Development of Language Ideologies in the training of pre-service English Language Teachers from an ELF perspective

21 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

University of Lleida

Department

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures

Research Field

Language sciences » Languages

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Spain

Application Deadline

1 Apr 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Andorra)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

37.5

Offer Starting Date

1 Jun 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

The ELFING project, at the interdisciplinary crossroads of applied and educational linguistics and pedagogy, aims to generate new knowledge concerning language conceptualizations, linguistic ideologies and identities of pre-service English teachers, departing from their multilingual repertoires and language competences and taking into consideration all agents involved in their academic and prospective professional trajectories (policy-makers, academic staff, English-language trainers and professionals). Our goals are to: (1) offer a holistic understanding of the processes and practices that make it possible for them to develop a complex appreciation of the uses, roles and meanings of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF); (2) unpack their ideologies in the dynamic complex continuum along either the prevailing native-oriented ideologies or ELF-aware learning/teaching attitudes, at times with ambivalent and contradictory perspectives; and (3) provide a rationale accounting for their evolving teacher identities and self-concepts, taking into consideration the external contextual factors (e.g., classroom input, curricular materials, assessment, English level) and the internal psychological aspects (emotions, cognitions, behaviors, motivations) with which their traineeship development takes place. ELFING has an innovative contrastive focus, as it is the first study which compares the results regarding English-language ideologies and self-concepts obtained in two different contexts, a Catalan/Spanish bilingual university (U. de Lleida, UdL) and a Spanish monolingual university (U. de Málaga, UMA), tracing the university students transformations in their sociolinguistic perceptions of ELF cross-sectionally, in each of the four years of study of the BA in English Studies (ES) as well as in the year of study of the MAs in ES and English Language Teaching (ELT) in both settings, reaching the entire population in an unprecedented manner.
ELFING is grounded on an interpretivist-constructivist perspective of knowledge generation and follows a mixed-methods approach that solidly combines quantitative and qualitative data: pre-/post surveys to all students in each year; 54 students interviews and focus groups; 21 lecturers and 8 mentors interviews; and classroom observations of 28 selected critical courses (for both settings). Our theoretical standpoint is that the normative monolingual, nativespeakerist approach to standard English ideologies and praxes in preservice teacher training prevails over the multilingual views of plurilithic repertoires and local/global valuations involving English varieties that our ELF approach entails. We hypothesize that initial English learners are often guided by the former conception of the English language, but that advanced learners, who experience demanding intercultural communicative situations, may develop an understanding of the primary role of communication in lingua franca contexts and a critical (resistant) distancing from it, engaging with more globalminded views of the latter ELF-mediated ideologies, albeit with some pervasive dependence on native-speaker models. Overall, ELFING will provide a sound empirical basis and strong support to renew traditional practices and hegemonic monolingual/nativespeaker-based contents in Higher Education, in the English-language domain, that may promote a critical focus on ELF and ultimately increase teachers awareness and contribute to the improvement of ELT.

Requirements

Research Field

Language sciences » Languages

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Candidates should have a language-related BA and MA.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Excellent

Languages

SPANISH

Level

Good

Languages

CATALAN

Level

Basic

Research Field

Language sciences » Languages

Years of Research Experience

None

Additional Information
Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Universitat de Lleida

Country

Spain

State/Province

Lleida

City

Lleida

Postal Code

25003

Street

P. Victor Siurana 1

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

State/Province

-- SELECT A PROVINCE --

City

Lleida

Website

http://www.udl.cat/ca/

Street

Alcalde Porqueres 45

Postal Code

25008

E-Mail

[email protected]

Phone

(+34)973703189

STATUS: EXPIRED