Theoretical Considerations in Language Education - Implications for English Language Teaching

NüansPublishing
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
Implications for English Language Teaching
THEORETICALCONSIDERATIONSINLANGUAGEEDUCATIONImplicationsforEnglishLanguageTeaching
English Language Teaching (ELT) is a field that has not produced its own theories.
Instead, the field has been influenced by and has borrowed theories from other
branches of social sciences, such as psychology, linguistics, sociology, anthropology,
and educational sciences. The diversity of theories in social sciences is a great
advantage to ELT as there are many applicable and meaningful theories from its
related fields that have the potential to enhance the practices of language teaching
professionalsandresearchersaroundtheworld.
Designed for from pre‐service and in‐service language teachers todiverse audiences
teacher trainers and researchers, this edited book brings together a variety of
theories from disciplines related to ELT, describing their historical development and
connecting them to language teaching and learning. Each chapter of this volume
displays how a specific theory has influenced principles, practices, and
methodologies in language teaching/learning and language teacher training. Each
chapter also provides additional insights and pedagogical suggestions into how to
adapt and apply the basic principles and guidelines of the theory into classroom
settings.
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION
www.nuanskitabevi.com

THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN LANGUAGE
EDUCATION
Edited by
Betil Eröz-Tuğa

CONTRIBUTORS
DEDICATION
In Memory of Prof. Dr. Cem Alptekin
Hüsnü Enginarlar
INTRODUCTION
Aim and Scope of the Book
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
SECTION I : Psychology
1 Behaviorism
Cahide Çavuşoğlu & Deniz Saydam
2 Cognitive Development Theory
Sinan Mısırlı
3 Sociocultural Theory
Gökhan Öztürk
4 Social Learning Theory
Pelin Erdoğan
5 Personal Construct Psychology
Nermin Bilger
Section II : Linguistics and Sociolinguistics
6 Universal Grammar
Orhan Demir
7 Politeness Theory
Talha Erdali
8 Accomodation Theory
Özlem Atalay
9 Acculturation Model
Aylin S. Dewan-Türüdü
Section III : Anthropology & Sociology
10 Social Interactionism
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
11 Structural Functionalism
Mehmet Fatih Ürün
12 Context of Situation
Zeynep Aysan
Section IV : Educational Philosophy
13 Critical Pedagogy
Mehmet Akkuş & Gözde Balıkçı

9
INTRODUCTION
Aim and Scope of the Book
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
Understanding, interpreting, and comparing theories and practices from different fields is an
essential step in achieving communication across disciplines and building bridges between
scholars who may not always find a common ground to do collaborative teaching or conduct
research projects, which makes them seem academically distant from each other. This book aims
to show that such a distance is actually superfluous between the field of language education,
specifically English Language Teaching, and certain areas of study in the social sciences.
English Language Teaching (ELT) is a field that has not produced its own theories. Instead, the
field has been influenced by and has borrowed theories from other branches of social sciences,
such as psychology, sociology, and educational sciences. The depth and breadth of theories in
social sciences is a great advantage to ELT as there are many applicable and meaningful theories
from its related fields(e.g., Behaviorism from Psychology, Universal Grammar from Linguistics)
that have enhanced the practices of teaching professionals and researchers.
Social sciences feeds and guides ELT practitioners and researchersin the sense that critical issues,
such as classroom applications, learning behavior and attitudes of students, teacher perceptions,
teacher training approaches, and curriculum and instruction related decisions are determined or
interpreted meaningfully and systematically by means of the implications derived from research
within specific theoretical frameworks.
The reason why the current volume has been compiled is to display the classroom applications
of certain theories from social sciences in the language classroom. Classroom teachers, guided
by their/own educational background, social common sense or training program tasks, apply
the principles of social sciences theories in their teaching, sometimes without knowing the
theoretical source of their practices. Each chapter in this book shows how a specific theory
has influenced the practices, methodologies, principles, and classroom techniques of language
teaching professionals.
This edited volume consists of four parts and thirteen chapters. Each part is devoted to a
separate branch of social sciences, and each chapter within a certain part presents the theoretical
foundations and historical development of one theory from that particular area of study. Chapters
also explain the impact or relevance of these theories to language education and share implications
for ELT.
In Part 1, the reader will find chapters devoted to theories from Psychology or Educational
Psychology: Behaviorism, Cognitive Development Theory, Social Constructivism, Social
Learning Theory, and Personal Construct Psychology. Part 2 consists of theories from
Linguistics and Sociolinguistics: Universal Grammar, Politeness Theory, Accommodation
Theory, and Acculturation Model. Part 3 presents theories from Anthropology and Sociology:
Social Interactionism, Structural Functionalism, and Context of Situation. Finally, Part 4 focuses
on Educational Philosophy, specifically and extensively on Critical Pedagogy.

