1. Haaga Helia Vocational Teacher Education Preliminary Plan Developmental Project Penny Roux – English group

2. Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom. What? The focus area is intelligibility issues in education where English is the lingua franca (ELF) Intelligibility issues may occur in the classroom, in tutorials, in peer work groups, in informal student settings and in the workplace (eg during internships etc) and in both real and virtual environments.

3. Why?  An increasing number of university courses are being taught in English. In many cases, neither the student nor the teacher are native English speakers (NES). English is the lingua franca.  An increasing number of foreign students are coming to Finland to study. These students come from a wide range of linguistic backgrounds. Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

4. Why?  Communication breakdowns can occur between NES and NNES and also between groups of NNES when there are intelligibility issues. These breakdowns in communication may cause further problems such as a lack of self-confidence, low self- esteem, slower progress in studies, reluctance to work in groups isolating students from their peers and create obstacles when seeking work placements and employment. Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

5. Why?  Students with intelligibility issues are not routinely offered accent reduction courses as part of their studies. Accent reduction courses are not offered as elective subjects. Pronunciation work is embedded in English-language courses, or not addressed at all.  Foreign students with intelligibility issues should be offered the possibility to improve their pronunciation within the scope of their studies eg through an elective course. Note: the intelligibility of teaching staff is not within the scope of this project. Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

6. Intelligibility in the ELF classroom  Students should be given feedback on their pronunciation where necessary, even if the teacher is not a native English speaker (NES)  Teachers of all subjects should be active in encouraging students to work on their pronunciation and reinforcing their efforts to do so.

7. How?  Background info-searching interviews with teaching staff.  Questionnaire targeted at foreign students (eg referrals from members of staff, or self-selected population)  Interviews with students, narratives  Focus group to discuss proposal for an accent reduction portfolio course Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

8. Advanced studies (personal development in the area of competence)  Background research into intelligibility, ELF, pronunciation  Attended one-week training course in Accent Reduction at the London Pronunciation Studio  Talk at Helsinki University Language Centre, Wednesday, 21 May, Metsätalo Topic: "Revisiting pronunciation in ELF communication contexts“ speaker: Prof Jennifer Jenkins Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

9. Network Ideally this will take place in HH but an alternative solution is to carry out this research in a virtual environment and/or compliment this with my work at FINNBRIT. The network would include,  English teachers from different programmes (NES and NNES)  Vocational teachers from a variety of courses  Guidance counsellors  Foreign students (nominated by teachers, or snowballing) Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

10. Alternative outcomes:  Propose a cross-programme, multi-disciplinary Accent Reduction portfolio course aimed at foreign students who wish to work on their intelligibility.  Identify a small group of 2-3 students who would be willing to work in a pilot accent reduction project.  Develop a new pronunciation course at FINNBRIT Language Centre, autumn 2014 (on-going). Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.

11. Challenges The main challenge will be to carry out this project within HH as I am a (very) part-time teacher here, with limited contacts and a limited working knowledge of the internal networks and practices. Ironically, it is my teaching work here in HH and my personal experiences with foreign students, that have inspired me to work on this project. Intelligibility problems in the ELF classroom.