CHAPTER 1:

World Englishes and Cultural Contexts

Introduction:
Multilingualism rather than monolingualism accepted as a norm (the existence of
more non-native speakers of English over native speakers)
Questioning the validity of monolingual myth and the native-as-standard form of
English
A shift in paradigm in ELT: What and how we teach to whom and why
The need for a curricular reform in ELT in the Turkish context: Prospective English
language teachers should be aware of the theoretical and practical implications of the
global nature of language.
Technical terms related to the global status of English: EFL, ESL,ELF, EIL, GE, WE, WEC
 The global spread of English
• A large increase in the number of speakers of English in the period
1603-1952 (from 5-7 millions to 2 billions)
• The first diaspora or dispersion: Almost 250000 people migrated from
Britain and Ireland to America.
• The second diaspora: English was transported to Africa and Asia in
different circumstances and with different consequences
(colonization), the emergence of pidgins and creoles
• In West Africa, the British did not colonize the countries in the region,
rather, English was used as a lingual franca.
 English speakers across the world
•ENL/ ESL/ EFL
•Kachru’s Three Circle Model (3CM)
•The notion of globalization: The fact that different cultures and economic systems around the world are
becoming connected and similar to each other because of the influence of large multinational companies
and of improved communication which is usually done in English as an international language
•Some conceptual difficulties with the three-way categorization
•1. ENL cannot be accepted as a single variety of English since it may differ from one country to another.
•2.There is no place for pidgins and creoles.
•3. ENL speakers who live in ESL countries do not fit into any of the categories
•4. The classification neglects bi-and or/multilingual people.
•5. Some so-called ESL countries (e.g., Nigeria and Singapore) do not purely fit in any of the traditional
categories.
 Models of the spread of English
• 1. Strevens (1980, p.7), 2. Kachru (1988, three-circle model, p.8), 3.
Mcarthur (1987, Circle of World English), 4. Gorlach (1988, Circle Model
of English, 5. Modiano (1999, Centripetal Circles Model of International
English), 6. Yano (2001, Three Dimensional Parallel Cylindrical Model of
World Englishes, 7. Graddol (2006)
• Among the above-mentioned models, the best known and used one by
many researches is Kachru’s three-circle model.
• Inner-circle countries (norm-providing)
• Outer-circle countries (norm-developing)
• Expanding-circle countries (norm-dependent)
 Decoding the acronyms: WE, ELF and
EIL
• Three different basic interpretations of the term World Englishes:
• 1. The primary interpretation serves as an umbrella term to embrace all varieties of English
world wide along with what is included in Kachru’s model. This broad definition is used
interchangeably with Global Englishes (GB), International Englishes (IE), World English (WE).
• 2. The second definition is a relatively narrow one which covers the varieties in Kachru’s outer
circle countries (indigenized, nativized or institutionalized varieties).
• 3. The third interpretation of World Englishes is repeatedly referred to as Kachruvian approach.
• IE/EIL vs. ELF: IE/EIL refers to local Englishes used with intranational purposes in either non-
mother tongue countires (expanding circle) or mother tongue countries (inner circle). However,
ELF refers to a variety of English used as a means of interaction between people whose linguistic
and cultural backgrounds are different from each other, that is, among people with different
mother tongues other than English. It is also defined as English as it is used as contact language
among speakers from different first languages.
• EFL vs. ELF: The basic differences result from the assumption that with
regard to EFL learners, non-native speakers of English learn the language
to communicate with native speakers of English, while ELF learners are
assumed to use English to interact with an intercultural communication
context where native speakers of English do not generally exist.