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11
SECTION I
Psychology
It would be a great challenge to try to comprehend the density of the human mind through the
lenses and research findings of one single area of study. Therefore, various knowledge and
inquiry areas have been shaped independently through time within the same field. This led to
separate spheres of science branches with respect to the study of the human brain, understanding,
and/or psychology. This part of this book covers various theories from one autonomous field of
study, psychology.
Psychology is a scientific discipline and it aims at the scientific and systematic investigation of
the way people reason, feel, or act. This could include examinations of the mind, such as
treatment of certain mental problems, understanding of behaviors, inquiry of perceptual abilities,
and so forth. Even though the focus of such an inquiry can be either on an individual or a group,
the eventual target of the progression is to be beneficial to the human society. Psychologists
study a variety of concepts ranging from cognition to motivation, emotion, and identity of the
society and the self. Regarding these concepts, psychologists end up with various theories to
explain reasons. These theories, expectedly, provide a basis and open up horizons to different
areas of inquiry such as language learning and teaching.
This part, hence, includes four theories from the sub fields of psychology. Chapter 1 presents
the origins of Behaviorism and its implications on language teaching, while Chapter 2 covers
Piaget`s Theory of Cognitive Development, which focuses on the features of developmental
psychology. The following two chapters focus on two theories from social psychology. Social
Constructivism of Vygotsky is discussed in Chapter 3 and Social Learning Theory and its
implications are explained in Chapter 4. The last chapter is devoted to Personal Construct
Psychology and its implications.
It is likely to observe common points in these chapters as there are many overlapping areas in
the study of psychology as well. The chapters follow a chronological order in terms of historical
development of the theories and their implications for language learning and teaching.
SECTION I

13
SECTION I
Chapter 1
12
Chapter 1
Behaviorism and ELT
Cahide Çavuşoğlu & Deniz Saydam
Introduction
Behaviorism, which dominated psychology from the 1920s to the 1950s, is one of the most
influential psychological theories of learning that has shaped English language teaching
practices. It has led to the development of several language teaching methods, the most widely
applied of which is the Audio-Lingual Method.
This chapter will present an overview of the early works of Watson and Thorndike and later
developments in behaviorism introduced by Skinner. Then, the link between behaviorism as a
learning theory and its pedagogical applications in the context of language classrooms will be
illustrated.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism was born in the early 20th century out of a reaction against introspective psychology.
At the end of the 19th century, the dominant view in psychology was mentalism, which held that
the object to be studied in psychology was consciousness and mental processes. To this purpose,
introspective methodology, which included mainly verbal reports of sensations and constituents
of direct experiences, was widely used. However, psychologists such as Watson, and later
Skinner, considered these methods subjective and unquantifiable. In addition, when studying
mental processes, data that was not considered “mental”, such as facial expressions, gestures,
and movements, had to be discarded, which limited psychological research. As an empiricist,
Watson (1913/1994, p. 253) aimed to transform psychology, which had just separated itself as a
new discipline from philosophy and physiology, into a natural science that used objective
experimental methodology and scientific measurement to test explicit hypotheses, and that could
be useful for professionals in other fields, such as managers, educators, and doctors. Behaviorist
psychologists claimed that the only possible way to understand the human mind was to study
explicit observable behavior in carefully controlled conditions.
Assumptions in behaviorist theory
Although behaviorists differ in their viewpoints, behaviorist theory includes three basic
assumptions about learning:
1. Not internal mental events or oral accounts of events, but observable behavior should be
studied.

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25
Chapter 2
Piaget`s Theory of Cognitive Development and English Language Teaching
Sinan Mısırlı
Introduction
In developmental human psychology, a number of sub- areas might be observed, such as
personality development, emotional development, and/or cognitive development. This chapter
attempts at focusing on the theory of cognitive development by Piaget. After the clarification of
Piaget`s theory, its implications for educational settings and foreign language teaching, learning,
and curriculum development are discussed. Common points, links, and promising overlaps
between cognitive development theory and certain foreign language teaching methodologies are
also presented.
Cognitive Development and Piaget
Cognitive development is the study of an individual`s psychological development in terms of
information processing, language learning, and cognition. The study of cognitive development
focuses on the ability of thinking, comprehending, and evaluating events.
Despite the dominancy of behaviorism in psychology in the first part of the 20th century, radical
changes were observed in contemporary developmental psychology in the second part of the
century due to “the cognitive revolution that began in the mid-1950s” (Strauss, 2013, p. 28). One
might observe a number of cognitive development viewpoints ranging from psychological
nativism and behaviorism to structuralism, all of which commonly have a tendency to refer to
the theories which previously emerged. Piaget`s development of his Theory of Cognitive
Development followed behavioral theories.
Before the emergence of Piaget`s theory, the behaviorist approach influenced the educational
settings for a long time in the 20th century -probably more than any other psychological theory.
Behaviorist approach has its roots in the systematic inquiry of animals. It puts the main emphasis
on the environment and implies that learning and development might be the result of specific
conditional behavior. It posits that when a behavior is rewarded, it will be repeated and learning
will occur at the end. Hence, cognitive, language, or emotional development is the equivalent of
learning a certain behavior in relation to a certain condition. Therefore, development is believed
to be continual and gradual, not in sequences.
SECTION I
Chapter 2

