Teaching English Toolbox

Teaching Culture - but whose?

Craiyon: a cute cat travelling the world and speaking to funny mice

Keep in mind English is a lingua franca! Reading up about the lingua franca core, and keeping in mind that teaching English should perhaps get away from colonial attitudes might make lessons quite different than they were in the past. Teaching learners about the world in general, not just English-speaking countries can lead to some rich language lessons. Remember that no one particular group owns the English language!

Some general ideas

Start by focusing thinking about where we might USE English (e.g. "I use English in Portugal because I cannot speak Portuguese"!!), not just where it is spoken. Focus on the sentence, not just the name of the country with sentence starters such as:

  • People speak English in …
  • We can use English in…
  • I used English in…

Once you have a nice list, you can do the following to learn basic things about these countries:

  • Collect country names. Pin the places.
  • Make riddles (north of, south of, capital is…).
  • Have children bring in something from home from a country where they have used English. Play various games naming the objects and the countries they’re from.
  • Play songs and guess where the song is from ("I think it's a ....song!")
  • Teacher says where they used their English, kids find it on the map.
  • ABC race of countries on the board.
  • Accent darts: Throw darts, the ‘chosen’ country will be looked at more closely and the class could try to imagine how people from this part of the world might pronounce a certain word in English (but be careful to not promote stereotypes with this sort of activity; the word 'village' works well for German-speakers!).
  • Watch videos / Tik Toks with different accents from around the world and try to identify them and find the places on the map.
  • Shopping Around the World. Person 1: I bought apples in Australia. Person 2: I bought bananas in Brazil, apples in Australia. Person 3: I bought cake in Columbia, bananas in Brazil, apples in Australia…
  • Read the book "At the Same Moment Around the World by Clotilde Perrin.
  • Play some children's games from around the world - Francis Alÿs' site

Transfer to books
Look through your local coursebooks and discuss the following questions:

  • Where do you see countries mentioned that cross with where English might be used other than the “standard” countries? What other ideas do you have for working with some of these pages?
  • Listen to the audio tracks and try to identify various accents. Are they all "authentic"?
  • Look at the spelling that learners are expected to produce correctly. Is there room for variation and tolerance?
  • Look at the grammar points focused on. Would they vary in different regions or be more or less frequent (e.g. the "have you got" is often taught when the "do you have" might be a better structure to start with because other verbs take that form)?
  • Look at the images. Do they represent people and cultures well or "correctly"?
  • What other questions could you ask about English as a Lingua Franca when looking through the course books?!

English as a Lingua Franca

Keep in mind that English is a lingua franca - this means that often the language of communication between two non-native speakers of English IS English, for instance a Swiss student speaking with a Spanish one! There are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers, thus in the classroom, this can mean:

  • not being anglocentric - focus instruction on common uses of English in Switzerland, e.g. helping a tourist, being kind to neighbors, etc;
  • teaching learners about the world, not about the UK or the US or Australia exclusively;
  • watching what and how we correct our learners as there are SO MANY varieties, often we over-correct, and incorrectly as what a learner said might be correct somewhere;
  • accepting both American and British English spelling;
  • exposing learners to many accents, both native and non-native;
  • teaching grammar that is important (e.g. present continuous and simple) and not worrying about what does not cause communication problems (e.g. present perfect vs past simple) (see literature on the lingua franca core for more information);
  • being aware of our own accents and knowledge.

You might think about the following questions:

  • Is the selection of language to focus on in your course book actually the language learners need to function in central Europe in English? How can learning about English as a lingua franca help to make your lessons more geared towards the actual use of English?
  • How can the Lingua Franca Core support our teaching?
  • What classroom settings best simulate the use of English in a lingua franca setting?
  • What does Lingua Franca English mean in terms of corrections, teaching speaking, reading, writing and listening as well as grammar and vocabulary selection?
  • Jenkins, J. (2012). English as a Lingua Franca from the classroom to the classroom. ELT journal, 66(4), 486-494.
  • Walker, R. (2010). Teaching the pronunciation of English as a lingua franca (Vol. 345). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Hancock McDonald have extensive resources related to the Lingua Franca Core and English as a Lingua Franca in general
  • There is a whole world of work out there if you search for Lingua Franca core, English as a lingua franca and more.
  • Oxford University Press has position papers on the subject, e.g. Walker, R., Low, E. L., & Setter, J. (2021). English pronunciation for a global world.

Global Classroom Links

Here are some links to help you turn your Swiss classroom into a global one!

  • If English is spoken by more non native speakers than native speakers, then what do you need to think about in your English language teaching?
  • How do strategic competence and Lingua Franca English relate? What do these mean for teaching?
  • Culture belongs throughout the curriculum, not just in English lessons. Therefore, what sorts of activities make sense to do in English only or together with English?