The Use of English as a Lingua Franca and Inter-Cultural Communication Teaching Strategies in...

THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA AND INTER-CULTURAL

COMMUNICATION TEACHING STRATEGIES IN PREPARING

STUDENTS FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

By Alexander S R

Walsh, BSc

Contents

Purpose of Study ................................................................................................................................1

Section 1. The History of EFL in South Korean Public Education ....................................................3

1.1 Cultural Influences towards ‘Education Fever’ ...........................................................................3

1.2 Recent Developments of EFL and English Usage in South Korea ...............................................4

1.3 A Focus on International Communication Competencies ..........................................................6

Section 2. The Need for International Communication Strategies ............................................... 10

2.1 The Spread of English and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) .................................................... 10

2.2 Linguistic Features of English as a Lingua Franca .................................................................... 15

2.2.1 Phonology ..................................................................................................................... 15

2.2.2 Pragmatics ..................................................................................................................... 17

2.2.3 Lexico-Grammar ............................................................................................................ 19

2.3 Culture in ELF ........................................................................................................................... 22

2.4 Orienting a Classroom towards ELF and ICA ............................................................................ 24

2.4.1 ELF Based Pedagogy ...................................................................................................... 24

2.4.2 ICA Based Pedagogy ...................................................................................................... 28

Section 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................ 31

3.1 Research Methodology ............................................................................................................ 31

3.1.1 Research Aims ............................................................................................................... 31

3.1.2 Research Design ............................................................................................................ 32

3.2 Textbook Analysis .................................................................................................................... 34

3.2.1 Developing the Textbook Analysis Form....................................................................... 34

3.2.2 Issues with the Textbook Analysis ................................................................................ 34

3.3 Teacher Survey......................................................................................................................... 35

3.3.1 Developing the Survey .................................................................................................. 35

3.4 Issues with the Survey ............................................................................................................. 36

3.5 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................. 37

3.6 Validity and Bias ....................................................................................................................... 39

Section 4. Results ..................................................................................................................... 41

4.1 Textbook Materials .................................................................................................................. 41

4.1.1 Nationality of Characters .............................................................................................. 41

4.1.2 Variation of Accents ...................................................................................................... 42

4.1.3 Location of Dialog ......................................................................................................... 43

4.1.4 Curriculum Goals ........................................................................................................... 44

4.2 Teacher Survey......................................................................................................................... 46

4.2.1 Materials Focus and Student Needs ............................................................................. 46

4.2.2 The Communicational Abilities of South Korean High School Students ....................... 48

4.2.3 Teachers’ Perceived Challenges Prohibiting the use of ELF Based Strategies .............. 49

Section 5. Discussion ................................................................................................................ 50

5.1 To what extent are textbook materials preparing South Korean students for using English as

a means of international communication as outlined in the National English Curriculum (MOE 2008)?

................................................................................................................................................. 51

5.2 What are South Korean teachers’ attitudes towards the need for students to be prepared for

international communication through either native or non-native speaking models? .................... 54

5.3 How can South Korean students be better prepared for English as a means of international

communication within the parameters of the current educational system? .................................... 57

5.3.1 Macro-Strategies ........................................................................................................... 58

5.3.2 Micro Strategies ............................................................................................................ 60

Section 6. Conclusions, Limitations & Contributions .................................................................. 64

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 70

Appendices ...................................................................................................................................... 84

Appendix 1 – Sample Instruction Sheet & Teachers Survey (next page) ........................................... 84

Appendix 2 – Examples of Textbook Evaluation Categorisation ........................................................ 89

Example 1 – Curriculum Goal 1 & 2: Developing an understanding of native/non-native

speaker cultures ......................................................................................................................... 89

Example 2 – Curriculum Goal 4: Developing an Appreciation of non-native English speaking

cultures ...................................................................................................................................... 90

Example 3 – Curriculum Goal 6 (&2): Understanding the difference between Korean culture

and non-native English speaking cultures.................................................................................. 91

Example 4 – Curriculum Goal 12 – Developing students’ ability to share South Korean culture.

................................................................................................................................................... 92

Appendix 3 – Sample Consent Form .................................................................................................. 93

Appendix 4 – Textbook Analysis Form ............................................................................................... 95

Appendix 5 – Pilot Textbook Analysis Form ....................................................................................... 98

Appendix 6 – Pilot Teacher Survey .................................................................................................. 100

Appendix 7 – Using context and background information to identify the nationality of characters

......................................................................................................................................................... 105

List of Tables

Table 1.1: Trade Partners of South Korea .....................................................................................................6

Table 1.2: Origin of Visitors to South Korea ..................................................................................................7

Table 1.3: Extracted Goals of National English Syllabus (2008) ....................................................................9

Table 2.1: Kachru’s (1985) Circles of English with estimated speaker numbers from Crystal (1997) ....... 11

Table 2.2: Jenkins (2000, 2002) Lingua Franca Core .................................................................................. 16

Table 2.3: Lexico-Grammar Based Features of ELF Communication ......................................................... 20

Table 2.4: Murray’s (2012) Strategies and Classroom Practices for Developing an ‘Intersociety’ ............ 26

Table 2.5: Recommended Classroom Practices to Develop ELF Based Pragmatic Competencies (Murray

2012) .......................................................................................................................................................... 26

Table 2.6: Kohn’s (TBP) Stages for Development of ‘My English’ .............................................................. 28

Table 2.7: Baker’s (2012a) Elements of ICA ............................................................................................... 28

Table 2.8: Baker's (2012a) Pedagogical Suggestions for Developing ICA .................................................. 30

Table 3.1: Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 31

Table 3.2: Publishing Details of Textbooks Analysed ................................................................................. 34

Table 3.3: Ensuring Informed Consent through Diener and Crandall’s (1978) Framework ...................... 37

Table 3.4: Issues Regarding Validity of Research (adapted from Cohen 2007) ......................................... 39

Table 4.1: Variation of Characters featured in Textbooks ......................................................................... 41

Table 4.2: Variation of Accents featured in Textbooks .............................................................................. 42

Table 4.3: Location of Textbook Dialog ...................................................................................................... 43

Table 4.4: Frequency of Activities Meeting Identified Curriculum Goals .................................................. 44

Table 4.5: The Focus of South Korean High School English Language Classes and Teachers’ perceived

needs of Students ...................................................................................................................................... 46

Table 4.6: South Korean Students’ International Communication Abilities as Perceived by Teachers ..... 48

Table 4.7: The Perceived Challenges South Korean Teachers face in preparing Students for International

Communication .......................................................................................................................................... 49

Table 5.1: Macro Strategies for Developing South Korean High School Students’ International

Communication Competencies .................................................................................................................. 58

Table 5.2: Micro Strategies (Set 1) for Developing South Korean High School Students’ International

Communication Competencies in Current English Language Classes ....................................................... 60


Communication Competencies in Current English Language Classes ....................................................... 62

Table 6.1: The Relevancy of Curriculum Goals to Students’ Needs and their Application in South Korean

High School Classrooms ............................................................................................................................. 65

List of Abbreviations

CA - Cultural Awareness EC – Expanding Circle EFL - English as a Foreign Language EIL - English as an International Language ELF - English as a Lingua Franca ELT - English Language Teaching ENL - English as a Native Language ESL - English as a Second Language IC – Inner Circle ICA - Intercultural Awareness MOE - Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology NEC – National English Curriculum NNE – Non-native English NNS - Non-native Speaker(s) of English NS - Native Speaker(s) of English (NSE as used by Jenkins 2002) OC – Outer Circle OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development SE – Standard English

WE - World English(s)

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Purpose of Study

There has never been a greater need to develop South Korean students’ ability to use English as

a means of international communication than now. While English has spread to all corners of the world

(Graddol 1997) South Korea has seen an increased reliance on international trade and a significant

increase in both foreign visitors to South Korea and South Koreans going abroad. Meanwhile, new

models of English language teaching have evolved to account for the increased use of English involving

one or more non-native speakers. One of the most prominent of these is English as a Lingua Franca (ELF),

which promotes a shift from traditional English as a Foreign Language (EFL) models of teaching towards

an approach that recognises and accounts for the important role non-native English speakers play

(Seidlhofer 2004).

The changing role of English towards that of an international language incorporating non-native

speakers is reflected in the goals of the National English Curriculum (NEC) of South Korea (Ministry of

Education (MOE) 2008), which states the need for South Korean students to be able use English to

“develop our own [Korean] culture and introduce it to other countries” (p.43) and use English to

“connect [South Korea] to different countries” (p.41) as well as having numerous goals specifically

aimed at developing students ability for international communication with both native speakers of

English (NS) and non-native speakers of English (NNS).

As the need for students to become competent interlocutors with other NNS becomes

increasingly recognised, Graddol (2006:87) claims that “its *ELF+ ideas are likely to influence mainstream

teaching and assessment practices in the future.” The role of textbooks may be imperative in the

realisation of ELF models in English language classrooms. Jennifer Jenkins, who is one of the founding

and most influential figures of ELF, states that textbook developers have the potential to act as

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‘gatekeepers’ to English language classrooms (Jenkins 2002). The importance of textbooks is

summarised eloquently by Sheldon (1988:237), who states “these *textbooks+ represent for both

students and teachers the visible heart of any ELT programme.” Yet, currently, there has been no

research on how appropriate South Korean public school textbooks are in the preparation of South

Korean students for international communication including NNS of English. With this in mind, this study

will analyse the appropriacy of textbook materials used in South Korean high school classrooms in

meeting the international communication goals stated in the NEC (MOE 2008).

The attitudes of teachers towards ELF models of English language teaching are also important if

they are to make their way into the classrooms of South Korea. Research on attitudes towards

communicative language teaching describes how hostility amongst South Korean English language

teachers can prevent the uptake of approaches perceived as ‘Western’ (Li 1998). With this in mind, this

study looks to analyse the extent to which South Korean public school teachers may now be affected by

similar attitudes towards preparing students for international communication through an ELF oriented

approach.

This paper will begin by describing the development of education in South Korea, including an

analysis of how the development of the South Korean education system has been, and still is, heavily

influenced by South Korean culture and the possible effects these influences have in preparing South

Korean students for international communication. In Section 2 I will move on to discuss the

development of ELF, how it relates to the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) and how these tie in with South

Korea’s current economic climate. As part of this discussion I will evaluate the issues ELF faces both as a

concept and a pedagogical tool when applied to South Korean public high school classrooms. Section 3

outlines the research design used for this study. It also describes the difficulties encountered and how

this research has been adapted to account for these. Section 4 presents the results of the textbook

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analysis and teacher surveys, before moving on to Section 5, which contains my discussion of the key

issues highlighted by the results of this study. This paper concludes with my recommendations on how

the South Korean education system can adapt teaching strategies aimed at improving students’

international communication skills to the current framework of education on both a micro and macro

level.

Section 1. The History of EFL in South Korean Public Education

1.1 Cultural Influences towards ‘Education Fever’

In many areas South Korea has undergone a remarkable transformation since the end of the

Japanese occupation in 1945, but one of the most remarkable transformations is undoubtedly in

education. In fact, the OECD report (2009) ‘Reviews of National Policies for Education: Korea’ specifically

comments on “the strong zeal for education” which “cannot be matched anywhere else in the world.”

(OECD 1998:27) This modern educational revolution can be dated back to the end of the Japanese

occupation, when the newly formed government of an independent Republic of Korea (which, from

hereon, will be referred to by its more common name of South Korea) revolutionised an education

system that had, for the past 3000 years, been heavily influenced by the Confucian and Buddhist

teachings which had spread from China.

Following its liberation from Japan in 1945, before which there was limited access to education

for South Korean children, South Korean educators strived to promote literacy for all (see Thomas &

Postlethwaite 1983). In stark contrast to the pre-occupation framework which had been influenced by

the teaching of Buddhism and Confucianism, the government established a 3-part educational system

largely based on that of the United States; elementary school (six years), middle school (three years)

and high school (three years) (Ministry of Education & Human Resource Development, 2004) and

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entitled all South Korean citizens to free education (Hong, 1983). The focus of this paper will be the high

school stage of South Korean public education. It is at this stage that students are being prepared to

enter either higher education or full time employment. Given this, in my opinion, the need for

developing South Korean students’ international communication skills is likely to be of most importance

during this period.

From 1945 to this day, a combination of governmental policies and cultural influences has

resulted in what has become known as a period of ‘education fever’ in South Korea (Seth 2005). Despite

the adoption of a Western model of education, Confucianism maintained a large influence on South

Korean society and education (Wollam 1992). As Seth (2005:6) neatly summarises, “this preoccupation

with the pursuit of formal schooling was the product of the diffusion of traditional Confucian attitudes

toward learning and status, new egalitarian ideas introduced from the West, and the complex, often

contradictory ways in which new and old ideas and formulations interacted.” In the period between

1945 to 1960 enrolment at primary schools tripled, in secondary schools it increased by 8 times and by

the early 1990s high school graduation rates reached 90%. Education very quickly became seen as “the

most powerful means to achieve upward social mobility and economic prosperity” with parents often

“emphasizing, and even imposing, education for their children” (Park 2009:51) and, in doing so,

contributing towards “the most exam-obsessed culture in the world” (Seth 2005:5). The culmination of

South Korean public school education is the University Entrance Examination, which is seen as the key

to South Korea’s top universities and, from there, the most successful careers. The University Entrance

Examination is widely regarded as the most important moment in a South Korean student’s life.

1.2 Recent Developments of EFL and English Usage in South Korea

In 1995 the South Korean government determined that, due to internationalisation, the English

proficiency of South Korean students needed to be increased. Following this decision, English was

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introduced to the elementary school curriculum in 1997 (Kwon 2005). On a governmental policy level

the past decade has seen major developments in English education policy; in 2007 the English education

policy was amended to state that English education should be learner centred, communication focused,

activity/task based and conducive to logical thinking and creativity (Song 2012:36). Meanwhile, the

English Program in Korea (EPIK) was developed, which placed native English speaking teachers

throughout South Korea, with the goal to “improve the English speaking ability of students and teachers

in Korea, to develop cultural exchanges, and to reform English teaching methodologies in Korea.” (EPIK

2010)

Within South Korea English currently plays a mixed role. Although it has become increasingly

popular to insert small chunks of English into Korean speech, this English is often used inaccurately and

features a heavy Korean accent. This ‘Konglish’ can often occur in day to day speech, or it can be used in

advertisements to help sell products, with the use of English often being linked with the construction of

modernity (Lee 2006). In the media, meanwhile, British and US music and TV shows are popular forms

of entertainment with dedicated channels featuring them, and, in the movie theatres, Hollywood

movies are extremely popular. The consumption of non-Korean media is almost always done so through

the use of subtitling. As described above, this allows popular chunks of speech or lyrics to make their

way into language use, especially amongst the younger generations. Hobbies such as football (soccer)

and baseball are also popular in South Korea, with the Premier League having a large following amongst

South Korean men. However, unlike the media outlets discussed above, the coverage is exclusively in

Korean as are the means of following the sports, with dedicated Korean websites being the most

popular means of staying up to date. Due to this, these hobbies tend to have little influence on the use

of English in South Korea.

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Little research has been conducted on the urban-rural divide of English in South Korea,

nevertheless there are some important trends that require mentioning. Western media, advertising and

culture are more prominently featured in urban areas. Urban areas also tend to be wealthier, allowing

the consumption of Western products, more opportunities to go abroad and more jobs requiring basic

competencies in English. These trends can result in a higher level of familiarity with English in urban

areas which, in turn, leads to a greater desire and understanding of the need to improve one’s ability to

communicate in English.