37
SECTION I
Chapter 3
34
Chapter 3
Sociocultural Theory and Language Teaching
Gökhan Öztürk
Introduction
Language teaching is a field that is significantly influenced by educational, psychological or
sociological theories. In one way or another, theories of these disciplines have been effective in
the development of the field of language teaching both in theoretical and practical ways. Some
of them have inspired scholars to study new theoretical frameworks in the field, whereas others
have helped teachers organize better and more fruitful lessons for their students in language
classes. Among these theories, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory (SCT) has quite a remarkable
place. Due to its impact on the field of language teaching, it is possible to see the doctrines and
principles of his theory from theoretical perspectives to classroom implications. As Compernolle
and Williams (2013) maintain in their editorial page in one of the current issues of Language
Teaching Research, SCT has been a focus of area for researchers in the field of language teaching
and acquisition for many years, and this impact has led to the emergence of SCT-based pedagogy
and assessment followed by the publication of journal articles, thesis studies or edited volumes
(p. 277).
In this chapter, the principles of SCT and how these are reflected in the field of English language
teaching with reference to practical applications in the classroom will be presented.
Sociocultural theory
In general, SCT is the study of the content and operation among psychological phenomena which
are socially constructed and shared (Ratner, 2002, p. 9). The theory was developed by
psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who lived during the revolutionary times of the Soviet Union. His
theory and studies became popular many years after his death. Vygotsky was, in fact, a
cognitivist, but his ideas were fundamentally different from the scholars in his era. Unlike other
cognitivists like Piaget and Perry, who simply define learning as the assimilation and
accommodation of knowledge, Vygotsky emphasizes that cognitive development occurs through
social interaction and in a social context (1978). For Vygotsky, language and culture play a
crucial role in social interaction, and people communicate and interact through these two
artifacts. Following these frameworks, he proposes several principles - internalization,
mediation, zone of proximal development, and scaffolding - which form the baseline of his
theory.

47
SECTION I
Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Pelin Erdoğan
Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to present the Social Learning Theory (SLT) by Albert Bandura in
relation to the field of language teaching. First, the basics of the theory will be presented under the
light of the current literature. Then the link between the theory and English Language Teaching
(ELT) and teacher education will be established. Some implications and tips for practitioners will
also be presented in the chapter.
Social Learning Theory
Observational Learning
Social Learning Theory was originally developed in the 1960s and later developed into Social
Cognitive Theory (SCT) by social psychologist Albert Bandura, who claims that human beings
learn through observing and imitating the models in their immediate environment. In his theory,
Bandura (2011) suggests that human beings learn and develop competencies either by means of
directly experiencing the effects of their actions or by the power of social modeling within the
environment they live. Direct experience might not always be desirable as the consequences of
direct experience might be tough and costly for individuals. However, modeling the behaviors that
are observed around can be considered as a short-cut to developing competencies in the process
of learning. Seeing the positive results of the behaviors within their immediate environment,
individuals might develop positive motivation to carry out similar behaviors, or in contrast, they
might decide to alter their actions after seeing the punishment of others around (pp. 34-35).
Ormrod (2008) highlights that effective role models are competent, prestigious, and powerful
beings, and that effective modeling could appear in gender-appropriate ways and in relevance
to the observer’s context. The process of modeling affects human behavior in that it might teach
a new behavior, influence the frequency of previous behaviors, encourage previously forbidden
behaviors, or increase the frequency of similar behaviors (pp. 127- 129). Ormrod (2008) further
adds that Bandura’s SLT identifies three general types of models, i.e., modeling can be provided
by a live model or a symbolic model, or it could be present in the shape of verbal instructions
(p. 128):
● A live model: A live model is an actual person exhibiting certain behaviors, such as a
mother putting on make-up, a father shaving, or an adult behaving politely to strangers.
● A symbolic model: A symbolic model is an actual person in real life or a fictional character
in books, magazines, TV programs, cartoons, or computer games such as Britney Spears,
David Beckham, Harry Potter, or Spider Man.

