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Trabajo Fin de Máster The English as a Lingua Franca Paradigm and Multiculturality in the EFL Secondary Education Classroom: An Innovation Proposal El paradigma del Inglés como Lengua Franca y la competencia intercultural en la educación secundaria: propuesta de innovación Autor Blanca María Lázaro Pérez Director María Ángeles Velilla Sánchez Máster Universitario en Profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanzas de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas. Especialidad: Inglés Facultad de Educación Curso 2019/2020 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 2 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 3 Table of contents Abstract 4 Introduction 6 Aims and justification 9 Theoretical framework 11 Definition and features of ELF 11 Interculturality and the ‘third space’ 12 ELF in education 14 Methodology 19 Research methods 19 Teaching methodology: CLT and ELF 24 Results 27 Innovation proposal: “English in the World” 39 Implementation results 46 Conclusion 47 Works cited 52 Appendices 55 Appendix 1. Questions of the initial survey for students 55 Appendix 2. Questions of the interview with the teacher 57 Appendix 3: Unit plan “English in the World” 58 Appendix 4: Final opinion survey for students 70 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 4 Abstract English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is a linguistic paradigm that has been deeply researched for the last decades and that should be contemplated in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. This necessary change is defended by scholars such as Björkman, Grazzi, Jenkins and Seidlhofer among others. ELF as a key element in today’s context of globalisation since English is considered the global language par excellence, then people need to learn it in order to achieve effective communication with both native and non-native speakers. People also need to leave their own culture aside and keep an open-minded cultural perspective while communicating with other users of English, acquiring multicultural competence. This dissertation contains a study of the concepts of ELF and multiculturality, and their implications in the Spanish secondary education EFL classroom. Research has been made through different methods, including observation, analysis of materials, a survey and an interview. After collecting both theoretical and contextual information using these methods, the innovation proposal composed by a didactic unit aimed to 4th ESO has been designed trying to adapt the activities both to the paradigm and to students’ necessities. This proposal attempted to provide secondary education students with tools and background knowledge that they may need in the future to communicate with other speakers of English in the international context. The case study represents an example of research on this field and, at the same time, contributes to the introduction of this new paradigm in the EFL classroom. Key words: English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom, multiculturality, English varieties, communicative competence, secondary education (ESO) Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 5 Resumen El Inglés como Lingua Franca (ELF) es un paradigma lingüístico que lleva varias décadas siendo estudiado y que debería introducirse en el aula del inglés como lengua extranjera (EFL), un cambio necesario según expertos como Björkman, Grazzi, Jenkins y Seidlhofer entre otros. El ELF es un elemento clave en el contexto actual de globalización, donde el inglés se ha convertido en el idioma internacional por excelencia ya que la gente debe aprenderlo para lograr una buena comunicación tanto con personas nativas como no nativas. Para ello es necesario dejar la propia cultura a un lado y mantener una actitud abierta hacia las culturas de otros hablantes del inglés, es decir, adquirir la llamada competencia multicultural o multiculturalidad. Este trabajo de fin de máster presenta un estudio de los conceptos de ELF y multiculturalidad junto con sus implicaciones en el aula de inglés lengua extranjera en la educación secundaria española o ESO. Dicho estudio se ha llevado a cabo mediante métodos de observación, análisis de materiales, una encuesta y una entrevista. Una vez recopilada información tanto del marco teórico como del contexto gracias a dichos métodos, se ha elaborado la propuesta de innovación en forma de unidad didáctica para 4º ESO que pretende proporcionar a los alumnos herramientas y conocimiento para futuros encuentros comunicativos con hablantes del inglés en un contexto internacional. El presente estudio se concibe como una muestra de investigación en este campo y, del mismo modo, contribuye a introducir este paradigma en el aula de lengua extranjera. Palabras clave: Inglés como Lengua Franca (ELF), clase de Inglés Lengua Extranjera (EFL), multiculturalidad, variedades del inglés, competencia comunicativa, educación secundaria (ESO) Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 6 Introduction English is spoken by 1268 million people all over the world, being the language with the largest number of speakers (Duffin, 2020). However, a high percentage of these users are not native speakers, but learners of English – according to House (2003: 557), there are four non-native speakers for each native speaker. The main reasons behind these figures are historical, economic and political, but there are also pragmatical reasons such as the simple grammar of the English language and the fact that it is spoken in powerful countries such as the United Kingdom or the United States. Considering this situation, it is not surprising that more and more people are interested on learning English for different purposes. In the last decade, a new movement was developed which regarded English as the global lingua franca (ELF), this is, a language that allows people with different mother tongues to communicate and that is accepted worldwide (House, 2003, 557). The ELF perspective became a paradigm in which scholars such as Björkman (2013), Jenkins (2006) and Seidlhofer (2008) among others became interested, especially in its methodologies so to apply them to the teaching and learning of the English language. In the EFL classroom, more attention is usually given to certain varieties of English, normally British and American, while learning outcomes and assessment criteria are defined by the norms of these varieties. Nevertheless, the notion of English has changed to a more practical one in these last years, then many scholars assure that teachers should prepare learners for encountering all types of Englishes during their lives, both from native and from non-native speakers. Students should learn to respect, understand and, if possible, produce these types of variations of the “official” English language too. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 7 The implementation of the English as a Lingua Franca paradigm in the English as a Foreign Language classroom is a current issue that researchers on the field (Seidlhofer, 2004; Jenkins, 2006; Mauranen, 2012; Hahl, 2016; Grazzi, 2017) consider not only advisable, but necessary. The traditional view of teaching a sole variety of English, rarely outside the scope of either British or American Englishes, is changing. The appearance of these new views on the English language, known as English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), triggers that many EFL teachers start including this paradigm in their classrooms. The decision is mainly based upon the current necessity for lots of people to learn English so to communicate with other non-native speakers for a wide variety of purposes. These non-native speakers interested on learning the language for specific purposes (ESP) do not intend to master the language, nor to sound like natives, but just to get their messages across in multicultural and international contexts (Archibald et al., 2011). After considering this situation, the necessity of further research and further implementation of the ELF paradigm in the EFL classroom seems clear, and guaranteeing it is one of the main goals of the present study. This dissertation is composed of an educational study that leads to the creation of a didactic unit based on the results of different research methods and datasets. The main purpose of the study is to reveal the knowledge that students have on the issue known as the ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) paradigm, its implications in todays’ context of globalisation and their awareness on multiculturality. The didactic unit has been implemented in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom, aiming to analyse the impact of introducing the paradigm on the Spanish secondary education system. The students to whom the didactic unit is aimed belong to 4th year of Secondary Education (ESO), in the secondary and Bachillerato school or IES Goya (Zaragoza, Spain). They are between 15 and 17 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 8 years old, and approximately have a B1 level of English according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). In order to carry out this study, the dissertation is divided into different sections that represent the steps followed to complete it. The Introduction sets the context, the purpose of the study and some background information about the main topic, which is ELF and its relationship with the EFL classroom. The Theoretical framework deepens on this topic and exposes the main principles of the ELF paradigm, regarding the importance of English in today’s world, the idea of multiculturality, the treatment of errors and the competences related with communication. The methods employed to gather the information for the analysis are explained in the section entitled Methodology: a survey aimed to the students, an interview aimed to their English teacher and a close observation of classroom management, including an analysis of materials. The Results section shows a collection of the findings extracted after the implementation of the didactic unit, which is deeply covered in the Innovation proposal, analysing its impact and whether it was successful or not. Finally, in the Conclusion the main outcomes, strengths and weaknesses of the study are summed up and there is a reflection on the possible considerations of the study in the EFL classroom. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 9 Aims and justification The main aim of this research project is to design a proposal of a didactic unit considering classroom observation and two ethnographic tools – a survey and an interview. Research may prove whether students are familiarised with the ELF view or, on the contrary, need to be more exposed to this phenomenon in the EFL classroom. The proposal is based on the ELF paradigm adapted to the circumstances of a specific secondary education classroom, focusing mainly on the improvement of linguistic competence (communication in foreign languages) and cultural competence (cultural awareness and expressions) proposed in the Curriculum. Other aims of this project are: • Researching and collecting data on the awareness of the ELF paradigm that Spanish students and teachers have. • Improving the students’ knowledge on ELF and the intercultural competence to prepare them for a multicultural world. • Analysing students’ attitudes and motivation towards the topic of international English. This proposal is justified by the Aragonese Curriculum from the first sentence of the section “First Foreign Language: English”, in which the didactic unit is built. Here, the document highlights the importance of intercultural abilities by confirming the need of a “global, intercultural and multilingual education” 1 (p. 1). Two of the key competences appearing in the Curriculum are deeply covered in this proposal. Firstly, communication in a foreign language is a priority in the EFL classroom: “the subject of 1 Quotations from the Aragonese Curriculum are translated from Spanish. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 16 and the countries where it is spoken, presenting the topic as relevant for students’ academic future but also for their daily life, using tasks with non-linguistic outcomes, including authentic materials or different types of input, and using cooperative learning and other similar group-cohesion techniques (281-282). Frameworks of reference Understanding the models of reference for English teaching in Spanish education is necessary to decide how the ELF paradigm would be introduced in the classroom. The first framework of reference in this context, an Aragonese secondary education school, is the previously mentioned Aragonese Curriculum. The Curriculum (Orden ECD/2016 de 26 de mayo) contains the educational principles for secondary compulsory education to be carried out in centres of this territory, stipulating the outcomes, contents, competences, standards and criteria that should be followed. This document also establishes a system based on the development of four skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing. The Curriculum can be combined with other models of reference such as the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), imposing the level of English that students should achieve by the end of the year. The fact that the Curriculum does not specify which variety of English ought to be taught in the EFL classroom leads to the idea that the ELF paradigm is starting to get into the education system and the teaching of languages. Scholars such as Jenkins, Björkman and Seidlhofer struggle to implement this paradigm in the classroom, claiming that still nowadays EFL teaching tends to follow a native perspective (Seidlhofer et al., 2008, 28). They propose some teaching attitudes mostly focusing on two issues: comprehension strategies and error treatment. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 17 Communicative and sociolinguistic competences: comprehension strategies Previously, it has been mentioned that the communicative competence is composed by five elements (Brown, 2007, 3). The latter of these components, the strategic competence, consists of the ability to use different strategies in order to guarantee comprehension during interactions. Learners use several comprehension strategies while speaking and listening in order to achieve mutual understanding. The most repeated strategies to be applied to the ELF paradigm are accommodation ones, which consist of negotiating meaning with the interlocutor (Archibald et al., 2011, 2). These strategies are based upon the Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) proposed by Giles (2016), or the idea that people adjust their behaviour during social interaction in order to achieve effective communication with their interlocutors. There are plenty of accommodation strategies, such as codeswitching, adapting speech, appealing to shared knowledge, signalling misunderstandings, making questions, reformulation or repetition, and mediation (Hahl, 2016, 22-23). Murray (2012: 321) added some other strategies related to pragmatics, based on empirical studies, inductive strategies (generalisations from particular cases) and deductive strategies (appreciation of the general aspects to be imposed over specific situations). The sociolinguistic competence is meant to be a key factor for comprehensibility too, consisting in discourse adaptation to the social and cultural context. It includes the pragmatic competence, which attempts to convey meaning in an acceptable way worldwide (Murray, 2012, 318). Sociolinguistic competences should include intercultural and cross-cultural competences, due that learners need to be aware of the behaviours of people from different cultures in order to get their message across conversations with speakers having different mother tongues. Sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences are also part of the strategic competence to some extent. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 18 Treatment of errors On the reconsideration of errors, there is a lot of debate on which ones should be accepted and which should not. In terms of pronunciation, Jenkins (2002: 99) established some considerations on the phonetic and phonological features of English while teaching by differentiating those mistakes that were crucial or affected comprehension from those that were not so relevant. For example, according to Jenkins’ classification, errors on stress-timing and word stress would not be important and may not be corrected by the teacher in the classroom. However, vowel length errors should always be corrected due that they can lead to mistaking words. Regarding grammar, Seidlhofer (2004: 220) highlighted some typical ‘errors’ to be accepted in the EFL context, such as dropping the third person -s in the present simple tense or using incorrect question tags. Finally, the ELF paradigm includes some general implications in the way teachers should evaluate students and their errors. Grazzi (2017: 213-216) suggested that, in order to assess students’ usage of ELF in the classroom, the teacher should consider their sociocultural context, level, learning outcomes of the session and pragmatics involved in the communicative event. Grazzi believed that teachers should be flexible and open-minded to the appearance of ELF on the EFL classroom, by focusing on assessing other aspects not involving English varieties: … [teachers] should help learners identify relevant deviations from the norms and repair them in order to improve the comprehensibility and pragmatic effectiveness of their discourse (Grazzi, 2017, 216). Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 19 Methodology The methodology employed to design the didactic unit proposal is a prototypical educational research based upon four pillars: an observation of the educational context, an analysis of the materials employed in the EFL classroom, a survey to students and an interview to the teacher. In this section, these four research methods are deeply discussed by explaining their relevance for the research and how they have been applied. After this discussion, the didactic methodology employed to implement the unit is widely commented. Research methods Classroom observation The first method involved observing an English lesson aimed to 4th ESO group C in IES Goya, on 14th January 2020. This step is really useful for knowing the learners, the contents and methods they are exposed to. The teacher let me attend one of her lessons as an external observer in order to analyse her teaching techniques and students’ behaviours. The observation had a sole aim: identifying different features of the EFL classroom for future considerations within the instructional methods and the didactic unit. The aspects to be observed were, firstly, the use of English versus the use of the mother tongue, especially the purposes for which the teacher used Spanish in the EFL classroom. Then, the English variety employed by the teacher, later on confirmed by the interview, but that was expected to be British or American. Next, student participation and the kind of output they provided, their use of English and Spanish, their accent when talking in the foreign language and the situations in which they spoke each language. The correction strategies used by the teacher were also analysed, based on Ur’s correction techniques (1996), which Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 20 were recasting, elicitation, clarification request, metalinguistic feedback, explicit correction and repetition. Finally, the use of the available materials and the organisation of the class as a whole, the usage of ICTs and other innovative methods, the amount of time devoted to each activity, the introduction of extra activities for further discovery and the type of tasks – in pairs or groups, individual, requiring interaction, etc. Analysis of materials The textbooks that 4th ESO students used during their lessons were Wider World Students’ Book 4 (Williams, 2017) and Wider World Workbook 4 (Gaynor et al., 2017). The analysis of materials contemplated these two textbooks exclusively, forgetting about extra materials designed by the teacher that were already analysed during the observation phase. The purpose of the analysis was to discover the weaknesses of the textbooks, which had to be supplied by the didactic proposal, and whether they followed or not some of the criteria of the ELF and CLT approaches. These criteria are based upon the principles proposed by Brandl in 2008 on Communicative Language Teaching, already commented in the theoretical framework. The first are the requirements that activities should have in order to be considered tasks proposed by Ellis (2003): a focus on meaning, an information gap, involving real-world and cognitive processes, including one or more of the four skills and other subskills, and having a non-linguistic outcome. The second criterium, based on Brandl’s fifth principle, is related with Kagan’s (1989) notions on cooperative and collaborative learning, defending that at least some tasks should include interaction or working in groups or pairs to share knowledge and to practise on negotiating meaning. The third criterium are the features that classroom activities should have to improve intrinsic motivation and help students learn in a more effective way, inspired by Brandl’s eight principle. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 21 According to Dörnyei (1994), including authentic materials and different varieties in the EFL classroom raises students’ interest on the course. Other aspects enhancing motivation could be the use of ICTs and different teaching methods, the introduction of tasks, encouraging students’ participation or the teacher’s attitude, especially when dealing with errors. Finally, the last criterium includes Brown’s (2007: 46-47) requisites for aiming communicative competence, which are: focusing on all the components of communicative competence (linguistic, discourse, functional, sociolinguistic and strategic), using language with a purpose by relating form and function, focusing on both fluency and accuracy, establishing real-world contexts for communication, allowing students to reflect on their own learning, and regarding the importance of both teacher’s and students’ roles. Survey to students Apart from the materials and methodologies employed in the language classroom, students’ opinions, notions and previous knowledge are key considerations when elaborating a didactic unit. As mentioned above, motivation is an important issue that allows students to learn faster and more efficiently, and the best way to keep their attention and interest in the classroom is by finding out what they like and what they desire to learn. For this reason, an opinion survey was passed through Google Forms to students belonging to 4th year ESO and 1st year Bachillerato, the two years to which the didactic unit could be aimed to. The aims of the survey were, firstly, to learn on students’ knowledge of International English, ELF and multiculturality, so to design the didactic unit according to their needs. Secondly, to find out which elements of the English language and culture they were more interested in and want to learn, so to adapt the unit to their taste and motivate them. Thirdly and lastly, to collect data for possible future research on the presence of ELF in the Spanish foreign language classroom nowadays. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 22 The questions were to a big extent based upon Grazzi’s (2017: 219) language and pedagogical implications of ELF. The survey was anonymous and consisted of ten questions (see Appendix 1), the participants could only choose one option and had to answer all of them. The first question was a multiple-choice in which students needed to choose the type of English-speaking culture they were more familiarised with in their daily life. The second question presented a Likert scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (very important) in which learners had to decide the relevance of speaking English like a native. The third question was a multiple-choice one where they had to expose their degree of agreement with a statement confronting effective communication with sounding native-like. The fourth one was a multiple-choice question on error correction and feedback, and the participants chose whether they thought that teachers were too strict while correcting them. In the fifth one, a dichotomous question, they had to decide whether they preferred to be fluent while speaking in English, following the ELF paradigm, or to speak correctly but slower. The sixth multiple-choice question was about English varieties, and its purpose was finding out the accent that students were more exposed to. It included the option “I cannot distinguish English varieties very well” because this problem is common among learners and knowing this beforehand would help to adapt the didactic unit for teaching certain English varieties. Then, the seventh question was a dichotomous one: students had to declare what type of English they understood better, that of a native or of a non-native person, dealing with comprehension strategies. Question eight contained another Likert scale, again from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree), where students had to choose whether they agreed that English should also be used with native speakers. Finally, questions 9 and 10 were open; students had to tell in which situations they encountered English daily and why they thought learning English was important. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 23 The survey was passed individually via Google Classroom to more than fifty students. It was translated to Spanish in case learners had doubts about the meaning of a word or an entire question, however, students were offered the chance to answer the open questions in English. Interview with the teacher The last part composing the research methodology was the personal interview with the teacher of the groups the didactic unit was aimed to. It included up to seven open questions (See Appendix 2) that the teacher answered recording herself. It was a structured interview without any possibility of reformulating or adding new questions, then the answers provided would be straightforward and clear. On the way that the interview was carried out, having a personal interview was not possible due to external circumstances, then all of it was sent via email and answered in the same way. As in the survey to students, questions were based upon Grazzi’s proposals of implementation seen above, and mostly dealt with the treatment of errors, the varieties of English and some cultural aspects. The aims of this interview were quite similar to those of the survey: first, it attempted to find out the teacher’s knowledge on the ELF paradigm and its implications, and how these were reflected in her way of teaching, serving as a basis to include further contents on the didactic unit proposal. Secondly, the collected data may contribute to the general research on how this paradigm is affecting the EFL classroom in Spain. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 24 Teaching methodology: CLT and ELF The didactic methodology employed during the implementation of the unit was based upon the principles of the Communicative Language Teaching approach combined with English as a Lingua Franca. As previously commented, the main aim of the didactic unit was to help students achieve effective communication, making them understand it as the main goal for learning English. These two didactic views, CLT and ELF, are similar in terms that they both consider communication with native and non-native speakers as the ultimate outcome of learning a language (Brandl, 2008, 5), and defend that meaning should be prioritised over form and correction. The didactic unit is typically based upon the Aragonese Curriculum, then on the requisites of the CLT approach, including the sub-components of the communicative competence (Brown, 2007), the eight principles described by Brandl (2008) and motivational factors (Dörnyei, 1994). Regarding the five components of the communicative competence, the unit plan proposal should mainly focus on improving the linguistic one – as every unit in the EFL class –, the sociolinguistic one when regarding multiculturality and interaction, and finally the strategic one. Discursive and functional competences would not be purposely aimed, but taught implicitly. In the case of the strategic competence, being an aspect that is not usually directly addressed in the EFL classroom and giving its importance when communicating with non-native speakers, the unit plan should include at least one activity focusing specifically on the aspects of linguistic accommodation and paraphrasing. The principles of the CLT approach would be the basis for the activities composing the didactic unit. The main consideration while carrying out this proposal would be that all activities, even though some of them were not tasks or did not involve interaction or effective communication, had to aim to let students communicate with other speakers of English. Grammar and lexis correctness, Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 25 although contemplated in the lesson plan, would be backgrounded as message and meaning should be prioritised. The unit is highly inspired in the task-based approach and the features of tasks (Ellis, 2003), however, only a couple of sessions strictly follow this approach, including pre-tasks and post-tasks. Even though not all the activities would be tasks, most of them should prioritise message over form, involving real-world and cognitive processes such as selecting or retrieving information in order to achieve a goal. Some of these activities would have a non-linguistic outcome, and attempt to teach learners contents on multiculturality. Finally, all the four skills and many subskills had to be directly addressed throughout the plan from an ELF perspective, this is, focusing on meaning by teaching learners several strategies. As for the rest of the principles, the unit must attempt to promote learning-by-doing thanks to the presence of tasks and of the multiple chances for learning to learn. There should be plenty of authentic materials having three purposes: motivating students, offering a real sample of English language and showing several accents or English varieties for learners to explore. Input should be meaningful because it always provides students with important information, and apart from this, it should be comprehensible enough. Comprehensibility would be achieved thanks to scaffolding by providing students with tools and previous information to make contents more understandable. Cooperative and collaborative learning would be reinforced thanks to activities in groups and pairs, again focusing on mutual discovery through effective communication with a purpose, such as correcting exercises. As already mentioned, there should be a clear focus on Form over forms throughout the unit plan, even while learning grammar and vocabulary contents are linked to their applications in real-world situations. Error and corrective feedback should be provided during the lessons, but newly teachers need to focus on correcting significant errors and not irrelevant mistakes that do not alter the meaning of statements at all. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 32 The fifth question is probably the main one because it sets out a dichotomy between the ELF paradigm and the traditional approach towards foreign languages, this is, how learners should seek for perfection in terms of form, avoiding mistakes. Results show that only 39% of the surveyed students prefer the principles linked to the ELF paradigm, then consider that mistakes are unimportant while communicating. As for the 61% preferring a more traditional approach, this tendency may be due to the educational system that makes students get accustomed to reject mistakes and even feel ashamed when committing them. Question 6 attempted to reveal the English accent or variety that students were more exposed to, especially in out-of-class situations. Figure 5. Results to question: “If you could only choose one option on speaking in English, which one would it be?" I prefer to speak fluently, even if I make more mistakes I prefer to speak slow but more correctly, with less mistakes Figure 6. Results to question: “Which variety of English (accent) do you usually listen most frequently? In class, movies, series, YouTube videos, video games, etc." I cannot distinguish English varieties very well British English American English Another variety: explain Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 33 The results were newly similar to expectations: students are more exposed to British and American varieties of English. Nevertheless, this question offered a fourth option in which students could add the variety they were usually more exposed to and that was not among the other options. Most students choosing this one explained that they listened to a mix of British and American accent, while a student affirmed to listen to Swedish, Australian and Scottish accents mostly. It is interesting how many students (11.7%) answered they do not really distinguish English varieties, evidencing that more emphasis should be put on teaching learners how to differentiate them. Question 7 was a dichotomous one in which students had to choose the type of English they understood better, that of a native or of a non-native person. Students claim that they understand better the English spoken by non-natives. However, this type of answer is more logical considering that they probably are more exposed to their teacher’s English, then find it easier to understand than native discourse from listening exercises. What seems to be more shocking is that there is some incongruence on their decisions: on the one hand, on question 2 learners declared that they prefer sounding like natives, but on the other hand, they understand better non-native discourse. Figure 7. Results to question: “What type of English do you understand better?" A native person A non-native person Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 34 The eighth question was again a Likert-scale one, enquiring students on whether English should be used only to talk with natives or with speakers from any nationality as an international language. This question reveals that students have certain notions on the internationalisation of English. They consider that English should not be exclusively employed while talking with natives, then they are conscious of its use as a lingua franca to communicate with other non-native speakers. Questions 9 and 10 were open-ended, so they had not been included as graphics. Some of the most interesting answers have been commented instead. In the ninth question, students were asked to list the situations in which they daily encountered English, the most repeated answers being when watching movies and series (31 people mentioned it), listening to music (19), playing videogames (18), watching videos or hearing podcasts (8) or surfing the Internet (8). However, the most frequent situation in which students use English out of class is when communicating with other speakers of English (34). These results clearly show a tendency towards a more pragmatical view of English and the awareness of the importance of using ELF. Besides, many participants assure they use English while communicating with friends and family from the United States, Australia and Ireland (natives), but also Poland and France (non-natives). Figure 8. Results to question: “From 1 (I totally disagree) to 5 (I totally agree), do you think that English is only useful to speak with English native speakers?" Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 35 Regarding question 10, which is the last question of the survey, students were asked to explain why they considered English an important language. Many of their answers revealed that some students were quite aware of the internationality of English and its importance while communicating with people around the world. They seemed to comprehend that English is more than a foreign language, and with some exceptions, learners regarded it as a tool for communication. Here are four of the answers that support the international view of English: Because it is the most spoken language worldwide and everyone communicates in English when being in a country where we don’t know the language (Sp.) 2 It is a very simple language and it is used as the main language around the world Because it is an international language, and then you can communicate with more people (Sp.) I think it's important because it's the main language, and that's what makes the difference from the others. It's a requirement (sic) to understand it, at least a bit, to function as a worker, student, teacher... In sum, although answers to the survey have been diverse and some learners seem to be familiarised with the ELF paradigm and multiculturality, they need to learn more on these issues. Their answers have revealed that they still tend to support a more traditional view of English learning and teaching, and even though this is perfectly comprehensible and acceptable, they may need to learn other views too. 2 The comments showing “Sp.” are literal translations from Spanish to English. