Art Language Learners as Mediators between Cultures: Some Implications for Teaching and Assessing English in the Algerian Context
Aprendizes de línguas como mediadores entre culturas: algumas implicações para o ensino e avaliação do inglês no contexto argelino
Resumo
The Algerian ministry of higher education and scientific research has recently embarked on a policy
aimed at enhancing the role of English in higher education. This new policy seeks to ensure a higher
visibility for academic and scientific activities as well as the recognition of Algerian diplomas abroad.
To achieve these aims, a national commission of experts in the field of English for specific purposes,
constituted for this task, has issued a report outlining a series of measures that are susceptible the
achievement of this goal. However, an analysis of this report as well as some related official documents
showed that the suggested measures are deeply entrenched in the norms of native-speakerism. In this
regard, the present paper raises the following question: do English native speakers’ norms represent a
major obstacle in the way of a rapid enhancement of the role of English in the Algerian system of higher
education? To answer this question, this theoretical paper explores the potential of Alcón ‘s (2007)
hybridity hypothesis to serve as a framework for a more realistic policy geared towards the gradual
enhancement of the status as well as the quality of teaching and assessing English for specific purposes
in the Algerian system of higher
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