See video recording on Youtube: http://youtu.be/yCfpD49YhSg Learners cannot help but develop their "own" version of the target language – in their minds, hearts, and behavior. Kohn explores this claim from a social constructivist perspective using empirical evidence from ELF communication. He discusses implications for TESOL, and argues for a reconciliation of ELF ownership and Standard English preference.

1. ‘My English’
Second Language Learning as
Individual and Social Construction
Kurt Kohn
University of Tübingen (DE)
kurt.kohn@uni-tuebingen.de
www.ael.uni-tuebingen.de

2. Non-native speaker attitudes towards English
Late 1970s near Boston, Kurt and Neil
NNS: “Can I say it like this?”
NS: “Never mind, I understand you.”
→ I want to be like you 
→ You don’t seem to care 
Evidence of a NNS’s exonormative preference for NSE
 Typical of an ELT/EFL/TESOL background
 Deviations from the NSE role model are at best tolerated
 Deeply entrenched in teachers’ and learners’ minds
And today?
 More emphasis (in ELT) on communication, greater
tolerance for deviations, particularly in CLIL classrooms
 Educational regulations for ELT institutions (in Europe)
continue to be based on an exonormative NSE role model
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 2

3. Excellence in ELT
is still largely measured and experienced
in terms of compliance with an externally given NSE role model.
ELT pupils and students at school and university
are being praised for meeting NSE norms.
Deviations may be tolerated,
but they are not taken as evidence of success.
Generally, communicative competence is the goal,
but it is the communicative competence
of native speakers.
At the same time, however, English outside the
ELT classroom has undergone dramatic changes.
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 3

4. Non-native speakers on the rise
Labov 1970: “In the sociolinguistic study of language learning, we
can begin with the fundamental observation that children do not
speak like their parents” (p. 33). [We may add: learners do not speak
like their teachers]
Graddol 1997/2000: “Native speakers may feel the language
'belongs' to them, but it will be those who speak English as a second
or foreign language who will determine its world future” ( p. 5).
Widdowson 1994/2003: “How English develops in the world is no
business whatever of native speakers in England, the United States,
or anywhere else. They have no say in the matter, no right to
intervene or pass judgement.” (p. 43)
Kohn 2011: “Owning a house is one thing; however, making it one's
home is yet another. If non-native speakers accept ownership, they
also need to begin to feel responsible for themselves. Before being
able to shape the future of English, they need to get their own
English into shape. But which direction should they take?” (p.73)
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 4

5. A NNS’s ownership of English
– Shattered dreams or a conceptual misunderstanding –
My first serious encounter with the double-edged nature of a
NNS’s ownership of English happened at an ELF conference – the
NS presenter’s message was that for a NNS of English a NSE
orientation was fundamentally wrong and impossible to pursue
with any hope for success.
The wall too high to climb - the fruit too sweet and out of reach
anyway – just not my sociolinguistic reality. I found myself
excluded from the enchanted garden.
But here I was, a Faustian creature with two souls: a NNS with a
desire for some kind of NSE orientation – a desire I was told was
unrealistic – a desire, however, that was part of my English self.
This was when my quest into the nature of NNS’s ownership of
English began – both as a researcher and as a NNS myself.
I found my answer in a social constructivist understanding of NNS
ownership, i.e. the conceptualization of language learning as the
cognitive, emotional and behavioral creation of “my English”.
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 5

6. Making English my own
How do I make English my own?
→ I acquire it
But how do I acquire English? [compare: acquiring a car]
 I develop/construct/CREATE my own version of it in my mind,
my heart and my behavior
→ based on my target language model, my native language,
my attitudes and motivation, my goals & requirements,
my learning approach, and the effort I invest
 And I do this in communicative, social interaction with others
In this social constructivist sense, the English I develop is my own
– “My English” –
It is inevitably different from the TL model toward which it is oriented.
– Not an option, rather part of the human condition –
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 6

7. Creating “My English” is about . . .
. . . creating my communicative-linguistic knowledge & skills
 lexical and grammatical means of expression
 how these can be used to fulfil language & communication-
related requirements of performance regarding what is
possible, appropriate, feasible, and probable (Hymes 1972)
. . . creating my requirements of performance
 a little child in first language acquisition
 an immigrant in second language acquisition
 a ELT learner in lingua franca situations
. . . creating my individual and social identity orientation
 Who do I want to be? → e.g. am I comfortable with myself?
 What/who is my role model? → e.g. some kind of NSE
 By whom do I want to be accepted? → desire for participation
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 7

8. “My English”
Implications for communicative competence
 More than getting linguistic means of expression right in terms of
possibility, appropriateness, feasibility, and probability
 More than being able to use linguistic means of expression for
achieving communicative needs and purposes
 Expressing oneself in keeping with one’s individual and social
identity: Expressing One’s Self
→ Perceived success
→ Hearer satisfaction
→ Speaker satisfaction
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 8

