Quick-fix English: discontinuities in a language development aid project

Article

Taylor-Leech, Kerry. 2009. "Quick-fix English: discontinuities in a language development aid project." English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 8 (1), pp. 97-111.
Article Title

Quick-fix English: discontinuities in a language development aid project

ERA Journal ID35666
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorTaylor-Leech, Kerry
Journal TitleEnglish Teaching: Practice and Critique
Journal Citation8 (1), pp. 97-111
Number of Pages15
Year2009
PublisherEmerald
Place of PublicationWaikato, New Zealand
ISSN1175-8708
Web Address (URL)http://education.waikato.ac.nz/research/files/etpc/files/2009v8n1nar2.pdf
Abstract

In this classroom narrative article I discuss some of my experiences as a teacher in an Australian government-funded English language development aid project during the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The program formed part of an emergency response to the devastating violence that accompanied the Indonesian withdrawal from the country after 24 years of occupation. Using journal extracts based on my ethnographic research in East Timor, I outline some telling pedagogical and social disconnections that arose between the development community and the community it purported to serve. I note aspects of my experience that might be relevant to other language development aid projects in a post-colonial, globalising world.

KeywordsEast Timor; English; development aid; language in development; UNTAET
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390108. LOTE, ESL and TESOL curriculum and pedagogy
390401. Comparative and cross-cultural education
470401. Applied linguistics and educational linguistics
Public Notes

English Teaching: Practice and Critique articles are copyrighted by the respective authors.

http://edlinked.soe.waikato.ac.nz/research/journal/index.php?id=1

Byline AffiliationsMacquarie University
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