Article published In: Pop culture in applied linguistics: International perspectives: Special issue of ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 173:2 (2022)
Edited by Valentin Werner
[ITL - International Journal of Applied Linguistics 173:2] 2022
► pp. 286–310
Beyond monolithic English
Pop culture materials informing Global English Language Teaching
Published online: 11 May 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.21016.bag
https://doi.org/10.1075/itl.21016.bag
Abstract
The Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) paradigm has recently emerged as a comprehensive approach that aims
to bring together innovative pedagogical proposals. This paper argues that pop culture materials such as telecinematic
representations can purposefully be integrated into innovative GELT-oriented classroom practices. The use of this material can
assist teachers in the double task of (i) raising the learners’ critical awareness of sociolinguistic variation and problematizing
the stereotypical image of monolithic English; (ii) shifting the focus of the ELT classroom from prescriptive grammar and standard
English towards fostering the learners’ receptive and communicative skills. This is a conceptual paper that gives several broad
suggestions as to how to adopt pop culture materials into innovative GELT-oriented classroom practice and mentions a select few
examples of said telecinematic representations.
Keywords: EFL, GELT, telecinematic representations, English language variation
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Pop culture for GELT
- 2.Reflections on a paradigm shift towards GELT
- 3.Moving beyond monolithic English
- 4.Introducing English language variation through telecinematic representations
- 5.Telecinematic representations for GELT
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
References
References (94)
Agina, A. (2021). Netflix
and the transnationalization of Nollywood. New Filmic Geographies. Post45 Data
Collective. [URL]
Aiello, J. (2016). Accent,
attitudes, and ownership of English: Perspectives of Italian college-bound
youth. In N. Tsantila, J. Mandalios, & M. Ilkos (Eds.), ELF:
Pedagogical and interdisciplinary
perspectives (pp. 293–299). Deree-The American College of Greece.
Alsagoff, L., McKay, S. L., Hu, G., & Renandya, W. A. (Eds.). (2012). Principles
and practices for teaching English as an international
language. Routledge.
Bagni, M. (2020). [Student’s
views and attitudes to English in an Italian university] [Unpublished raw
data]. University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Baker, W. (2012). From
cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: Culture in ELT. ELT
Journal, 66(1), 62–70.
(2015). Culture
and identity through English as a lingua franca: Rethinking concepts and goals in intercultural
communication. Mouton de Gruyter.
(2016). English
as an academic lingua franca and intercultural awareness: Student mobility in the transcultural
university. Language and Intercultural
Communication, 16(3), 437–451.
Bayyurt, Y., & Akcan, S. (Eds.). (2015). Current
perspectives on pedagogy for English as a lingua franca. Mouton de Gruyter.
Boberg, C. (2021). Accent
in North American film and television: A sociophonetic analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Bowles, H., & Cogo, A. (Eds.). (2015). International
perspectives on English as a lingua franca: Pedagogical insights. Palgrave Macmillan.
Cameron, A., & Galloway, N. (2019). Local
thoughts on global ideas: pre-and in-service TESOL practitioners’ attitudes to the pedagogical implications of the
globalization of English. RELC
Journal, 50(1), 149–163.
Canagarajah, S. (2013). Translingual
practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan
relations. Routledge.
Canagarajah, S., Kafle, M., & Matsumoto, Y. (2012). World
Englishes in local classrooms. In A. Yiakoumetti (Ed.), Harnessing
linguistic variation to improve education: Rethinking
Education (pp. 77–96). Lang.
Celce-Murcia, M., Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1995). Communicative
competence: A pedagogically motivated model with content specifications. Issues in Applied
Linguistics, 6(2), 5–35.
Devereaux, M. D., & Palmer, C. C. (2019). Teaching
language variation in the classroom: Strategies and models from teachers and
linguists. Routledge.
Dewey, M. (2012). Towards
a post-normative approach: Learning the pedagogy of ELF. Journal of English as a Lingua
Franca, 1(1), 141–170.
(2021). English
language teachers in context: Who teaches what, where and
why? In A. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), The
Routledge handbook of World
Englishes (pp. 609–623). Routledge.
Dolean, D. D. (2016). The effects of teaching songs during foreign language classes on students’ foreign language anxiety. Language Teaching Research, 20(5), 638–653.
Dockrell, J. E., Papadopoulos, T. C., Mifsud, C. L., Bourke, L., Vilageliu, O., Bešić, E., Seifert, S., Gasteiger-Klicpera, B., Ralli, A., Dimakos, I., Karpava, S., Martins, M., Sousa, O., Castro, S., Søndergaard Knudsen, H. B., Donau, P., Haznedar, B., Mikulajová, M., & Gerdzhikova, N. (2021). Teaching
and learning in a multilingual Europe: Findings from a cross-European study. European Journal
of Psychology of Education, 1–28.
Forsberg, J., Mohr, S., & Jansen, S. (2019). “The
goal is to enable students to communicate”: Communicative competence and target varieties in TEFL practices in Sweden and
Germany. European Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 7(1), 31–60.
