Functional Allocations of English in Post-Soviet Uzbekistan

This study investigates the functional allocations
of English in educational and social contexts in
Uzbekistan following the political changes of
1991.The study provides a rationale for making
relevant changes to English education, draws
implications for curriculum and teacher training,
and makes suggestions for improving the teaching and
learning of English in the country. The findings
reveal that curriculum changes for English language
education, which emerged as a result of educational
reforms in Uzbekistan,have not been completely
implemented mostly due to the shortage of financial
support and insufficient teacher training. Because
locally organized teacher training institutions are
unable to provide effective education, the majority
of English teachers lack both theoretical
knowledge and practical understanding of the
principles of new approaches to teaching foreign
languages. Nevertheless, as a result of the unique
role of English in the world, the Uzbek
people s favorable attitudes toward the language and
their effort to catch up with the Western world,
English has become the most widely learned foreign
language in Uzbekistan.

Autorentext

Dilbarhon Hasanova is Assistant Professor of ESL and Director of
the Center for English as a Second Language at Brescia
University, Kentucky, USA. She has a BA in English Philology
from Bukhara State University, Uzbekistan (1997), and an MS in
Education (2002) and a Ph.D. in ESL (2007) from Purdue
University, W.Lafayette, IN, USA.

Klappentext

This study investigates the functional allocations
of English in educational and social contexts in
Uzbekistan following the political changes of
1991.The study provides a rationale for making
relevant changes to English education, draws
implications for curriculum and teacher training,
and makes suggestions for improving the teaching and
learning of English in the country. The findings
reveal that curriculum changes for English language
education, which emerged as a result of educational
reforms in Uzbekistan,have not been completely
implemented mostly due to the shortage of financial
support and insufficient teacher training. Because
locally organized teacher training institutions are
unable to provide effective education, the majority
of English teachers lack both theoretical
knowledge and practical understanding of the
principles of new approaches to teaching foreign
languages. Nevertheless, as a result of the unique
role of English in the world, the Uzbek
people's favorable attitudes toward the language and
their effort to catch up with the Western world,
English has become the most widely learned foreign
language in Uzbekistan.