CRITICAL READING 10

REVIEW OF JOURNAL entitled ‘GLOBALIZATION AND TEACHER DEVELOPMENT FOR SPOKEN ENGLISH INSTRUCTION’ by Christine C. M. Goh (2013) National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

 

The impact of globalization is experienced most strongly in business and commerce but also increasingly in education. As a result, some scholars have called for a re-envisioning of the role of teachers to model what it means to be a global citizen. In this paper, researcher acknowledged the need for ESL/EFL teachers to re-examine their identity and roles in light of these global developments. She argued that teachers should not lose sight of the importance of honing the craft of teaching English so as to increase their professional capital to mediate the impact of globalization for their students. This article first discussed the changing roles of teachers in a globalized world and highlights the implications for English language teaching and learning. The ideas were further related to teaching second language oracy (speaking and listening) because of its centrality in developing important 21st Century skills in the globalized world. The article also offered ways in which teacher education that takes cognizance of globalization forces can develop ESL/ EFL teachers’ knowledge and beliefs to play their new roles more effectively.

I would like to suggest that teachers consider the existing literature on teaching speaking and listening and study the implications of globalization for the planning of lessons and instructional materials. Teachers who are familiar with current discussions on theory and prin-ciples will be in a good position to evaluate and apply or adapt these ideas for their respective contexts. Existing methodology courses can further provide new and additional areas of focus such as the importance of oracy development for English language learners’ partici-pation in the 21^st  Century, skills for teaching, managing and modeling speaking and listening pro-cesses in the language classroom, teachers’ identity and awareness of the world in their chosen profession of teaching ESL/EFL. Teacher educators can also re-envision the role of English teachers in their respective countries so that the teachers not only develop personally but also help their students develop in ways that are relevant to the 21st century.