1.3 A Focus on International Communication Competencies

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s South Korea underwent a process of internationalisation (Park

2009). This was stimulated by the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Seoul Summer Olympic Games, and,

following this, the financial crisis of 1997 made South Koreans aware of the importance of English in the

process of internationalisation (Park 2009). On an economic level, in coordination with its rapid

economic development, international trade has become seen “as a vital resource for their country’s

economic survival in the era of internationalization.” (Song 2012:14) By looking at South Korea’s ten

major trade partners (see Table 1.1 below) the need for South Koreans to use English for international

communication, predominantly with NNS, is made clear.

Table 1.1: Trade Partners of South Korea

Rank Partners Million Euro % of World Trade

1 China 158,559 21.1

2 Japan 77,629 10.3

3 European Union Members 74,533 9.9

4 United States 72,696 9.7

5 Saudi Arabia 31,580 4.2

6 Australia 24,857 3.3

7 Hong Kong 23,914 3.2

8 Indonesia 22,157 2.9

9 Singapore 21,418 2.8

10 United Arab Emirates 15,812 2.1

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Total NS 13%

Total NNS 56.5%

(European Commission 2013)

In coordination with South Korea’s economic progress there has also been a sharp increase in

foreign visitors to South Korea (see Table 1.2 below). In the twenty years between 1992 and 2012, the

number of foreign visitors coming to South Korea and number of South Koreans visiting abroad

increased from 3,231,081 to 11,140,028 and 2,043,299 to 3,231,081 respectively (Kto.visitkorea.or.kr

n.d 2013). By analysing the nationality of visitors coming to South Korea, with 37.7% from China and 19%

from Japan (see Table 1.2), the need to communicate with NNS is further reinforced. Statistics on the

destinations of South Korean tourists are hard to come by, however by contacting the Tourism

Organisation of Korea I was able to establish the top two destinations for South Korean tourists are

China (30%) and Japan (22%).

Table 1.2: Origin of Visitors to South Korea

While these statistics indicate China and Japan as the two countries South Koreans are most

likely to communicate with, in the public school system Chinese and Japanese language classes only

compromise elective components of high school foreign language courses, of which enrolment has

halved since 1992 (Centre for Education Statistics 2009). Given the complicated history of the

relationship between South Korea and Japan and the continuing strained relations over issues such as

Rank Country % of Visitors to South Korea

1 China 37.7

2 Japan 19

3 US 6.6

4 Taiwan 5.1

5 Philippines 3.8

6 Hong Kong 3.3

7 Malaysia 1.9

8 Indonesia 1.8

9 Singapore 1.7

10 Russia 1.4

(Kto.visitkorea.or.kr 2013)

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Dokdo/Takashima, this decline in enrolment could be due to hostility towards Japan and Japanese

culture. The multitude and extent of local variations of Chinese, meanwhile, could be perceived as

making it difficult to become fluent enough to engage in conversation.

The seventh revised National Curriculum was the first to specifically mention the need for

English to contribute to both the nation’s development and respond to internationalisation (Matsuda,

2003). This was followed up by the 2007 revised English curriculum, which reinforced the

communicative function of English and the cultural dimension to English language learning. The 2007

revised English curriculum was designed to meet the ultimate goal of creating ‘intercultural’ English

speakers (Matsuda, 2003) based on the fact that “South Koreans increasingly use English with speakers

of languages other than English.” (Song 2012:36) Most recently the NEC (MOE 2008) demonstrates the

emphasis on South Koreans becoming capable of communicating in English with both NS and NNS from

around the world:

English, being the most widely used language, is playing an important role in the

communication and bonding between people of different native languages. For

elementary and secondary school students who must live in the future, the ability to

communicate in English is an essential skill that they must learn at school. To contribute

to the nation and society, to show leadership as a cosmopolitan citizen, and to enjoy a

wide range of cultural activities, the ability to understand and use English is essential.

The ability to communicate in English will act as an important bridge connecting different

countries, and will be the driving force in developing our country, forming trust among

various countries and cultures [italics added].

(Ministry of Education 2008:41)

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More specific goals emphasising the importance of students’ ability to use English as a means of

international communication with both NS and NNS can be found throughout the NEC (MOE 2008). For

this study these goals were extracted from the syllabus and grouped into four categories as shown in

Table 1.3 below.

Table 1.3: Extracted Goals of National English Syllabus (2008)

Goal Description Pages

1 Developing an understanding of, and international appreciation for, foreign

native and non-native English speaking cultures.

42, 43, 44, 45, 55, 60, 63, 64

2 Developing an understanding of the relationship of, and differences between,

foreign native and non-native English speaking cultures.

43, 45, 63, 64

3 Developing techniques for students to effectively communicate with both

native and non-native English speakers.

43, 44

4 Exposing students to the natural speech of both native and non-native English

speakers and strategies to deal with natural speech.

45, 60

(adapted from National English Syllabus, MOE 2008)

In this section I have tracked the development of education in South Korea while analysing how

the combination of cultural and economic factors have culminated in a need for South Korean high

school students to develop their ability to communicate with not only NS, but other NNS from around

the world. I have also extracted the international communication goals that can be found throughout

the NEC (MOE 2008). In Section 2 I will outline the relevant literature dealing with the preparation of

students for international communication, discuss its relevancy to South Korean high school students

and evaluate the relationship between this literature and the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008).

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Section 2. The Need for International Communication Strategies

2.1 The Spread of English and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

The spread of English can be documented as far back as AD 450 and tracked through the

colonial period of 1450-1750, which saw the growth of British colonies. This period resulted in English

speaking settlements taking root in many parts of the world, two major examples being the US and

Australia, providing a base for the spread of English (Graddol 1997). From 1750, English became a

standardised language and, triggered by the industrial revolution, the international language of

consumerism. Technologies such as the telegraph also allowed English to become the major language

for wire services and, as Britain consolidated imperial power, education in many parts of the world

began to be conducted in English (Graddol 1997). The late modern period of 1950 onwards saw the

scientific, economic and cultural expansion of American institutions and the increased use of US English

throughout the world (Graddol 1997).

The spread of English has resulted in the development of three kinds of English; the first, known

as the inner circle (IC), is that used by first language speakers, including settlements such as the US and

Australia. The second kind, known as the outer circle (OC), is typified by colonial settlements such as

Nigeria, which only allowed a proportion of the population access to learning English. The third type of

English which occurred in countries with no colonial history and includes the creation of new varieties of

English (Leith 1996), for example South Korea, is known as the expanding circle (EC) (Kachru 1985,

please see Table 2.1 below for a brief overview of inner, outer and expanding circles). A common

criticism of presenting these descriptions of English in such a format is that they display ‘NS’ at the

centre of the English circle and therefore indicate NS as the source of correctness (Graddol 1997). Yet, as

I will now discuss, NS may no longer be the dominant bearers of ‘correct English’.

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English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), meanwhile, is an approach that, although recognised in the

1990s, has been rapidly developing since the year 2000 (Cogo 2012) to account for the phenomena of

English becoming commonly used as a means of communication by members of the EC (Kachru 1985).

Although ELF is a relatively new concept, Jenkins et al. (2011:281) explains that “English itself has served

as a lingua franca ever since the countries of the outer circle (Kachru 1985) were first colonized from the

late sixteenth century." Recently, however, a shift has occurred that has had far reaching implications:

the EC, which South Korea and many of its major trade partners (see Table 1.1) are part of, now contains

significantly more English speakers than either the IC or OC (Crystal 1997). As Graddol (1997) explains,

this means that NS no longer hold the authority regarding language use.

Table 2.1: Kachru’s (1985) Circles of English with estimated speaker numbers from Crystal (1997)

If South Korean students are to become competent at communicating internationally this is a

phenomenon they need to be prepared for. In creating a working concept of ELF we are presented with

e.g. China, South Korea

500-1000 million speakers of English

e.g. India, Nigeria

300-500 million speakers of English

IC NS

of English

e.g. UK, USA

320-280million

OC English gained the status of an official

language in the colonial period

EC English spoken as a foreign language, no history

of colonisation by IC

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one of the major challenges ELF has faced, that is the speed at which the study of ELF has developed

(Jenkins et. al 2011). Jenkins et. al (2011:283), in summarising the differences between ELF and EFL,

provides a neat summary of what can be considered defining features of ELF:

• ELF is part of the international Englishes paradigm, according to which most speakers

of English are NNS, and all English varieties, native or non-native, are accepted in their

own right rather than evaluated against a NSE [native speaker of English] benchmark.

• An ELF perspective sees non-native Englishes as different rather than deficient. Or, to

put it another way, differences from English as a native language (ENL) are not assumed

to be signs of incompetence *…+ but are explored as emerging or potential features of

ELF.

• ELF is underpinned by theories of language contact and evolution. For example, while

in EFL code-switching is regarded as evidence of a gap in a NNS English knowledge, in

ELF it is seen as a crucial bilingual pragmatic resource [italics added].

By seeing non-native varieties of English as acceptable in their own right, a key component of

the above features is that “a language *English+ *…+ is being shaped, in its international uses, at least as

much by its NNS as its NS.” (Seidlhofer 2004:211) This shaping of the language is influenced by the

backgrounds of the communicational participants and the locality in which the communication occurs. It

is this influence that prevents ELF from being identified as monolithic or as a single variety because, as

Cogo (2012:98) explains, “cultural and linguistic resources are inevitably transformed as they are locally

appropriated.” The concern of ELF, then, is not with describing and identifying a single variety of English,

but the processes by which interlocutors draw on their available resources, such as their first language,

second languages and culture to produce mutually intelligible communication (Seidlhofer 2011). With

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every interlocutor drawing on different resources ELF becomes a fluid, interchangeable variation of

English in each instance (Seidlhofer 2011).

We will now consider in what situations ELF communication occurs and how this relates to

South Korean high school students’ communicational needs. As recently as 1996, ELF, in what is now

considered its original, and purest form, was defined as;

A contact language between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a

common national culture, and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of

communication [italics added].

(Firth, 1996:240)

Or, three years later;

Interactions between members of two or more different linguacultures in English, for

none of whom English is the mother tongue [italics added].

(House, 1999:74)

According to these definitions, ELF communication occurs between two NNS from different mother

tongues. However, this interpretation of ELF, as Jenkins et al. (2011:283) explains, is out dated and now

being shared by only “a minority of ELF researches.” More recently, Jenkins et al. (2011) points us

towards the definition, as used by the VOICE corpus website, of:

“an additionally acquired language system which serves as a common means of

communication for speakers of different first languages [italics added].”

(www.univie.ac.at)

As the emphasis shows, this definition allows ELF to occur in communication with both IC and OC

speakers of English. Jenkins et al. (2011) describes the goal of ELF as to improve people’s ability to

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communicate with “speakers who have come together from a range of different geographical regions.”

(Jenkins et al. 2011:285) The contradiction as to the role of NS is just one that has arisen during the

rapid development of ELF, leaving educators in a confusing position whereby it is often unclear whether

claims by prominent ELF scholars still hold true (Maley 2009). For the needs of South Korean students,

based on NS still playing a significant role as trade partners of, and visitors to, South Korea (see Tables

1.1 and 1.2), and the fact that a large proportion of English use still involves at least one native speaker,

the incorporation of NS that the VOICE definition allows is necessary.

A common misconception of ELF is that it seeks to replace the current teaching models in place.

For example, Maley (2009:194), in his discussion of ELF, states that “although the proponents of ELF

frequently protest that they do not expect ELF to provide an alternative model for curricular and

syllabus design and materials production *…+ this is precisely what they do hope for.” Again, such

misunderstandings are not helped by seemingly contradictory claims from prominent ELF scholars.

Seidlhofer in 2004, for example, in discussing ELF states that “English courses in secondary schools *…+

could be replaced by a subject designated language awareness [italics added],” (2004:227) while Cogo

(2012) more recently describes how ELF is not about urging teachers to completely change their

teaching methods, but it is about awareness and choice. Cogo (2012) goes on to state that, as teachers,

one of the most important requirements is for us to make our students aware that they do not have to

speak like NS and that speaking ELF can, in certain situations, be beneficial.

Even with Cogo’s (2012) clarification above, the orientation of South Korean public school

classrooms towards ELF remains problematic as public school students are often not in a position to

choose which type of communication they want to be prepared for. Teachers in South Korea, in

preparing their students for their University Entrance Examination, must make decisions on behalf of

students. This is a point taken up by Sung (2013), who describes how learners may become confused as

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to which variety they should produce. Whilst the need to communicate internationally is, based on the

figures in Table 1.1 and Table 1.2, undeniable, so is the need to test a student’s English ability. With the

University Entrance Examination being considered so vitally important for one’s entire future, it is

imperative that these examinations are completely objective, allowing no room for confusion as to the

type of English required of students. Suggestions such as those from Jenkins (2000), for example, that

we test our students’ ability to achieve mutual intelligibility by asking them to adjust their pronunciation

to help an interlocutor’s comprehension, do not provide the level of objectivity required. Given this, it is

imperative that meeting the international communication goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) is done so

within the wider framework of South Korean public education. With this in mind, a key goal of this study

is to identify how South Korean public school classrooms can be oriented towards developing

international communication skills within the current educational framework.

In this section I have tracked the developments of ELF and introduced the conceptual challenges

it faces when applied to public education in South Korea. This paper will now move on to discuss how,

through the description and codification of ELF, research has begun unravelling the linguistic

consequences of the increasing use of English throughout the EC. In doing so, we can begin to

understand the needs of South Korean students if their English ability is to play “an important role in the

communication and bonding between people of different languages.” (MOE 2008:41)

2.2 Linguistic Features of English as a Lingua Franca

ELF descriptions focus on three areas, phonology, pragmatics and lexico-grammar. What follows

is a brief summary of the main findings from the research that has been conducted in these areas.

2.2.1 Phonology

The area of phonology was focused on in the research of Jenkins (2000, 2002) which had two aims:

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1) To identify the extent to which pronunciation was a cause of miscommunication

between NNS.

2) To identify which phonological features were subject to accommodation (speakers’

ability to change their speech patterns to make themselves more understandable to

their interlocutors).

(Cogo 2012:99)

Jenkins’ (2000, 2002) research identifies a ‘Lingua Franca Core’ (see Table 2.2 below), that is a set of

common phonological features that are necessary for intelligible pronunciation, and another set of

phonological features Jenkins (2000, 2002) claims do not affect intelligibility in ELF communication, yet

are often taught in English language classrooms.

Table 2.2: Jenkins (2000, 2002) Lingua Franca Core

Phonological Features Necessary for Intelligible Pronunciation

• Aspiration after /p/, /t/, /k/ to prevent the confusion of sounds and meaning

• The correct pronunciation of word-initial consonant clusters, for example in the words

‘proper’ and ‘strap’, the elision of /r/ rather than /t/ was likely to cause intelligibility

issues

• Maintaining the contrast between long and short vowels, for example in the words

‘live’ and ‘leave’ the contrast between /I/ and /iː/ is necessary for intelligibility

• Production and placement of nuclear stress

Phonological Features Not Necessary for Intelligible Pronunciation

• The th-sounds /θ/ and /ð/ and the dark /l/ allophone

• Vowel quality

• Weak forms

• Features of connected speech such as assimilation

• Pitch direction to signal attitude or grammatical meaning

• Word stress placement

• Stress-timing

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For the teaching of pronunciation in South Korean public schools, this research highlights the

need for a move towards prioritising students’ ability to produce those features necessary for

intelligibility and accommodation of errors that do not affect intelligibility, as opposed to spending large

amounts of time concentrating on the teaching of NS models. If materials are meeting these goals, we

would expect to find varieties of authentic speech from both NS and NNS. This is identified in the NEC’s

(MOE 2008) fourth goal (see Table 1.3).