Galloway, N., & Numajiri, T. (2020). Global
Englishes language teaching: Bottom-up curriculum implementation. TESOL
Quarterly, 54(1), 118–145.
García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging:
Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Graddol, D. (2003). The
decline of the native speaker. In G. Anderman, & M. Rogers (Eds.), Translation
today: Trends and
perspectives (pp. 152–167). Multilingual Matters.
Grau, M. (2009). Worlds
apart? English in German youth cultures and in educational settings. World
Englishes, 28(2), 160–174.
Grazzi, E., & Lopriore, L. (Eds.). (2016). Intercultural
communication: New perspectives from ELF. Roma TrE-Press.
(2019). ELF
& WE awareness in ELT: Non-native Italian teachers’ perspectives. Rassegna Italiana
di Linguistica
Applicata, 11, 27–42.
Green, L. J. (2002). African
American English: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current
perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL
Quarterly, 40(1), 157–181.
(2015). Repositioning
English and multilingualism in English as a lingua franca. Englishes in
Practice, 2(3), 49–85.
Kachru, B. B. (1985). Standards,
codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer
circle. In R. Quirk, & H. Widdowson (Eds.), English
in the World: Teaching and learning the language and
literatures (pp. 11–30). Cambridge University Press.
King, J. (2002). Using
DVD feature movies in the EFL classroom. Computer Assisted Language
Learning, 15(5), 509–523.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching
grammar. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching
English as a second or foreign
language (pp. 251–266). Heinle & Heinle.
(2002). The
grammar of choice. In E. Hinkel, & S. Fotos (Eds.), New
perspectives on grammar teaching in second language
classrooms (pp.103–118). Routledge.
Lippi-Green, R. (2012). English
with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United
States. Routledge.
Liu, Y., & Lin, A. M. Y. (2017). Popular
culture and teaching English to speakers of other language
(TESOL). In S.L. Thorne, & S. May (Eds.), Language,
education and
technology (pp. 87–101). Springer.
Lopriore, L., & Vettorel, P. (2015). Promoting
awareness of Englishes and ELF in the English language
classroom. In H. Bowles, & A. Cogo (Eds.), International
perspectives on English as a lingua
franca (pp. 13–34). Palgrave Macmillan.
Mahboob, A. (2018). Beyond
global Englishes: Teaching English as a dynamic language. RELC
Journal, 49(1), 36–57.
Marlina, R. (2014). The
pedagogy of English as an international language (EIL): More reflections and
dialogues. In R. Marlina, & R. A. Giri (Eds.), The
pedagogy of English as an international language: Perspectives from scholars, teachers, and
students (pp.1–19). Springer.
Marlina, R., & Giri, R. A. (Eds.). (2014). The
pedagogy of English as an international language: Perspectives from scholars, teachers, and
students. Springer.
Martinez Flor, A., & Fernandez Guerra, A. B. (2002). Coursebooks
and movies in foreign language teaching: A pragmatic approach. Sell: Studies in English
Language and
Linguistics, (4), 181–206.
Matsuda, A. (Ed.). (2012). Principles
and practices of teaching English as an international language. Multilingual Matters.
(Ed.). (2017). Preparing
teachers to teach English as an international language. Multilingual Matters.
Mauranen, A. (2018). Second
language acquisition, world Englishes, and English as a lingua franca (ELF). World
Englishes, 37(1), 106–119.
McKay, S. L. (2018). English
as an International language: What it is and what it means for pedagogy. RELC
Journal, 49(1), 9–23.
McKay, S. L., & Brown, J. D. (2016). Teaching
and assessing EIL in local contexts around the
world. Routledge.
Meer, P., Hartmann, J., & Rumlich, D. (2021). Folklinguistic
perceptions of Global Englishes among German learners of English. European Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 9(2), 391–416.
Meierkord, C., & Schneider, E. W. (2021). Introduction:
English spreading at the grassroots. In C. Meierkord, & E. W. Schneider (Eds.), World
Englishes at the
grassroots (pp. 1–22). Edinburgh University Press.
Milroy, J. (2007). The
ideology of the standard language. In C. Llamas, L. Mullany, & P. Stockwell, (Eds.), The
Routledge companion to
sociolinguistics (p. 133–139). Routledge.
Mohr, S., Jansen, S., & Forsberg, J. (2019). European
English in the EFL classroom? Teacher attitudes towards target varieties of English in Sweden and
Germany. English
Today, 37(2), 85–91.
Muñoz, C. (2006). The
effects of age on foreign language learning: The BAF
project. In C. Muñoz (Ed.), Age
and the rate of foreign language
learning (pp. 1–40). Multilingual Matters.
(2008). Symmetries
and asymmetries of age effects in naturalist and instructed L2 learning. Applied
Linguistics, 29(4), 578–596.
(2011). Input
and long-term effects of starting age in foreign language learning. International Review of
Applied Linguistics in Language
Teaching, 49(2), 113–133.