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 36 Interview with the teacher The interview with the English teacher and tutor of one of the groups the didactic unit is aimed to was passed on the 1st April 2020 and answered on the 13th April. The teacher answered to the questions one by one through an audio file. This subsection contains a summary of the answers she gave to the seven questions of the interview (See Appendix 2). The first question was about her familiarity with the ELF paradigm. The teacher stated that she was familiarised with it because she “grew up with the concept itself”, and considered it very relevant within the context of the European Union. To the second question on whether she attempted to implement this paradigm in her lessons, she defended that she tried to include it to some extent, for instance, by prioritising meaning over form. She even claimed that “nowadays we teach English as we teach structure”, meaning that form and meaning go hand in hand and should not be split up. The third question on whether she taught a specific variety of English received as answer that she normally attempted to teach “the great variety of English accents”, normally through extra activities. The teacher mentioned Scottish and American accents, however, she admitted having a well-defined British accent while teaching, with a tendency towards RP. The fourth question dealt with error correction, then she claimed that she maintained positive attitudes towards mistakes in class: “I always tell my students that I love it when they make errors because then they give me the chance of correcting them”. The survey to students revealed that they feel error correction is neither excessive nor deficient, which could be related with the teacher showing a positive view of errors in class, then enhancing motivation. To question number five on culture, the teacher stated that she presented certain aspects of the cultures of English-speaking countries to her students, due that she considered that languages are extremely related with the culture of the countries they are spoken in. Question six was about the most repeated mistakes in class and she claimed that, although “it depends on the age and English level of the students”, mistakes were Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 37 usually related with the influence of their mother tongue. Learners tend to copy or literally translate from their L1 when not knowing an expression, what makes their output not comprehensible and demanding of correction. To the last question, her opinion about why the English as a lingua franca paradigm is not usually implemented in the EFL classroom is that it is because of the system itself. She assured that, in order to decide whether to include this paradigm or not, “we need to be aware of […] the classroom setting, what students are forced to do, that English is a compulsory subject” and other issues. However, she explained that she is optimistic about the future: “the transition from English as a Foreign Language to English as a Lingua Franca will be possible any time soon”. As it can be deduced from the interview, the teacher supports the ELF paradigm and struggles to include it in her lessons. But she is also quite aware of the Spanish educational context and the treatment of foreign languages, a system that forces students to learn languages by using a specific method for well-defined purposes. Although the teacher claims to include this perspective on her lessons, some aspects should be introduced or deepened in order to teach students what the paradigm is about, so that they can reflect on their view of English. The interview and the survey show quite different perspectives towards ELF and multiculturality. Even though the teacher assured she tries to introduce this paradigm and make students aware of the importance of English in the international context, many students did not seem to support it or were not conscious of its existence. A great number of students seemed to notice the necessity of giving more importance to ELF, in contrast with the results to some of the questions – especially to those dealing with sounding native-like. The teacher does not stress students out with the load of speaking like natives and committing no mistakes, but in general learners seem to have this as the main goal Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 38 when learning English instead of communicating. Their answers to some of the questions from the survey, unlike those of the interview with the teacher, are quite incongruent and show a need for further understanding of the paradigm. While comparing the interview and the survey with what actually happens in the classroom, the methodology is still very traditional and does not contemplate ELF and multiculturality, but attempts to teach the contents by following the Curriculum. Even though the statements made by the teacher during the interview seemed truthful, there is not enough focus on communication effectiveness. Probably what some of the learners know about English being a global language and its features differentiating it from EFL come from outside the classroom. The incongruences between the interview, the survey and the actual lesson setting might be derived from not introducing these views of English in the EFL classroom. Clearly, a higher emphasis should be given to the ELF paradigm through activities, tasks, attitudes or even direct information on the current situation of English worldwide, which are part of the didactic unit proposal. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 39 Innovation proposal: “English in the World” The ultimate result of the research methods combined with the theoretical framework about the ELF paradigm is a didactic unit. This proposal, entitled “English in the World” (See Appendix 3), attempts to include the teaching principles of ELF and the multicultural view of the English language. It is composed of six lessons, and in each of them one of the four skills is particularly addressed, however, there is also an attempt of combining more than one skill per activity or task. The aims of this didactic unit could be divided into two types: linguistic outcomes and those related with the understanding of the evolution of English as the international language it is today, including its implications. These last outcomes will mostly be regarded as subsidiary aims, and students will not be tested on either their knowledge of ELF notions or on multiculturality. On the linguistic outcomes of the activities, they are divided according to skills and subskills, based upon the Aragonese curriculum standards from the section First Foreign Language (39-45): • Students will deeply understand and identify texts or text fragments from non-native speakers (Est.IN.3.1.1 and Est.IN.3.2.1). • Students will compose a text whose focus is more on meaning than on form aimed to a non-native speaker (Est.IN.4.1.1 and Est. IN.4.1.2). • Students will be able to understand both general and specific information of a record and a video where the speaker is a non-native or a native speaker of any nationality (Est.IN.1.1.1 and Est.IN.1.2.1). • Students will be able to talk about ELF, EFL, multiculturality and other issues seen in class with certain fluency, focusing more on the flow of the conversation than on accuracy (Est.IN.2.1.1). • Students will keep a conversation with other non-native speakers (i.e. their classmates), asking and answering questions and prioritizing meaning over form. (Est.IN.2.1.2 and 2.2.1) Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 40 Five considerations were taken into account while designing the didactic unit: classroom observation, analysis of materials, theoretical framework, the survey to students and the interview with the teacher. In this section, the focus will be on how these different considerations have been included in the didactic unit, justifying the election of activities. The context highly influenced the didactic unit, which was specifically created to fit the demands of a particular educational situation, that of a 4th ESO class with a B1 or higher level of English. Given that during the observation task a lack of authentic materials was noticed, the unit plan includes some activities with authentic texts and videos so that students can get used to foreign accents and different varieties of English (See Appendices 3.7 and 3.8: Listening and reading exercises). The unit includes a great exposure to different native and non-native accents of English for them to develop their multicultural competence. Considering the level and students’ likely exposure to the language out of class, knowing different varieties could either help them deepen on the complexity of English or set a challenge for those having more facilities. Some students may need more scaffolding when dealing with English varieties, while others, normally those with a higher level, would not need it. By adding activities such as the listening task, the teacher also prioritises meaning over form since students will not have to understand every single word, but just the general meaning, which is a good chance for them to practise top-down listening. As for the reading exercise where a girl from Puerto Rico tells her experience as a student abroad, learners will be able to notice the features of non-native English and also know the importance of knowing English to communicate in other countries through the experience of another non-native speaker. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 41 The cases of high-achievers and students with a better level of English are also contemplated in the didactic unit by including some voluntary activities in order to avoid these learners to get bored while their classmates finish the exercises. Although there are many authentic materials and other out-of-norm activities, grammar presents both an inductive and deductive treatment for the different types of learners. Finally, the unit also presents some activities from the textbook, such as the first reading and grammar exercises (Appendices 3.1, 3.2 and 3.5), so that there is certain routine. In relation with the analysis of materials, as already discussed in the Methodology section, the exposure to real English may be insufficient due that the textbooks mainly include adapted input, then the didactic unit aims to cover this necessity. The lesson plan offers higher chances for practising on speaking and conversation to improve effectiveness and real communication (See Introductory activity, Role play, and activities in which students share answers with their classmates), one of the basics of the ELF paradigm that is not contemplated in the textbooks. The decisions of including introductory questions at the beginning of the unit and plenty of speaking activities and situations for discussion both in pairs and groups (See Post-task from lesson 5, Definition exercise, or Role play) contribute to a greater development of speaking skills and subskills. Speaking is normally backgrounded during the EFL classes because of the lack of time and means. This unit, however, attempts to foreground this skill by improving communicative competence, probably the most necessary skill when having a conversation with other speakers of English in the international and multicultural context. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 48 As for the weaknesses of the research, passing another survey dealing with the same aspects as the initial one – or even re-sending the initial survey after finishing the unit to analyse students’ evolution – would have helped obtaining more valid results. Contrarily, what was passed to students was a final opinion survey on the activities of the unit, which did not contemplate the ELF paradigm directly. Then, the lack of human contact and interaction have been important problems while carrying out the study, both during the interview with the teacher and during the implementation of the unit. Having had the chance to maintain full conversations with the learners, or even just listen to them, would have let me know whether the type of English they employ coincided with the ideas expressed on the initial survey. This would have also allowed me notice whether there had been evolution after the implementation and which aspects had improved. Despite having to adapt the unit and the important problems that the study has presented, there are still some strengths. One of them is that the focus on certain skills and subskills, the competences and the main topic of the didactic unit have been maintained. Therefore, students have likely improved their multicultural and communicative competences, as revealed by certain comments from the second survey. Apart from the general information on the paradigm and the linguistic knowledge that students have acquired, analysing and raising motivation were one of the main aims of the study and the unit respectively. The final survey has clearly shown a tendency towards a rise in motivation, yet most students have declared they liked the activities and found them interesting and useful while those declaring they were difficult or unclear were a minority (See Appendix 4.1). Another strength of the research was that it seemed to perfectly fit the current circumstances by adapting the unit to the situation of both teachers and students. This success could be seen in the answers to the final survey and in learners’ attitudes towards the activities and the topic itself, which were very positively valued. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 49 In secondary schools, English tends to be treated as a foreign language, which usually implies teaching a particular accent and culture. Following this statement, it seems that in the Spanish system of education English will always be considered as another foreign language to be spoken with natives. But the attitudes shown by some teachers and students during this research offer a glance of hope, due that the ELF paradigm has been successfully introduced in the EFL classroom. Through the didactic unit proposal, the traditional system has been faced while at the same time the unit has respected the norms and standards of the Aragonese Curriculum. Although the initial plan was to implement a didactic proposal totally based on the ELF paradigm, the unit finally became a hybrid of this approach and of the view of English as a foreign language, due to the circumstances of implementation already described. The introduction of this approach, half-way between ELF and EFL, is more than justified regarding the global context and also the demands of education. On the one hand, the current situation of internationalisation and globalisation demands that the population learn a universal tool for communicating with speakers of different languages, and that tool is the English language. This implies that more people need to learn English for professional reasons, but also for travelling or acquiring new knowledge. Educators should be able to inculcate in those people interested in learning English for these purposes that what matters is not to perfectly speak the language, but to know its basic notions and to use strategies for achieving successful communication with others. Students should also learn to distinguish between a more pragmatical English based on the lingua franca paradigm – with features such as avoidance of phrasal verbs, an imperfect pronunciation, a focus on fluency and the use of communication strategies – and English as a foreign language, currently the main approach found in Spanish secondary education. On the other hand, this hybridity is justified by the educational system itself; learners and even educators do not seem to be prepared for dealing directly with this new approach in its entire Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 50 complexity. The introduction of this paradigm in the EFL classroom should be gradual. For instance, firstly it could be contemplated as a possible nature of the English language, serving for explaining its features and implications, just for learners to consider them while having a conversation with nonnative speakers. Eventually, educators should introduce the paradigm in all its complexity by adapting the demands of the system to the actual necessities of learners. To achieve this, the paradigm should appear in official documents and be stipulated as an approach that ought to be taught in the secondary English classroom. ELF would be contemplated in official exams, corrections and courses of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This didactic unit proposal could be regarded as part of a course plan for 4th ESO, in which several units would deal with the ELF paradigm by introducing it, explaining its features and teaching students how to use it. The main aims of the course plan would be to make learners aware of the implications that knowing English has for international communication, and to prepare them for the current context of globalisation and multiculturality since they will likely need to use English as a lingua franca in their near future. “English in the World” would be one of the didactic units composing this whole plan, possibly among the first ones because it introduces the paradigm with the initial reading. Each unit could be focused on teaching particular theoretical content for students to know further information on ELF and on the importance of the English language worldwide, apart from teaching some specific comprehensions strategies from the ones listed by Hahl (2016) – in this case, the strategy would be paraphrasing or defining concepts. