English in the era of globalisation: culture – acquisition - translation

The course looks at the linguistic challenges of globalisation and increased mobility at the time when English is gradually losing its cultural identity, evolving into a supranational lingua franca. It seeks to explain the unprecedented popularity of English, to understand its role in globalisation and the effects (both positive and negative) of this linguistic hegemony.

In this context it is necessary to modify the prevailing approaches to language teaching, for example due to the demands of the rapidly expanding European job market. Students interested in FLT methodology will be able to explore the solutions proposed (among others) in CLIL (Content-and-Language-Integrated Learning), the Pluriliteracies Approach, which is gradually replacing CLIL in education or a new modular cross-disciplinary model known as Teaching English as a Content Subject, developed as part of an international Erasmus+ Project and coordinated by the Institute of English Studies, Faculty of Modern Languages at the University of Warsaw.

The global status of English makes it a perfect carrier of cultural content. To fully appreciate the interdependencies between language and culture we will look at a number of currently available interpretations of culture and its manifestations in language (from literature to propaganda). The robust network of cultural references poses an obvious challenge for a translator/interpreter. One of the options that the seminar offers is therefore to look at cultural untranslatability and a range of possible translation strategies and techniques.

Another issued to be addressed in the course is the use of new technology in distance learning (digital delivery) and hybrid learning, which becomes a major educational challenge in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

For the research part of their MA projects, students may choose to devise and carry out their own experiments, involving a range of data collection instruments (e.g. an interview or a questionnaire). To this end, students will be introduced to basic tools of descriptive statistics.

The seminar is addressed to students with an interest in the language-culture interface, the status of English in the world today, the problems of globalization, mobility, cultural aspects of Translation Studies. The course is also recommended for student-teachers, in-service teachers and anyone working with CLIL programs or wishing to enrich their language teaching resources.

Suggested courses:

JF2631 Cross-Cultural Communication, P.Kornacki
JS2821 Figurative Language in Communication and Translation, A.Piskorska
JS1904 Material development for CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), Z.Możejko
JF2654 Research Methods in Linguistics, M. Opacki
JS2903 Linguistic Theories of Translation, I.Szymańska