2.2.2 Pragmatics

Research into ELF pragmatics has identified how ELF users work cooperatively in order to gain a

mutual understanding regardless of ‘correctness’. Boldly, Jenkins et al. (2011:193) even suggests that in

the area of pragmatics “one common finding running through all the more recent empirical studies of

ELF *…+ is that non-understanding/misunderstanding tends to occur less frequently [in ELF

communication] than it does in NSEs communication,” however Jenkins et al. (2011) fails to provide any

research to back up such a claim. In my opinion, it seems more likely that in NS communication an

interlocutor will more comfortably indicate a non-understanding/misunderstanding. An NNS, however,

may be apprehensive to admit they have misunderstood due to a feeling that doing so indicates a gap in

their own knowledge or an inability of their interlocutor to make themselves understood. Nevertheless,

I feel it is important to analyse ELF communication to discover how interlocutors go about preventing

and recovering from non-understandings/misunderstandings and that the strategies identified should

form an important part of preparing students for international communication.

While initial research identifies the “let it pass” principle, which, as Firth (1996: 243) explains, is

a strategy that occurs in ELF communication whereby the “hearer *…+ lets the unknown or unclear

action, word or utterance 'pass' on the (common-sense) assumption that it will either become clear or

redundant as talk progresses,” recent research has delved more deeply into the techniques being used

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to maintain communication. One set of strategies, that function to resolve instances of

miscommunication, has been found to include the use of repetition. Research by Mauranen (2006)

highlights the proactive nature of this, for example when a speaker clarifies or repairs their own speech

to make it easier for them to be understood. Cogo & Dewey (2006) identify further strategies such as

adapting speech to align it with an interlocutor’s while Kaur (2009) identifies how paraphrasing is used

proactively, for example after a prolonged silence, minimal response or overlapping talk. Further

strategies include systems of turn-taking, simultaneous speech, utterance completions (Cogo 2012), the

use of discourse markers (House 2009) and chunking, which is the use of units of speech to manage

interaction (Mauranen 2005, 2009). For example, the chunks in my opinion and in my point of view are

found to be far more common in ELF speech than in NS speech. In my point of view also demonstrates

how, in ELF communication, these chunks are often creative adaptations of NS speech that take on a

new role, in this case as a means of signalling a divergence of opinion (Jenkins et al. 2011).

Research has also shown ELF interlocutors’ ability to draw on shared cultural backgrounds and

knowledge to collaboratively construct meaning, a phenomenon Jenkins et al. (2011) refers to as the

exploitation of pluralingual resources. One example of this is the use of idiomatic expressions in ELF

communication whereby, through collaboratively drawing on cultural backgrounds, ELF interlocutors

actively build meaning free from the cultural loading of NS. Cogo (2012), for example, demonstrates

how three monolingual French, German and Italian speakers work together to collaboratively adapt the

idiom ‘cheesy’ to provide an alternative, more appropriate meaning, to their circumstances, by drawing

on similar idioms from their own languages such as ‘fleur’, ‘bleue’ and ‘kitchig’. A large proportion of the

findings regarding ELF pragmatics have been born from studies on the use of idiomatic expressions

amongst NNS from various cultural backgrounds (for an example see Cogo 2012). However, while the

background of the participants who were French, German and Italian, were very similar, the results

have been generalised to communicative situations between people from all over the world. This issue

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is amplified by the fact that the research was based on the use of an idiom featuring the word ‘cheesy’,

an idiom for which all the participants’ native languages have similar idioms. South Korean students,

however, are likely to encounter communicational situations with people from vastly more diverse

backgrounds. As Sewell (2013) points out, further research needs to be carried out to test whether

similar strategies would be possible between speakers from a more varied range of backgrounds. Also, if

we refer to Conversation Analysis of NS, it is possible to find many of the features described in ELF as

also being common features of conversation in general (Sewell 2013). Further to this, many of the

strategies described here also comprise ‘Negotiation of Meaning’, that is the second language

acquisition model that underpins task based learning (Ellis 2000). These links call into question the

extent to which the identified features are unique to ELF and not simply features of NS and NNS

language use in general.

In developing South Korean students’ ability for international communication, I believe the

pragmatic features identified are important techniques that they should be able to draw upon if they

are to effectively communicate in ELF situations. However, with the above criticisms in mind, I believe it

is also important to raise students’ awareness of pragmatic strategies utilised in NS conversation. These

needs are reflected in the second and third goals (see Table 1.3) of the NEC (MOE 2008). Given this, in

an analysis of South Korean English language textbooks we would expect to identify activities that raise

awareness of and encourage use of these pragmatic strategies in both NS and NNS communication.

2.2.3 Lexico-Grammar

The final component of ELF that research tends to focus on is that of lexico-grammar, which as

Cogo & Dewey (2006) point out, is strongly linked to both pragmatics and accommodation. Table 2.3

provides a summary of the main research findings, which identify a number of what teachers would

normally consider errors, yet are common features of ELF speech and are less likely to affect

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intelligibility. Seidlhofer (2004) goes on to explain that if picked up by a teacher, these could result in a

large amount of classroom time being allotted to help students repair the ‘error’, even though it is

claimed that these errors in no way hinder communication.

Table 2.3: Lexico-Grammar Based Features of ELF Communication

• Dropping the third person present tense –s

• Confusing the relative pronouns who and which

• Omitting the definite and indefinite article where they are obligatory in ENL, and inserting them

where they do not occur in ENL

• Failing to use correct forms in tag questions

• Inserting redundant prepositions

• Overusing certain verbs of high semantic generality, such as do, have, make, put, take

• Replacing infinitive-constructions with that-clauses, as in I want that

• Overdoing explicitness (for example, describing something as being ‘black colour’)

Seidlhofer (2004:220)

Research on lexico-grammar in ELF indicates that an important aspect of ELF communication is

an acceptance of the “inherent variability (even instability) of human language in general and English

more specifically.” (Jenkins et al. 2011:306) In that respect, exposure to non-native English (NNE),

especially ELF communication, would help to develop this acceptance of deviation from NS norms.

While not directly discussing ELF, Swain & Lapkin (1995) explain that while top-down approaches (those

that rely on exposure to and noticing of how comprehension is attained), such as exposure to NNE, are

useful for developing comprehension skills, production skills more often require a bottom-up approach

(one that requires consciously applying syntactic rules to convey intended meanings). In other words, as

Kuo (2006:216) points out, “ELF applied linguists seem to be suggesting that what is needed for

comprehension is all that is needed to be produced.” However, as I discuss in Section 2.5, recent

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pedagogical suggestions have developed considerably, moving beyond noticing how comprehension is

attained to also systematically developing students’ production based ELF skills.

Further problems surface when we begin to consider what “seeking to derive artificial norms

from these ad hoc procedures” (Sowden 2012b:93) means for the content of language teaching. Here

Sowden (2012b) is describing how the codification and standardisation of ELF, through a corpus built on

NNS/NNS discourse that allows ungrammatical features so long as they are unproblematic, can result in

a reduced version of English being taught. The case of question tags illustrates this problem; ELF

research finds that question tags are rarely used correctly in NNS/NNS speech, but, most importantly, it

is claimed their incorrect usage does not affect the ability of interlocutors to achieve mutual

comprehension (Seidlhofer 2004). Given the claim that the correct use of question tags is not necessary

for achieving mutual comprehension, and that, according to Jenkins (2000:160) “there really is no

justification for doggedly persisting in referring to an item as ‘an error’ if the vast majority of the world’s

English speakers produce and understand it,” then the incorrect use of question tags should not be

considered an error and classroom time should not be spent correcting it. However, if we were to

exclude such unimportant ‘errors’ from our teaching materials it could, as Kuo (2006:216) explains,

“result in a qualitatively and quantitatively reduced version of ENL [English as a Native Language]” being

taught. This is particularly important in the context of South Korean public schools as all students

throughout the country need to be taught to the same standard. If those standards start being reduced

it will be a difficult task for teachers to know what ‘errors’ should be corrected and what ‘errors’ are not

deemed as necessary for correction. It is also important to note that English language students are often

learning English for reasons other than international communication. In many countries (including South

Korea) one’s mastery of the English language is important in giving a competitive edge in the

employment marketplace, as opposed to for use in seemingly stress-free and unimportant settings such

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as in restaurants when travelling abroad, making the ability to accurately produce English important for

South Korean students’ futures.

Cogo (2008) responds to this criticism by claiming that description is being confused with

prescription, a claim supported by Seidlhofer (2009) who points out that ELF is now moving towards a

stage where the processes rather than the end product are of primary importance. This indicates that

ELF has moved beyond advocating the teaching of ‘errors’, and is more concerned with the functions of

language in use. In the context of South Korean public schools, I believe that it is necessary to take a soft

approach towards dealing with errors in ELF. This would allow the teacher time to pick up on and deal

with ‘unimportant’ errors that occur in communication, while dedicating larger periods of time to errors

that have been shown to be more detrimental to intelligibility. In this sense, ELF research acts as a guide

for teachers to help them decide where the majority of time and energy should be placed, without

having to necessarily exclude certain aspects of language from their teaching.

2.3 Culture in ELF

In his discussion of interpretability, Kachru (2008) introduces the relationship between

intelligibility, comprehensibility and interpretability and explains how one’s culture affects the

achievement of mutual comprehension in communication. Of these three domains, Smith (1992)

explains the area of most importance is interpretability. Interpretability refers to the recognition of

meanings assigned to words and how they are influenced by a cultural context. This cultural context

affects how one perceives the purpose and intent of an utterance. After all, as Phipps & Guilherme

(2004) point out, language always involves people, places and purposes, meaning it can never be

culturally neutral. If interlocutors have different social expectations of what is appropriate in a given

situation, it is going to put a strain on their ability to successfully communicate. Whilst this need for

Cultural Awareness (CA) has become an important aspect of English language teaching, more recently

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the development of Intercultural Awareness (ICA) has allowed discussions regarding the effect of

culture on communication to fit within the paradigm of ELF. This development has been necessary

because, as Baker (2009, 2012a) points out, CA sees culture as a fixed entity. In ELF communication,

culture is an emergent resource negotiated during communication, moving between and across local,

national, and international contexts (Baker 2009). Culture is hybrid, diffuse, and deterritorialised

(Canagarajah 2005). Communication takes place neither as part of a first language/culture or a target

language/culture. Instead, just like language in ELF, a new and different sense of culture is created.

Baker (2012a) describes this as a ‘third place’. If South Korean students are to be able to negotiate

culture in real time conversation as it moves through and is influenced by both local and international

environments they must be prepared for this in high school classrooms. As Baker (2012a) explains, it is

not enough to know about all the specific cultures, students must be aware of how to deal with the

effect of culture on communication as it transpires in conversation, a skill that must be developed in the

classroom.

In my opinion, alongside ELF, ICA should form an integral component of developing South

Korean students’ ability to engage in international communication. This approach fits in with the

international communication goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) (see section 1.3), which highlights both the

need for an appreciation of different cultures and the need for students to understand the relationship

of and differences between cultures and therefore the effect this has on communication. Given this, in

an analysis of South Korean high school textbooks we would expect to not only find variations of culture

and language, but also activities that draw awareness of the effect culture may be having on

communication. This will help students understand the need to be flexible themselves and also

appreciate the flexibility they must allow interlocutors.

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2.4 Orienting a Classroom towards ELF and ICA

As Widdowson (1994:388) points out, ‘real’ English has been associated with English spoken by

NS and ‘good’ English teaching associated with their teaching. According to ELF scholars, this approach

to English language teaching is not preparing students for the communicational situations they are likely

to encounter. Indeed, in some cases, it may actually be detrimental to the ability to communicate in

English with other NNS. Given the theoretical framework discussed, ELF approaches are essential in

developing the linguistic capabilities that South Korean students need for international communication

in English, while ICA is necessary for developing students’ ability to critically assess how their own

culture, as well as that of their interlocutors, may affect communication and their ability to adapt to this.

In this section I will outline the pedagogical approaches found throughout relevant literature regarding

how a classroom can be orientated towards developing students’ ELF and ICA competencies.

2.4.1 ELF Based Pedagogy

While ELF is still a relatively new concept, there is no denying that since the formation of Jenkins’

(2000, 2002) ELF core over thirteen years ago, it has struggled to make its way into English language

classrooms. The main concern amongst ELF advocates is that textbooks, as the gatekeepers of what is

studied in EFL classrooms, have continued down the path of focusing primarily on IC norms (Brown

1995). It seems that while ELF has, by applied linguists working in the area at least, been largely

accepted as a theoretical model, it has had little or no impact on language teaching or teaching

materials (Jenkins 2002:83). If, as Jenkins (2002) suggests, textbooks maintain the role of gatekeepers,

this study is extremely important in identifying the extent to which South Korean High School textbooks

are either promoting or preventing ELF and ICA oriented approaches to the development of

international communication skills.

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Kohn (to be published) identifies teachers’ attitudes as a further hurdle that ELF has, thus far,

been unable to overcome in being accepted as an alternative to traditional Standard English (SE)

approaches. One reason for this is the confused stance ELF presents on SE teaching, where on one hand

SE is presented as in need of being replaced by ELF (Dewey 2012) and on the other it is seen as

compatible with ELF (Seidlhofer 2011). As well as drawing attention to the detrimental effects of this

ambivalence. Kohn (TBP) also describes how many professionals still hold SE with a high esteem,

resulting in statements such as “Do you want me to teach incorrect English?” with regards to ELF. It is

this rift, Kohn (TBP) argues, that has to be mended if ELF is to make its way into our classrooms. Given

this, a key part of orienting classrooms towards an ELF approach may be the need for teacher education.

This is an issue this study looks to address through the analysis of South Korean High School Teachers’

attitudes towards models of English language teaching designed to improve students’ international

communication competencies.

Further issues lie in the lack of concrete suggestions regarding classroom practices. While

prominent ELF researchers, such as Seidlhofer (2004:226), offer suggestions such as “abandoning

unrealistic notions of achieving perfect communication through ‘native-like’ proficiency in English” by

“drawing on extralinguistic cues, identifying and building on shared knowledge, gauging and adjusting to

interlocutors’ linguistic repertoires, supportive listening, signalling non-comprehension in a face-saving

way, asking for repetition, paraphrasing, and the like,” they give little advice regarding how to go about

doing this beyond top-down approaches such as “exposure to a wide range of varieties of English,”

“focusing on teaching language rather than languages” and introducing students to variation “as soon as

they are ready.” (Sewell 2013:7) However, as previously mentioned, in very recent literature

pedagogical suggestions have started to emerge from those who have successfully oriented their

classroom to an ELF based model. While top-down approaches (such as exposure to varieties of English)

can help students develop their own more realistic goals (Jenkins et al. 2011) and develop tolerance

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towards non-native Englishes, these approaches are important as they include bottom-up approaches

that focus on developing students’ production skills. This is a significant development, one that allows

an ELF-oriented classroom to meet the third goal of the NEC (MOE 2008 see Table 1.3) of developing

techniques students can use to effectively communicate with both NS and NNS.