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 51 Probably the main contribution of this dissertation both to the educational system and to outgoing research on ELF and multiculturality is the possibility of a didactic unit based on this paradigm which attempts to innovate the EFL classroom. It also seeks for partly changing the whole system itself by letting students and teachers reflect on the actual necessities for learning English, causing them to re-think the purposes of compulsory secondary education. Although my proposal is only a part of the huge jigsaw that is educational innovation and it has many improvable elements, my final consideration is that this project, together with other similar proposals by different researchers and educators, could be the beginning of a new view of English language in education. As educators, we should expect this view, that would prepare learners for the demands of the near future, to enter the system soon and then we should become a key part of this innovation process. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 52 Works cited Aragonese Curriculum for Secondary Education (ESO); Orden ECD/2016 de 26 de mayo, por la que se aprueba el currículo de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y se autoriza su aplicación en los centros docentes de la Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón Archibald, A., Cogo, A. & Jenkins, J (Ed.) (2011) Latest Trends in ELF Research. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Björkman, B. (2013) English as an Academic Lingua Franca: An Investigation of Form and Communicative Effectiveness (Ed. Jennifer Jenkins and Will Baker). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, p. 1-30 Brandl, K. (2008) “Principles of Communicative Language Teaching and Task-Based Instruction” in Communicative Language Teaching in Action: Putting Principles to Work. Person Prentice Hall, 1-38 Brown, D. H. (2007) “The Post-Method Era: Toward Informed Approaches” in Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Pearson Longman, 4061 “Common European Framework of Reference for Language: Learning, Teaching, Assessment” (CEFR), Council of Europe <https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-frameworkreference-languages> [Last accessed 4th May 2020] Dörnyei, Z. (1994) “Motivation and Motivating in the Foreign Language Classroom” in The Modern Language Journal, 78.3, 273-284 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 53 Duffin, E. (3rd April 2020) “The most spoken languages worldwide in 2019” in Statista. <https://www.statista.com/statistics/266808/the-most-spoken-languages-worldwide/> [Last accessed 9th April 2020] Ellis, R. (2003) “Criterial Features of a Task” in Task-based Language Teaching and Learning. Oxford: OUP, 9-10 Fantini, A. E. (2006) Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. Washington University: Federation EIL. Firth, A. (1996) “The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis” in Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 2, 237-259 Gaynor, S., Alevizos, K. & Barraclough, C. (2017) Wider World Student’s Book 4. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Giles, H (23th October 2016) “Communication Accommodation Theory”, in The International Encyclopedia of Communication Theory and Philosophy Grazzi, E. (2017) “ELF in the English classroom: Great ideas and burning open questions” in Lingue e Linguaggi, 24, p. 203-223 Hahl, K. (2016) “Interculturality and English as a Lingua Franca – Internationalizing Teacher Education”. Academic Dissertation at University of Helsinki House, J. (2003) “English as a Lingua Franca: A Threat to multilingualism?” in Journal of Sociolinguistics (Hamburg University, Germany), 7/4, 556-578 Jenkins, J. (2002), “A Sociolinguistically Based, Empirically Researched Pronunciation Syllabus for English as an International Language” in Applied Linguistics, 23, 1, 83-103 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 54 Jenkins, J. (2006) “Points of view and blind spots: ELF and SLA” in International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16, 2, p. 138-162 Kagan, S. (1989) “The Structural Approach to Cooperative Learning” in Educational Leadership, 47, 12-15 Long, M. (1985) “A role for instruction in second language acquisition”, in K. Hyltenstam and M. Pienemann (Eds.) (1985) Modelling and Assessing Second Language Acquisition. Clevedon Avon.: Multilingual Matters, 89 Mauranen, A. (2012) Exploring ELF: Academic English Shaped by Non-native Speakers. University of Helsinki: Cambridge University Press Murray, N. (2012) “English as a Lingua Franca and the development of pragmatic competence”, in Oxford Journals, 27, 318-326 Richards, J., Richards, J. & Rodgers, T. (2001) Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press Seidlhofer, B. (2004) “Research perspectives on teaching English as a lingua franca” in Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, p. 209-239 Seidlhofer, B., Hülmbauer, C. & Böhringer, H. (2008) “Introducing English as a lingua franca (ELF): Precursor and partner in intercultural communication” in Synergies Europe, 3, p. 25-36 Ur, P. (1996) A Course in English Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP Williams, D. (2017) Wider World Workbook 4. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited Zhu, X. (2008) “From cultural adaptation to cross-cultural discursive competence”, in Discourse and Communication, University of Queensland Business School, 2, 185-204 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 55 Appendices Appendix 1. Questions of the initial survey for students Link to survey: https://forms.gle/KqJkdUQXxC2K41yN7 Hello! My name is Blanca and I need your help for a study I need to complete for my Master’s degree. Please, answer the questions below, I promise it will take you less than 5 minutes, and it is anonymous. Thank you for participating! 1. Which culture are you more interested in? Think about movies and books you like, or even music you listen to outside the class. a. British/ UK culture b. American/ USA culture c. Culture from other English-speaking countries – for example, India, Canada or Australia d. I am not interested in any of these cultures 2. How important is for you to sound like a native speaker? (1=not important; 5=very important) 1 2 3 4 5 3. Do you agree with this statement: ‘Communicating effectively in English should be prioritized over sounding like a native’? a. Totally agree b. Agree c. Neither agree nor disagree d. Disagree e. Totally disagree Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 56 4. According to your criteria, what is the attitude of English teachers when correcting mistakes in the classroom? a. They correct too many mistakes b. They should correct more mistakes c. They correct as many mistakes as necessary 5. If you could only choose one option on speaking in English, which one would it be? a. I prefer to speak fluently, even if I make more mistakes b. I prefer to speak slow but more correctly, with less mistakes (or paying attention to my mistakes) 6. Which variety of English (accent) do you usually listen most frequently? In class, movies, series, YouTube videos, video games, etc. a. British English b. American English c. Another variety: explain……….….…….…….......…….….………….………….…..…...…..…….………......……..….…. d. I cannot distinguish English varieties very well 7. What type of English do you understand better? a. A native person (for example, someone from London) b. A non-native person (for example, someone from Spain) 8. From 1 (I totally disagree) to 5 (I totally agree), do you think that English is only useful to speak with English native speakers? 1 2 3 4 5 9. In which other contexts do you speak English apart from class? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10. In your opinion, why is English important? Write as much as you want. You can answer in Spanish too. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 57 Appendix 2. Questions of the interview with the teacher Good morning and thank you for accepting to participate in my project. As we have agreed, I will ask you some questions regarding English as a lingua franca and which are your implementations in the foreign language classroom. 1. Are you familiar with the usage of English as the global lingua franca (ELF)? 2. Do you feel that you take into consideration the English as a Lingua Franca or ELF core and its implications while teaching? 3. Do you teach a specific variety of English: British, American or other? Do you present other English varieties to your students through, for example, audio files or videos? 4. What is your attitude towards your students’ errors and mistakes? Do you think that your attitude is in some way related with the global consideration of English or to other reasons (e.g. it is time-saving)? 5. Do you teach your students some cultural aspects from English-speaking countries? If so, with what purpose? 6. Regarding all the previous questions, and considering your current students only, in which aspects do you think they encounter more trouble or need more emphasis: varieties of English, errors or cultural aspects? Why? 7. In your opinion, should teachers start focusing on ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) instead of on EFL (English as a Foreign Language) – this is, should they start accepting other forms of English and strategies that are non-native, or should they focus on official standards? Thank you very much for your participation. