this article examines current trends in the teaching of
listening and speaking and highlights some of
the most important terminology used in
contemporary professional discourse.
Acquiring good listening and speaking skills in English are
the main concern of many second and foreign language
learners, and today's English teacher needs to be well versed
in current approaches to the teaching of the aural/oral skills.
In this paper, current trends in the teaching of listening and
speaking will be examined and some of the most important
terminology that is used in contemporary professional
discourse about each issue will be highlighted.
Purposes for learning English
Today, like it or not, English is the language of globalization,
international communication, commerce and trade,
the media and pop culture, and this affects motivations for
learning it. English is no longer viewed as the property of
the English-speaking world but is an international
commodity sometimes referred to as World English or English
as an International Language. The cultural values of Britain
and the US are often seen as irrelevant to language teaching,
except in situations where the learner has a pragmatic need for
such information. The language teacher need no longer be
an expert on British and American culture and a literature
specialist as well. English is still promoted as a tool that will
assist with educational and economic advancement but is
viewed in many parts of the world as one that can be acquired
without any of the cultural trappings that go with it.
Proficiency in English is needed for employees to advance in
international companies and improve their technical
knowledge and skills. It provides a foundation for what has
been called 'process skills' – those problem-solving and
critical thinking skills that are needed to cope with the rapidly
changing environment of the workplace, one where English
is playing an increasingly important role.
Traditionally the target for learning was assumed to be
a native-speaker variety of English and it was the native
speaker's culture, perceptions, and speech that were crucial in
setting goals for English teaching. The native speaker had
a privileged status as 'owners of the language, guardians of its
standards, and arbiters of acceptable pedagogic norms'
(Jenkins 2000: 5). Today local varieties of English such as
Filipino English and Singapore English are firmly
established as a result of indigenization, and in contexts where
English is a foreign language there is less of a pressure to turn
foreign-language speakers of English (Koreans, Taiwanese,
Japanese etc) into mimics of native speaker English, be it an American, British, or Australian variety. The extent to
which a learner seeks to speak with a native-like accent and
sets this as his or her personal goal, is a personal one. It is not
necessary to try to eradicate the phonological influences of
the mother tongue nor to seek to speak like a native speaker.
Jennifer Jenkins in her recent book argues that received
pronunciation (RP) is an unattainable and an unnecessary
target for second language learners, and she proposes
a phonological syllabus that maintains core phonological
distinctions but is a reduced inventory from RP.
A pronunciation syllabus for English as an International
Language would thus not be a native-speaker variety but
would be a phonological core that would provide for
phonological intelligibility but not seek to eradicate
the influence of the mother tongue.