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SECTION I
Chapter 5
55
Chapter 5
Personal Construct Psychology and Language Teaching
Nermin Bilger
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to review the key tenets of Personal Construct Psychology (PCP)
by George Kelly with a specific reference to its implications to the field of English Language
Teaching (ELT). First of all, the theory will be illuminated in terms of its fundamental
assumptions. Subsequent to this theoretical exploration, PCP will be linked to language teaching
methodology, language teacher education, and teacher professional development, including its
various implications for each dimension of language education.
A Theoretical Look at Personal Construct Psychology (PCP)
Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) was contrived by clinical psychologist George Kelly who
viewed behaviorism and psychoanalysis as insufficient to elucidate the psychology of human
beings. The key notion of PCP is that people make sense of events by means of their own theories
(1991). Kelly defines these personal theories or perceptions as constructs which provide meaning
for the world around them.
Constructive Alternativism: The principal philosophical assumption underlying PCP is
‘constructive alternativism.’ As Fransella and Dalton (2000) clarify, constructive alternativism
means people have options with which they can try to understand each other, themselves, and the
world. That is, there are always other potential ways of looking at an event. In Kelly’s words
(1991), “[n]o one needs to paint himself into a corner; no one needs to be completely hemmed in
by circumstances; no one needs to be the victim of his biography” (p. 11). In this sense, PCP
centers around the person not as a responder to stimuli, but as an active agent in his/her own right,
or rather, the person as a ‘personal scientist’ (Zuber-Skerritt, 2012).
The Person as Scientist: According to Kelly, people tend to predict and control the events in their
world in a similar way to that of the scientist developing and testing hypotheses. While trying to
understand the world, they create personal constructs that function as hypotheses (Engler, 2014).
Then, they test out these hypotheses in terms of what actually happens. Based on the outcome,
their constructs are either confirmed or replaced by better ones in the case of disconfirmation.
Therefore, an individual’s life consists of a series of personal predictions and confirmations or
reconstructions (Burnard, 1999), which underlies Kelly’s fundamental postulate.
Fundamental Postulate: In his fundamental postulate, Kelly (1991) states that a “person’s
processes are psychologically channelized by the ways in which he anticipates events” (p. 32).
From the perspective of Bannister and Fransella (1971), this statement underscores people’s
expectations of the future and the way in which their behaviors will get into interaction with events
in that future (cited in Murray-Prior, 1998). Both their expectations and the manner in which their

73
SECTION II
69
SECTION II
Linguistics and Sociolinguistics
Linguistics, in the broadest sense, refers to all types of systematic study of language. It intends to
explain the linguistic properties in a specific language and in all languages at the micro and macro
level. Microlinguistics is concerned with the abstract structural forms in languages, irrespective of
the effect of meaning whereas macrolinguistics is a notion-based approach to the study of language.
Sociolinguistics, which investigates the function and use of language within social contexts, is
considered to be one of the umbrella branches of macrolinguistics.
One of the goals of linguistics and sociolinguistics is to describe and make predictions about how
people acquire, use, store and process languages. At this point, it is possible to see a clear interaction
between the study of language and language pedagogy as the findings of research on language can
provide insights into the design and evaluation of instructional activities. On the other hand,
language teaching research uncovers the potential and determining factors for the successful
attainment and processing of a language as well as for how linguistic structures should be described,
presented, and internalized in a second language.
Even though linguistics encompasses quite a vast area of enquiry, this section of the book is assigned
to four theories of linguistics and sociolinguistics: Universal Grammar at a micro level, and
additionally, Politeness Theory, Accommodation Theory, and the Acculturation Model as sub-
branches of sociolinguistics. Each chapter contains background about the relevant theory, its
connection with language education, implications in language pedagogy, and practical
considerations together with suggestions for an effective language teaching procedure.

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SECTION II
Chapter 6
70
Chapter 6
Universal Grammar: Theoretical Background and Implications for English
Language Teaching
Orhan Demir
Introduction
The systematic study of language has remarkably gone through a chain of radical changes since
the 1950s, after an American linguist and thinker Noam Chomsky proposed several arguments
about the internal structure of language, and offered insights into the weaknesses of previous
arguments on the acquisition of languages. The ideas that Chomsky and the proponents of his
theory stated as a reaction to the theories of psychology and linguistics, such as behaviorism
and structural linguistics, had a significant impact on the ideation, design, implementation, and
evaluation of a good number of studies in various fields of study. Among these fields, the study
of first and second language acquisition and language teaching were the ones which have
extensively evolved both theoretically and practically due to the fact that the relevant
hypotheses underlying the acquisition, learning, processing and teaching of a language are
directly related to the way the nature of a language is defined. This chapter aims to provide
background information about the basic principles of Universal Grammar (UG) as a reaction to
previous theories of the building blocks of a language as well as the process and the ultimate
product of language acquisition and language teaching. Furthermore, it attempts to shed light
on the impact of the theory on pedagogical concerns with a specific focus on foreign language
teaching. To this purpose, the next part is devoted to the historical development of the theory
of Universal Grammar, which is followed by a discussion of its applicability in first and second
language acquisition. The focus of the final section is on the evaluation of the claims about the
implications of the theory in language teaching contexts.
Theoretical & Practical Foundations of UG
The dominant theories underpinning methodological issues of learning and education along
with the philosophy of language in the 1950s were the products of the same widely-believed
perspective: only observable phenomena could be understood, tested, modified, and evaluated.
Therefore, education, which required a meaningful and purposeful process of learning in a
desired fashion, could only reach the expected outcomes through methods addressing physical,
hence, visible activities which are supposed to cause permanent changes in the behaviors of
individuals. Thus, learning was equated with habit formation (Skinner, 1957). This kind of
learning was claimed to be realized through the behavioral change strategies that yielded
positive output when administered to animals. Stimuli were considered to cause a response by
the subjects, and when the response was obtained, it was reinforced positively or negatively to
guarantee the desired outcome. The rationale behind the behaviorist theory was that if the
expected outcomes were reached in experiments on animals, human beings were predicted to
go through the same steps to achieve a similar kind of development. As for the study of