• The Notion of Intercultural Competence: It refers to the ability to

function effectively across cultures, to think and act appropriately, and
to communicate and work with people from different cultural
backgrounds – at home or abroad.
 CHAPTER 2:
Language Varieties and ELT
• Theoretical background:
• English is spoken widely by nearly a third of the world’s population (almost 2.5
billion people) all around the globe. ESL or EFL speakers outnumber ENL speakers.
• From ELT perspective, the existence of varieties of English requires English
teachers and learners to be aware of the varieties and be able to differentiate
those varieties from each other, esp. the standard ones, namely, British and
American English.
• If English is supposed to be learned and taught, a local variety of the language
such as Russian English cannot be used as a proper model. Instead, a standard
variety of the language should be used to avoid failure in both teaching and
learning the language.
The variety and the idea of correct English
• Definition of sociolinguistics and variety:
• Sociolinguistics deals with the study of language as it is used by the members of a society for real-
life communication purposes.
• A variety is viewed as a specific form of a language used by a specific group of people. English has so
many varieties, both local and standard varieties.
• Dialect vs. sociolect vs. idiolect:
• A dialect is a language variety used by people in a specific geographical area. A sociolect is a
language variety used by a group of people belonging to a specific social class. An idiolect refers to
how individual speakers of a specific language variety speak differently from each other (e.g., Bob’s
English, Mary’s English, etc.
• Dialect vs. accent: A dialect is a form of language used in a specific area which is different from other
forms of the same language in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. An accent deals
with only pronunciation differences between two varieties of the same language which are
grammatically and lexically the same.
 Spoken and written English
• Spoken English or the spoken form of any language is much more prone to be
local and variable since it includes people’s emotions, pitches, an intonation and
it is bound to the context.
• The word “context” refers to who says what to whom where, when, and why.
The factors just mentioned (the participants, the topic, the purpose, the place
and time) all determine the howness of what is said.
• On the other hand, the written form of English or any other language is a way of
producing the language in text format. Therefore, writers have to strictly follow
all the language rules to convey their messages as effectively and
straightforwardly as possible. As a result, there are a limited number of varieties
of written English such as American and British English with slight differences (p.
20).
Pidgins vs. Creoles:
A pidgin is a local lingua franca which is merely used for communication purposes. It is nobody’s
first language but a language which is created esp. for business transactions. The grammar of the
language comes from the local languages spoken in the area where it is created and the
vocabulary comes form a well-established language such as English, Spanish or French. When a
pidgin becomes the mother tongue of a new generation, it is called a creole.
Standard English and Dialects:
The standard variety of a language is used as the medium for education, literature, administration
as well as media. It is a variety that can be distinguished from other varieties of the same language
and is usually more prestigious than the other ones.
Regional accents and Received Pronunciation (RP):
American vs. British English
RP vs. RIP
 English in inner circle, outer circle and
expanding circle countries
• Standard American English: The idea of standardization of American English started soon after the USA
gained independence from England.
• Standard British English: England is the initial source of “World Englishes”, however, it has its own
standard variety.
• British vs. American English: (pp. 23-24)
• Australian and New Zealandian English: only some minor lexical differences
• Canadian English: It functions as an official language besides French in Canada, but one-fifth of the
population of the country uses French and another one-fifth uses other languages different from English.
• English in India (an example of outer circle countries): As a result of being a colony of Britain for more
than two centuries, English is widely spoken in India. It is, in fact, an official language of the country along
with Hindi, the native language of India.
• English in Turkey (an example of expending circle countries): English has no official status in Turkey, yet it
is increasingly used as a lingua franca to establish communication with speakers of other languages. While
Turkish is the only official language of the country, English is the most common foreign language in Turkey.
