A synthesis of the plenary speeches given at TESOL 2011 New Orleans for The International Center for English faculty in our brown bag series TESOL to TICE.

1. Elisabeth ChanThe International Center for EnglishArkansas State UniversityApril 20, 2011 Examining the “E” in TESOLBringing the plenary themes into focus Presenting TESOL 2011to TICE

2. What is English? What is “good” English? What is “bad” English? Who owns English? Whose English is “correct”? Examine that “E”!

3. Thelma MeléndezProviding a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners Alastair PennycookTeaching English as Something Other Than Language Jennifer JenkinsEnglish as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard” James R. Martin and Christian MatthiessenModelling and Mentoring: Teaching and Learning From Home Through School Tracey Derwing, Helen Fraser, Okim Kang, Ron ThomsonL2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention Walt WolframExposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge Shondel NeroClassroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy

4. Power and Discrimination

5. What are we involved in when we teach English? Teaching English as Something Other Than Language

6. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) World Englishes Inner Circle: American, British, Australian Outer Circle: India, Singapore, Nigeria, Philippines Expanding Circle: etc. English & Globalization are myths Rethink what English is English is LOCAL and what is IN PRACTICE Locality

7. What is “standard” English? What is correct? Acceptable? Who decides? Language changes over time Why is English “sacred”? Why are some changes more acceptable? Furnitures or Informationsversus Coffees or Accomodations Why insist on close adherence to NS models when it causes problems? Should Italians spend time on “th” if they’re speaking to Russians who also can’t pronounce “th”? English as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard”

8. Future of English International Lingua Franca, not owned by native speakers

9. Ken asked Tom for help with his English homework. Who is Ken? Who is Tom?

10. Native Speaker vsNon-native Speaker Often racialized Othering

11. The images areracialized andperpetuate thestereotype of aCaucasian asbeing the owneror giver ofEnglish Images from top 4 websites that come up with keywords “learn english now”

12. ACCENT ≠ COMPREHENSIBILITY (listener effort) ACCENT ≠ INTELLIGIBILITY (how much listener understands) Ethical? AZ Law removes teachers with accents /b/ vs /v/…/t/ vs /θ/ - low functional load 12+ states remove ITA’s with accents Study: weak teaching skills > accent Accent reduction/modification programs L2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention

13. Study 1: P’s listened to clips of people speaking, and then answered: what country the speaker was from characteristics about speaker (powerful, intelligent?) how confident they were in their own answers Study 2: P’s listened to clips of people speaking, accompanied by a picture, then answered: whether the person spoke with an accent how comprehensible the person was Study 3: P’s spent time with NNS ITA’s for just one hour with a pre and post survey on comprehensibility competency as instructors Listener Bias

14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84k2iM30vbY&feature=player_embedded The North Carolina Language and Life Project Focus on regional, social, ethnic varieties of English Outreach programs Voices of North Carolina Dialect Awareness Curriculum To develop a respect for the systematic patterning of all language varieties To develop an appreciation for the link between historical development and language To develop an awareness and appreciation for the connection between language and culture To gain authentic knowledge about how dialects pattern To develop an awareness and appreciation of other ways of speaking Exposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge

15. A variety of Englishes have emerged worldwide, yet current educational practices generally do not allow students' creole or vernacular varieties of English in the classroom. Standard English as a Second Dialect (SESD) If you look at what we call Standard English today, you’ll see that its spoken and written forms are changing as we speak. No matter how much we deny or discourage the existence of students’ vernaculars in the classroom, they are there. They don’t go away; they are part of students’ identities. Classroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy

16. using students’ vernaculars and various World Englishes as springboards for literacy development; giving students opportunities to research linguistic diversity in their own communities; and using contrastive approaches to help students distinguish vernacular and standardized language features in helpful ways. Productive Avenues

17. Do you speak American? http://www.pbs.org/cgi-registry/mediaplayer/videoplayer.cgi?playertype=windowsmedia&speed=hi&;playeraddress=videoplayer.cgi;media=/speak/jeapardy36.rm,/speak/jeapardy220.rm,/speak/jeopardy36.wmv,/speak/jeopardy220.wmv;title=Jeopardy;play=

18. What is English? What is “good” English? What is “bad” English? Who owns English? Whose English is “correct”? Continue Examining that “E”!

19. Derwing, T., Fraser, H., Kang, O., & Thomson, R. (2011, March). L2 Accent and Ethics: Issues That Merit Attention. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Jenkins, J. (2011, March). English as a Lingua Franca: Challenging the “Standard”. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Macneil/Lehrer Productions (2005). Do You Speak American? Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/speak/ Meléndez, T. (2011, March). Providing a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Nero, S. (2011, March). Classroom Encounters With Caribbean Creole English: Language, Identities, and Pedagogy. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Pennycook, A. (2011, March). Teaching English as Something Other Than Language. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Wolfram, W. (2011, March). Exposing Sociolinguistic Variation: The TESOL Challenge. Plenary presented at the TESOL Convention, New Orleans, LA. Wu, A. (2010). Shondel Nero: NNEST of the Month. Retrieved April 19, 2011, from http://nnesintesol.blogspot.com/2010/07/shondel-nero.html References

20. Thelma Meléndez Providing a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at U.S. Dept. of Education FOCUS: national vision for cradle-to-career education reform, including the federal blueprint to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in the context of serving English learners.

21. Thelma Meléndez Providing a World-Class Education For America’s English Learners Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 1967 Title VII Bilingual Education Programs No Child Left Behind (NCLB) 2001 Title III Language Instruction for Limited English Proficient and Immigrant Students John Segota Reauthorization of ESEA June 5-7, 2011 http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/sec_document.asp?CID=1&DID=13570