Murray (2012), for example, offers suggestions as to how we can develop our students ELF

pragmatic competencies through the creation of an ‘intersociety’. Murray (2012:321) explains that an

‘intersociety’ is a space where participants can “negotiate a new pragmatics for current purposes and

mutually agree to relinquish any firm allegiance to their L1 pragmatic norms.” In Table 2.4 we can see

the three types of strategies Murray (2012) recommends for the creation of this ‘intersociety’.

Table 2.4: Murray’s (2012) Strategies and Classroom Practices for Developing an ‘Intersociety’

Type of Strategy Description

Empirically Based

Strategies

Based on pragmatic aspects of ELF documented in empirical studies.

Inductive Strategies A bottom-up approach whereby we raise learners’ awareness through the

observation of ELF speech acts.

Deductive Strategies A top-down approach in which we raise learners’ awareness and

understanding of the universal principles that enables the parameter-

setting/negotiation process to happen more efficiently.

Murray goes on to outline a number of more specific classroom practices that can be used as

part of these strategies. I offer a brief overview of these strategies in Table 2.5 below.

Table 2.5: Recommended Classroom Practices to Develop ELF Based Pragmatic Competencies (Murray 2012)

Classroom Practices Description

Translation Activities

Having students translate speech acts from their own language into

English and discuss the pragmatic norms of different speech

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communities.

Self-awareness

Guided discussion of how speech acts function in learners’ own

languages, and ways of recognising, negotiating, and mitigating the

possible fallout of different realisations of the same speech act.

Awareness of Others Encouraging learners to become their own ethnographers and

observe how speech acts are realised by different L1 speakers in

particular contexts of use and to contrast these with their L1.

Problem Solving Engaging learners in discourse completion tasks based, where

possible, on authentic ELF exchanges and present these as problem

solving activities where learners are required to employ their

strategic competence to ‘work’ a solution to the discourse.

Deterding (2010), based on his experiences in China, offers pedagogical recommendations such

as paired dictation and transcription activities. These, he explains, require students to adapt their

pronunciation to make it as easy as possible for their partner to understand. Deterding (2010) also

suggests that we enrich English teaching by using a range of idioms from around the world or even have

our students create their own idioms.

Kohn (TBP), meanwhile, has attempted to reconceptualise the issue of SE and ELF by applying a

social constructivist model of non-native ownership, which he conceptualises as “my English” (Kohn

2007, 2011). “My English”, as Kohn (TBP:6) explains, is based on the premise that “the English I acquire

and develop is my own: inevitably different from any target language model no matter how strong the

orientation.” In terms of implementation, creating a space whereby “my English” can be created

involves utilising activities that promote “using one’s own English for lingua franca purposes.” (TBP:12)

To provide a pedagogical framework within which teachers can comfortably encourage the

development of “my English” Kohn (TBP) makes a number of suggestions that can be found in Table 2.6:

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Table 2.6: Kohn’s (TBP) Stages for Development of ‘My English’

Stage Description

1 Awareness raising activities should be used as a first step, making students responsive to the

characteristics, possibilities and challenges of ELF.

2 Activities that develop skills to help cope with situations such as unfamiliar pronunciation,

unclear meanings or weak coherence through ‘learning about’ activities.

3 Developing ELF-specific production skills, with a focus on pragmatic fluency and interactional

performance skills such as speech acts, topic management, turn taking, rate of speech and

repairs.

From my point of view, whilst more radical suggestions, such as Murray’s (2012) view that

students should relinquish their allegiance to L1 norms, may deter teachers from introducing ELF based

pedagogy, the recent pedagogical suggestions appearing in ELF literature represent an important

development. Many of these more direct and clear suggestions for classroom practice, albeit having so

far been documented as being successful in only certain contexts, provide important stepping stones

from which strategies to develop South Korean students’ communicative competencies can be

developed.

2.4.2 ICA Based Pedagogy

In his discussion of ICA, Baker (2012a:66) developed twelve elements that demonstrate the

cultural knowledge, skills and attitudes needed in order to successfully participate in international

communication:

Table 2.7: Baker’s (2012a) Elements of ICA

Level 1: Basic Cultural Awareness

An awareness of:

1. culture as a set of shared behaviours, beliefs, and values;

2. the role that culture and context play in any interpretation of meaning;

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3. our own culturally induced behaviour, values, and beliefs and the ability to compare this with others’

culturally induced behaviours, values, and beliefs.

Level 2: Advanced Cultural Awareness

An awareness of:

5. the relative nature of cultural norms;

6. cultural understanding as provisional and open to revision;

7. multiple voices or perspectives within any cultural grouping;

8. individuals as members of many social groupings including cultural ones;

9. common ground between specific cultures as well as an awareness of possibilities for mismatch and

miscommunication between specific cultures.

Level 3: Intercultural Awareness

An awareness of:

10. culturally based frames of reference, forms, and communicative practices as being related both to

specific cultures and also as emergent and hybrid in intercultural communication;

11. initial interaction in intercultural communication as possibly based on cultural stereotypes or

generalisations but an ability to move beyond these through:

12. a capacity to negotiate and mediate between different emergent socioculturally grounded

communication modes and frames of reference based on the above understanding of culture in

intercultural communication.

These levels serve a useful guide in that they build from a basic understanding of cultural

contexts (Level 1) to a more complex understanding of language and culture (Level 2) and, finally, to a

fluid, hybrid, and emergent understanding of cultures and languages (Level 3). Baker (2012a) notes that

learners do not necessarily have to develop these skills in this order and that the skills should not focus

exclusively on one culture, but instead materials can be selected that are appropriate to the variety of

intercultural interactions a learner is likely to encounter.

In Table 2.8 I have outlined the pedagogical suggestions made by Baker (2012a) to help teachers

raise students’ knowledge, awareness and skills associated with ICA:

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Table 2.8: Baker's (2012a) Pedagogical Suggestions for Developing ICA

Type of Strategy Description

Exploring local

cultures

Learners can explore the diversity and complexity of different local and

national cultural groupings. Students could identify with local and

international communities such as religious groups, ELF learners or

groups such as music and sports fans.

Explore language

learning materials

Students can critically evaluate images and descriptions of cultures in

locally produced textbooks and images of other cultures in local and

imported textbooks

Exploring the

traditional media

and arts through

English

Students can critically evaluate images and descriptions of cultures in

traditional media.

Exploring

IT/electronic media

through English

This can be used in two ways; firstly in a similar manner to the previous

two, secondly students can engage in actual instances of intercultural

communication.

Cultural Informants Non-local English speaking teachers and local English speaking teachers

with experience of intercultural communication and other cultures can be

used to provide information about these experiences and cultures.

Face-to-face

intercultural

communication

Opportunities for students talk face to face, in English, with people from

various different cultures can provide opportunities for students to

practice ICA.

Again, I feel that these strategies serve as a useful guide for teachers trying to improve their

students’ international communication competencies. While they are not specifically written for use in

the context of South Korea, strategies such as critically evaluating textbook materials and electronic

media from other cultures are universally applicable. However, it must be noted that goals such as five

and six may not be feasible without the support of school officials or the MOE.

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In this section I have outlined some of the factors that may inhibit the orientation classrooms

towards ELF and ICA based teaching strategies. Despite these issues, the literature has, very recently,

begun to identify how teachers can incorporate ELF and ICA based teachings into their classrooms.

Although useful as a guide, it should not be expected that South Korean English teachers can simply

replicate what has worked in different contexts. Given this, a major part of this study is to correlate the

literature with the results of this research in order to develop pedagogical recommendations that can be

used within South Korean High School classrooms to develop students’ ability to engage in international

communication. This paper will now outline how this data was collected, including a discussion of

problems encountered and how the study was adapted to deal with these.

Section 3. Methodology

3.1 Research Methodology

3.1.1 Research Aims

The aims of this research are to identify the extent to which South Korean high school students

are being prepared for international communication and what South Korean English language teachers’

attitudes are towards the development of students’ international communication competencies. In

accordance with these aims, I lay out the research questions this study will investigate in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Research Questions

Question Description

○1 To what extent are textbook materials preparing South Korean students for using English

as a means of international communication as outlined in the National English Curriculum

(MOE 2008)?

○2 What are South Korean English teachers’ attitudes towards the need for students to be

prepared for international communication through both native and non-native models?

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○3 How can South Korean students be better prepared for English as a means of

international communication within the parameters of the current South Korean

educational system?

The research consists of three parts: (1) identifying the processes that can be used in textbooks to

prepare students for international communication, (2) an analysis of textbooks according to the

processes identified in (1), and (3) a quantitative investigation of teachers’ attitudes towards the needs

of South Korean students and how those align with modern literature regarding international

communication.

3.1.2 Research Design

The textbook analysis was designed under a quantitative parameter. Brown (2011:192) defines

quantitative research as “any research that focuses on counting things and on understanding the

patterns that emerge from those counts.” A quantitative research design was chosen as I felt this

approach would be the most suitable for judging the extent to which textbooks are preparing students

for international communication. This decision was based on the fact that exposure to a variety of

English, including one’s own, is a stepping stone from which further pedagogical goals can be reached.

Thus, the number of varieties was seen as being of primary importance.

Structured, closed-question, self-administered surveys were chosen in order to assess teachers’

attitudes towards the needs of South Korean students. Qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews

and focus groups were considered. However there were practical issues, such as the time required on

behalf of participants. Teachers are extremely busy, and so finding the number of teachers necessary

with the time available for interviewing would have been difficult. Further difficulties include the issue

of anonymity, as discussed in further detail below. Also, teacher training is constantly evolving, as are

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the experiences of teachers, and so it is unlikely that I would have been able to find a small, yet

representative sample.

A single stage sample of twelve South Korean English teachers working at a high school in Seoul

were asked to participate in the research on a cross-sectional basis. The teachers were asked to

complete the surveys within two weeks. Surveys were chosen as they allow a large amount of data to

be collected at one time (Garret at al. 2003). They also make it possible for the participants to fill out

the information where and when they choose. Also, by using surveys, teachers were provided the

choice of remaining anonymous (Garret at al. 2003), this was important as I knew the participants

personally, so they may not have wanted to share opinions that they believed were not the ‘right

answer’ due to the potential loss of face.

By choosing surveys I was limited in certain ways. One of these is due to the fact that

questionnaires do not allow the researcher to ask follow up questions on any issues deemed particularly

relevant or to delve further into any contradictions that appear (Garrett et al. 2003). Also, by being

highly structured, it limits the opportunity for participants to share anything outside of the set questions

(Garrett et al. 2003). In order to limit the effect of these issues, at the end of each section a field was

included asking participants to share anything else they deemed important to the research (see

Appendix 2). Furthermore, at the end of the survey participants were asked if they would be willing to

have a follow up interview. This was to provide me with the opportunity to ask any follow up questions

deemed necessary. Bias is also an issue in qualitative data (Garret et al. 2003) due to the fact that the

questions are created solely by the researcher. This means that there is the possibility of the researcher

unconsciously leading the potential answers down a certain path. To help circumvent this, both the

questionnaire and the textbook analysis form were peer checked by a fellow teacher and researcher for

issues of bias and validity.

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3.2 Textbook Analysis

3.2.1 Developing the Textbook Analysis Form

The textbook analysis form was developed from three sets of data; (1) the NEC (MOE 2008) was

used to extract goals related to international communication, (2) these goals were aligned with the

pedagogical recommendations identified in relevant literature and adapted to the South Korean public

school context, and (3) these were developed into a categorical system influenced by similar research

conducted by Takahashi (2011) on ELF in the Japanese public education system and Kivisto (2005) on

the use of ELF accents in Finnish textbooks. Through the analysis of these three sets of data a form was

created identifying the types of materials and activities expected in South Korean high school textbooks

(see Appendix 4). The textbooks that were analysed can be found in Table 3.1 below:

Table 3.2: Publishing Details of Textbooks Analysed

Title Year of Publication Publisher Author

High School Practical English 1

2012 (주)금성출판사

(Ju) Gumsongchulpansa

김경한

Kim Gyeonghan Advanced English Conversation 1

2012 YBM 한상호

Han Sangho High School English Reading and Writing

2012 (주)능률교육

(Ju) Nunglyulkyoyuk

이찬승

Lee Chansung High School English 1 2012 (주)능률교육

(Ju) Nunglyulkyoyuk

이찬승

Lee Chansung

3.2.2 Issues with the Textbook Analysis

The first issue arose when choosing the sample of textbooks that would be used for the analysis.

The South Korean public school system does not have set textbooks provided by the Ministry of

Education. Instead, private companies produce textbooks and, at the beginning of the school year, each

school chooses the textbooks they will use for that academic year. With the vast number of textbooks

available (well over thirty were counted for first grade high school alone) it would be extremely time

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consuming to analyse every textbook. Due to this, the decision was made to choose the four textbooks

that were most representative. Initially I wanted to select the textbooks that had sold the most copies.

However on contacting the distributors it became apparent these figures were not available. The next

best option was to analyse the four textbooks selected and used in the high school in which the teacher

interviews would be conducted.

Further methodological developments were required in response to the pilot study conducted

on a textbook used for the 2012 academic year. The initial textbook analysis form identified the

nationality of characters and variation of accents in one category, under the presumption that, for

example, a Filipino character would have a Filipino accent (see Appendix 5). However, the textbook

used the same two voice actors for the entire book, including when characters were from different non-

native speaking countries. To account for this, the nationality of characters and the location of dialogs

were given categories of their own based on the materials and the content of the speech. Due to this,

variation of accents had to be separately based on the linguistic features of the accent used. Finally,

when it came to conducting the textbook analysis and deciding whether or not an activity met a certain

curriculum goal, despite having a clear idea regarding how activities could meet that goal, it was often

difficult to keep the decision process as objective as I would have liked. Usually, if a decision as to

whether or not an activity met a goal was ambiguous, the textbook was given the benefit of the doubt. I

have included several examples of my thought process regarding this in Appendix 2.

3.3 Teacher Survey

3.3.1 Developing the Survey

In a similar fashion to the textbook analysis form, the survey was created by bringing together

the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) and the pedagogical implications of relevant literature. In order to

assess the perceived ability of students to participate in international communication I developed a

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range of imaginary scenarios. These scenarios were designed to demonstrate a certain skill identified in

the relevant literature as necessary for international communication (see Appendix 1 Teacher Survey -

Section 3). Teachers were asked to rate whether they expect South Korean students to be able to deal

with similar scenarios. Finally, teachers were asked to rate the relevance of a number of challenges they

may face in preparing their students for international communication (see Appendix 1 Teacher Survey -

Section 4). These challenges were developed from similar research conducted in South Korea, such as Li

(1998). However, similar research in South Korea is over 15 years old and has only focused on

communicative language teaching. With this in mind, the issues were adapted to fit in with an ELF

paradigm. Common issues in employing ELF were also identified in relevant literature and, as discussed

in further detail below, a pilot study was conducted in which a South Korean English language teacher

made further suggestions. A simple counting technique was used to record the data. This technique has

been successfully used for similar research conducted by Takahashi (2011) who recorded instances of

ELF traits in Japanese public school textbooks.

