Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION
1
language model that refers to native speakers has taken root in the world of
education. In terms of materials, the publishers of English-teaching materials tend
to prefer either American or British English as the standard because it allows them
to produce materials that can be used in markets all around the world. Due to the
fact that a native speaker is often the role model in these materials, there is a
resulting tendency to promote the native speaker as the standard for all teachers
and students to follow (Kirkpatrick, 2006).
The English teaching model which is oriented towards native speakers has
a weakness because in reality students will use English not only with native
speakers but more with non-native speakers. In other words, students are more
likely to use English in a lingua franca context. This is based on the premise that
because currently there are more non-native English users than native speakers,
the application of native speaker norms in teaching English is less justified,
because it is unnecessary and unrealistic (Jenkins, 2000). It is therefore necessary
to expose students to other varieties of English to counter the notion that one
model of English is the correct model (Matsuda & Friedrich, 2011). However,
teaching English has not offered students or exposed students to the use of
English in the context of a lingua franca. This also has implication in assessment
where a student will be assessed for his English skills as if he were a native
speaker of that language. There are also some researchers who believe that a
student is better served by learning a “standard form” of English so that he/she
will be understood in any part of the world where English is used (Quirk, 1985).
Teachers as curriculum implementers can actually innovate by adapting
the material contained in textbooks. Adaptation can be done by providing an
alternative model of English used in the context of the lingua franca. According to
(Seidlhofer, 1999) in daily practice, most teachers and students in developing
countries where English is taught as a foreign language are exposed to materials
and messages that promote native speaker norms as ideals. As a facilitator of
cross-cultural communication, teachers must introduce various variants of English
and teach students to appreciate and understand linguistic differences in global
communication. Because students must learn to use English for real-life
2
communication and learn how to communicate with other non-native English
speakers. However, not much is known about the extent to which teachers know
and understand the use of English in a lingua franca context and their attitudes
about the importance of teaching it to students.
Teaching is a cognitive activity that is manifested by what the teacher
knows, believes, and thinks. (Borg, 2003) describes this cognitive dimension as
“teachers are active, thinking decision-makers who make instructional choices by
constructing networks of knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs that are practically
oriented, personal, and context sensitive”. As an intangible teaching dimension;
teacher cognition is defined as “teacher reflections before or during tenure; beliefs
and knowledge about teaching, students, and content as well as an awareness of
problem-solving strategies that are endemic to classroom teaching” (Kagan,
1992). Not much is known about teacher cognition because most of it is
perception. The teacher's perception of English as a lingua franca involves an
understanding that this language is a means of communication in the era of
globalization. For teachers, what is important is ensuring that students have the
ability to communicate effectively and fluently in English in order to interact with
diverse cultures and participate in an international environment. What is not
important is emphasizing accents or perfect grammar rules, instead teachers need
to encourage students to build confidence and understand that the main purpose of
using English is to convey messages clearly and efficiently to others. Therefore, it
is necessary to analyze the cognition of prospective English teachers towards
English as a lingua franca (ELF).
A number of studies have been conducted regarding prospective teachers
and English as the Lingua Franca. For example, (Jati, Fauziati, & Tarjana, 2000)
investigate prospective teacher's trust in ELF and its implications for teaching
English (ELT). The results of this study indicate that there is a greater preference
for prospective teachers towards ENL (English as a Native Language) norms in
the learning context. In addition, most teacher candidates prefer ELF over ENL to
get good communication results in informal contexts. This study also revealed that
most of the prospective teachers were not familiar with the concept of ELF. In
3
addition, (Curran & Chern, 2017) investigated the attitude of prospective English
teachers in Taiwan with English majors, graduate students, students studying
English, and apprentices having to use English as a lingua franca. The results of
the study show differences about native English speakers as role models and the
importance of exposure to various English languages. Apprentices and teacher
candidates majoring in English expressed higher expectations of achieving native-
like proficiency, whereas postgraduate students were neutral in their responses to
most of the items in the survey, and students studying English showed less
reliance on native speaker models.
