This article aims to explore whether well-attested findings in the fields of World Englishes (WE) and of English as a lingua franca (ELF) have determined a shift in perspective in the overall approach to English language teaching (ELT), and how far this shift has permeated teaching materials and coursebooks. The research study was carried out in Italy, a country where ELT coursebooks have often played a relevant role in introducing innovations in language teaching methodology. The research design included a corpus of ten coursebooks that have been published and adopted in Italian secondary schools in the last 6 years. The coursebooks were evaluated in terms of the presence or absence of references to WE and/or ELF, of awareness-raising activities, of the promotion of using English outside the school environment and of the use of effective English communication and intercultural strategies among nonnative speakers. Findings show that there have been no significant changes in the inclusion of WE-and ELForiented materials and related tasks, apart from the area of promotion of cultural and intercultural awareness.
CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a recent teaching approach widely adopted in numerous international contexts, especially in Europe where it was promoted as a way to promote language learning within the educational system. When implemented, CLIL predominantly involves subject content teachers using English to teach their subject. This has required the development of specific teacher education programs in Italy. This contribution illustrates how the teaching knowledge of both content and English language teachers is evolving as CLIL is implemented within Italian teacher education courses.
Abstract:The purpose of this contribution is to elicit a reflective perspective on the role and function of English language teaching materials traditionally used in the language classroom, in a time of change for English and for the pedagogical principles underlying its teaching. This time of change is represented by the emergence of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), by the growing diffusion and use of information communication technology (ICT), by approaches to language learning inclusive of content (CLIL), and by contexts characterised by plurilingualism and multiculturalism An overview of what traditionally accompanies teachers and learners -from course-books to teachers' self-produced handouts -in the teaching-learning process of a language whose current status is undergoing major changes, is first presented. A reflective approach in the teaching of English within a moveable scenario where new language contacts are challenging English traditional standards and its varieties and the role of language for learning has been informing classroom practice, is then offered and implications discussed. This contribution has deliberately chosen to focus only on a few of the numerous research fields and tools that are emerging in the language classroom and within the teaching materials scenarios, such as the notion of authenticity, the use and role of corpora, the function of communicative and mediation strategies, the representation of culture and the emergence of intercultural competence. Implications and practical suggestions for teaching materials follow each of the sections.Keywords: teaching materials, authenticity, English as a Lingua Franca, language awareness, change Resumo: O objetivo deste artigo é apresentar uma perspectiva reflexiva sobre o papel e a função dos materiais didáticos de língua inglesa tradicionalmente utilizados na sala de aula de língua, em um momento de mudança para o inglês e para os princípios pedagógicos subjacentes ao seu ensino. Este momento de mudança é representado pelo surgimento do inglês como Língua Franca (ELF), pela crescente difusão e uso da tecnologia de comunicação de informação (TIC), por abordagens de aprendizado de línguas inclusive de conteúdo (CLIL) e por contextos caracterizados por Plurilinguíssimo e multiculturalismo. Uma visão geral do que tradicionalmente acompanha os professores e aprendizes -desde livros de cursos até as apostilas produzidas pelos professores -no processo de ensino-aprendizagem de uma língua cujo status atual está sofrendo grandes mudanças, é apresentado pela primeira vez. Uma abordagem reflexiva no ensino de Inglês em um cenário móvel, onde novos contatos de idiomas estão desafiando o Inglês padrão tradicional e suas variedades e o papel da linguagem para a aprendizagem tem sido pensado na prática de sala de aula, vislumbrando e implicações que merecem ser discutidas. Nesse artigo escolhemos deliberadamente concentrar-nos apenas em alguns dos inúmeros campos de pesquisa e ferramentas emergentes na sala de aula de língua e dentro dos cenários dos ...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2025 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.