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2 - Concepts of Globalization and English Language Teacher Education in Singapore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 October 2020

By
Rita Elaine Silver  and
Wendy D. Bokhorst-Heng
Edited by
Amy Bik May Tsui
Amy Bik May Tsui
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
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Summary

Since Singapore’s inception, the national economic playing field has always been tightly coupled with the global economy. Policy imperatives are framed and contested within the resulting global–local nexus. Education, especially language-in-education, has been and continues to be a key player in the intertwining of economic, political, and cultural imperatives at this nexus. In this chapter, we consider English language teacher education within the global–local nexus framed by globalization. First, we provide some context on English Language (EL) education in Singapore. This is followed by an overview of the teacher education system, with a focus on education for prospective EL teachers. We then discuss some of the challenges posed by Singapore’s particular view on globalization, the contradictions in that view, and their connection with EL learning and teacher education. We end by exploring some possible ways forward.

Keywords

Singaporeteacher educationlanguage commodificationculture of learningEL syllabus
Type
Chapter
Information
English Language Teaching and Teacher Education in East Asia
Global Challenges and Local Responses
 , pp. 37 - 56
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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