Redefining Pedagogical Priorities: An Investigation of EFL Teachers’ Perceptions towards Teaching English as a Lingua Franca in the Saudi Higher Education Context

Abstract

The ever expanding influence of English language in the modern world has initiated an unusual era of English language teaching worldwide, and nowadays English as a foreign language (EFL) learners are nearly four times as compared to the native English speakers. This overwhelming use of English language in the expanding circle has developed more complex relationships between the communities using English in this capacity and the dialogue addressing its use as a lingua franca continues to expand. Lots of research has been produced related to English as a Lingua franca (ELF) during the last two decades highlighting the need to understand the potential change that necessitates international, mutual comprehensibility and the concept of accommodation for social and academic interactions in ELF settings. The present study intended to investigate the potential of embracing the concept of ELF in the Saudi Higher Education. This paper builds on recent research in this area and focuses on the language instructors' perceptions of ELF, while placing it up against the widely common EFL concept prominent in the expanding circle. To do this, the study investigated 218 native and non-native EFL instructors at a Saudi university to document the implications of using ELF for the purpose of learning English and the language policies related to English language teaching in the context of higher education in Saudi Arabia. The data reveal that a vast majority of the participants are familiar with the term ELF and they favour the use of ELF in ELT by suggesting exposing their students to non-native verities of English. The results also reveal contradiction in their responses which indicated that as a matter of practice they stick to a native-speaker norm when they teach. Furthermore, they have recommended native varieties of English,i.e. British, American, Canadian and Australian respectively, for pedagogical purposes in Saudi EFL context whereas non-native varieties of English were not favoured especially in written communication. It seems that this issue should be debated and investigated at much larger scale before deciding the role of ELF in English language teaching domain in Saudi higher education.

Keywords: English as a lingua franca; EFL; pedagogical implications