Effects of global englishes-informed pedagogy in raising chinese university students’ global englishes awareness

Abstract

The spread of English as a global language has resulted in many changes in sociolinguistic realities, which challenges the foundations of how language should be taught and learned. To match today‘s sociolinguistic realities, researchers have called for a paradigm shift from the traditional pedagogy to a new pedagogy that can prepare students to use English in international communication involving different varieties of English and its cultures. However, little research has been done in implementing a Global Englishes (GE)-informed pedagogy in English language classrooms, especially in mainland China. This research attempts to examine the effects of a GE-informed pedagogy in developing Chinese university students‘ GE awareness. 82 university students participated in this study and received a 12-week intervention of a GE-informed instruction. Data collection methods included questionnaires and interviews. Paired-samples t-test and content analysis were used to analyze the data. The results show that students‘ GE awareness was significantly raised after taking the course. Specifically, students acknowledged the diversity of English, assessed English from a GE perspective, and their self-confidence increased in international communication. This paper argues for the importance of raising GE awareness and calls for a more critical approach to ELT in China.