The Vernacularization of English: Crossing Global Currents to Re-Dress West-Based TESOL.

TLDR: Based on a long-term, evolving exploration regarding English language teaching and learning in English and vernacular medium settings in Gujarat, India, the authors offers a discussion of two key points: 1) the degree to which English is vernocalized in multilingual postcolonial contexts, and 2) ways in which Ivernacular pedagogic practices are effective ways of learning and teaching English.

Abstract: Based on a long-term, evolving exploration regarding English language teaching and learning in English-and vernacular-medium settings in Gujarat, India, this paper offers a discussion of two key points: 1) the degree to which English is vernacularized in multilingual postcolonial contexts, and 2) ways in which vernacular pedagogic practices are effective ways of learning and teaching English. The paper then moves into discussing the implications of such points for west-based TESOL-specifically teacher education-which has historically viewed vernacular pedagogic practices in non-western contexts as not being 'effective' or 'communicative.' The paper concludes with a discussion of what I, as insider to both communities—a native to India and a partial practitioner of west-based TESOL teacher-education—am doing to build bridges between the two realms that have hitherto remained relatively separate.