Problems of public belief about English

[Admin]

Some problems of public belief I can identify in my context are:

- the idea that there is only one English and the only acceptable varieties are those in the Inner Circle.
- the insistence on "Standard English" grammar & pronunciation.
- the idea that any deviation from "Standard English" is a mistake that must be corrected.
- the idea that local varieties are not valid but simply errors of language use.
- the idea of "English only" in the classroom as the key to learning English immersively and the golden rule to be followed.
- the idea that proficiency means sounding like a "native speaker".
- the idea that using a dictionary (especially L2 to L1) is detrimental to the learner.
- the idea Lingua Franca means simply "Standard English" used between "non-native" speakers.

Addressing these is the difficult part...I suppose some ways are the ones touched upon in the course, like teacher workshops, asking the learners for their views on language and language learning and introducing them to some of the concepts, taking more official action by addressing the proper authorities. It is indeed an oil tanker and turning it around is not an easy task! Any paradigm shift is a question of great effort, perseverance, reliance on research findings in order challenge those opinions presented as facts, and a great deal of time.

What are other thoughts and ideas?

[sameerco1971]

The problems of public belief I might encounter in my country can be:

- When I teach my students that yes there are dialects of English but there is nothing called "Standard English", a student comes and says to me "look it is written in the dictionary that this expression is or is not standard English. Which belief should believe in?"
It is difficult to convince a young learner that a dictionary is always true.
- There are very well known accredited references for language proficiency assessments like IELTS or TOEFL that publicise for the so called near native level of English proficiency. It is a one of the main requirements to get admission in a university and it is difficult to convince the students of the opposite.

[Kunlong Jin]

I used to work and live in China. So the current problematic public belief about English study and learning includes:
1.There is always having ONE correct answer to most English problems (especially grammar)
2.A high desire for native-speakers regardless of their education and background
3.Exam-oriented education leads to a drilling-based learning context
4.The proficiency of English level is only judged by scores and relevant certificates

There are very limited in terms of what we can do at the moment. Such ideologies are roots in china for decades, the only way to open the door for these problems is to change our education policies, which needs more efforts to go. Stakeholders' opinions need to be valued not just for professional teachers.

[evarojo]

Well, I can see that like Kunlong Jin has expressed the ideology of the standard English supremacy is rooted in Spain. How that can it be? Because we have our correspondent standard Spanish. It is a common belief that dialects like Andalusian or Murcian are not correct varieties of Spanish, they are regarded as broken Spanish, not correct. Even when varieties from South America are encountered, they follow the same ill fate: they are diminished in favour of the proper, standard Spanish from Castile.

As a teacher what I can do is what I do, through the teaching of different Englishes in the world. For my aim I use what I think my students like and will be motivated: music and cinema. There are many songs and films with many Englishes. I will design a project for my students about world englishes in cinema, there are many excerpts from movies. Honestly, as I am thinking this idea I am looking for excerpts to design the project.

[marian]

Jul 14, 2020 16:02:53 GMT evarojo said:

Well, I can see that like Kunlong Jin has expressed the ideology of the standard English supremacy is rooted in Spain. How that can it be? Because we have our correspondent standard Spanish. It is a common belief that dialects like Andalusian or Murcian are not correct varieties of Spanish, they are regarded as broken Spanish, not correct. Even when varieties from South America are encountered, they follow the same ill fate: they are diminished in favour of the proper, standard Spanish from Castile.

As a teacher what I can do is what I do, through the teaching of different Englishes in the world. For my aim I use what I think my students like and will be motivated: music and cinema. There are many songs and films with many Englishes. I will design a project for my students about world englishes in cinema, there are many excerpts from movies. Honestly, as I am thinking this idea I am looking for excerpts to design the project.

I agree with Eva when she speaks about standard Spanish. As my mother tongue is Spanish (but not from Spain), I really felt discriminated against on some occasions while being in Spain. And perhaps that is why when deciding what English to teach we prefer to choose a standard variety to avoid this discrimination. 

[Ulla]

In the private sector, the belief that only native speakers are good English teachers is still quite prevalent. I used to manage a language school, and I had many long conversations with people in HR departments about this. In my experience, the best argument was having a non-native teacher in the company who learners really loved - this opened the door for a discussion about good teaching vs. simple language proficiency.

In terms of other languages, the biggest problem is that people do not value bilingualism unless your 'other' language (other than German) is a 'prestigious' language such as English or French. Pupils who speak Turkish or Arabic at home are routinely told not to use these languages at school as this would interfere with learning German (the language of instruction). This is cruel and also a terrible waste of so much potential. Maybe we can play a small part as English teachers to change this by teaching our students to value different languages.

[miabae]

The biggest problem for me has always been the preference that native speakers get. They are offered better positions, bigger wages and generally are more respected, just because they hold the 'right' kind of passport. In my experience, language schools are hardly ever interested in checking and assessing their linguistic and teaching background and qualifications. Being an NS overrules it all.

[Rachel Dry]

Common things I hear from the public in the UK..

You should know all the rules of grammar as you are a TEFL teacher. - It is IMPOSSIBLE to know every use and every exception to the grammatical rules! Even as a native speaker.

Students will gain an English accent from learning English in the UK with a native speaking teacher. Argh!

If students speak well they are fluent in the language.

Students should speak in the L2 at all times in order to learn the most English as reverting to L1 throughout the day is not conducive to language learning and is intimidating for other students in the school - especially those who are native English speakers.

[Anita]

The main public belief in Oman is similar to what most of the posts here have mentioned " Native speakers are the best to teach English'' Even a qualified Phd non native does not get paid as compared to a native speaker with a degree. Public belief no.2 is to speak grammatically correct sentences to prove that you are good in the language. Public belief no.3- in the classroom there is no scope of using L1. Students should be hearing ONLY English in class to improve their language.

It is indeed a tough job for non natives to dissolve or fade public beliefs,even though they walk the extra mile to support students in gaining competency in the language.