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 64 Appendix 3.5: Grammar exercise on the passive voice from Wider World 4: Student’s Book Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 65 Appendix 3.6: Word cloud with vocabulary on how to identify where somebody is from Appendix 3.7: Answers to the YouTube video “70 People Reveal How to Tell If Someone Is From Their Country” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJCKavW22PM) COUNTRY RECOGNISED BY… EXTRA DATA THEY MENTION Poland Undefined “Polish radar”, you just know it Peru Posture Slouch (encorvado) Pakistan Posture Appropriate, manners too Italy Posture The way they stand Georgia Posture They are laidback, just the way they walk Norway Walking They walk slower Brazil Walking Chilling, bouncing hands Canada Attitude Apologize for everything UK Attitude Always apologizing Croatia Voice They are usually loud Vietnam Voice Very loud voice and they are Asian USA Voice Loudest people, although not as much as Scottish Scottish Undefined You can tell, it’s a sixth sense or something Russia Face form Face, you can sense it Kenya Gestures Mannerism Côte d’ Ivoire Undefined You just recognise them Belgium Face form See it in their face, mouth and facial structure Romania Face form Facial features Uzbekistan Face form Strong eyebrows Ethiopia Body traits Big hair or curly hair Poland (again) Face form Face like a potato Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 66 Czech Republic Body traits Blue eyes and blond Belarus Body traits Blond with green eyes Kazakhstan Body traits Shape of the eyes Iran Body traits Eyes, stare Senegal Body traits Round face, black skin, Asian eyes and lips Tanzania Dressing How they dress Latvia Dressing Certain style Finland Dressing Sensible clothing China Dressing They dress more formal Jamaica Dressing Skinny pants, cloak, white belts, white shoes Switzerland Dressing They wear mountain boots and huge backpacks Netherlands Dressing They wear matching raincoats Turkey Body language Hand gestures, mimics, excitement India Body language Expressive with the hands Japan Undefined If they are Asian, there are many chances South Korea Speaking You know when you hear them speak Philippines Speaking Accent Thailand Speaking By the way they talk Ecuador Undefined/ Speaking A little “thing” Israel Speaking Accent Greece Speaking Straightforward language, they speak he way it sounds Australia Speaking Twang (66ounse) Dominic Republic Speaking Spanglish Singapore Speaking Singlish Nigeria Expressions By one thing you hear from them, even though they have been abroad for a long time New Zealand Expressions Choice, sweethearts, mate Chile Expressions Cachái Belize Speaking Say “ike” instead of “like” Panama Expressions They call you “panna” Guyana Speaking They say “hey buddy” (with accent) Mexico Expressions Expressions: Wey, “cabrón” South Africa Expressions Expressions: Ja Ghana Speaking Greetings, “Charlie” Spain Attitude When hearing someone like thinking: “Mmmm”, you can tell Germany Attitude They ask precise, specific questions Sweden Attitude They are very excited about everything, they want to learn Trinidad & Tobago Attitude Especially on women, femininity with a softer or stronger way Ukraine Behaviour You can tell it when they can drink a lot of vodka Austria Behaviour Drink a lot of beer, smoke many cigarettes and complain a lot Egypt Speaking /Attitude They talk very loud on the phone Lebanon Behaviour They check people out (los miran de arriba abajo) France Behaviour If they are in New York eating a pizza with knife and fork, they are probably French Taiwan Behaviour They fight for the bill, like if they were in a show Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 67 Appendix 3.8: Text from a Puerto Rican girl (https://www.ingeniosupr.com/vol-31/2016/8/29/myexperiences-as-a-non-native-speaker-of-english) My Experiences as a (Non)-Native Speaker of English The English language is close to my heart. I use it every day to communicate with close friends, to understand technology and get through my college career. I have gone through many experiences where I have needed to speak English. There are thoughts I could only be able to express in English… If anything, it has served me as a tool. English has helped me bond with people I otherwise would not have met, in places I never would have dreamed of visiting. Living in Puerto Rico, I have been studying English my whole life, but I have not always spoken it. It wasn’t until I moved abroad for the first time that I experienced speaking the language first hand. This is where I consider my journey as a (non)-native speaker began. […] On my first day at Lake Stevens Middle School there seemed to be something wrong with my paperwork, so I had been called out to the 67ounsellor’s office. Being that I was by myself and had no one to translate for me, I told the lady, “I don’t speak English”. She responded with a “You certainly do. You just spoke it.” She was not wrong, I did, but I did not entirely agree with her. I do not remember there being a Spanish translator, but somehow I managed to solve the problem. As time passed, I realized I had gained a standard American accent, influenced by my peers, siblings and the media. Thanks to this, my vocabulary had definitely expanded, and I was beginning to feel part of the community. […] Despite being treated equally, I still felt like my English was not good enough. I did not sound like everyone else. I was different and I discovered I was not letting myself in, as it occurred to me one day in my Biology class. During a group oral presentation, I was too afraid to speak, in fear that my classmates would not understand me because of my accent. When the teacher called me out during the oral report for remaining quiet, I explained to her my dilemma. Worried that this would affect my grade, I participated in the presentation. When I finished reading, the teacher asked the class if they were able to successfully understand my English, to what they replied with a collective “yes”. This small step meant a big achievement for me. It led me to being more confident and self-accepting, at least in that class. […] My experience in Europe was totally different from the one in the United States. People are not obsessed with accents and do not try hard to sound like something, at least not American, which in turn, gave me a peace of mind when it came to my accent. When I studied abroad last semester in France, I had to adapt myself into speaking and practicing French. Once Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 68 again my English accent had drastically changed. It was now much bolder and I often found myself using advanced vocabulary, which their roots were closer to the French language. My English seems to be forever evolving with each change in my life, and French has helped me make these connections to the history of English. If it was not for English, I would not know how I could have survived in unknown places, like Hungary or Czech Republic. English has opened many doors especially put me in contact with amazing people that I could not have gotten to know if it was not for our lingua franca. I have befriended people from different cultures and backgrounds, people whom I learned from and highly appreciate. In my travels, thanks to my knowledge of English, I have represented incredible relief for many people everywhere, from student aid to the new international students in high school, help desperately lost tourists with directions, and even serve as interpreter to an Australian couple in a Parisian police station. I have had incredible experiences and opportunities, and for this I am grateful to the English language. Appendix 3.9: Questions from the text “My Experiences as a (Non)-Native Speaker of English” Regarding the previous text, answer the following questions: 1. According to the writer, how useful was English during her life and career? Name one example of what she uses it for. 2. Did she speak English properly before going abroad? Why? 3. What is the speaker’s mother tongue? 4. Has Máyori ever felt different from her classmates for being a non-native speaker? Justify your answer. 5. Explain the difference between the treatment she had in the USA and in Europe in terms of her English accent. Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 69 Appendix 3.10: Sample of an informal email from an Indian girl (https://brainly.in/question/6026009) Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 70 Appendix 4: Final opinion survey for students Link to survey: https://forms.gle/cdPYp7nZHz8RfHbw8 Activities that had to be analysed and marked by students from 1 to 10: • Question 1: Passive voice PowerPoint • Question 2: Reading activity from the textbook, page 92: “Why do languages change?” • Question 3: Writing exercise from the textbook, page 93: “Why do languages change?” • Question 4: Quiz on the passive voice • Question 5: Quiz on Unit 7 • Question 6: Map voluntary activity • Question 7: Listening voluntary activity “70 People Reveal How To Tell If Someone Is From Their Country” • Question 8: Reading voluntary activity “My Experience as a (Non)-Native Speaker” Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 71 Appendix 4.1. Results from final opinion survey Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 72 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Trabajo Fin de Máster Año 2020 Blanca María Lázaro Pérez 73 Question 7 Question 8