago Child-Parent Centers. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 273-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2004.04.005
De-Abreu, M. D., & Cardoso-Martins, C. (1998). Alphabetic access route in beginning reading acquisition in Portuguese: The role of letter-name knowledge. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 10, 85-104. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007939610145
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum. ISBN 978-1-4899-2271-7.
Dickinson, D. K., & Snow, C. E. (1987). Interrelationships among prereading and oral language skills in kindergartners from two social classes. Early Childhood Research Quality, 2, 1-25.
Dickinson, D. K. (2002). Shifting images of developmentally appropriate practice as seen through different lenses. Educational Researcher, January/February, 26-32. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3594306
Donitsa-Schmidt, S., Inbar, O., & Shohamy, E. (2004). The effects of teaching spoken Arabic on students’ attitudes and motivation in Israel. The Modern Language Journal, 88, 217-228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0026-7902.2004.00226.x
Dörnyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing motivation in foreign-language learning. Language Learning, 40, 45-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1990.tb00954.x
Dörnyei, Z. (2003). Attitudes, orientation, and motivations in language learning: advances in theory, research, and applications. Language Learning, 53, 3-32. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9922.53222
Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. ISBN 0-8058-4729-4
Dörnyei, Z. (2008). Second Language Motivation. Unpublished Research Interview. School of English, The University of Nottingham, UK.
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Reading Panel’s meta-analysis. Reading Research Quarterly, 36, 250-287. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.36.3.2
Ehri, L. C., Nunes, S. R., Willows, D. M., Schuster, B. V., Yaghoub-Zadeh, Z., & Shanahan, T. (2001). Phonemic awareness instruction helps children learn to read: Evidence from the National Gardner, R. C. (1985). Social psychology and second language learning: The role of attitudes and motivation. London: Arnold.
Gardner, R. C., & Lambert, W. E. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning. Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Gardner, R. C., Masgoret, A. M., & Tremblay, P. F. (1999). Home background characteristics and second language learning. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18, 419-437. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X99018004004
Gottardo, A., & Mueller, J. (2009). Are First- and Second-Language Factors Related in Predicting Second-Language Reading Comprehension? A Study of Spanish- Speaking Children Acquiring English as a Second Language from First to Second Grade. Journal of Educational Psychology 101, 2, 330-344. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014320
McCormick, C. E., & Mason, J. M. (1986). Intervention procedures for increasing preschool children’s interest in and knowledge about reading. InW. H. Teale & E. Sulzby (Eds.), Emergent literacy: Writing and reading (pp. 90–115). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Näslund, J. C., & Schneider, W. (1996). Kindergarten letter knowledge, phonological skills and memory processes: Relative effects on early literacy. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 62, 30-59. https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.1996.0021
Pavlenko, A. (2003). ‘Language of the enemy’: foreign language education and national identity. Language Policy, 6, 313-331. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050308667789
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68-78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. Oxford University Press.
Scarborough, H. S. (1998). Early identifications of children at risk for reading disabilities: Phonemic awareness and some other predictors. In B. K. Shapiro, P. J. Accardo, & A. J. Capute (Eds.), Specific reading disability: A view of the spectrum (pp. 75- 119). Timonium, MD: York Press.
Scarborough, H. (2002). Connecting early language and literacy to later reading (dis)abilities. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy development (pp. 97-110). New York: Guilford.
Shatil, E. (2001). Haver Hadash [A new friend]. Kiryat Bialeek, Israel: Aha Books Press. Shatil, E., Share, D., & Levin, I. (2000). On the contribution of kindergarten writing to grade 1 literacy: A longitudinal study in Hebrew. Applied Psycholinguistics, 21, 1-21.
Schumann, J. H. (1978). The acculturation model for second language acquisition. In R. C. Gingras (Ed.), Second language acquisition and foreign language teaching (pp. 27-50). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.
Teale, W. H., & Sulzby, E. (1986). Emergent Literacy as a Perspective for Examining How Young Children Become Writers and Readers. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-5-8-4
Wells, G. (1985). Pre-school related activities and success in school. In D. Olson, N. Torrance, & A. Hildyard (Eds.), Literacy language and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing (pp. 229-255). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1177/027112149401400405
Wells, G. (1985). Pre-school related activities and success in school. In D. Olson, N. Torrance, & A. Hildyard (Eds.), Literacy language and learning: The nature and consequences of reading and writing (pp. 229-255). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Whitehurst, G. J., & Lonigan, C. J. (2002). Emergent literacy: Development from prereaders to readers. In S. B. Neuman & D. K. Dickinson (Eds.), Handbook of early literacy development (pp. 11-29). New York: Guilford.
Yashima, T., Zenuk-Nishide, L., & Shimizu, K. (2004). The influence of attitudes and affect on willingness to communicate and second language communication. Language Learning, 54, 119-152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2004.00250.x
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