 CHAPTER 3:
Concepts and Terms in Teaching Culture
• Introduction:
• The change of prioritization in language teaching from a language-related approach to a more intercultural
approach: the need for educating interculturally competent teachers in pre-service teacher education
programs
• Culture: An easy to define concept?
1. The knowledge existing in peoples’ minds, 2. A part of human learning (being literate and having the
knowledge of literature, language, history or philosophy, 3. The everyday life and behaviors of a discourse
community, 4. A more slippery, broad, multidimensional and hard to define concept, 5. A set of stable or
likely to change beliefs, values, and behaviors shared by a social group, 6. The characteristics shared by
members of a community speaking a national language and possessing reflections of their culture within
their language (modernist definition), 7. A socially and semiotically constructed discourse (postmodernist
definition: culture has no boundaries to a nation or country but can be constructed and co-constructed by
individuals participating in multiple global communities)
•Big C vs. Small c Culture:
•While fine arts such as literature, music, dance, painting, sculpture, theater, and film are viewed as the components of big C
(they are based on factual knowledge, easily recognized, publicly taught and seen as themes of civilization), attitudes,
assumptions, beliefs, perceptions, norms and conventions, patterns of interaction, and the use of body language ae regarded as
representations of small c culture (themes of everyday life).
•Some Characteristics of Culture:
•Major features of culture include being learned through traditions and social transmission across generations rather than
through genes.
•Culture is viewed as a comprehensive body of knowledge incorporating easily observable elements such as arts, sciences,
religion, literature and hard to observe components like beliefs and values, patterns of communication, etc.
•Culture is seen as being dynamic esp. due to globalization which has led to the rejection and adoption of new cultural patterns
and even the creation of hybrid cultures, along with preservation of customs and traditions.
•Culture is also thought of as being fragile and open to influences from hegemonic cultures (esp. Western cultures) imposing
themselves on weaker cultures. This implies that unless a local culture is preserved, it runs the risk of being lost.
 Culture and Related Terms
• Historically speaking, language and culture have always been viewed as the two sides of the same coin.
A language is part of a culture and a culture is part of a language. Therefore, one cannot separate the two
without losing the importance of either the language or the culture.
• Language ego: The identity a person develops in reference to the language he or she speaks.
• Ego permeability: The act of constructing for oneself another person’s mental state. Some individuals
may be open to the personalities of others; that is, their egos are permeable or soft while others might
have hard ego permeability.
• Cultural identity is known to locate itself within culture and can be reflected through membership in a
language community which shares a common social space and history, and common systems of standards
for thinking, believing, and behaving.
• Cultural identity is also seen as a dynamic concept referring to special features of lifestyle, institutional
systems and spiritual values. Being closely linked to culture, language is regarded as a strong way of
communicating one’s own cultural identity. Therefore, language learning and teaching is not free from
understanding how speakers of a specific language perceive their cultural identities. Language learning is,
in fact, seen as learning the cultural identity of the speakers of a language who share the same culture.
 Cultural awareness and cross-cultural
awareness
• Cultural awareness is defined as a construct including social (ideology) and psychological
(identity) dimensions.
• As the world has turned into a global village, school have also changed into small global
villages where students from different cultural backgrounds meet each other. As a result,
the education system is also facing a greater need to educate learners and even teachers
who have tolerance, empathy, and understanding towards individuals from different nations
and cultures.
• Language learners learn who they are through their interactions with the Other and their
development of cultural awareness depends on the acquisition and development of cultural
knowledge of the other. This, in turn, helps them develop insight into their own culture.
• The same is also true of learning a second language. In fact, through learning a second
language, one can usually come up with a better understanding or awareness of his or her
first language.
 Acculturation vs. Enculturation

