EFL teachers’ journey from ELF-aware perceptions to ELF-aware teaching

Abstract

EFL classrooms have traditionally promoted a native-speaker perspective associated with standard British and/or American English, along with these nationalistic views of culture. This viewpoint has been perpetuated by (inter)national textbook publishers, often limiting learners’ exposure to other varieties and cultures where English is used to communicate across different scenarios. Although EFL teachers widely recognize the use of ELF in many domains, the difficulty remains in how to implement ELF-aware lessons in their contexts. Consequently, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses can play a key role in promoting greater awareness of ELF and how ELF awareness may be implemented to equip learners for real-life communication. This article focuses on the initial modules of the CPD course developed by the ENRICH Erasmus+ project, and explores ELF, identity and use, ownership, Standard vs. Non-standard English, intercultural communication, among other relevant concepts. Subsequently, some practical examples of ELF-aware tasks are presented. Ranging across different educational levels, these samples illustrate ELF-aware tasks where issues of linguistic and cultural diversity are promoted. Additionally, this article examines Portuguese teachers’ feedback from the CPD course, with the purpose of gauging their overall understanding of ELF and ELF-awareness in ELT.