Teaching through ELF at international post-secondary institutions. A case study at United World Colleges
Abstrakt
This chapter summarizes the results of a study focussed on the use of English at the United World Colleges (UWCs), i.e. globally based, pre-university schools educating students from over 140 countries through the medium of English (Content and Language Integrated Learning; CLIL). We report results of questionnaire surveys distributed among UWC students and teachers and direct observations of teaching practices.
The analysis of the results reveals that due to the linguistically and culturally liberal school culture, written and unwritten language policies and classroom techniques employed by both teachers and students, UWC students possess a high a level of linguistic awareness (LA) and linguistic sensitivity. We explore what attitudes to language use and (non)-native speakers and other factors foster the overall efficient use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in this international multilingual setting.
Finally, pedagogical implications of our findings and their applicability at other international institutions are discussed.