Page 16 - Kukanja Gabrijelčič, Mojca, and Maruška Seničar Željeznov, eds. 2018. Teaching Gifted and Talented Children in A New Educational Era. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 16
Knechtelsdorfer
Nowadays, it is no longer enough to teach towards the goal of native-like
use of English but it is necessary to focus on the linguistic reality language
learners are confronted with outside the classroom. This paper illustrates that
despite the fact that English language teaching aims at preparing for conver-
sations with native speakers, the significant amount of non-native speakers
using English as their shared means of communication demands a shift in
focus of English language classrooms. English as a Lingua Franca research
shows that in ELF settings speakers need to use the meaning potential of En-
glish more flexible. And while teachers might focus on some aspects because
they seem necessarily important for communication with native speakers, in
ELF encounters other aspects are more important. This is why research such
as the Lingua Franca Core suggest parts of pronunciation that are more im-
portant in ELF than in native speaker encounters (long and short vowels vs.
th sound).
Besides pronunciation, this paper aims at highlighting the importance of
communicative strategies. The intentional use of strategies to avoid commu-
nicative breakdown are, at the moment, penalized in language assessment.
However, ELF research suggests that a flexible use of the virtual language and
all of the meaning potential of English leads to mutual intelligibility, while
adherence to conformist, native speaker usage does not necessarily in ELF
settings.
ELF-informed language teaching, thus, starts from the individual’s linguis-
tic capability, their experience from L1 and other languages they might know.
Every language learner can draw from experience in least one other lan-
guage they speak, as English in this context is an additional language they
learn. In their L1 (Lx) they can recognize regularities and they are capable of
applying rules of a language. They understand that grammar is the frame-
work of a language and they understand pragmatic differences. In their L1
they are capable of producing sounds. And those who already speak more
than one language are also capable of code-switching, so switching between
languages. And ELF-informed language teaching starts from these capabili-
ties, as diverse as they might be for each student. This shifts the focus from
the subject English to the individual and their potential, to what they bring
to the classroom.
Realizing each students’ personal potential and validating their individual
capabilities can contribute to successful potential development in language
classrooms. The promotion of giftedness has to start from the person, the
individual, and ELF-informed language teaching can contribute to potential
development.
14
Nowadays, it is no longer enough to teach towards the goal of native-like
use of English but it is necessary to focus on the linguistic reality language
learners are confronted with outside the classroom. This paper illustrates that
despite the fact that English language teaching aims at preparing for conver-
sations with native speakers, the significant amount of non-native speakers
using English as their shared means of communication demands a shift in
focus of English language classrooms. English as a Lingua Franca research
shows that in ELF settings speakers need to use the meaning potential of En-
glish more flexible. And while teachers might focus on some aspects because
they seem necessarily important for communication with native speakers, in
ELF encounters other aspects are more important. This is why research such
as the Lingua Franca Core suggest parts of pronunciation that are more im-
portant in ELF than in native speaker encounters (long and short vowels vs.
th sound).
Besides pronunciation, this paper aims at highlighting the importance of
communicative strategies. The intentional use of strategies to avoid commu-
nicative breakdown are, at the moment, penalized in language assessment.
However, ELF research suggests that a flexible use of the virtual language and
all of the meaning potential of English leads to mutual intelligibility, while
adherence to conformist, native speaker usage does not necessarily in ELF
settings.
ELF-informed language teaching, thus, starts from the individual’s linguis-
tic capability, their experience from L1 and other languages they might know.
Every language learner can draw from experience in least one other lan-
guage they speak, as English in this context is an additional language they
learn. In their L1 (Lx) they can recognize regularities and they are capable of
applying rules of a language. They understand that grammar is the frame-
work of a language and they understand pragmatic differences. In their L1
they are capable of producing sounds. And those who already speak more
than one language are also capable of code-switching, so switching between
languages. And ELF-informed language teaching starts from these capabili-
ties, as diverse as they might be for each student. This shifts the focus from
the subject English to the individual and their potential, to what they bring
to the classroom.
Realizing each students’ personal potential and validating their individual
capabilities can contribute to successful potential development in language
classrooms. The promotion of giftedness has to start from the person, the
individual, and ELF-informed language teaching can contribute to potential
development.
14
