ERIC GONDREE -

INTERVIEWS ON ENGLISH EDUCATION IN XINJIANG : LOCALISATION AND GLOBALISATION IN ELT

In an increasingly interconnected world, teachers may find valuable insights by finding viewpoints from diverse educational environments. Xinjiang, in western China, has been the setting of complex ethnic, demographic changes. As a result, English education in Xinjiang has involved a number of unique challenges. In August 2019, several former students of English in Xinjiang were interviewed to speak about their experiences, problems and how they feel English education has related to their lives and futures. The recorded voices of these Xinjiang natives will be presented with the aim of providing ideas and inspiration for English teachers in other contexts. Through listening to these testimonies, attendees will gain greater appreciation of what English means in Xinjiang and obtain insight on how education can flourish in an ethnically-diverse region of China. These different perspectives can offer attendees valuable lessons and solutions that can help English teachers elsewhere to “think globally and teach locally.”

Eric Gondree is an instructor at the Nagoya University of Foreign Studies in Japan. He has taught English at Konan University in Kobe, Japan and at the English Language Institute at SUNY Buffalo in the United States. He has an MBA and a Masters in TESOL from SUNY Buffalo.