9. “My English”
Implications for ELF
English as a lingua franca – the variety bias
 Typical definitions of ELF seem to suggest that it is a “thing”
 The power of concepts: “the way we think and talk about
language influences the way we think & talk about . . . “
 The “thingness” of ELF is deeply rooted in the intuitive
perception and understanding of English teachers: teaching ELF
is seen as teaching a certain variety of English
ELF is not a “thing” – a thought experiment
 Imagine a group of people in an international ELF context
 What language do they use? What kind of English?
 I can only speak “My English” > NS, SL or learner English
ELF is about using “My English” under LF conditions
 Accommodation strategies
 Meaning negotiation strategies
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 9

10. My own Standard English
Imagine my aim was Mid-Atlantic Standard English (MASE)
→ My own simplified, sketchy, uncertain, even “wrong”
internal representation
 cognitive & emotional creative construction process
 based on the language of the people I (like to) talk to
 possibly influenced by linguistic descriptions
(which are constructions themselves)
What shapes my learning of MASE?
 My own cognitive-emotional construction and representation
 Linguistic descriptions and teaching models of MASE only
influence me through the constructive process of mediation
and adaptation
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 10

11. Native speaker / Standard English
as a target model for learning
Strong version of a Learners are required to comply
NSE orientation with the NSE (teaching) norms –
the closer they get, the better
Understanding language learning
as a behaviorist copying process lurks in the background
Learners take NSE as a model for
Weak version of a
orientation – they create their
NSE orientation
own version of it
Understanding language learning
as a constructivist process of cognitive and emotional creation
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 11

12. ELT research and practice
Theoretical beliefs & pedagogic orientations
1. An exonormative NSE orientation appears to be a given
[> BE or GA in German secondary schools]
2. The (strong!) exonormative NSE orientation is generally accepted
by both teachers and learners
3. Any deviation from the NSE model is at best tolerated; it is
“never” experienced as something positive
4. Even in communicative approaches, learning is oriented toward
a NSE model
5. A new turn is brought about by CLIL: content and language
integrated learning
Endonormative processes (“My English”) are not valued
Because of the (strong) exonormative perspective, learners tend
to stay (partially) alienated from their own creativity resulting in
frustration, anxiety and even fear
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 12

13. ELF research and practice
Theoretical beliefs & pedagogic orientations
1. ELF development is seen as a creative endonormative process
2. Deviations from NSE are accepted if they are communicatively
successful > focus on comprehensibility
3. The endonormative nature of ELF development is regarded as
incompatible with an exonormative NSE orientation
4. Emphasis is on spoken ELF communication
5. A new turn (Seidlhofer 2011): teaching ELF is about the process of
developing the kind of English users/learners are able to make
authentic for themselves – including NSE (!)
Need to go beyond communicative acceptability
> speaker satisfaction (Albl-Mikasa 2009)
Need for more attention to written ELF communication
(Horner 2011)
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 13

14. A constructivist resolution
of the ELT/ELF divide
The divide between ELT and ELF
 ELF emphasizes endonormativity against exonormativity
 Because of ELT’s exonormative bias, ELF-based pedagogic
suggestions are met with suspicion in ELT: “Do you want me to
teach incorrect English” (German teacher and teacher educator)
The need for a reconciliation
 Challenges arising from ELF-specific sociolinguistic realities
 Inconsistent educational regulations for schools in Germany
What should be done?
 ELF: extension of the endonormative view to include a
“weak” NSE orientation
 ELT: adoption of an endonormative conceptualization of
language learning & teaching (“My English”) along with an
acceptance of a constructivist, “weak” NSE orientation
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 14

15. ELF in the foreign language classroom
Focus on raising awareness for LF manifestations of English
 to increase tolerance for others and for oneself
Focus on developing ELF-specific comprehension skills
 to get accustomed to NNS accents and “messy” performance
Focus on developing ELF-specific production skills
 to improve pragmatic fluency and strategic skills for
accommodation and collaborative negotiation of meaning in
intercultural ELF situations
Exposure to a wide variety of ELF speakers
Focus on form within communicative tasks
(with a weak NSE orientation)
Interaction in ELF communication
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 15

16. ELF in the foreign language classroom, cont’d
Focus on developing the learner’s sense of ownership (“agency”)
 to ensure speaker satisfaction and self-confidence
What are the conditions that make this possible?
 Imagine an “inhibited” learner in school . . .
 Liberation though communicative participation in an authentic
speech fellowship or community of practice
How can “liberating” conditions be successfully implemented through
educational approaches & scenarios?
 CLIL - Practice Enterprise - Creative Writing
 “Pushed output processing” (Swain 2006) - with increased self-
satisfaction as a target (instead of better compliance with an
external norm)
 Authentic & autonomous web-based communication & collaboration
 All with the aim to explore and extend one’s own creativity
(→ Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development)
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 16

