Presenter: Phil Benson
PLENARY:
Phil Benson
The idea of glocalization offers an attractive template on which to map out the possible futures of Asia TEFL in the face of the globalization of English and its dominant pedagogies. At the same time, we need to avoid what I will call ‘too easy’ applications of an idea that raises as many questions as it answers. Where exactly are the ‘global’ and the ‘local’ in regard to TEFL? What belongs to each of these domains, and how exactly does the process of glocalization bring them together? Is there a risk of conflating the local with national or cultural conservativism, or of slipping into a discourse of commodification in which TEFL becomes a global product in need of adaption to national markets? In addressing these questions, this paper will propose a bottom-up conceptualization of the local in Asia TEFL that begins from the individual in his or her language learning environment. By mapping out the actual and potential dimensions of these environments, I will argue, we can gain insight into the relationships between the local and global in TEFL within the lived experiences of those who are most impacted by them.