3.4 Issues with the Survey

In the development of the survey there were again a number of issues that required adaptation.

First of all, in the initial pilot survey, questions were posed regarding the extent to which teachers

currently use supplementary materials to prepare students for international communication, as well as

questions asking for examples of the materials used (see Appendix 6 Pilot Teacher Survey - Section 3).

However, the pilot study indicated that no ELF focused materials are used, and, in further conversation

with the pilot study participants, the feedback was that this would be the same for all teachers. With

this in mind, it was decided this section would not provide useful data. Instead, it was replaced with a

section asking teachers to identify the factors which prevent them from preparing students for

international communication. There were also issues with some of the language used in the survey to

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describe certain ELF based concepts. Based on this feedback, the terms were simplified while

maintaining the meaning intended.

3.5 Ethical Considerations

When conducting research involving people it presents the researcher with “a major ethical

dilemma *…+ which requires researchers to strike a balance between the demands placed on them as

professional scientists in pursuit of truth, and their subjects’ rights and values potentially threatened by

this research.” (Cohen et. al 2007:51) BERA ethical guidelines were followed throughout the research, in

this section I will outline the steps taken to reduce the threat posed to participants as much as possible.

The first step taken was to use a framework adapted from Diener and Crandall (1978) to ensure

that the consent given by participants was a fully informed one. The details of this framework can be

found in Table 3.2 below.

Table 3.3: Ensuring Informed Consent through Diener and Crandall’s (1978) Framework

Framework Element Method of Fulfilment

Ensuring Participants

Competency

All participants were adults and, as professional teachers, were deemed

capable of being able to make responsible, mature decisions regarding

education and students.

Making Participation

Voluntary

Participants were given multiple opportunities to pull out of the research.

Participants were advised before, during and after filling out the surveys that

participation was completely optional and their data could be removed at

any time.

Fully Informed

Participants were provided with information sheets about the research

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Decisions intentions and how the data would be used before seeing the survey.

Aronson & Carlsmith (1969) warn that researchers should only give as much

information as is deemed appropriate. With this in mind, the teachers were

not told that the goals were extracted from the NEC (MOE 2008). This

decision was taken to prevent respondent bias as I did not want teachers to

rate goals as having a high level of importance as they believed that was the

‘right answer’.

Ensuring Teachers

Fully Comprehend the

Nature of the

Research

Teachers are highly educated in the subject of education and so understood

the nature of the research and what was being asked of them. Participants

were also provided with my contact details in case they had any questions or

concerns.

Permission to request access was gained through face to face contact with a senior teacher and

the Head of English at the school in which the participants teach. Access was not deemed a major issue

due to the fact that participants were free to fill out the survey when and where they choose.

Participants were given two weeks to complete the survey form, this was done to reduce the sense of

stress or burden that might come from completing the survey.

A participant’s right to privacy is also an important consideration for reducing any potential

threat. This was taken very seriously as a participant’s answer could affect their professional reputation

amongst colleagues. To maintain the teachers’ privacy the forms were all distributed electronically and

stored on password protected storage drives. As per Frankfort-Nachmias and Nichmias’ (1992)

recommendation, the confidentiality of participants’ identities was maintained throughout the research.

This made the results completely anonymous and guaranteed participants’ privacy.

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Finally, the cost/benefit ratio (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nichmias 1992) was considered before

going ahead with the research. This ensured the benefits of the research outweighed the personal costs

to the participants. The benefit of this research for the participants is that the results and conclusions

drawn from it are directly related to their teaching context and can be used to further understand and

meet their students’ needs. The cost was around twenty minutes of their time. Based on this ratio, I

believe the teachers will see their participation in this study as worthwhile.

3.6 Validity and Bias

Response bias is the effect of non-responses on survey estimates (Fowler 2002). All of the

twelve participants in the study returned the survey within the two week time period. With the time

period being short, and the topic being a long term issue, it is unlikely that the time it took for

participants to complete the survey would affect response bias.

Ensuring the results of a study are valid is imperative, as Cohen et al. (2007:133) explains

“validity is an important key to effective research. If a piece of research is invalid then it is worthless.”

Cohen (2007) identifies many types of validity, Table 3.3 highlights those that are deemed as being of

most relevance to this study and how they were managed.

Table 3.4: Issues Regarding Validity of Research (adapted from Cohen 2007)

Type of Validity

Description Relevance to Research

External

Validity

The extent to which the

results can be

generalised to the

wider population.

The fact that all of the participants in this survey work at the

same school is a factor that needs to be taken into account

when drawing generalisations from the results. However,

many of the participants have experience of working at

many schools throughout South Korea and are also aware of

the issues other high schools face.

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Content

Validity

The extent to which the

research

comprehensively covers

the issues it sets out to.

To maintain content validity careful steps were taken to

make sure that the survey was not overly long, while

covering all the necessary topics. It was estimated that the

survey only took around twenty minutes to complete,

nevertheless we must take into account that teachers are

very busy. To try and make it easier and less time

consuming, the majority of the survey was designed on a

closed scale basis.

Consequential

Validity

Related to content

validity in describing

the necessity for the

research data to not

exceed the capability of

the research.

This study is based on the adaptation of modern literature

to South Korean teaching contexts and the data formed

from South Korean textbooks and teachers. Therefore, care

must be employed when extending the findings of this

research and the conclusions drawn from it beyond South

Korea.

In this section I have outlined the steps taken to ensure this study accurately answers the

research questions posed, yet nullifies the threat posed to participants as much as possible. I will now

move on to outline the results of the study. I will also highlight the important links between the results

of the textbook analysis and the teacher survey.

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Section 4. Results

4.1 Textbook Materials

4.1.1 Nationality of Characters

One of the most interesting findings in this study is related to the variation of characters

featured in the textbooks, the results of which were quite striking. As can be seen in Table 4.1 below, in

the majority (53.7%) of instances it was not possible to identify the nationality of the speaker(s) through

either it being explicitly mentioned nor identifiable from clues such as activities they are participating in

and background pictures. An example of how materials and contexts were used to make sensible

guesses regarding a characters nationality can be found in Appendix 7.

Table 4.1: Variation of Characters featured in Textbooks

Country Total Instances Percentage

South Korea

100

23.9

Inner Circle US UK Canada

87 82 1 4

20 19.7 0.3 0.9

Outer Circle Nigeria

1 1

0.2 0.2

Expanding Circle Filipino Brazil Italy Japanese Finland Unknown/Unspecified

5 1 1 1 1 1 224

1.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 53.7

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Of those nationalities it was possible to identify, South Koreans (23.9%) and Americans (19.7%)

represented the overwhelming majority of characters. Regarding the variation of characters, there were

a total of ten different nationalities represented between the four textbooks. For this study I decided to

remove South Korea from the EC category. This was done because I felt including South Korea made the

importance given to EC variations of English seem unrealistically high. With this in mind, instances

featuring characters from the EC represented only 1.2% of the total, while the OC was represented only

once between all four textbooks. In comparing these results with the trade and visitor statistics outlined

in Table 1.1 and 1.2 of Section 1.4 there are clear discrepancies between the variation of characters in

the textbooks and the interlocutors South Koreans are most likely to be communicating with. While

Chinese and Japanese are the top two trade partners and visitors to South Korea, there are no Chinese

characters and only one instance of a Japanese character in the textbooks. I will now move on to the

variation of accents featured in the textbooks.

4.1.2 Variation of Accents

As we can see in Table 4.2, the variation of accents does not correlate with the variation of

characters, with 417 out of the 419 instances of communication featuring a General American accent,

while there was one Regional American accent and one South Korean accent featured.

Table 4.2: Variation of Accents featured in Textbooks

Accent Instances

General American Regional American South Korean

417 1 1

Communication Participants in Textbook Conversations (based on accent)

NS-NS 100%

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The discrepancy between the variation of characters and variation of accents was due to the fact that,

for the majority of dialogs (other than two) in the textbooks, every textbook used the same two (one

male and one female) voice actors for the entirety of their book. Although there were some very minor

variations of the General American accent used, mainly to account for age, it is reasonable to presume it

was the same voice actor. Again, to compare these results with the likely interlocutors of South Koreans,

it shows a complete lack of exposure to both Chinese and Japanese variations of English.

4.1.3 Location of Dialog

Table 4.3 shows us the location of the dialogs featured in the textbooks. We can see similar

results to Table 4.1, with the overwhelming majority of dialogs (70.5%) taking place in

unknown/unspecified locations.

Table 4.3: Location of Textbook Dialog

Book Location Instances Percentage

Totals South Korea IC OC EC Unknown/Unspecified

45 20 0 3 163

19.5 8.7 0 1.3 70.5

Again, so as not to misrepresent the importance given to the EC, South Korea was given its own

category. Even though South Korea was given its own category, it was the most featured location of all

the dialogs, with 19.5% of dialogs taking place in South Korea. This was followed up by locations within

the IC, which accounted for 8.7% of dialogs. There were no dialogs in OC locations and only 3 from the

EC, comprising just 1.3% of dialogs.

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4.1.4 Curriculum Goals

Finally, Table 4.4 shows the frequency of activities that were deemed to meet the goals related

to international communication contained within NEC (MOE 2008). On average, each textbook

contained 21 activities that could be considered as related to these goals, this was 8.9% of the total

activities. However, almost all of these activities were related to exposure to culture (see Appendix 2 for

specific examples of activities related to culture). No activities amongst the four textbooks extended this

to encouraging students to consider the effect of a person’s culture on their language use (see Appendix

2 – Example 3 for an example of where this opportunity was missed).

Table 4.4: Frequency of Activities Meeting Identified Curriculum Goals

Curriculum Goal Number of Activities (average

per textbook)

Percentage of Activities

1. Developing an understanding

of native English speaking

cultures.

3.75 1.6

2. Developing an understanding

of non-native English speaking

cultures.

2.5 1.1

3. Developing an appreciation of

native English speaking cultures

4 1.7

4. Developing an appreciation of

non-native English speaking

cultures.

5.25 2.3

5. Understanding the difference

between South Korean culture

and native English speaking

culture.

1 0.4

6. Understanding the difference

between South Korean culture

and non-native English speaking

culture.

1 0.4

7. Developing techniques to

help students effectively

communicate with native

English speakers.

0.25 0.1

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8. Developing techniques for

students to effectively

communicate with non-native

English speakers.

0 0

9. Developing students’ ability

to understand the natural

speech of native English

speakers.

0 0


to understand the natural

speech of non-native English

speakers.

0 0

11. Developing students’

understanding between culture

and language.

0 0


to share South Korean culture.

4 1.7

Activities related to identified

Curriculum

21 8.9

Average Total Activities per

Textbook

235.5

Average for native speaker

related goals (1,3,5,7,9)

9 3.8

Average for non-native speaker

related goals. (2,4,6,8,10)

8.75 3.7

There were on average 9 activities per textbook that related to communication with NS, while

8.75 related to communication with NNS. There were no activities in any of the four textbooks related

to ELF oriented communication techniques, there was one activity that could be deemed as helping

develop techniques to communicate with NS, however this was not related to ELF. Furthermore, there

were no activities that could be deemed as specifically designed to help develop students’ ability to

understand the natural speech of either NS or NNS. This is linked to the fact that, as Table 4.2 shows,

there were only two activities in the four textbooks that contained natural speech and these made no

effort to explicitly develop students’ ability to understand the speaker.

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4.2 Teacher Survey

4.2.1 Materials Focus and Student Needs

The results of the teacher survey (see Appendix 1 for full survey) reinforce the findings drawn

from the textbook analysis, which found a lack of materials currently meeting the identified goals of the

NEC (MOE 2008) (see Table 4.4 above). As Table 4.5 shows, the highest average score based on current

coverage was just 0.6 (all scores range from -2 to +2 with 0 being neutral), afforded to ‘understanding

the pronunciation of native speakers’. The average score given was -0.2, although this indicates teachers

believe high school classes give little coverage to these goals, based on Table 4.4, this could be expected

to be even lower. When the average score is divided into goals related to communication with NS and

goals related to communication with NNS an interesting picture emerges. Teachers perceived coverage

of goals related to NS has a very slight positive score of 0.1 (please note that although not negative, this

is still considered a low score), while goals related to NNS have an average score of -0.7. This indicates a

firm opinion amongst the teachers that current classes offer little coverage of non-native English use.

This is likely to be related to the fact that a General American accent is featured in all but two of the

dialogs (see Table 4.2) and the majority of non-South Korean characters being American (see Table 4.1).

Table 4.5: The Focus of South Korean High School English Language Classes and Teachers’ perceived needs of Students

Goal

Current coverage in

English classes

Range from -2

(lowest) to +2

(highest) with 0

(average)

Importance of this goal

for future student

needs

Range from -2 (lowest)

to +2 (highest) with 0

(average)

Difference

Developing an

understanding of native

English speaking cultures.

0.2 1 0.8

Developing an

understanding of non-native

-0.7 0.3 1

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Improving students’ ability

for spoken and written

communication in native

English speaking countries.

-0.2 1.2 1.4

Improving students’ ability

for spoken and written

communication in non-

native English speaking

countries.

-0.4 0.6 1

Understanding the

differences between South

Korean culture and native


0.1 0.7 0.6

Understanding the

differences between South

Korean culture and other

non-native English speaking

cultures.

-0.7 0.2 0.9

Understanding the

pronunciation of native

English speakers.

0.6 0.7 0.1

Understanding the

pronunciation of non-native

English speakers.

-0.6 0.5 1.1

Exposing students to natural

language as used by native

speakers.

-0.4 0.9 1.3

Exposing students to natural

language as used by non-

native speakers.

-1.1 0.4 1.5

Average -0.2 0.7 0.9

Goals Related to

communication with NS

0.1 0.9 0.8

Goals related to

communication with NNS

-0.7 0.4 1.1

Regarding the importance of these goals for students’ future communication needs, the teachers

rated every goal as having positive importance. Finally, the teachers rated goals related to

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communication with NS as significantly more important than goals related to communication with NNS,

with scores of 0.9 and 0.4 respectively.

4.2.2 The Communicational Abilities of South Korean High School Students

From the teacher survey, the most surprising result comes from the teachers’ perceived abilities

of South Korean high school students to utilise ELF based strategies in international communication.

Despite teachers giving a low score of -0.2 to the coverage of ELF and ICA based communication goals in

English language classes (see Table 4.5), as Table 4.6 shows, the teachers gave a positive score to

students’ ability to use all the ELF and ICA based competencies featured in the survey, except for their

understanding of the effect culture has on language use, which received a score of -0.2. The average

score given was 0.3, whilst this is only slightly above average it is a significant increase from the average

score of -0.2 given to the coverage of international communication based goals (see Table 4.5).

Table 4.6: South Korean Students’ International Communication Abilities as Perceived by Teachers

Target Ability Teachers Rating

Range from -2 (lowest) to +2

(highest) with 0 (average)

Ability for students to select vocabulary to help achieve mutual

understanding with an interlocutor(s).

0.6

Ability for students to indicate to an interlocutor a lack of

comprehension.

0.6

Ability for students to achieve mutual comprehension with an

interlocutor.

0.4

Ability for students to recognise and use conversational cues to enter

and leave discussions.

0.3

Ability to adapt an expression or idiom while maintaining the intended

meaning.

0.2

Ability for students to adapt their pronunciation to achieve mutual

understanding with an interlocutor.