These studies have investigated the attitudes and beliefs of graduated
students and under graduated student who are perspective English. In this study
the researcher focused on ELF cognition in attitudes and beliefs of pre-service
English teachers. This cognition is important for prospective teachers because it
involves what a teacher believes and what attitude he has about ELF. However
little is knows about the attitudes and beliefs of pre-service English teacher
attending teacher professional education program regarding English as a Lingua
Franca. The benefits of pre-service teacher cognition are thing for thought about
English teacher education programs such as enabling curriculum development that
is more suited to student needs, selecting effective teaching methods, and creating
an inclusive learning environment that encourages cross-cultural communication.
This research was conducted on prospective teachers to improve the teaching and
learning of English in educational settings. Therefore, the purpose of this research
is to focus on investigating the cognition of pre-service English teachers who are
still in the process of forming character through Teacher Professional Education
towards English as a lingua franca (ELF), because a good understanding will help
them in teaching approaches that are in accordance with their needs.
This research will be conducted on pre-service teacher who are
participating in the Teacher Professional Education for the 2022/2023 academic
year. The purpose of this study is to determine the pre-service English teacher's
cognition about English as a Lingua Franca. So that we can find out how the pre-
service English teachers think about understanding English as a Lingua Franca.
4
1.2 Research Question
In relation with the description above, the research problems that can be
formulated in this question is: What are the attitudes and beliefs of pre-service
English teachers attending teacher professional education program regarding
English as a Lingua Franca?
1.3 Objective of the Study
The objective of the study is to find out the attitudes and beliefs of pre-
service English teachers attending teacher professional education program
regarding English as a Lingua Franca.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The author hopes that the results of this research can be contributed below,
thus, the meaning of the research has two things, namely theoretically and
practically.
1. Theoretically
By conducting this research, it is hoped that this research can provide benefits
to improve the teaching and learning of English for certain purposes.
2. Practically
For future researchers, these findings can serve as a reference for the same
theme, especially for those who are interested in researching pre-service
teacher cognition in English as the Lingua Franca. The author hopes that this
research can be used as a source of information, especially for those who are
interested in this topic and hopefully readers can also learn something new
from this research.
1.5 Scope of Study
In this study, researcher will only focus on cognition, namely the attitudes
and beliefs of pre-service English teachers regarding English as a lingua franca
who are participating in Teacher Professional Education program for the
2022/2023 academic year.
1.6 Definition of Term
There are some terms that would be used in this study in order clarification
to avoid misconception.
5
1. Pre-Service Teachers
Pre-service teachers are also known as teacher candidates who attended
undergraduate teacher education (Andani, 2019). Pre-service teachers are
students who have graduated from an English degree who have taken part in a
teacher training program and after that will teach at school.
2. Cognition
According to (Borg, 2012) defines teacher cognition as "the cognitive
dimension non-observable teaching" includes what the teacher knows, believes,
and thinks. Cognition in this study refers to a teacher's beliefs and attitude.
3. English as a Lingua Franca
English as a lingua franca (ELF) refers to English being used as an
international contact language among people ‘from varying linguacultural
backgrounds, where both the community of speakers and the location can be
changing and are often not associated with a specific nation’ (Cogo, 2009).
6
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The Global Users of English
2.1.1 Three categories of English user
There are three types of English speaker in the world today, each with a
different relationship with the language. First-language (L1) speakers are
those for whom English is a first and often only language. These native
speakers live, for the most part, in countries in which the dominant culture is
based around English. These countries, however, are experiencing increasing
linguistic diversity as a result of immigration. Second language (L2) speakers
have English as a second or additional language, placing English in a
repertoire of languages where each is used in different contexts. Speakers
here might use a local form of English, but may also be fluent in international
varieties. The third group of English speakers are the growing number of
people learning English as a foreign language (EFL).
In light of the above discussion, ELF is used in this study to refer to the
use of English as a contact language by speakers who do not share a first
language, regardless of which their native language. (Kachru, 1985)
visualized the spread of English in three circles: the inner circle (or the
native-speaking countries) that is, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New
Zealand, the outer circle (or former British colonies where English is used as
a second language) such as India and Singapore, and the expanding circle (the
rest of the world, which comprises the biggest number of speakers of English,
who learn it as a foreign language) such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.