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SECTION II
Chapter 7
80
Chapter 7
Politeness Theory and Language Teaching
Talha Erdali
Introduction
This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First, the
introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making relevant
links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the
perspectives of Lakoff, Leech, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally,
reflections of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and
illustrated. The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language
Teaching practitioners.
Goffman and Face Theory
The term face was firstly used and defined by the Canadian sociologist Goffman (1967), in his
study On Face Work, “as the positive social value that a person effectively claims for himself
by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact” (p. 5). That is, face is an
image like a mask that people wear and change in social life depending on the context (i.e., the
audience and the social interaction) in which they are interacting. For example, a person may
have the role of a teacher in the classroom; however, the same person may have the role of a
father at home. Therefore, that person needs to regulate his role (his face) by taking the
audience and the social context into consideration.
After Goffman published his study On Face Work, the term face became a crucial concept for
many fields of study, like sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and the like. For
example, this concept is an important element in the Symbolic Interactionism theory from
Sociology, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of this volume. In his study, Goffman
(1967) states that
[e]very person lives in a world of social encounters, involving him either in face-to-face or
mediated contact with other participants. In each of these contacts, he tends to act out what
is sometimes called a line – that is, a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he
expresses his view of the situation and through this his evaluation of the participants,
especially himself (p. 5).
80
Chapter 7
Politeness Theory and Language Teaching
Talha Erdali
Introduction
This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First, the
introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making relevant
links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the
perspectives of Lakoff, Leech, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally,
reflections of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and
illustrated. The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language
Teaching practitioners.
Goffman and Face Theory
The term face was firstly used and defined by the Canadian sociologist Goffman (1967), in his
study On Face Work, “as the positive social value that a person effectively claims for himself
by the line others assume he has taken during a particular contact” (p. 5). That is, face is an
image like a mask that people wear and change in social life depending on the context (i.e., the
audience and the social interaction) in which they are interacting. For example, a person may
have the role of a teacher in the classroom; however, the same person may have the role of a
father at home. Therefore, that person needs to regulate his role (his face) by taking the
audience and the social context into consideration.
After Goffman published his study On Face Work, the term face became a crucial concept for
many fields of study, like sociolinguistics, communication studies, sociology, and the like. For
example, this concept is an important element in the Symbolic Interactionism theory from
Sociology, which is discussed in detail in Chapter 10 of this volume. In his study, Goffman
(1967) states that
[e]very person lives in a world of social encounters, involving him either in face-to-face or
mediated contact with other participants. In each of these contacts, he tends to act out what
is sometimes called a line – that is, a pattern of verbal and nonverbal acts by which he
expresses his view of the situation and through this his evaluation of the participants,
especially himself (p. 5).
Introduction
This chapter aims to present Politeness Theory by relating it to language education. First,
the introduction, evolution, and basic principles of the theory will be presented by making
relevant links to the Face Theory by Erving Goffman (1967). Then, Politeness Theory from the
perspectives of Lakoff, Brown and Levinson, and Watts will be discussed. Finally, reflections
of Face Theory and Politenesss Theory in language teaching will be explained and illustrated.
The chapter will be concluded with teaching suggestions for English Language Teaching
practitioners.

