Teaching culture(s) in English as a lingua franca in Asia: dilemma and solution
Before I start my talk, I would like to present to you two scenarios of English as a lingua franca (ELF) which I personally experienced. On 25 October 2013, the Executive Committee of Asia TEFL was held in Manila. Thirty four members from 17 Asian countries were present at the meeting. Among them were English native speakers, one teaching in South Korea and the other in Israel. The participants present spoke diverse mother tongues. Thus, English became a natural medium of communication. The second scenario is a TV program I recently watched. This program is for children to display their talents in singing, dancing, acting, etc. One of the performers is a five year old boy of mixed parentage. His mother is Chinese and his father, German. One of the TV hosts asked the boy a question: "What language is used to talk to your mum and dad?" The boy said "If I use Chinese, my dad cannot understand; If I use German, my mum cannot understand. When we talk together, we three have to use English." His mother further confirmed that English was the only means of communication between her husband and herself, and among the three members together. From these two scenarios, we can find that English is not only a shared communicative means among people with diverse mother tongues in an academic organization across Asian countries but also in a family of mixed marriage in China. The extensive use of ELF around the world enables people with diverse mother tongues to accomplish professional and business tasks so that the globalized professional and business activities can be accomplished without language barriers. It also enables peoples without a common communication means to exchange cultures so that the world culture can be enriched and further diversified