•When individuals from different cultural backgrounds meet another culture, they need to
adjust themselves to the culture of the new community. (Accommodation Theory)
•Acculturation is the process of modifying cultural beliefs and customs of a group of people or
an individual by borrowing traits from a different culture. On the other hand, enculturation is
the process through which individuals acquire values and norms of a culture through
unconscious repetition, and it mostly occurs from birth.

The main difference between acculturation and enculturation is that the former deals with
intermixing the traditions of two different cultures, while the latter is the practice by which
individuals attempt to learn about their own culture through self-exploration and acquisition.
•Acculturation resembles language learning, while enculturation looks like language acquisition.
 Cultural bump vs. cultural shock
• Culture bump is described as a phenomenon that occurs when an individual has
expectations about another person's behavior within a particular situation, but encounters a
different behavior in that situation when interacting with an individual from a different
culture.
•Culture shock refers to the impact of moving from a familiar culture to one that is
unfamiliar. This impact includes the anxiety and feelings (such as surprise, disorientation,
uncertainty, and confusion) felt when a person must adapt to a different and unknown
cultural or social environment. 
•It tends to impact travelers even after they've become familiar with and comfortable in new
cultures. Culture shock generally moves through four different phases: honeymoon,
frustration, adjustment, and acceptance. Individuals experience these stages differently,
and the impact and order of each stage vary widely.
 English language teachers roles and
responsibilities towards cultural issues
• The reform in Turkish system of education to consider cultural issues in English Language Teaching
Programs (ELTP) following the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR):
• In framing the program, special attention should be paid to three major criteria; that is, learner
autonomy, self-assessment, and appreciation of cultural diversity (examples of some modifications
in English textbooks used in Turkish education system, p. 42).
• To meet these goals, English language teachers themselves need to develop an intercultural mindset
and assume new roles and responsibilities. Cultural topics related to both capital C culture and small
c culture should be addressed by the teachers through providing or preparing relevant teaching
materials.
• Considering the current status of English as a lingua franca or international language, and the fact
that English does not belong to just native speakers of the language anymore, language teachers
should try to increase their intercultural competence as much as possible and function as
intercultural mediators. Accordingly, they can make language learners aware of cultural hinderances
such as culture bumps and culture shocks to help them learn the language more easily.
 English language teachers’ roles and
responsibilities towards cultural issues
• ELT classes should include elements of as many cultures as they can to increase learners’
awareness of how English is used for communication across cultures.
• Specific attention should be paid to incorporating elements of three types of culture
while teaching culture in English classes: target culture (cultures of inner-circle
countries), international target culture (cultures of outer-circle countries), and source
culture (cultures of expanding-circle countries or students’ own culture. (See
Multicutural manners: Essential rules of etiquette for the 21th century, 2005, by: Dresser,
N.)
• The notion of linguaculture learning refers to creating the ideal learning outcomes by
integrating language and culture. It provides a well-established procedure of constant
modification and regulation of linguistic ability and intercultural awareness.
• Suggestions and pedagogical implications for language teacher education programs to
educate interculturally competent teachers (pp. 49-50, & p.103)
 CHAPTER 4:
Socio-cultural Factors in Language Teaching
•Introduction:
Culture as glue analogy: An individual is not an island, culture is our continent and everyone is a
piece of this continent, a part of the main.
Individualistic vs. collectivistic societies: Understanding others’ cultural values and developing
an intercultural competence to tolerate diversity is an important aspect of language classroom.
Stereotypes and generalizations:
A stereotype is defined as any commonly known public belief about a nation or a specific social
group based on prior assumptions and biases. We attribute the features of a specific group of
people to an individual merely based on our perception of the group. (Mark Twain’s famous
example comparing learning English, French and German, p. 60)
It should be born in mind that though people might look similar, they are not the same.
Some stereotypical traits of some nations: (p. 61)
Ways to prevent and overcome stereotypes: (pp. 61-62)
• Social distance (Schumann’s model):
It refers to the cognitive and affective proximity of two cultures that come into contact
within an individual. According to Schumann, second language acquisition is just one
aspect of acculturation and the degree to which a learner acculturates to the target
language group will determine the degree to which he/she acquires the second language.
Factors determining social distance (pp. 62-63):
1. Social dominance (= +; If both groups, first and target language groups have equal social
status, it will ease the acquisition process), 2. Integration pattern (L1 group willing to
integrate with the target language group (+), 3. Enclosure (sharing the same social
facilities) (+), 4. Cohesiveness (L1 group adherent to intra-group contacts) (-), 5. Size (L1
group being large in number) (-), 6. Cultural congruence (more cultural similarity = more
social contact)(+), 7. Attitude (L1 group having positive attitudes toward the target
language(+), 8. Intended length of residence (+).
Cultural differences in teacher-student and
student-student interactions
When a language class is composed of students from different cultural
backgrounds, language teachers should be aware of the features of different
cultures and shape their teaching techniques and methods accordingly.
Hofstede’s four-dimensional model of cultural differences:
1.Individualistic vs. collectivistic societies
2. Small power distance societies vs. large power societies (Less powerful
people in a society accept inequality in power.)
3. Weak uncertainty avoidance vs. strong uncertainty avoidance (People of a
certain culture can feel uneasy by situations which they perceive as unclear.)
4. Feminine societies vs. masculine societies
• Traits of individualistic and collectivistic societies (pp. 64-65)
• Traits of small power distance and large power distance societies (65-66)
• Traits of weak uncertainty avoidance societies and strong uncertainty avoidance societies (pp. 66)
• Traits of masculinity favoring societies and femininity favoring societies (p. 67)
• High context culture vs. low context culture:

In a high-context culture, people tend to give priority to group

dynamics rather than individual choices and social relationships and
trust are valued highly. People from low-context cultures are
individualistic and tend to give value to one-to-one discussions rather
than the group ones. English speaking countries are mostly classified
as low-context cultures compared to Asian, Middle Eastern, and Latin
American cultures.
Three different components as the elements of culture:
1. Perspectives (what members of a culture think, feel, and value); 2.
Practices (how members of a culture communicate and interact with one
another; 3.Products (what members of a cultural group create, share, and
transmit to the next generation, e.g., technology, music, art, literature, etc.)
Intercultural competence: As stated before, it is the ability to communicate effectively
in cross-cultural situations and to relate properly in a variety of cultural contexts.
Elements of intercultural competence: 1. Knowledge, 2. Skills, 3. Attitudes, 4.
Mindfulness, 5. Cognitive flexibility, 6. Tolerance for ambiguity, 7. Behavioral flexibility,
8. cross-cultural empathy (pp. 68-69)