"Teaching English in Context"

'but culturally, what is the context'

by Dr. Edwin C. Weaver

www.we-develop-leaders.com

www.uniqueleaders.org

Having worked in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, I have seen a wide sampling of EFL, ESL and other supposed English as a Second Language programs. Today the majority are striving to produce bilingual students. The main tool for many institutes is teaching English in context. I ask you, are you really teaching in context?

In all of these countries, I have seen people who have been studying English for 10, even up to 15 years, who are still at upper-intermediate level English. After 10 or 15 years of studying a language, a student should be proficient at the language, they should be bilingual. Yet, we are not producing the desired results. I wish to address this problem and propose a solution to the problem.

In order to teach the students about English, 85% of the language programs use an off-the-shelf program; like Interchange or one of the other popular books. Those who use course material in English, use course books from the United States or England. These off-the-shelf programs have many benefits for school attempting to teach heir students English.

Utilizing these off-the-shelf programs means the school does not need experienced course designers and most ESL teachers from many different parts of the world will be familiar with the material. This adds standardization to the program. It also allows for standardized tests to be prepared by authoritative, capable test preparers and ease for the teachers in planning and delivery. However, does this approach provide the student with all the right tools to learn English and become bilingual?

Content or subject matters taught in context have received a great deal of support from researchers (Brinton, Snow & Wesche, 1989; Chamot & O'Malley, 1987; Christian, Spanos, Crandall, Simich-Dudgeon, & Willets, 1990; Garcia 1990; Mohan 1986; Slavin, 1986; Snow, 1991). Schools and universities around the world are jumping on the band wagon and changing their system to bilingual education and some to education completely in English.

This would be a fantastic advancement of English and great aid to global communication if the desired result were always achieved. However, the English needed for schools and universities is not the off-the shelf English you find from most publishers, instead it is Academic English, which is much different than books like Interchange. Even the authentic course material is not sufficient to fully aid the student in acquiring bilingual status.  

The off-the-shelf programs deal with communicative or social English and are written to the Western style of life. A student in Thailand does not socialize the same a student in Russia and the student in Russia does not socialize the same as a student in Africa. That difference and the lack of connection between their way of life and that which is portrayed in the off-the-shelf material can case students to become disinterested in learning English.

Even the subject content material has a US or Western slant to its presentation. Children in South America, for example, do not perform Math the same way as children in the US. They still arrive at the same answer, but how they get to that answer is different.

I have witnessed children who were straight "A" Math students fall to B and even C level students when the material was presented in English. True their English skills did improve, but at what cost? These students started to become disconnected in their Math classes because of their failures, though when placed in Math taught in Spanish, using local Math material, these students regained their advanced status once again.

The same has held true in Geography and to some extent the Social Sciences as a whole. The context of the content was US or Western in nature, leaving the student with little to connect to. Taylor, 1983, p. 70 (emphasis added) has told us that second language learning "will take place only to the extent that those learners are exposed to and engaged in contextually-rich, genuine, meaningful communication in that language". However what is the contextually-rich content that we are providing.

In order for our students to learn English and remain engaged we must provide material which matches the context of their culture, not ours or the Western idea of culture. Swain (1996) explained that we should not be so worried about imparting the Western idea of education and presenting material in a Western context. Instead we should allow the student to discover the language using their own culture as a peg. Roulet (1980) suggests that the learner must use his/her mother tongue in order to work out the organization of the second language in order to increase the competency of the learner. Working with a standardized, one program fits all, does not provide this opportunity.

Years ago, many of those who wished to learn English did so in order to travel to Canada, England or the United States. This is not true today. Today, there are more people who speak English as a second language than native speakers. The world has changed and the reason for learning English has changed.

When the reason was to travel or live in one of the English speaking countries, understanding the culture was very important. The off-the-shelf programs functioned well. However, with the change in emphasis, the material needs to be changed.

