Revisiting the notion of ESL: A corpus-based analysis of English textbook instructional language

• Published in: Ampersand (Oxford, UK) Vol. 7; p. 100066
• Main Authors: Chan, Hang, Cheuk, Hiu Ngai Jessica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Corpus linguistics; EAL; ESL; ESOL; Etic and emic viewpoints; Learning acts; Lexical collocations; Textbook pedagogies; The four skills; EAL; The four skills; Corpus linguistics; Textbook pedagogies; Lexical collocations; Etic and emic viewpoints; ESOL; ESL; Learning acts
• ISSN: 2215-0390; 2215-0390
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amper.2020.100066

Learning English as a second language in the inner circle (ESL) is usually contrasted with learning it as a foreign language in the expanding circle (EFL). The notional landscape of ESL conjures up many positive images about ‘inner-circle pedagogy’, whereas, in fact, our knowledge about ESL activities and tasks is often unspoken, unanalysed and limited. In this paper, the researchers revisit this age-old problem by conducting bottom-up searches of a 154,681-word textbook corpus consisting solely of textbook instructional language. These sections declare task purposes and actions to be done, and are suitable for understanding ESL teaching practices. The study was conducted from an etic perspective of two researchers from the expanding circle. We retrace how we encountered a major impasse during this process, which then prompted a revision of our view of ESL. The Results section presents our corpus findings: There was an imbalance between the four skills, a strong emphasis on grammar, a large number of group/pair work requests and a narrowly-defined approach to literacy training. These findings add details to existing qualitatively-based ESL textbook studies. From expectation to realisation, this research calls for a preparedness in regard to enlarging our current understanding of what counts as ESL pedagogy. •The study highlights the positive images held by general learners regarding learning English in English-dominant countries.•Given these positive expectations, one may wonder what ESL activities are like in Anglo-centric English textbooks?•The study inferred ESL pedagogies through investigating a 154,681-word corpus that contains textbook instructional language.•ESL textbooks do emphasise certain pedagogies. The positive images about ESL may not square with ESL provisions in reality.