239803 Teaching English around the World (S) (SoSe 2014)

In this seminar we will discuss the implications arising from the status of English as the world's most widespread lingua franca and the use of English in various language communities as an additional language.

Not only variation in structure and phonology but also cultural differences between the English speaking communities worldwide suggest a revision of existing limitations of language teaching.

In this seminar you will be able to connect linguistic knowledge and concepts from variational linguistics with considerations for language teaching. We will look at different varieties of English and contexts in which English is used and try to draft teaching units that prepare learners of English for a linguistic reality that goes beyond the horizon set by the token role models from the UK and US which you find in most textbooks for L2 learners.

This course is an alternative to
- "Teaching Specific Domains of English Language Competence" in the old BA and MEd programs (PM8)
- "Teaching English Language" in the new BA programs (PM1)