0.1

Ability for students to adapt their culture to their interlocutors. 0

Ability for students to understand the effect of one’s culture on their

use of language.

-0.2

Average 0.3

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The two abilities with the lowest scores (of 0 and -0.2 respectively) are those that require

students to consider the role of culture on communication. This score directly correlates with the

textbook analysis (see Table 4.4) which found no activities related to developing awareness of the link

between culture and language use. In Table 4.6 we can see the joint highest score given is for students’

ability to select appropriate vocabulary. It is possible that teachers gave this a high score due to the

extensive vocabulary South Korean students are required to memorise in preparation for the University

Entrance Examination. It is also possible that teachers relate the ability to indicate a lack of

comprehension as being dependent on vocabulary choices (which received a score of 0.6). However, the

extent to which the vocabulary learnt in South Korean public schools is actually helpful in ELF

communication is unclear and is in need of further investigation.

4.2.3 Teachers’ Perceived Challenges Prohibiting the use of ELF Based Strategies

Table 4.7 displays the perceived challenges South Korean public school teachers face in

preparing their students for international communication. One of the most interesting results is that,

despite the lack of materials appropriate for preparing students for international communication

highlighted in section 4.1, ‘lack of appropriate materials in textbooks’ was ranked as only the fifth

biggest problem teachers face.

Table 4.7: The Perceived Challenges South Korean Teachers face in preparing Students for

International Communication

Challenge Teachers Rating

Range from -2 (lowest) to +2 (highest) with 0

(average)

Large class sizes 0.8

Lack of time to prepare additional materials 0.5

Lack of training in appropriate teaching

methods

0.5

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Lack of appropriate materials in textbooks 0.3

Students’ attitude towards non-native English 0.3

Reading comprehension and grammar based

examination

0.1

Students’ lack of motivation to improve their

ability for international communication

0

Students’ English proficiency -0.2

Are there any challenges I have missed? [free text]

The results in Table 4.7 correlate with the teachers’ perceived communicational abilities of

South Korean students shown in Table 4.6. In Table 4.7, ‘students’ English proficiency’ is the only

challenge that resulted in a negative score (with a score of -0.2), indicating that teachers only see this as

a minor issue. Physical teaching issues regarding the implementation of ELF based strategies are the

biggest challenges teachers face, with scores of 0.8, 0.5 and 0.5 for large class sizes, lack of time to

prepare additional materials and lack of training, respectively. Of the teachers that mentioned

additional challenges, four mentioned the format and importance of preparing students for the

University Entrance Examination and two mention cultural influences on South Korean students’

willingness to speak English in class.

Section 5. Discussion

In order to best facilitate the discussion I will first answer each of the research questions before

making a number of pedagogical suggestions to help develop students’ ability for international

communication in South Korean high schools.

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5.1 To what extent are textbook materials preparing South Korean students for using

English as a means of international communication as outlined in the National English

Curriculum (MOE 2008)?

This paper began by identifying the extent to which the NEC (MOE 2008) was designed to

prepare students for the communicational realities they are likely to face upon leaving the classroom.

Upon reviewing the NEC (MOE 2008) it became apparent that the development of skills and knowledge

required for international communication are not only heavily featured throughout, but they also

correlate with pedagogical suggestions drawn from ELF research including the role of ICA in language

use. The paper then moved on to analyse the materials used in high schools in South Korea. From the

results of the study it is clear that the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) are not reflected in textbook

materials used in South Korean high schools. Based on the results of this study, it would not be an

exaggeration to state that there is an absolute dearth of materials in South Korean high school

textbooks that can be deemed as useful in preparing students for international communication.

While the figures in Section 4 paint a clear picture, there are a number of specific examples

contained within the textbooks that further support the strong sentiments above. The first example is

an activity contained in one of the conversational textbooks. In this activity students are required to

listen to a recording of three characters and identify the music they enjoy. The three characters are

located in three places around the world; Brazil, ‘the Bronx’ (US) and Nigeria. This type of activity

presents an excellent opportunity to expose students to authentic varieties of accents as advocated

throughout ELF literature by writers such as Murray (2012), Jenkins et al. (2011), Kohn (2007),

Seidlhofer (2004) and Berns (2008). Yet, the textbook developers handled this activity by employing the

same voice actor to record all three characters. Further to this, the voice actor did not vary his accent at

all, resulting in all three characters, from vastly different backgrounds, featuring exactly the same

General American accent.

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The second example is an activity that asks students to listen to a speech of Ban Ki Moon and

identify the main ideas. Again, this activity could have been more beneficial. Ban Ki Moon is not only

South Korean, but is Secretary General of the UN, undoubtedly one of the most senior and important

positions in the world, a position that creates an enormous sense of pride amongst South Koreans. Ban

Ki Moon, being South Korean, is from an EC country, and is known to speak with a non-native accent.

Exposure to this kind of material could, for South Korean students, have gone a long way to releasing

them from the perception of having to speak English like a NS. This is a key component of ELF which

could help encourage students to develop, own and use ‘my English’ (Kohn 2007). However, despite this

potential, the textbook developers made the decision to use a voice actor, with a General American

accent, to read the speech of Ban Ki Moon. This has a number of potential effects on the students,

including creating the perception that the English of Ban Ki Moon, South Korean Secretary General of

the UN, is inadequate and that instead students should strive towards a NS model. In turn, this is likely

to have a detrimental effect on students’ tolerance towards varieties of English.

An analysis of results of this study reveals a number of issues that could explain the lack of

materials aimed at developing ELF and ICA based competencies. An initial reaction to the results in

Table 4.2, which shows all but two accents featured in the four textbooks as being General American, is

that there may be practical issues textbook developers face. These issues include financial constraints,

such as the need to operate on a tight budget affecting their ability to produce materials that feature

wider varieties of English; physical constraints such a lack of ability to find sources of wider varieties of

English in South Korea, or even a demand from schools that they only feature General American accents

due to the makeup of the University Entrance Examination. However, looking at Tables 4.1 and 4.3 we

can see the majority of locations and characters in South Korean high school textbooks are of

unknown/unspecified origin. With the integration of activities designed to develop ICA not being

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affected by the physical issues described above, it indicates that these needs are simply overlooked by

the textbook developers.

It is also necessary to consider the effect of “washback” (Alderson & Wall, 1993) on English

language teaching materials, a term used to describe how “the testing process has an influence on both

teaching and learning.” (Luxia 2007:51) All the accents featured in the University Entrance Examination

are also General American accents and questions have no direct relevancy to students’ international

communication competencies. Given this, it is possible that textbook producers are prioritising the

needs of students in the University Entrance Examination over the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008). As

Pearson (1988) points out, examinations can be a lever for change, textbooks will be designed to match

the purposes of a test and teachers and students will incorporate the methods needed to achieve high

scores on a test. Research in East Asia has shown the possibility of developing a new test in order to

stimulate changes in textbook materials. Cheng (1997), for example, found that with the announcement

of a new examination in Hong Kong, by the year preceding the introduction of the new examination

every school had changed their textbooks and that textbook developers had overhauled the content of

their materials. Possible adaptations to the current exam system in South Korea to help orient the

University Entrance Examination towards the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) are discussed further in

Section 5.3.1.

The lack of textbook materials aimed at developing international communication competencies

becomes particularly important when South Korean high school textbooks are compared with similar

materials around the world. Takahashi (2010) found that high school textbooks in Japan feature 40% of

their characters from the EC (excluding Japan) and that 40% of all dialogs feature EC variations of

English. Takahashi (2010) also identifies multiple examples of mixed country based speech, as opposed

to none identified in the South Korean textbooks used in this study. In an analysis of textbooks in

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Finland, meanwhile, Kivisto (2005) identifies twelve non-native accents, nine of which are EC varieties.

Both of these studies indicate that South Korea is falling behind other nations in preparing its students

for international communication, especially when we consider that these studies were conducted three

and eight years ago respectively.

Dealing directly with culture, Matsuda (2006:9) suggests that “coursebooks and other teaching

materials for English as an international language […] must have a broader representation in terms of

both language and culture.” It is possible to identify in South Korean textbooks an attempt, albeit a

limited one, to integrate cultural issues into the textbook materials. As Table 4.4 shows, those goals that

are met do so through exposure to culture. In every textbook there was at least one chapter dedicated

to culture. However, whilst this can be seen as a positive start, it is important to note that there were no

instances of students being asked to consider the link between culture and language use. This

conclusion is supported by the teachers’ opinions on the ELF and ICA abilities of South Korean students,

giving the only negative score to their ability to ‘understand the effect of one’s culture on their use of

language’ (see Table 4.6).

5.2 What are South Korean teachers’ attitudes towards the need for students to be

prepared for international communication through either native or non-native

speaking models?

Kohn (TBP) identifies teachers’ attitudes as a hurdle that needs to be overcome if ELF based

strategies are to make it into classroom practices. The results of this study indicate that teachers

recognise the usefulness of EFL and ICA approaches in preparing students for international

communication and the inadequacies of current textbooks in doing so. However, while the teacher

survey results indicate a positive attitude towards those strategies that incorporate non-native English

varieties of language and culture, strategies related to NS norms were recognised as more important

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than non-native in every instance. This does not mean that, from a teacher’s perspective, there is no

room for ELF and ICA related strategies in South Korean high school classrooms. In fact, ELF researchers

have recently made it clear this does not require teachers to completely overhaul their teaching

methods, but that creating awareness and choice for our students is a positive start (Cogo 2012). It is

also important to bear in mind that concrete pedagogical strategies related to ELF and ICA have only

been developed and documented in the past few years, yet the teachers in this research have been

teaching for an average of seventeen years. This could explain the positive score given to the challenge

of a lack of training in appropriate teaching methods (see Table 4.7). Given the already positive attitude

towards the need to develop students’ ability to communicate with NNS, it is reasonable to presume

that with adequate training teachers’ positive attitudes may increase further, while also leading to an

increased use of relevant teaching strategies.

The need for further training in ELF and ICA pedagogy is also reflected by ‘large class sizes’ being

rated as the biggest challenge teachers face, significantly higher than lack of appropriate materials in

textbooks. Whilst there are benefits to having smaller classes, this issue was not, to my knowledge,

mentioned in previous ELF or ICA literature and is not specifically applicable to developing international

communication competencies. This suggests that teachers believe pedagogical strategies related to ELF

and ICA might be difficult for the teachers to control. However, as highlighted in Section 2.4, there are

numerous suggestions such as awareness raising activities, pronunciation based activities and

translation activities that could be used in South Korean high school classrooms. Prior conversation with

South Korean English language teachers suggests that strategies to promote international

communication competencies are not covered in teacher training courses. In fact, my experience

suggests that the teachers may not have been made aware these international communication goals

compromise part of the NEC (MOE 2008). If there is a lack of training regarding international

communication competencies, it is possible that teachers are conflating ELF and communicative

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approaches, which involve greater speaking and classroom interaction. I take on the challenge of

developing specific strategies to improve the international communication competencies of South

Korean students in the next subsection.

The teachers taking part in the survey are split on the influence of the University Entrance

Examination as a challenge in preparing students for international communication. Despite seven of the

twelve participants reporting it as one of the most difficult challenges they face, two strongly disagreed

with this. However, of the two that disagreed, in the additional notes section one mentions the fact that

English is taught in South Korea “not as a tool but a subject necessary for exams.” This indicates that

perhaps the score given was due to a miscomprehension. Of the other six teachers that made additional

comments, four out of the six directly mention the effect of the University Entrance Examination,

making comments such as “I think the greatest challenge we face in high school English education is [the]

KSAT system (the University Entrance Examination)” and “We Korean English teachers should develop

his or her own teaching methods more seriously, but the entrance system of college in Korea is more

important than any other affair. So we focus on the Exam, and we teach that kind of thing.” While this

challenge is particularly worrying, it is also to be expected. As Pearson (1988:98) explains, “it is generally

accepted that the public examinations influence the attitudes, behaviours, and motivation of teachers,

learners, and parents.” In this case, it seems there is a direct conflict in the South Korean education

system between the expectations of the NEC (MOE 2008), which states the need for students to be

prepared for international communication and contains many goals related to students ability to

communicate with other NNS (see Table 1.3), and the nature of the University Entrance Examination

which features only General American accents and is not set up to test students ability for international

communication.

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The response of the teachers supports the idea that the University Entrance Examination is

having a large washback effect (Alderson & Wall 1993) on what is happening in the classrooms. That is,

they believe the examination is affecting both how the teachers teach and what the students learn.

Given the level of importance put on the University Entrance Examination this is entirely plausible.

However, one must be cautious in presuming that a change in examination system would inevitably lead

to a change in teachers’ attitudes and teaching methods. While Cheng (1997) found that in Hong Kong a

new examination system had a profound effect on the materials published, the evidence as to whether

the teaching methods changed was inconclusive. Alderson & Wall (1993) meanwhile, found that in Sri

Lanka a new English test did not have any effect on the methods of teaching used. Similar conclusions

have also been made in separate research conducted by Li (1998), Shohamy (1993) and Andrews (1995).

5.3 How can South Korean students be better prepared for English as a means of

international communication within the parameters of the current educational

system?

The final part of this study is, I feel, also the most important. For me, it is imperative that any

teacher reading this paper, especially those in the South Korean education system, can take away some

concrete suggestions to help orientate their class towards preparing their students for international

communication. Given this, I intend to keep the suggestions as easy to implement as possible. When I

set out to write this paper my intention was to only make classroom based pedagogical suggestions.

However, over the course of conducting this research, it became apparent that changes must also be

made outside of classrooms. With this in mind, I have decided to break this section into two parts; the

first will look at changes that I recommend on a macro level (those that can be considered as changes

above and beyond the classroom) and the second part will introduce suggestions on a micro level (those

that teachers have direct control over).

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5.3.1 Macro-Strategies

If the South Korean Ministry of Education is going to realise its goal of developing the

international communication competencies of South Korean students, merely adapting the national

curriculum is not enough. While it can be argued that the examination system requires a complete

overhaul, the goal of this study is to identify ‘how South Korean students can be better prepared for

English as a means of international communication within the parameters of the current education

system.’ Given this, the suggestions laid out in Table 5.1 are those that I firmly believe can be

implemented within the current educational framework. They are based on realistic goals, the results of

this study and contain firm theoretical grounding.

Table 5.1: Macro Strategies for Developing South Korean High School Students’ International

Communication Competencies

Macro Goal Reasoning & Recommendations Adapted

From

To include ELF

and ICA based

competencies

in the National

Entrance

Examination.

The listening section of the National Entrance Examination, which

currently makes up half the exam, should feature a variety of accents.

This variety should include accents from the IC, OC and EC. This will

make it necessary to expose students to a variety of accents in

preparation for the exam.

Jenkins

(2002)

To include ELF

and ICA based

competencies

in the National

Entrance

Examination.

While maintaining the multiple choice nature of South Korean

examination systems, a number of the listening questions should

require students to identify the most useful communication strategy.

An example of this could be to, after hearing a dialog in which one

person clearly cannot understand his partner’s accent, ask students to

select from a range of strategies the most suitable for indicating to the

interlocutor non-comprehension. These choices would include different

Murray

(2012)

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strategies, such as those to deal with unfamiliar pronunciation, unclear

meanings and weak coherence. This would require the teaching of such

strategies in high school classrooms

Developing

textbooks

aligned to

developing

competencies

related to

international

communication.

