LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 5 May 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

HOME PAGE

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIAL

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Contributors from South Asia may e-mail their articles to
    B. Mallikarjun,
    Central Institute of Indian Languages,
    Manasagangotri,
    Mysore 570006, India     mallikarjun@ciil.stpmy.soft.net.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2010
M. S. Thirumalai
Custom Search

Cultural Resistance through Local EFL Curriculum Development -
Three Conditions for Its Sustainability

Seyed Ahmad Kasaian, Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Linguistics

Abstract

This article reviews the nature, causes and mechanisms of resistance to the teaching of English in its western cultural context which is an undeniable reality in many EFL situations. First, the causes of resistance to the teaching of western culture in ELT programs are discussed from a critical pedagogy perspective. Then, the phrase 'cultural resistance' is operationally defined and the issue of local EFL curriculum development which is seen as a possible resistance strategy to the perceived hegemony of English is given some attention. Next, the author elaborates on three important conditions for the sustainability of cultural resistance through local EFL curriculum development. Finally, a model of sustainable cultural resistance is introduced based on the aforementioned requirements of sustainable resistance.

Key Phrases: Cultural Resistance, Local EFL Curriculum Development, Sustainable Cultural Resistance, Critical Pedagogy, Language and Culture

1. Introduction

For many applied linguists, EFL teachers, EFL learners' parents and policy makers, the teaching of English in its western cultural context is by no means acceptable.

In a recent study conducted by Kasaian and Subbakrishna (2011, p. 235), Iranian high school students' parents said "they would be concerned if their children's English textbooks contained pictorial and textual description of such concepts as cohabitation and mixed student dorm rooms which are permissible in the west but strongly discouraged by their local culture".

In Morocco, too, many educationalists stressed the "need to dissociate the English language from the cultures of what Kachru (1985) terms the 'center circle' of English speaking countries" (Hyde, 1994, p.295).

Another case in point is Turkey where resistance to the teaching of English in its western cultural context is unwelcome for many. Abdullah Coskun (2010, p. 3) refers to the findings of a relevant study done by Kiziltepe (2000) in which the Turkish learners of English said, "it is unimportant for them to have conversations with British and American people and there is only a little interest in British and American culture". But the question to be answered here is 'why should the much-supported teaching of the native speakers' culture through English be resisted at all?'

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Seyed Ahmad Kasaian, Ph.D. Candidate in Applied Linguistics
University of Mysore
Mysore
Karnataka
India
Ahmadkasa_amir@yahoo.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you either cited or used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian scholarship.