Ways forward for developing an ELF centred ELT Pedagogy

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical argument to augment current approaches which could serve as a basis for an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) orientated pedagogy in ELT. There are four conceptual areas of teaching practices in ELT which have created tension between the language expected in the classroom and the socio-linguistic reality outside the classroom. These are translanguaging, the target language model, corrective feedback and assessment practices. Firstly, translanguaging in educational contexts has been extensively researched recently but not linked explicitly to ELF, though these research fields share an ontological and epistemically framework. Secondly, the principle problem with models used in ELT, is to subjugate the spoken language with the written. Therefore, these two different forms of language need explicit separation, and for speaking, where appropriate, a local model used, while at the same time, implicitly raising awareness of societal attitudes towards dialects and accents. Thirdly, corrective feedback (CF) requires a reorientation from an accuracy focused CF towards meaning focused correction. Finally, assessment practices, which for speaking, measure students spoken language against native models and does not accurately reflect students’ language competence. These four aspects would also serve as a basis for differentiating an ELF approach to ELT from a CLT approach.