Our off-the-shelf programs are directed towards the Western idea of education, learning and culture. Granted, they use names and a few location which are not Western in nature, but this, in itself, does not constitute teaching the subject matter in context to culture. Students need to connect the words and ideas to something in their own culture and background. I have seen this around the world.

I worked in Saudi Arabia and the books were not the standard ESL material. The people in charge of the English department had learned that the students did not fair well when using off-the-shelf programs, so they decided to write their own books.

The books had been written to use locations, names and dates familiar to the students. Those parts which were familiar to the students were learned quicker and with more enthusiasm than the parts which were wholly Western in nature. However, all the material had been written by Americans and British ESL teachers. As such the slant of the discourse and the focus of the themes were on the Western culture. It made some of the material more familiar to the students, but the concepts, ideas and culture were Western, which confused and de-motivated the students.

As Mosley-Howard (1995) warned, these practices can cause learning barriers and a feeling of discrimination. Responses to this situation are as varied as the perceptions of it: from dropping out of classes or lashing out at the institute or the authorities, to proactive and creative strategies for systemic change, to demonstrating exceptional academic success in the face of barriers. However, as educators, we owe it to our students to remove as many barriers as possible to ensure their success. Utilizing material with a particular cultural bias can place unneeded barriers in the path of our students. We must take into consideration the learner and his or her relationship to the material.

The Western culture with its individualism, form of democracy and other issues is often foreign to the student's understanding and the student's culture. The ideas are confusing to their way of thinking. We have not taken into consideration the learner's relationship to the material. We have used our relationship to the material and tried to impose that on the learner. This will cause most students to suffer, to varying degrees, a language gap between their native language (L1) and English (L2), as such we must aid them in bridging this gap.

Even our best subject content material when it is in our (Western) context does not aid in bridging this gap. The context we present in our English as a Second Language programs is the Western cultural context. We present ideas and concepts which at times are completely foreign or perhaps offensive to the student, which only enhances the gap instead of diminishing the gap.

An example of this can be found in most of the teaching books presently in use, for example the family. In the Western culture talking about the family is permissible and even encouraged, however some other cultures, like the Arab culture, talking about the family is a private matter and will only provoke the student to silence and perhaps dislike for the new language. As stated above, this causes a barrier to learning.  

Have we impeded the learning of English by using the family as a theme or a way to teach words in context which is not acceptable to some learners? The context is fine in the west but in other cultures the context is offensive. If we have offended or confused the learner does not that hinder the student's ability to learn? It has affected the students mind set and this affects the ability to learn (Perkins 1987).

Have we designed the context correctly? Is our context acceptable to the culture? Does our subject matter context have the same meaning in the student's culture? Can't we develop Math books that teach Math, via English, in the same way that another culture is accustomed to learning? Can't we develop Social Science material, in English, which shows what is important in the student's country and culture? Have we provided an avenue to learn words and their meaning which will be acceptable and understandable to all?

If we wanted to teach the student about age and how to ask about age and that was a subject which is not normally used as 'public' discussion, could we not use the age of a car or a nation or some other context which would be acceptable to them? How old is your car? How old is your country? My car is two years old. Of course, words like cousin and other family relationships would have to be taught, but the activities could be changed so as not to obligate the student to confront a sensitive subject matter. This would allow the student to learn in a non-threatening manner and connect new words to their prior knowledge (Gordon, E. and Roberts, F., 1991).

The student needs to connect the words and means to something they have in their own language (L1). They need to be able to relate to concepts, ideas and feelings in both languages. In order to have truly bilingual people, they need to learn what the word or concept means in their own language. Without this peg, the new words are often meaningless and difficult to remember and learn.

Remember, English today is not for travel to the US or England, but to communicate to other people throughout the world. English must be used to communicate things and ideas from one culture to another culture. Therefore, it is necessary to teach English in the context of the culture if we want the people to use English correctly and fluently.

