The 21st century English classroom: how to teach vocabulary and introduce students to Global Englishes by means of TED talks

Abstract

[eng] This paper will explore the topic of word acquisition and the exposure to Global Englishes in the EFL class by means of TED talks. For this purpose, basic concepts involved in L2 lexical development will be discussed, such as incidental and intentional learning, word frequency, deep processing, word retrieval, word knowledge and attrition. Additionally, the role of technology in the classroom will be assessed, as we will address the benefits of implementing blended learning and multimodality. Special attention will be drawn to the use of subtitles and the range of possibilities that they offer in the current educational context. Furthermore, we will briefly explain the different aspects of the Global Englishes paradigm and highlight the importance of teaching the plurillithic reality of the English language in a globalized world. Emphasis will be placed on the position of English as an international language and the need for learners to develop mutual intelligibility. Lastly, we will present our design of activities based on the use of TED talks. This is aimed at portraying different circles of World Englishes and developing lexical acquisition through communicative contexts.