Presented by Kevin Hajovsky, Senior English Language Fellow, based in the Galapagos Islands.

1. Kevin Hajovsky
Senior English Language Fellow
Galápagos, Ecuador
August 2013

2.  English as an International Language (EIL)
 Not “owned” by native speakers, but by anyone who uses
it for their purposes
 Tool for communication
 Bridge between cultures
 Globalization
Communication requires more than
just language.
(McKay, 2002; Tomalin, 2008)

3. Culture
 Strengthen our understanding of culture and its
potential effect on our communication
SPEAKING Framework
 Use a framework for helping teachers analyze for and
develop their own sociocultural awareness
 Use a framework to develop questions or tasks that
help students analyze and build their own awareness
of how culture is reflected in communication

4. When you think about “culture”, what
kinds of things generally come to mind?
~Write down and provide examples~

5. How much of the iceberg do you think
you can see?
Which part of the iceberg is more dangerous to your
ship, the visible part or the hidden part?

6. • Language
• Food
• Music
• Dance
• Clothes
• Popular culture
• Customs
• Festivals
• Etc.
(Bennett, 1998)
Big C: VISIBLE
small c: HIDDEN

7.  Culturally appropriate ways to:
 Greet or address people
 Express gratitude
 Make requests
 Agree/disagree with someone
 Give or accept compliments
 Interpersonal skills to:
 Maintain an open and non-judgmental approach
 Work with uncertainty and ambiguity
 Be flexible and adaptable
 Foster curiosity and empathy
 Adapt oneself linguistically
The BIG Question: How can we help?
[verbal & non-verbal]
[consider one’s own &
others’ conditioning]

8.  Language-based questions
 Looking at language in context
 Ex., how words’ meanings change depending on context
 Function-based questions
 Analyzing interactions and social functions of language
 Ex., back channeling, language of agreement/following
 Comparative questions
 Comparing (own) interactional norms in given contexts
 Ex., expectations of listener, similar interactions (what?)
 Speculative questions
 Fostering curiosity and interpretative skills
 Ex., “Why do you think….?” (McConachy, 2009)
“Oh, I see.”
“Oh, is that right?”

9. S Setting
P Participants
E Ends
A Act Sequence
K Key
I Instrumentalities
N Norms
G Genre
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)
Questions Types:
1. Language
2. Function 
3. Comparison
4. Speculation

10.  The time, place and physical circumstances and the
potential expectations or influences on
communication (ex. party, doctor’s office)
 Teacher Analysis
 Does the setting affect the language used?
 Would the students’ culture consider the setting
appropriate for such an interaction?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Location, environment, overall topic
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

11.  The people involved in the setting and/or the
interpersonal dimension on the language used
(ex., professor, daughter, friend)
 Teacher Analysis
 How are the participants related?
 How might their description affect the kind of language
used in any way?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Relationship, age, familiarity, gender, position/title, etc.
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

12.  The purposes or goals of the participants
(ex., persuasion, equality/hierarchy gain something)
 Teacher Analysis
 What are the different participants trying to achieve?
 Is there any connection between the ends, participants, and
setting?
 How does the language effectively work toward the ends?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Goals/desired outcomes, different or the same for
participants, how are they negotiated
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

13.  The types and sequence of speech acts or ways of
interacting in a given context (ex., greeting)
 Teacher Analysis
 What are the different speech acts involved?
 Is it important to notice the order of the speech acts?
 Are there any strategies used to switch between speech acts?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Number and types of speech acts involved, the order of the
speech acts, how the acts were negotiated
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

14.  The general tone or spirit of conversation and how
emotions and nuances are conveyed (ex., clues in
manner of speech, joking, change of topic)
 Teacher Analysis
 Are there any clues that notify the listener of the tone in
the messages being conveyed?
 Are there pauses or changes in mood reflected in the
participants speech patterns?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Feelings, mood, or tone of the conversation; how are they
recognizable (Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

15.  The style of speech and sensitivity to registers or
language variation used in certain contexts (ex.,
casual conversation versus academic setting)
 Teacher Analysis
 Is the language used polite, casual, or formal?
 Are there useful examples that show how this is
important in the context with respect to other variables?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Examples of polite, casual, formal, etc. types of language
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

16.  The social rules for interaction and how culture
influences communication (ex., interruptions,
turn taking, use of titles)
 Teacher Analysis
 What kinds of rules of conversation or interaction are
exhibited (or should be) in the conversation?
 Do such rules have a potential for creating a non-linguistic
misunderstanding? If so, how?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 kinds of rules that govern a given social and/or
communicative context (Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

17.  The types of speech events and how they are
generally characterized (ex., story, telephone,
interview)
 Teacher Analysis
 What is the basic kind of interaction involved?
 What are the common features of language found in this
situation?
 Potential Focuses of Questions (effect on interactions)
 Differences roles or expectations of participants, or
other interplays of different aspects of the framework
(Hymes, 1974; McConachy, 2009)

18.  AGAIN: It is NOT necessary to ask every kind of
question every time. You can be selective and focus
on key points for stimulating a healthy discussion.
 Teachers can develop own sociocultural awareness,
and pass it on to students through classroom tasks
 Build socio-cultural awareness
 Develop interpersonal skills
 Work toward greater Socio-Linguistic Competence

19. Having awareness of:
1. Social rules of language
(e.g., formality,
politeness, directness,
etc.)
2. Nonverbal behaviors
3. Cultural references (e.g.,
idioms, expressions,
background knowledge,
etc.)
(http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/eslapb/
about_communicative_competence.html)

21.  Bennett, M. (1998). Current perspectives of intercultural communication. In M.J. Bennett
(Ed.), Basic concepts in intercultural communication: Selected readings (pp. 191–214).
Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press
 Damen, L.(1997). Culture learning: The fifth dimension in the language classroom. New
York: Addison Wesley
 Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In Sociolinguistics: Selected readings, edited
by J. Pride and J. Holmes. Hammondsworth, UK: Penguin.
 Hymes, D. (1974) Foundations of sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press.
 LaRay M. Barna (1994) Stumbling blocks in intercultrual communication. In Intercultural
Communication : L.A. Samovar and R.E. Porter (Eds) : Belmont CA : Wadsworth Publishing
Company. (pp. 337-346)
 McConachy, T. (2009) Raising sociocultural awareness through contextual analysis: Some tools
for teachers. ELT Journal 63(2).
 McKay, S. (2002) Teaching english as an international language: Rethinking goals and
approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 Tomalin, B. (2008). Culture - the fifth language skill. Available at
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/culture-fifth-language-skill

22. Kevin Hajovsky
Senior English Language Fellow
Galápagos, Ecuador
August 2013
galapagoselt@gmail.com