Folklinguistic perceptions of Global Englishes among German learners of English
-
Philipp Meer
,
Johanna Hartmann
Abstract
While recent research on English language teaching (ELT) in Germany has called for a more comprehensive representation of the diversity of English worldwide, learners’ perceptions of Global Englishes are currently underresearched despite their importance for a successful implementation of this change in ELT. The present paper analyzes 166 German secondary school students’ perceptions of Global Englishes, underlying cultural associations, and stereotypes. To this end, a perceptual dialect identification task, keyword association, and direct open questions were combined in a folklinguistic study. The results show that the informants consider British and American English as general standards and primarily associate English-speaking countries with Inner Circle varieties: British, American, and Australian English. British English is regarded as the default school reference norm, while American English is associated with dynamism and casualness. Furthermore, the students identify Indian and African English(es) as important Global Englishes. Their perceptions of these varieties are, however, less positive and seem to be influenced by cultural stereotypes, which might prompt them to perceive these varieties as funny or unintelligent. We suggest that learners’ existing knowledge of Global Englishes and explicit metalinguistic discussions of variation can be used as starting points to counteract such stereotypes.
Zusammenfassung
Die Fachdidaktik des Englischen in Deutschland fordert eine umfassendere Einbeziehung der globalen Varietäten des Englischen (GVE) in den Unterricht. Die Wahrnehmung von Lernenden gegenüber GVE ist jedoch relativ unerforscht – trotz ihrer Bedeutung für eine erfolgreiche Umsetzung eines solchen Wandels. Die vorliegende folklinguistische Arbeit untersucht die Wahrnehmungen von 166 deutschen Schüler*innen der Sekundarstufe II zu GVE, sowie deren zugrunde liegende kulturelle Assoziationen und Stereotypen. Eine wahrnehmungsdialektologische Identifikationsaufgabe wurde dabei mit einer Keyword-Assoziationsaufgabe sowie direkten offenen Frageformen kombiniert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen: Die Schüler*innen betrachten britisches und amerikanisches Englisch als grundlegende Standardvarietäten und assoziieren englischsprachige Länder mit dem Inner Circle, insbesondere mit britischem, amerikanischem und australischem Englisch. Britisches Englisch wird als Standardnorm im Schulkontext angesehen, während amerikanisches Englisch mit Dynamik und Lässigkeit verbunden wird. Die Schüler*innen identifizieren außerdem indisches und afrikanisches Englisch als wichtige GVE. Ihre Wahrnehmung dieser ist jedoch weniger positiv und scheint von kulturellen Stereotypen beeinflusst, die sie dazu veranlassen könnten, diese als lustig oder unintelligent wahrzunehmen. Wir schlagen vor, dass bereits vorhandenes Wissen von Schüler*innen über GVE zusammen mit einer expliziten metalinguistischen Auseinandersetzung mit Variation einen Ausgangspunkt bilden können, um solchen Stereotypen entgegenzuwirken.
Resumen
Si bien una investigación reciente sobre la enseñanza del inglés en Alemania ha exigido una representación más integral de la diversidad este idioma en el mundo, las percepciones de los estudiantes sobre el inglés global no son investigadas a pesar de su importancia para la implementación exitosa de este cambio en la enseñanza. El presente trabajo analiza las percepciones de 166 estudiantes alemanes de secundaria sobre la variación geolingüística del inglés, las asociaciones culturales subyacentes y los estereotipos. Con este fin, una tarea perceptual de identificación de dialectos, la asociación de palabras clave y preguntas abiertas directas se combinaron en este estudio. Los resultados muestran que los informantes consideran el inglés británico y estadounidense como estándares generales y asocian principalmente a los países de habla inglesa con las variedades del círculo interno: inglés británico, estadounidense y australiano. El inglés británico se considera la norma escolar de referencia, mientras que el inglés americano está asociado con el dinamismo y la informalidad. Además, los estudiantes identifican las variantes indias y africanas como importantes. Sin embargo, sus percepciones de estas variedades son menos positivas y parecen estar influenciadas por estereotipos, lo que podría incitarlos a percibirlas como divertidas o poco inteligentes. Sugerimos que el conocimiento existente de los estudiantes sobre las variedades lingüísticas el inglés y las discusiones metalingüísticas explícitas, se puedan usar como puntos de partida para contrarrestar tales estereotipos.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: Inherent Translanguaging in the Linguistic Landscape of Sarajevo
- Ethnolinguistic Identity, Coping Strategies and Language Use among Young Hungarians in Slovakia
- Ich kann keine andere Sprache verwenden : A survey of attitudes towards multilingualism in German integration courses for adult migrants
- Are EFL pre-service teachers’ judgment of teaching competence swayed by the belief that the EFL teacher is a L1 or LX user of English?
- Teachers negotiating multilingualism in the EFL classroom
- Discrepancies in Teachers’ Perceptions and Reported Practices: The Case of Written Feedback in an EFL Context
- Exploring young learners’ L2 development and perceptions of mixed-age and same-age peer interactions in EFL mixed-age classrooms
- “I’m in contact with foreign languages every day”
- Folklinguistic perceptions of Global Englishes among German learners of English
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian: Inherent Translanguaging in the Linguistic Landscape of Sarajevo
- Ethnolinguistic Identity, Coping Strategies and Language Use among Young Hungarians in Slovakia
- Ich kann keine andere Sprache verwenden : A survey of attitudes towards multilingualism in German integration courses for adult migrants
- Are EFL pre-service teachers’ judgment of teaching competence swayed by the belief that the EFL teacher is a L1 or LX user of English?
- Teachers negotiating multilingualism in the EFL classroom
- Discrepancies in Teachers’ Perceptions and Reported Practices: The Case of Written Feedback in an EFL Context
- Exploring young learners’ L2 development and perceptions of mixed-age and same-age peer interactions in EFL mixed-age classrooms
- “I’m in contact with foreign languages every day”
- Folklinguistic perceptions of Global Englishes among German learners of English
