Your Name and Title: Asst. Prof. Dr. Kimberly Anne Brooks-Lewis
School or Organization Name: Fatih University
Co-Presenter Name(s):N/A
Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Turkey
Language in Which You Will Present: English
Target Audience(s): Foreign Language Teachers
Short Session Description (one line): Global(ized) EFL Education and Stereotyping
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
My specialty is working with adults at the university level, and I would like to tell you about a research project I undertook when teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Mexico. Many interesting issues arose from this research, and one of the most outstanding was that of stereotyping in language education, which I feel is inherently significant in the discussion of global education.
The research I undertook dealt with foreign language teaching and learning when working with adults, and in particular, adults studying at the university level in Mexico. The discomfort that incited the research began when, as a mature adult, I returned to the university with the idea of learning Spanish, about which I knew nothing. It was a thoroughly discouraging experience – although I made excellent grades, this was because I became adept at filling in blanks and choosing the correct multiple-choice answer, not because I was learning the language. I decided that maybe I didn’t belong in a classroom and could learn the language if I lived where it was spoken. I moved to Mexico, where I began to teach English as a foreign language in order to make a living. I was discouraged to find that the same type of foreign language teaching texts and teaching methods were the rule, and decided to try to come up with ideas as to how things might be improved. I designed an introductory EFL course specifically for the learners I was working with and took it into the classroom to find out what the learners’ perceptions of my ideas might be.
I learned many things along the way, and would like to share some of them with you. I will focus on aspects of stereotyping in EFL learning and education that emerged from the research in the hope of offering food for thought and discussion.
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