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SECTION II
Chapter 8
91
Chapter 8
Accommodation Theory and Language Teaching
Özlem Atalay
Introduction
Accommodation Theory (Giles, 1973) describes how people adjust their language and
communication patterns to those of others. Since its emergence in the 70’s, the theory has been
used in the fields of social psychology and sociolinguistics. For example, Gumperz (1982b)
examined the link between linguistic variability and its effect on social status. He observed that
language is a social practice and thus links human beings to their community and the time and
area they live in. This in turn leads to social inequality and difference through communication.
Gumperz (1982b) also introduced the notion of speech communities, which are smaller
subdivisions of the society we live in. He stressed that communication breakdown occurs when
people from different speech communities do not know the cultural linguistic norms of that
community, such as where to put emphasis and how to use intonation. It also occurs when
individuals fail to understand others’ feelings using contextual cues specific to that community.
Hence, it becomes clear that communication even among people from the same society can
become a main struggle if they are unfamiliar with these norms.
In order to avoid communication breakdown, people accommodate their language to that of
their communication partner. In this chapter, to situate Accommodation Theory, its roots in
social psychology and social identity theory will be explored, and then Speech Accommodation
Theory (SAT), Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), Audience Design and their
implications for language education will be examined.
Social Psychology and Social Identity Theory
Social psychology is a branch of psychology informed by sociology. Its aim is to explore how,
through the mere presence or inferred presence of others, individuals’ thoughts, feelings and
behavior change. According to Allport (1985), social psychology is a scientific discipline that
tries "to understand and explain how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are
affected by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings" (p. 3). Among
other topics, social psychology is concerned with group behavior, nonverbal behavior,
conformity, social perception, and social interaction. Especially four theories in social

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Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The Acculturation Model and Language Teaching
Aylin S. Dewan Türüdü
Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to discuss a well-known acculturation model, namely that of
Schumann (1978) from the field of sociolinguistics. As opposed to students’ learning English
as a foreign language, learning the language as a second language provides many opportunities
to interact with native speakers and experience the language in the context in which it is spoken.
Depending on many factors such as the time spent in the target language culture or reasons for
learning the language, learners learn and adapt to the target language culture at varying degrees.
This process of learning and adapting is referred to as acculturation (Saville-Troike, 1996,
p. 359). A number of acculturation theories have been put forward, but Schumann’s model
is considered significant in that it was one of the first to link the psychology of acculturation
specifically to the area of second language learning by drawing attention to the importance
of social and psychological factors. In this chapter, following a brief definition and history of
acculturation, a link is made to language teaching by providing some suggestions for teachers.
Acculturation theory
As a result of the increase in world-wide migration, there has been more interest in acculturation.
Some refer to acculturation as “the cultural changes that arise following “contact” between
individuals and groups of different backgrounds” (Sam, 2006, p. 11), whereas others define
it as “the process an individual needs to go through in order to become adapted to a different
culture” (Daniels, 2000, p.1).Acculturation theory is said to have originated in the ethnographic
work of Linton (1960), who studied Native Americans integrating into the American society
and identified the social distance separating the two groups, and the social and psychological
changes needed to integrate into the target culture (Daniels, 2000, p. 2). Redfield, Linton and
Herskovits (1936) defined acculturation as “those phenomena which result when groups of
individuals having different cultures come into continuous first-hand contact, with subsequent
changes in the original culture patterns of either or both groups” (as cited in Sam, 2006, p. 11).
In Schumann’s (1978) words, acculturation is “the social and psychological integration of the
learner with the target language group”. He used the notion of adapting to a target language
culture to explain the variations in people’s language learning levels. What he did was to
put learners on a continuum ranging from social and psychological distance to social and
psychological proximity with speakers of the target language, postulating that the extent to
which learners acquire the second language is dependent on the degree that they acculturate. In
his model, acculturation is regarded as the causal variable of second language acquisition, and

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SECTION III
115
SECTION III
Anthropology and Sociology
This part of the book brings together two separate branches of social sciences, namely anthropology
and sociology, to demonstrate how language education builds upon theories originated from these
disciplines to develop effective language learning and teaching practices. Although these disciplines
are viewed as distinct, they share one important point which is that they are all studies of human
beings, their way of life, and their socialization processes and strategies from different perspectives.
Anthropology, in the simplest sense, is the study of humans from a broad perspective ranging from
evolution of human beings throughout their history to their cultural traits. Similarly, sociology
emphasizes the societal level and works on a variety of aspects pertinent to societies, such as work
and industry related attitudes, familial relationships, and social interaction patterns. Due to their
broad range of study areas, both anthropology and sociology have provided researchers and
practitioners from the field of language education with valuable insights to use and develop further
to achieve success and satisfaction in language learning and teaching.
This section of the book comprises chapters based on three theories from fields of anthropology and
sociology: Social Interactionism, Structural Functionalism and Context of Situation. Each chapter
starts with an introduction of the theory in the field it was originated, continues with the relation
between the theory and language education, and ends with a presentation of pedagogical
implications and practical suggestions for classroom use.