Pressure needs to be placed on textbook developers to meet the goals

laid out in the NEC (MOE 2008). The current textbooks have been

shown, in some areas, to be detrimental to the development of

international communication competencies. If textbooks are to be used

in South Korean public schools they should have to meet the curriculum

goals. Standards should be set that require textbooks to contain a

certain number of activities related to the international communication

goals laid out in the NEC (MOE 2008).

Alderson

& Wall

(1993)

Increasing

students’

exposure to

non-native

speakers of

English.

I recommend that the Ministry of Education introduces a scheme that

would expose students to non-native English speakers, preferably from

China and Japan as well as a number of other nationalities. A small

number of teachers operating in a ‘cultural centre’ per region, providing

students with the chance to experience engaging with them, could help

create awareness of the varieties of English they will encounter and

ways of dealing with them. These experiences could be supported by

reflective tasks designed to stimulate thoughts about the relationship

between culture and language use.

Baker

(2011b)

Developing

students

awareness of

the need for

developing ELF

and ICA based

All high schools are now required to dedicate a certain amount of time

for students to participate in optional programs. These programs are

provided by the school but selected by the students. I recommend

schools be encouraged to offer courses on international communication.

As Cogo & Dewey (2011) identify, ELF should be about awareness and

choice, thus the extra-curricular program should be optional with the

Cogo &

Dewey

(2011)

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competencies benefits of taking it clearly laid out to prospective students.

Developing

teachers’ ability

to increase

students’

international

communication

skills.

As Jenkins claims (2007:250), “knowledge of the advantages and benefits

of ELF is not in itself sufficient: it is important to find convincing ways of

demonstrating these to teachers.” This research identifies a positive

attitude from South Korean teachers towards ELF and ICA based

strategies. However, teachers also believe physical issues such as large

class sizes prevent them from using such strategies. This indicates that

teachers require training in how they can orient their classroom to help

students develop their ability to engage in international communication.

This training should focus on exploring documented methods and

adapting these to fit in with teachers current teaching contexts as well

as developing their own methods.

Jenkins

(2007)

Kohn

(TBP)

5.3.2 Micro Strategies

Despite the inadequacies of the current textbooks and the detrimental format of the University

Entrance Examination to prepare students for international communication, we cannot expect these to

be transformed in the very near future. Therefore, the pedagogical recommendations laid out in Table

5.2 are designed to be used with current materials while achieving the goals laid out by the NEC (MOE

2008) identified in Table 1.3.


Communication Competencies in Current English Language Classes

Curriculum

Goal

Reasoning & Recommendations Adapted

From

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1 + 2

If teachers have travelled abroad, they could create warm up or listening

activities that involve sharing their personal experiences of cultural errors or

miscommunications, possibly including how they dealt with it (either

successfully or, probably more enjoyable for the students, unsuccessfully).

This would help to raise awareness of the challenges of ELF communication.

Awareness raising is seen as the ‘first step’ in developing ‘my English’ (Kohn

TBP).

Kohn

(TBP)

2

Students could be asked to compare the speech acts of a non-South Korean

character in the textbook with how they would approach the same situation

with South Korean friends in Korea. For example, if a dialog is taking place at

a dinner table, students could be asked to make a similar dialog, but include

features of Korean politeness and compare those with the politeness

features of the textbook conversation.

Murray

(2012)

3

The textbooks contain many dialogs that could be used for developing

students’ ability to adapt their accents. The students could, for example, be

asked to work in pairs, with each pair taking one character and each

transcribing their partner’s part (by only listening) within a certain time limit.

This would encourage students to simplify their accent as much as possible

and in doing so achieve mutual comprehension (adapted from Deterding

2010). For homework, students could be asked to reflect on the effect of

turn taking, rate of speech, how they indicated lack of comprehension and

repairs. The reflective component could even be done in Korean.

Deterding

(2010)

Kohn

(TBP)

4

Translation activities are commonly used in South Korean high school

classrooms. Students could be asked to translate authentic speeches, they

could then check their translation by listening to the speech. After

translating dialogs students could be asked to identify the differences in

pragmatic norms between the Korean and English versions.

Murray

(2012)

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The second set of micro strategies (in Table 5.3 below) are designed to be used as part of extra-

curricular classes offered to students. As mentioned in Table 5.1, all high schools are required to offer

extra-curricular courses to students. I suggest one of these courses should be designed to meet the

curriculum goals related to international communication.


Communication Competencies in Current English Language Classes

Curriculum

Goal

Reasoning & Recommendations Adapted

From

1 + 2

Students could be asked to critically evaluate descriptions and images

of cultures found in South Korean textbooks. An example of this could

be setting groups the task of researching different, modern African

cultures, sharing them with the class and then comparing what they

find with the textbook image representing African culture found in

Appendix 2.

Baker

(2012a)

1 + 2

Students could be shown clips from movies that feature people

experiencing cultures different to their own. An example of this can be

found in a clip from the movie ‘Mr. Baseball’ (YouTube 2000). Students

could be asked to consider how their cultures are different and asked to

compare the cultures with their own. Students could also be asked to

develop strategies for dealing with the cultural differences shown.

Baker

(2012a)

3

Activities that require students to, in English, create their own proverbs,

idioms or expressions can be used to help develop students’ ability to

express themselves using the range of language they have available to

them. As a follow up students could share their proverb, idiom or

Deterding

(2010)

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expression with other groups and explain its meaning.

3

Examples of authentic ELF communication can be taken from the VOICE

corpus website (Univie.ac.at 2011). Students can be asked to listen to

these examples and to identify how interlocutors negotiate meaning

and achieve mutual comprehension through strategies such as

paraphrasing and turn taking.

Murray

(2012)

3

Students could be set tasks that require them to negotiate meaning.

Information sharing activities would be suitable for this as these are

most likely to prompt negotiation of meaning (Foster 1998). This

activity could be recorded and students asked to identify how they

went about negotiating meaning. If there are situations where

communication breaks down students could be asked to create a

solution for avoiding or repairing the breakdown in further instances of

communication.

Murray

(2012)

4

Students should be exposed to as many examples of different L1

speakers of English as possible. There are many places teachers can

look to find these examples, such as:

- Interviews with famous sports stars, for example premier league

stars or Olympic heroes. In South Korea, interviews with stars such

as Yuna Kim and Park Ji Sung can be found or, for more variety, non-

Korean sports stars can be readily found on YouTube, for example

an interview with Jose Mourinho (YouTube, 2013).

- Interviews or speeches from world leaders. In South Korea, Ban Ki

Moon would be a fantastic example to use. Interviews with world

Seidlhofer

(2004)

Kohn

(TBP)

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leaders can again be found on YouTube, for example an interview

with Ban Ki Moon (YouTube, 2000).

- On TED Talks there are talks in English from people all over the

world on a vast range of topics, for example this talk by an Italian

English speaker (Ted.com 2012).

These examples could help South Korean students gain confidence in

their own English as well as develop tolerance of other varieties of

English.

In this section I have evaluated the extent to which the data collected in this study answers the

research questions posed. I have also made suggestions as to how South Korean English language

classrooms may seek to improve students’ ability for international communication. There are important

limitations of this study that must be taken into account when interpreting this data and the

recommendations I draw from it. In the next section I will outline what I feel the main conclusions of

this study are, discuss the limitations that must be taken into account and the contributions I feel this

study can make towards the field of English language teaching.

Section 6. Conclusions, Limitations & Contributions

The role that English plays in international communication has undergone drastic changes,

resulting in the majority of communication in English taking place between NNS. South Korea,

meanwhile, has undergone massive transformations, making the likelihood of South Korean’s

communicating in English with other NNS increasingly high. This research set out to examine the extent

to which South Korean high school students are being prepared for international communication. In

Table 1.3 I extracted the goals of the NEC (MOE 2008) related to international communication, in Table

6.1 (below) I now offer my conclusions as to the relevancy of these goals in meeting the international

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communication needs of South Korean students and whether or not these needs are being reflected in

South Korean high school English classrooms.

Table 6.1: The Relevancy of Curriculum Goals to Students’ Needs and their Application in South

Korean High School Classrooms

Goal Description & Conclusion

1

Developing an understanding of and international appreciation for foreign native and non-native

English speaking cultures (both native and non-native).

Phipps & Guilherme (2004) describe the need for cultural understanding so that, when engaging in

international communication, students have knowledge of what is appropriate in the given

situation. This research has found South Korean High School English classrooms have limited

success in meeting this goal, with only a small number of activities describing and raising awareness

of other cultures in the OC and EC.

2

Developing an understanding of the relationship of and differences between foreign native and non-

native English speaking cultures.

Baker (2012a) explains that in international communication one must be able to compare and

evaluate one’s own behaviours, values and beliefs with that of an interlocutor in order to deal with

the effect culture has on language use. This research finds almost no evidence that South Korean

high school students are being adequately prepared for this.

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3

Developing techniques for students to effectively communicate with both native and non-native

English speakers.

In discussing ELF Seidlhofer (2004), Murray (2012), Deterding (2010) and Kohn (TBP) recommend

developing a number of techniques such as adapting one’s pronunciation, signalling non-

comprehension and paraphrasing. This research finds no evidence to indicate students are being

made aware of either the need for developing these skills or techniques to help them do this. I

conclude that students are being inadequately prepared for this aspect of international

communication.

4

Exposing students to the natural speech of both native and non-native English speakers and

strategies to deal with it.

Seidlhofer (2004), Jenkins (2002) and Kohn (TBP), amongst others, recommend students be made

aware of the varieties of English they are likely to encounter when engaging in international

communication. Jenkins (2000, 2002) and Seidlhofer (2004) also recommend a move away from

relying on a General American accent and Deterding (2010) points out the benefits of this in helping

students develop attainable goals. This research finds no evidence that South Korean high school

classrooms are exposing students to the natural speech of either NS or NNS. I conclude that

students are not being adequately prepared for the type of speech they are likely to encounter in

international communication.

Based on the conclusions in Table 6.1 it is clear that the goals of the National English Syllabus

(MOE 2008) are suitable for developing students’ ability to participate in international communication,

yet these goals are not being reflected in classroom practice. The MOE (2008) states that “the ability to

communicate in English will act as an important bridge connecting different countries, and will be the

driving force in developing our country [South Korea], forming trust among various countries and

cultures.” (Ministry of Education 2008:41) For this goal to be realised a great deal of work needs to be

done. This work must start on a macro level, with changes needed to both the examination system and

the materials used in South Korean high schools. This research does find openness, indeed in some

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cases a desire, from South Korean English teachers to develop students’ ability to communicate with not

only NS, but also NNS of English. With further training it is likely that South Korean English teachers will

develop the confidence and knowledge needed to transform this openness and desire into micro-level

classroom based strategies. Further research would be useful to discover whether prior training has

focused on how the international communication goals can be met in high school classrooms and the

extent to which teachers are aware of these goals.

The implications of this research are important for both classroom teachers and policy makers

within the South Korean educational system. However, there are a number of limitations that have to

be discussed and taken into account. The first issue regards the generalisability of the findings and the

recommended strategies laid out in response to these. The textbook analysis from which the

conclusions were drawn relies on only four textbooks. While efforts were made to make this selection

as representative as possible, it is entirely possible that a school would not use any of the four

textbooks sampled. Given this, it is important that schools review their own textbooks and make

informed decisions as to the appropriacy of these for their context. Schools could use a similar counting

technique using the textbook analysis form found in Appendix 4. In addition to this, the sample of

teachers was, considering the number of High School English teachers in South Korea, relatively small.

Also, all the teachers were from the same school, a high achieving school located in one of the most

affluent areas of Seoul, South Korea. If similar research were to be conducted in rural areas of South

Korea, it is likely that the teachers perceived needs of their students and the challenges they face would

be very different. While similarities can be drawn between the teaching contexts in South Korea and

other countries in East Asia, care must be taken when generalising the strategies laid out in Section 5.3.

I highly recommend teachers use these strategies only as a guideline, in other words, I recommend

these strategies are adapted rather than adopted in other teaching contexts.

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The second issue stems from the fact that this research only concentrates on the opinions of

teachers, yet the opinion of students is also of vital importance. If students do not believe there is a

benefit to, for example, exposure to non-native varieties of English or developing an understanding of

non-native English cultures, they are unlikely to develop their international communication based

competencies. This is an area that is in need of further research as it may well be that, along with the

macro strategies I suggest here, more needs to be done to make students aware of the reasons for and

challenges of becoming competent interlocutors with not only NS, but also NNS. To help with this, it

would also be useful to conduct further research investigating students’ current attitudes towards non-

native varieties of English and how this affects their comprehension. In addition, ELF suggests that one

of the primary goals must be to make students aware that they do not have to succumb to unrealistic

native speaker goals. This research does not shed any light on what the goals of South Korean students

actually are or how this affects their confidence when communicating in English. Further research could

help us to understand the affect current materials are having not only on students’ ability to

communicate, but also their willingness to communicate in English.

One of the contributions of this research is that it can act as a guide for policy makers, textbook

developers and teachers to identify the type of goals and materials that would be useful in developing

South Korean High School students’ abilities to participate in international communication. Furthermore,

I have recommended a systematic method teachers and schools can use to assess the appropriateness

of the materials they are using in their classrooms. This paper can also serve as a platform for debate

regarding the changing needs of South Korean students and the extent to which the South Korean

education system is set up to meet those needs. Finally, I have offered a number of realistic

recommendations that can be directly applied within the current educational framework. These

recommendations are designed to cause minimal interruption to the current system while having the

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potential to significantly improve the extent to which South Korean high school students are prepared

to use the English language as means of international communication.

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – Sample Instruction Sheet & Teachers Survey (next page)

(Please note - This sample has been reformatted to fit formatting of this paper)

Alexander Walsh, (my home address). ([email protected])

Please return via cool messenger or email.

The focus of this questionnaire is to examine the extent to which Korean high school students are

prepared for international communication.

The answers you give will be used to complete my MA TESOL dissertation on this subject.

Your answers will be kept completely anonymous. It is extremely important you answer as accurately

as possible.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to complete this for me.

If you have any concerns you can contact my MA TESOL tutor (Tutors Name) ([email protected])

Alex

mailto:[email protected]

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Section 1 – Personal Details Please fill in the personal details below. Your information will be kept completely anonymous.

Date Click here to enter a date.

Name (optional) Click here to enter text.

Number of years teaching in Korean High Schools Click here to enter text.

Contact email address Click here to enter text.

Section 2 – The Focus of Korean High School English Language Classes Below are a number of goals that may be used in English language classes. Please rate them 1 to 5 using the scale below to indicate: - How much time is spent on this goal in first and second grade high school English language classes. - How important you feel this goal is for student future communicative needs.

Very Low Low Average High Very High 1 2 3 4 5

Goal Current coverage in

English classes

Importance of this goal for future student needs

1) Developing an understanding of native English speaking cultures.

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

2) Developing an understanding of non-native English speaking cultures.

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

3) Improving students’ ability for spoken and written communication in native English speaking countries.

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

4) Improving students’ ability for spoken and written communication in non-native English speaking countries.

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

5) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and native English speaking cultures

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

6) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and other non-native English speaking cultures

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

7) Understanding the pronunciation of native English speakers Choose an item.

Choose an item.

8) Understanding the pronunciation of non-native English speakers

Choose an item.

Choose an item.

9) Exposing students to natural language as used by NS Choose an item.

Choose an item.