The new words or concepts can even be misconceived; learning a Western concept, with Western values mixed in, can lead to confusion on the part of the student. In some cultures when you go to an office to talk to someone, you do not come directly to the point, which is considered rude or impolite. Instead you talk about the weather, the family or current events and then you get down to business. This is considered polite, however in the Western culture this is consider tedious, even annoying, but that is the context in which we teach this subject matter.

The students learning about interaction will become confused as to what is courteous and what is rude. The learner will have misconception about interacting with people. They have learned words, ideas and concepts, but are unsure of their correct use.  

The student can learn words, ideas and concepts in the context of their own culture and become fully bilingual without the addition of the Western cultural context Schumann's (1986). The student needs to learn the new words or concepts in the context of their own culture, thereby providing a peg to hang the new knowledge. There are more than enough situations, in the person's culture, which can be presented to teach all the words, ideas and concepts which the person might need to become bilingual.

Another example would be the words we learn for socializing and the context in which we present these words again can be offensive and sometimes confusing. Not all cultures socialize in the same way as the west. We can teach the same words, but they must be presented in the context of the native culture. Only then will the student truly understand the words and use them correctly. Western culture can be taught after the student learns to handle the language.

Is not that the way in which we, as Westerners, usually learn a foreign language? We learn how to use the language and then we learn about the customs and culture of the people. Why should it be different for others to learn English?

When presenting words, concepts and/or ideas, we need to do so in the context in which the student is familiar. The activities and context we use must relate to the student's culture not ours (Banks 1988). In this way we encourage the learning of the new language. We provide pegs to hang the new knowledge on and we help the student understand the meaning and usage of the new words and concepts.

The use of the native culture to shape the context of the learning material is imperative to the student's ability to correctly understand the new language and to transfer present knowledge and experiences to the new language. Many researcher are in agreement that culture plays a big role in the acquisition of the new language and have suggested strategies to teach English to various cultures (e.g., Byram, 1997; Furstenberg, Levet, English & Maillet, 2001; Kramsch & Andersen, 1999; Liddicoat & Crozet, 2000; Lo Bianco, 2003; Lo Bianco & Crozet, 2003; O'Dowd, 2003).

Therefore, we need to evaluate the material we consider context. Is the material really in context to the learner? Will the context of the material aid the learning in connecting and transferring existing knowledge and experiences to the new language (English) or will it hinder or offend? These are important questions to ask when considering any teaching material.

It is for this very reason that we find so many students with misconceptions and errors in their English communication skills. In the lower levels the student mimicked the context which was given in the class and the teacher told them they were doing fine. During the initial learning levels the student only mimics the material present.

Later, when true communication was needed the ideas in the student's head did not match any of the contexts presented or the student misconceptualized the context with a concept in his/her own language, producing errors in relating in English. By the time the errors are discovered, they have become hardened habits, which are difficult to correct and break.

So where does that leave us? As educators and leaders of educational institutes we have an obligation to help our students to learn. We can produce truly bilingual students if we use the right material.

Using the right material does not mean that you have a Western ESL teacher prepare the material. Instead, you need a native, who is proficient in English, to prepare the material in the context of his/her own culture. You can use your Western ESL teachers to ensure that the grammar and syntax are correct, verifying all changes with the person who prepared the material.

This method will provide the students with material which is relevant to their understanding and culture, thus encouraging them to learn English. They will no longer consider that they are learning English as a second language, but learning something about their country, Math, Geography, History or culture in English. They will consider that they are learning about themselves and something that is important to them, the only difference being that the material is written in English.

This method encourages student to learn and understand English in all its forms. It motivates the student to become truly proficient in English. Through this method students become truly bilingual citizens who can thoroughly convey their thoughts and ideas to anyone in the world via the medium of English.

Once the student has learned enough English, if they so choose or if they need it, they can learn about the Western culture and the reason we say and do things the way we do. The primary goal is to make the student proficient in English so that they can transmit their knowledge, ideas and culture to others around the world via English and receive the knowledge, ideas and culture which are based solely in English and be able to move effortlessly between the two. This is producing truly bilingual students.

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