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Chapter 10
116
Chapter 10
Symbolic Interactionism and Language Teaching
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
Introduction
This chapter attempts to bring sociology and language education into the same discussion by
comparing and relating the theory of Symbolic Interactionism to language teaching methods
and language teacher education, specifically focusing on the field of English Language
Teaching (ELT). Symbolic Interactionism will be explored by mainly referring to the works of
George H. Mead, Herbert Blumer, and Erving Goffman. The theoretical and philosophical
contributions of these scholars will be connected to theories of language learning,
methodologies of language teaching, and language teacher preparation.
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism is a sociological theory that focuses on the meaning making processes
of individuals interacting in social life and the effects of those processes on their actions and
understanding. Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution, Symbolic Interactionism was
founded on the idea that individuals and their dynamic social environment have a reciprocal
relationship. An individual’s interpretation of the world around him affects and constantly
causes changes in his/her ideas while also determining his/her behavior in social life (Benzies
& Allen, 2001, p. 542). Social Interactionists examine “the meanings emerging from the
reciprocal interaction of individuals in social environment with other individuals and focus on
the question of ‘which symbols and meanings emerge from the interaction between people?’”
(Aksan, Kısac, Aydın & Demirbüken, 2009, p. 902.). The social and reciprocal aspects of this
theory are highlighted in the following excerpt:
Symbolic interactionism views human beings as social beings. Individuals and society
are inseparable with each being created through social interaction and understood in
terms of the other. Behaviour is not determined solely by forces within human beings
such as instincts or drives or by forces from the external environment, but rather by a
reflective, socially derived interpretation of the internal and external stimuli that are
present. (Meltzer et al. as cited in Burbank & Martins, 2009, p. 27)
Symbolic interactionists see human interaction as the main source of information about how
people develop social interaction strategies, how they learn to resolve conflicts by cooperating
with others, and how they maintain the flow of communication in daily conversations (Stryker,
2008). In this dynamic and continuous process, human beings decode the verbal and non-verbal
116
Chapter 10
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
Introduction
116
Chapter 10
Betil Eröz-Tuğa
Introduction
comparing and relating the theory of Symbolic Interactionism to language teaching methods and
language teacher education, specifically focusing on the field of English Language Teaching.
Symbolic Interactionism will be explored by mainly referring to the works of George H. Mead,
Herbert Blumer, and Erving Goffman. The theoretical and philosophical contributions of
these scholars will be connected to theories of language learning, methodologies of language
teaching, and language teacher preparation
& Allen, 2001, p. 542). Social interactionists examine “the meanings emerging from the

SECTION III
Chapter 11
129
Chapter 11
Structural Functionalism and Language Education
Mehmet Fatih Ürün
Introduction
The aim of this chapter is to present a brief discussion about the presumptive affinity between
structural functionalism and language education through clarification of both fields of study
with historical and methodological development, linking the theories by means of educational
policies conducted all over the world, and providing pedagogical perspectives in language
education.
Sociology and Education
Educational sociology is a new field of research within the field of sociology, and it meets on
a common ground with many other subfields, such as religion, politics, economics, and culture.
It aims at understanding the association between educational organizations and society by
examining its building blocks at the micro and macro levels.
The relationship between sociology and education sets a good example of an interoperability;
that is, education gives form to society while it is shaped by the society reciprocally. In this
part, the issue under scrutiny is the impact of sociology on education under the title of
'educational sociology'. There is a growing tradition of research on educational sociology, and
this affects the attitudes of people and the institutions towards education in a positive manner.
Boocock (1980) reminds that education has started to acquire more resources, and that more
people dedicate more time to schools in many countries (p. 3). For instance, the proportions of
people who acquired advanced professional degrees have significantly increased all over the
world as a result of the advancing fashion of education (Schaefer, 2012, p. 310) (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Countries (Schaefer,
2012, p. 309)
129
Chapter 11
Mehmet Fatih Ürün
Introduction
education.
Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Countries (Schaefer, 2012, p. 309)
Mehmet Fatih Ürün
Introduction
education.
Figure 1. Current Higher Education Graduation Rates (BA/BS), Selected Coun
2012, p. 309)
137

