“If It's Not Western Culture, Whose Cultures I Should Teach”: Challenging the Teaching of Culture in Eil Pedagogy

Abstract

Among all the concepts of EIL, perhaps, the most practical one is the relocation of the cultural component of English Teaching from the so-called English as Native Language (ENL) cultures to global and local ones. Despite this seemingly practical concept, very little studies examine how the culture relocation of English is translated in the classroom. Such studies are important considering the claims that in many EFL countries, such as the one where the present study takes place, English continually be viewed as Western language and thus, the cultural components of English continues to be primarily those of the West. Additionally, studying how EIL concepts are understood and received by classroom teachers is crucial considering classroom teachers are the fore front of many pedagogical changes. In the present study, twelve bilingual English student-teachers (BESTs) were invited to implement the EIL concepts in a Microteaching course. Through content analysis of individual interviews, teaching journals and lesson plans, the study aims to explore BESTs‘ experiences of attempting to relocate the cultural component of English in their mini lessons. The study found that even though cultural relocation of English might seem straightforward, the participants face a dilemma and struggle to relocate culture in their mini lessons. Questions such as which students‘ culture should be represented, how to represent them, and the existence of Western cultures within the EIL framework, are some fundamental concerns that BEST brought up. Despite the burgeoning discussion of EIL on a theoretical level, the study suggests the need for more studies on the implementation of EIL in the classroom.