TEACHING ENGLISH TO BOUNDARY CROSSERS

Leona Bunting
Department of Applied IT
University of Gothenburg
Sweden

BACKGROUND

• Students learn English in school from about age 9
• Meet English before then:
• TV, music, videoclips, digital games
• FL or L2?
• Teachers have to handle this situation

AIM

• How teachers say they organize their teaching of English
• Considering the intersection of school and out-of-school practices
• What is a competent language user?
• Is English a FL or L2?
• Can this be linked to their pedagogical design and content?

THE STUDY

• 13 teachers of English in years 4-6
• Work experience 1,5 - 27 years
• 1 independent school, 1 special needs class, 1 preparatory class
• Individual interviews with clustered questions

ANALYTIC TOOL

• Boundary (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011)
• Boundary crossing: interactions between contexts
• Boundary objects: can establish continuity across boundaries

RESULTS

People who want and dare to communicate and who understand the language and spontaneously can make themselves understood.

RESULTS

Untitled Slide

• Teachers emphasize contextualized learning
• by contrasting it to the fragmented
• "You begin with texts earlier and learning a whole and not just loose words."

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

• Teachers' answers concern classroom practice
• Media & ICT- students define content
• Textbook on its way out?
• Social resources- the world in the classroom

Untitled Slide

• Teachers conscious of students' boundary crossing
• Many pedagogical resources also cross boundaries
• Social resources cross both socio-cultural and national boundaries

Untitled Slide

• 12 of 13 answers state English is a L2
• This is reflected in what the teachers say they do in the classroom
• Process of change

CONCLUSION

• What goes on in society resonates in school
• English used increasingly out of school =>
• Teachers change their teaching=>
• Subject changes
• Teachers use media & ICT to bridge the boundary

THANK YOU!