Peacock, J., Covino, R., Auchter, J., Boyd, J., Klug, H., Laing, C., & Irvin, L. (2018). University
faculty perceptions and utilization of popular culture in the classroom. Studies in Higher
Education, 43(4), 601–613.
(2018). English,
the lingua nullius of global hegemony. In P. A. Kraus, & F. Grin (Eds.), The
politics of multilingualism: Europeanisation, globalisation and linguistic
governance (pp. 275–303). John Benjamins.
Pitzl, M.-L., & Osimk-Teasdale, R. (Eds.). (2016). English
as a lingua franca: Perspectives and prospects– contributions in honour of Barbara
Seidlhofer. Mouton de Gruyter.
Ratti, J. (2019). Using
music to bridge language diversity. In M. D. Devereaux, & C. C. Palmer (Eds.), Teaching
language variation in the classroom: Strategies and models from teachers and
linguists (pp. 47–53). Routledge.
Rose, H., & Galloway, N. (2019). Global
Englishes for language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Rose, H., McKinley, J., & Galloway, N. (2021). Global
Englishes and language teaching: A review of pedagogical research. Language
Teaching, 54(2), 157–189.
Rose, H., Syrbe, M., Montakantiwong, A., & Funada, N. (2020). Global
TESOL for the 21st Century: Teaching English in a changing world. Multilingual Matters.
Rubdy, R., & Saraceni, M. (Eds.). (2006). English
in the world: Global rules, global roles. A&C Black.
Schneider, E. W. (2016). World
Englishes on YouTube: Treasure trove or nightmare? In E. Seoane, & C. Suárez-Gómez (Eds.), World
Englishes: New theoretical and methodological
considerations (p. 253–282). John Benjamins.
(2021). Artistic
re-creation of grassroots English: Ideologies and structures in English Vinglish. In C. Meierkord, E. W., & Schneider (Eds.), World
Englishes at the
grassroots (pp. 115–140). Edinburgh University Press.
Sifakis, N. C. (2019). ELF
awareness in English language teaching: Principles and processes. Applied
Linguistics, 40(2), 288–306.
Sifakis, N. C., & Tsantila, N. (Eds.). (2018). English
as a lingua franca for EFL contexts. Multilingual Matters.
Syrbe, M. (2018). Evaluating
the suitability of teaching EIL for the German classroom. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 28(3), 438–450.
Syrbe, M., & Rose, H. (2016). An
evaluation of the global orientation of English textbooks in Germany. Innovation in Language
Learning and
Teaching, 12(2), 152–163.
Taiwo, R. (2013). Nigerian
English. In B. Kortmann, & K. Lunkenheimer (Eds.), The
Mouton world atlas of variation in
English (pp. 410–416). Mouton de Gruyter.
Trotta, J., & Blyahher, O. (2011). Game
done changed: A look at selected AAVE features in the TV shows The
Wire. Moderna
språk, 105(1), 15–42.
Tsantila, N., Mandalios, J., & Ilkos, M. (Eds.). (2016). ELF:
Pedagogical and interdisciplinary perspectives. Deree-The American College of Greece.
Tuncay, H. (2014). An
integrated skills approach using feature movies in EFL at tertiary level. Turkish Online
Journal of Educational
Technology, 13(1), 56–63.
Vettorel, P. (2018a). Communication
strategies, ELF and ELT materials. A Cor das
Letras, 181, 74–98.
(2018b). ELF
and communication strategies: Are they taken into account in ELT materials? RELC
Journal, 49(1), 58–73.
Vettorel, P., & Lopriore, L. (2013). Is
there ELF in ELT course-books? Studies in Second Language Learning and
Teaching, 3(4), 483–504.
Werner, V. (2018). Linguistics
and pop culture: Setting the scene(s). In V. Werner (Ed.), The
language of pop
culture (pp. 3–26). Routledge.
(2021a). Teaching
grammar through pop culture. In V. Werner, & F. Tegge (Eds.), Pop
culture in language education: Theory, research,
practice (pp. 85–104). Routledge.
(2021b). Text-linguistic
analysis of performed language: Revisiting and re-modeling Koch and
Oesterreicher. Linguistics, 59(3), 541–575.
Werner, V., & Tegge, F. (2021). Learning
languages through pop culture/learning about pop culture through language
education. In V. Werner, & F. Tegge (Eds.), Pop
culture in language education: Theory, research,
practice (pp. 1–28). Routledge.
Westphal, M. (2021). Pop
music and teaching English as an international language. In M. Callies, S. Hehner, P. Meer, & M. Westphal (Eds.), Glocalising
Teaching English as an International Language: New perspectives for teaching and teacher education in
Germany (pp. 181–197). Routledge.
Westphal, M., & Jansen, L. (2021). English
in global pop music. In T. Heyd, & B. Schneider (Eds.), Bloomsbury
World Englishes volume 1:
Paradigms (pp. 190–206). Bloomsbury.
Cited by (3)
Cited by three other publications
Beuter, Katharina & Valentin Werner
Cannon-Jones, Jill & Viola Wiegand
2025. To what extent can a comedy drama provide a classroom model for natural conversation?. Register Studies
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