17. The potential of e-learning
An e-learning platform like Moodle,
 enhanced with web2 tools (e.g. forum chat, Skype, wiki, blog),
 and combined with online CLIL resources
provides a great potential for autonomous, authentic and
collaborative language learning:
 Flexible practice activities (reading, writing, listening, speaking)
with texts, images, sound and video
 Real (online) communication & interaction
 for content and language integrated learning
 with new possibilities for “incidental” language learning
Blended Language Learning to enhance face-to-face
classroom activities
(→ Kohn 2009, 2012)
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 17

18. Examples from our European projects
 BACKBONE: Pedagogic Corpora for Content and Language
Integrated Learning
http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/backbone/moodle
http://purl.org/backbone/searchtool
 PELLIC: Practice Enterprise for Language Learning and
Intercultural Communication
http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/pellic
 icEurope: Intercultural Foreign Language Communication
and Learning
http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/iceurope/moodle
 TELF: Tübingen English as a Lingua Franca Corpus
http://projects.ael.uni-tuebingen.de/telf
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 18

19. Closing remark
Let us embrace the non-native speakers’ “own” English – guided
by their “own” NSE orientation – pushed by their communicative
needs and identification purposes – fuelled by their creativity!
According to the constructivist insight, a learner’s "own mark" is
more than being allowed to drop the copula or 3rd person 's' – it is
rather about being allowed and encouraged to be oneself.
Excellence in TESOL
takes a giant step forward
when learners are given the space
for developing their own English
– for being themselves –
in keeping with their individual and social identities
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 19

20. Final quotes
Keith Gilyard 2011: “ . . the idea that students were writers and not
merely people learning to write, that they already had meaningful
things to express, and that those gestures toward meaning had to
take priority over the rigid, narrow, formal exercises laid out in many
writing classrooms” (p.28).
“. . . that NNS of English are speakers of English and not
merely people learning English”
Jane L.H.: “Taking ownership is really about identity, creativity, and
the energy we use to express these in words: using/constructing
language to communicate in a way that no other can exactly
duplicate because of the user’s inherent uniqueness. [. . .] I see my
own perception of my native language and its ecology change as I
watch my students take ownership: learning its structures,
experimenting with vocabulary and voice, and imprinting all with their
own identity. I don’t think it gets any better.” (TESOL online
discussion, Feb 16th, 2012
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 20

21. References
Albl-Mikasa, M. (2009). Who’s afraid of ELF: “failed” natives or non-native speakers struggling to express
themselves? In Albl-Mikasa, M., Braun, S. & Kalina, S. (eds.). Dimensionen der Zweitsprachenforschung –
Dimensions of Second Language Research. Festschrift für Kurt Kohn. Narr Verlag, 109-129.
Gilyard, K. (2011). True to the Language Game. African American Discourse, Cultural Politics, and
Pedagogy. Routledge.
Graddol, D. (1997/2000). The Future of English. A Guide to forecasting the popularity of the English
language in the 21st century. The British Council.
Horner, B.(2011). Writing English as a lingua franca. In Archibald, A. et al. (eds.). Latest Trends in ELF
Research. Cambridge Scholars, 299-311.
Hymes, D.H. (1972). On communicative competence. In Pride, J.B. & Holmes, J. (eds.). Sociolinguistis:
Selected Readings. Penguin, 269-293.
Kachru, B. (1985). Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English in the outer circle. In
Quirk, R. & Widdowson, H.G. (eds.). English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and
Literatures. CUP, 11-30.
Kohn, K. (2009). Computer assisted language Learning. In Knapp, K. & Seidlhofer, B. (eds.). Foreign
Language Communication and Learning. Handbooks of Applied Linguistics 6. Mouton-de Gruyter, 573–603.
Kohn, Kurt (2011). English as a lingua franca and the Standard English misunderstanding. In De Houwer, A.
& Wilton, A. (eds.). English in Europe Today. Sociocultural and Educational Perspectives. Benjamins, 72-94.
Kohn, K. (2012). The BACKBONE project: pedagogic corpora for content and language integrated learning.
Objectives, methodological approach and outcomes. Eurocall Review (to appear).
Labov, W. (1970). The Study of Non-standard English. National Council of Teachers of English.
Seidlhofer , B. (2011). Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. OUP.
Swain, M. (2006). Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced second language proficiency. In
Byrnes, H. (ed.). Advanced Language Learning: The Contributions of Halliday and Vygotsky. Continuum, 95-
108.
Widdowson, H. (2003). Defining Issues in English Language Teaching. OUP.
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Learning as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 21

22. Thank you
Kurt Kohn – ”My English: Second Language Acquisition as Individual & Social Construction” – TESOL, 28-31 March 2012 22