10) Exposing students to natural language as used by NNS Choose an item.

Choose an item.

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Is there anything you would like to add? Click here to enter text.

Section 3 – The Communicational Abilities of Korean Students Please indicate in each situation:

- - 1) To what extent are Korean high school graduates prepared to deal with similar situations. -

The situations revolve around Mr Kim, a native Korean university student studying abroad. Please consider the context of Mr Kim’s situation, what Mr Kim is trying to achieve and the sort of language he will need to use. Please note that students are not expected to be in exactly the same situations as Mr Kim, but rather situations that require similar language abilities. Please rate each 1 to 5 using the following scale: Strongly Disagree Disagree Average Agree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5

1) Students are prepared for similar situations.

1) Mr Kim is discussing (face to face) a time and place to meet with a Brazilian team member. Due to the difference in accents they are finding it difficult to understand each other, however they have to come to an understanding of when and where they will meet.

Choose an item.

2) Mr Kim is at a party chatting with a group of friends from around the world. In the conversation he wants to use an English idiom, but he can’t remember the exact usage. He still wants to try and use the idiom, but he will have to do so in his own words.

Choose an item.

3) Mr Kim has been set a university assignment to complete with a French speaker of English. The French speaker is much younger than Mr Kim and speaks very casually to Mr Kim even when late for appointments, even though this is normal for students in France, Mr Kim is getting upset.

Choose an item.

4) Mr Kim is studying at a university in Sweden, he has got in serious trouble with his tutor who is visibly upset and questioning Mr Kim about his behaviour. His tutor wants an explanation, but Mr Kim is standing silently looking at the ground.

Choose an item.

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5) In completing a project Mr Kim is trying to explain his opinion on the project, some of the team members are finding it difficult to understand his vocabulary choices, Mr Kim needs to adapt his English to make it easier for them.

Choose an item.

6) One of the other project members is explaining their opinion, Mr Kim is finding it difficult to understand and wants to indicate this to the speaker in a polite manner.

Choose an item.

7) Mr Kim is involved in a group discussion, many people are talking and he wants to give his opinion in the discussion.

Choose an item.

8) Mr Kim gives his opinion, but he notices some of the other students are finding it difficult to understand his pronunciation, Mr Kim wants to adapt his pronunciation to make it easier for them.

Choose an item.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Click here to enter text.

Section 4 – The following have been identified as possible challenges teachers face when preparing students for international communication (communication in English with both native and other NNS). To what extent do you believe Korean high school teachers face these challenges? Please rate each 1 to 5 using the following scale: Strongly Disagree Disagree Average Agree Strongly Agree 1 2 3 4 5

1) Reading comprehension and grammar based examinations.

Choose an item.

2) Large class sizes

Choose an item.

3) Lack of appropriate materials in textbooks.

Choose an item.

4) Lack of time to prepare additional materials.

Choose an item.

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5) Students attitude towards non-native English.

Choose an item.

6) Students English proficiency.

Choose an item.

7) Students lack of motivation to improve their ability for international communication.

Choose an item.

8) Lack of training in appropriate teaching methods.

Choose an item.

9) Are there any you challenges I have missed?


Part 2

Could you share any strategies you use successfully to prepare your students for international communication?




As I stated, the opinion of Korean public school teachers is extremely important to me and this research. If I need to ask any more questions, would it be possible to speak face to face about the issues covered in this questionnaire?

Choose an item.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions accurately, it really is

appreciated. If you would like a copy of the finished research project please feel free to ask via

([email protected]) or cool messenger.

Alex

mailto:[email protected]

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Appendix 2 – Examples of Textbook Evaluation Categorisation

Example 1 – Curriculum Goal 1 & 2: Developing an understanding of native/non-native

speaker cultures

This activity was deemed to meet goals 1 & 2 as it presents students with knowledge regarding

the traits of both native and non-native speaking cultures. However, this was not deemed as developing

an appreciation for these cultural traits as it does not encourage students to form an opinion on them

or shed them in either a positive or negative light.

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Example 2 – Curriculum Goal 4: Developing an Appreciation of non-native English speaking

cultures

I chose to provide the above example as it represents one of the more difficult decisions that

was made in the process of counting activities and deciding whether they meet curriculum goals. In this

example, we can see that the activity is drawing students’ attention to perceived cultural traits of

African culture, and, in my opinion, trying to portray them in a positive manner. However, there are a

number of issues. The first is that it presents a generic stereotype of culture in the whole of Africa,

secondly it is questionable as to whether the images shown are an accurate portrayal of modern

‘African’ culture, and thirdly it can be considered to be reinforcing negative stereotypes of ‘African’

culture. However, it was decided that although they are extremely important issues that need

researching and documenting in their own right, with regards to this study, this activity does ‘develop

an appreciation’ for a non-native speaking culture.

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Example 3 – Curriculum Goal 6 (&2): Understanding the difference between Korean

culture and non-native English speaking cultures.

Activity D shows an example of students being asked to compare Korean culture with that of

Finland, this can be considered to meet Goal 6. In this evaluation it happened to be that all the activities

that met either Goal 5 or 6 were preceded by an activity that met Goal 1 or 2. However, for an activity

to meet Goal 5 or 6 it was not considered a prerequisite that it should, or would, also meet Goal 1 or 2.

For example, if an activity had asked students to, from their own background knowledge, consider a

cultural trait of Chinese people and compare this to a cultural trait of Korea, this would not have been

considered ‘developing’ their knowledge of the culture as the students already held the knowledge. It

would however be considered to be developing students’ knowledge of the difference between Chinese

and Korean culture by stimulating that thought process.

Furthermore, while the teacher briefly mentions the effect Finnish culture has on the

pragmatics of their language use, the activities miss an important opportunity to draw students’

awareness to this. Therefore it cannot be regarded as developing students understanding of the

relationship between culture and language.

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Example 4 – Curriculum Goal 12 – Developing students’ ability to share South Korean

culture.

Goal 12 was one of the easiest to assess. However, to qualify as ‘developing students’ ability’ the

activity had to either provide students with language or techniques they could use to share South

Korean culture or provide them with the opportunity to practice sharing South Korean culture. In the

example above we can see in Activity A students were provided with useful language, while in Activity B

they were given an opportunity to practice describing Korean cultural events in English.

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Appendix 3 – Sample Consent Form

The Use of English as a Lingua Franca and Inter-Cultural Communication Teaching Strategies in

Preparing Students for International Communication The Preparation of South Korean High School

Students for International Communication

Supervisors: Dr. Paul Knight

Researcher: Alex Walsh

1. Purpose

To examine the extent to which South Korean high school students are being prepared for international

communication in South Korean high schools.

2. Method and amount of time required

(1) Questionnaire, about 20 minutes

3. Benefits to the participant

This research will contribute to the improvement and development of English Education in South Korea

by providing insight into the needs of students and how the education of South Korean high school

students can be improved.

4. Risks to the participant

There is no mental or physical risk to the participant by participating in the research.

5. Confidentiality and anonymity

The questionnaires will be kept for the purpose of analysis; they, however, will not be leaked to

outsiders. All the information will be used for research purpose only and all the records will be

destroyed after writing up the thesis. All information will be kept completely anonymous.

6. Voluntary participation

The participation in this research is voluntary, and if you do not participate or withdraw your

participation, it will not bring you any disadvantages.

If you have any questions about this questionnaire and paper, please contact Alex Walsh

[email protected]

Thank you very much in advance for your cooperation.

I have read this consent form and was given the opportunity to have enough explanation, and followed

the gist of the research. Based on that, I agree to participate in this research.

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Participant’s signature

Date

* You do not need to fill in the blanks below.

Researcher’s signature

Date

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Appendix 4 – Textbook Analysis Form

Textbook Analysis

Nationality of

Characters

Instances

Variation of Accents

Number

Location of Dialog

Korea Inner-Circle

Outer-Circle

Expanding Circle

Multitude

Fictional Unknown

Instances

Communication

Participants (based on

NS-NS NS-NNS (K)

NS – NNS (NK) +

(K)

NS – NNS (NK)

NNS (K) – NNS

(K)

NNS (K) – NNS (NK)

IC – IC OC – OC EC - EC

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variation of accent)

Instances

Syllabus

Goal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Instances

Syllabus Goals

1) Developing an understanding of native English speaking cultures. (p.42/p.43/p.44/p.55/p.60) 2) Developing an appreciation of native English speaking cultures. (p.42/p.43/p.44/p.55/p.60) 3) Developing an understanding of non-native English speaking cultures. (p.42/p.43/p.55/p.60) 4) Developing an appreciation of non-native English speaking cultures. (p.42/p.43/p.55/p.60) 5) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and native English speaking cultures. (p.43)/(p.63) 6) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and other non-native English speaking cultures. (p.43)/(p.63) 7) Ability for students to effectively communicate in everyday life with native English speakers. (p.43) 8) Ability for students to effectively communicate in in everyday life with non-native English

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speakers. (p.43) 9) Ability for students to understand the natural speech of native English speakers (p.45/p.60) 10) Ability for students to understand the natural speech of non-native English speakers (p.45/p.60)

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Appendix 5 – Pilot Textbook Analysis Form

Textbook Analysis

Nationality of Characters

Instances

Number of words from

each country

Number

Location of

Dialog Korea Inner-

Circle Outer-Circle

Expanding Circle

Multitude Fictional Unknown

Instances

Communication Participants

NS-NS

NS-NNS (K)

NS – NNS

(NK) + (K)

NS – NNS (NK)

NNS (K) – NNS

(K)

NNS (K) – NNS (NK)

IC – IC OC – OC

EC - EC

Instances

Syllabus Goal 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

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Instances

Syllabus Goals

1) Understanding the necessity to communicate in English 2) Being able to effectively communicate in daily life about general topics. 3) Developing an understanding of native English speaking cultures. 4) Developing an appreciation of native English speaking cultures. 5) Developing an understanding of non-native English speaking cultures. 6) Developing an appreciation of non-native English speaking cultures. 5) Ability for spoken and written communication in native English speaking countries. 6) Ability for spoken and written communication in non-native English speaking countries. 7) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and native English speaking cultures 8) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and other non-native English speaking cultures 9) Understanding the pronunciation of native English speakers 10) Understanding the pronunciation of non-native English speakers 11) Exposing students to natural language as used by native speakers 12) Exposing students to natural language as used by non-native speakers

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Appendix 6 – Pilot Teacher Survey

Section 1 – Personal Details Please fill in the personal details below. Your information will be kept completely anonymous.

Date Click here to enter a date.

Name Click here to enter text.

Number of years teaching in Korean High Schools Click here to enter text.

Contact email address Click here to enter text.

Section 2 – The Focus of Korean High School English Language Text Books Below are a number of goals for Korean high school English education taken from the Ministry of Education’s National Syllabus (2008).

- 1) How much coverage do you feel the textbook you use give to each goal? 2) How important do you feel this syllabus goal is to meet students’ future communicational needs in English? Please rate each 1 to 5 using the following scale: Very Low Low Average High Very High 1 2 3 4 5

Syllabus Goal Current coverage in textbooks

Importance of this goal to meet future student needs

1) Understanding the necessity to communicate in English

Choose an item. Choose an item.

2) Being able to effectively communicate in daily life about general topics.


3) Developing an understanding of native English speaking cultures.


4) Developing an appreciation of native English speaking cultures.


5) Developing an understanding of non-native English speaking cultures.


6) Developing an appreciation of non-native English speaking cultures.


5) Ability for spoken and written communication in native English speaking countries.


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6) Ability for spoken and written communication in non-native English speaking countries.


7) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and native English speaking cultures


8) Understanding the differences between Korean culture and other non-native English speaking cultures


9) Understanding the pronunciation of native English speakers


10) Understanding the pronunciation of non-native English speakers


11) Exposing students to natural language as used by native speakers


12) Exposing students to natural language as used by non-native speakers


Is there anything you would like to add? Click here to enter text.

Section 3 – The Communicational Needs of Korean Students Please indicate in each situation:

- - 1) To what extent to which Korean high school graduates are prepared to deal with similar

situations. - - 2) How important do you believe preparing Korean students for similar situations should be in

Korean high schools? The situations revolve around Mr Kim, a native Korean university student studying abroad. Please rate each 1 to 5 using the following scale: Very Low Low Average High Very High 1 2 3 4 5

1) Students are prepared for similar situations.

2) How important should preparing students for similar situations be?

1) Mr Kim is discussing (face to face) a time and place to meet with a Brazilian team member, due to the difference in accents they are finding it difficult to understand each other, however they have to come to an understanding of when and where they will meet.


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2) Mr Kim is at a party chatting with a group of friends from around the world. In the conversation he wants to use an English idiom, but he can’t remember the exact usage. He still wants to try and use the idiom, but he will have to do so in his own words.


3) Mr Kim has been set a university assignment to complete with a French speaker of English. The French speaker is much younger than Mr Kim and speaks very casually to Mr Kim even when late for appointments, even though this is normal for students in France, Mr Kim is getting upset.


4) Mr Kim is studying at a university in Sweden, he has got in serious trouble with his tutor who is visibly upset and questioning Mr Kim about his behaviour. His tutor wants an explanation, but Mr Kim is stood silently looking at the ground.


5) In completing a project Mr Kim is trying to explain his opinion on the project, some of the team members are finding it difficult to understand his vocabulary choices, Mr Kim needs to adapt his English to make it easier for them.


6) One of the other project members is explaining their opinion, Mr Kim is finding it difficult to understand and wants to indicate this to the speaker in a polite manner.


7) Mr Kim is involved in a group discussion, many people are talking and he wants to give his opinion in the discussion.


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8) Mr Kim gives his opinion, but he notices some of the other students are finding it difficult to understand his pronunciation, Mr Kim wants to adapt his pronunciation to make it easier for them.




Section 4 – Helping students improve their ability to communicate in English with people from around the world. As part of this project I will be making recommendations as to how Korean students can be better prepared for global communication. It is very important to me that I have the opinions of Korean teachers in the proposals. I would like to ask you two things: - Which of the following do you currently use supplementary materials for to help prepare students for global communication? - What strategies do you believe could be realistically used in Korean classrooms to help prepare students for global communication?

Part 1

Do you currently use supplementary materials for this?

Do you think this type of activity is possible in Korean high schools and why?

1) Incorporating listening activities that use a range of both native and non-native accents from around the world.

Choose an item. Click here to enter text.

2) Listening activities that use difficult accents and ask students to pick out words they can understand then use these to guess meanings.


3) Dictation activities that require students to


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work together to understand each other’s scripts encouraging easy to follow pronunciation. 4) Showing students examples of cultural misunderstandings through video and analysing how and why the misunderstanding occurred.


5) Listening to group conversations and asking students to pick out how speakers begin and end their speech so students understand how this differs in different languages.


Part 2

Could you share any strategies you use successfully to prepare your students for global communication?


What factors prohibit you from supplementing textbook material?




As I stated, the opinion on Korean public school teachers is extremely important to me and this research. If I need to ask any more questions, would it be possible to speak face to face about the issues covered in this questionnaire?

Choose an item.

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Appendix 7 – Using context and background information to identify the nationality of

characters

In this activity there was no mention of the male speaker’s nationality in the listening and due to the use

of voice actors it was not possible to tell his nationality from his accent. However, in the images we can

see the Statue of Liberty in the background and so, in this case, it was presumed that the speaker was

intended to be American and therefore marked as such.

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