149
SECTION III
Chapter 12
141
Chapter 12
Context of Situation and ELT
Zeynep Aysan
Introduction
The context of situation theory is one of the key theories originally derived from the
anthropological studies of Malinowski and has become central to discussions concerning the
role of context in language learning in the area of ELT. The present chapter first introduces how
the theory of context of situation was developed in anthropology, and then demonstrates how
the theory became an interest in linguistic studies and how ELT builds upon knowledge from
those anthropological and linguistic studies regarding the context of situation.
Malinowski and Context of situation
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), who is known as one of the founding fathers of
anthropology and credited with the concept and method of ‘participant observer’ in qualitative
studies, coined the term ‘context of situation’ as a result of his extended fieldwork on the
Trobriand Islands. Although it was approximately a century ago, Malinowski’s ethnography
on Trobriand Islands is still regarded as one of the most famous and important works in the area
of anthropology. As stated by Leach (1957), a “whole generation of his followers were brought
up to believe that social anthropology began in the Trobriand Islands in 1914” (p. 124).
Having obtained a doctoral degree in mathematics and physics, Malinowski started to show a
deep interest in anthropology and went to London to work with C. G. Seligman, thanks to whom
he was able to find funding to support his research in New Guinea (Young, 1979, p. 4). During
the period of 1915-1918, Malinowski lived on the Trobriand Islands, which are off the eastern
coast of New Guinea. As a result of his close contact with natives of the islands, he was able
to depict the islanders’ lives successfully. He wrote about domestic, marital and ceremonial
lives; sexual behaviors; religious beliefs; gardening activities; and linguistic characteristics of
the Trobrianders. At the beginning of his ethnographic investigation, Malinowski learned the
vernacular language and worked in the natives’ language during his stay on the islands (Young,
1979, p. 5). As Malinowski had already mentioned in an earlier work, Argonauts of the Western
Pacific (1922), he experienced great difficulty while translating texts especially regarding
magical rituals of Trobrianders into English. In order to compensate for this semantic disparity
between the texts in the Trobrianders’ native language and their English translations, he put
forward the idea that it would be necessary to observe the people’s actions at the time they were
uttering their sentences during magical activities, which is magical ‘context of situation’
(Langendoen, 1968, p. 16). As he also states in The Problem of Meaning in Primitive
Languages (1956):

159
SECTION IV
150
SECTION IV
Educational Philosophy
Educational Philosophy or Philosophy of Education is a major field of enquiry which aims to shed
light on the definition, meaning and goals of education in general. It involves investigating
arguments, identifying and questioning assumptions, evaluating claims, and clarifying concepts
related to concerns and issues in education. There are a variety of leading theories such as idealism,
Hegelian, and Kantian traditions of education. On the one hand, Plato’s idealism considers education
as a means to reach the ideal republic; on the other hand, John Dewey’s educational philosophy is
associated with pragmatism and progressivism. However, it is acknowledged that (Enslin, 2010)
none of the great thinkers or schools of thought has been able to propose a single grand theory
addressing all the controversial issues in the field.
This chapter focuses on the critical (pedagogy) theory, one of the leading educational philosophy
theories in the current post-structuralist era. Critical pedagogy theory will be further explored to
discuss the implications for language teaching and second language teacher education.

161
SECTION IV
Chapter 13
151
Chapter 13
Critical Pedagogy and Language Teaching
Mehmet Akkuş & Gözde Balıkçı
Introduction
In the 20th century, the paradigm shift in power relations in terms of political, economic and
social entities brought about a radical change in the sphere of education. This chapter aims to
bring together the critical (pedagogy) theory and foreign/ second language education, with a
special focus on the reflections of critical theory in exclusively English Language Teaching
(hereafter, ELT) and teacher education. Firstly, the advent of critical theory in the context of
the Frankfurt School and the way Paulo Freire appropriated and re-constructed the theory as
critical pedagogy in education are presented. Then, the development of the critical pedagogy
by a variety of scholars from the United States such as Giroux, McLaren, and Kincheole is
explored in order to gain a deeper understanding of the current implications for education in
general. It is inevitable to find the influence of the critical pedagogy and theory in a field where
the status of English is a matter of controversy as a language which is conceived to create
inequalities among its speakers (Phillipson, 1992; Canaragajah, 1999). Finally, taking the
influence of the critical pedagogy on ELT into account, practical suggestions for transformative
teacher education are provided and the post-methodology concerning the implications of critical
pedagogy is discussed.
Critical Theory
The term critical has been widely used in humanities: critical discourse analysis or critical
language awareness in linguistics, critical pedagogy in education and critical ethnography as a
qualitative research method. The common point that all these disciplines share is their ultimate
goal which targets the empowerment of people and betterment of society. As Luke (2004)
states, “what has counted as the critical in recent years has focused on how people use texts and
discourses to construct and negotiate identity, power, and capital” (p.21). Critical theories
acknowledge that the world around us is socially constructed and everything that human beings
produce (e.g. language, culture, history, etc.) is subject to implicit or explicit relations of power.
Critical theories attempt to disclose and explore these power relations and strongly suggest that
people should take a stand against social inequality.
Origins: The Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School was founded at the University of Frankfurt in 1923 when Fascism and
Nazism were becoming prevalent in Germany. Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse, who were
the key members of the Frankfurt School, proposed a form of Marxist theory, known as Critical
Theory. This theory changed the way of studying social theory, class, politics, culture, and
ideology, suggesting that there was a need for new ways of understanding the society and

Theoretical Considerations in Language Education - Implications for English Language Teaching

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