Examining English-Only in the EFL Classroom of a Swedish School: A Conversation Analytic Perspective

Abstract

There are varying claims about the number of English second-language speakers, with figures between 100 million and 400 million (Crystal 1997). Similarly, the number who have learnt English as a Foreign Language (EFL) also varies, with estimates ranging from 100 million–1,100 million (Baker 2011: 84). According to Crystal (2012: 5), ‘English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language – in over 100 countries, such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt and Brazil – and in most of these countries it is emerging as the chief foreign language to be encountered in schools’. Similar observations have been made of the EU, where English is understood to be the most widely taught foreign language (Cenoz and Gorter 2013: 591). While English has made a clear and profound impact on language teaching around the world, less obvious, or perhaps more contentious, is the issue of what role first languages (L1s) should play in the ELT classroom.