Global, Local, Or Glocal? Students’ Preferences For Topics In B.A. English Discussion Classes

As part of the b.a. curriculum of english language majors, discussion classes have a special role in not only increasing students’ speaking and listening proficiency but also giving them the opportunity to talk about various topics. in fact, the topic that is selected for discussion can be much significant in prompting students to speak and leading to a fun and active classroom atmosphere. the present study attempted to examine english literature students’ preferences for topics in english discussion classes based on the globalized or localized nature of topics. global topics entail universal ones, such as friendship, youth, global problems, etc., whereas local topics refer to those pertaining to the students’ native sociocultural context. to this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually with 42 students of english literature at the ba level to find out about their preferences for topics they have to talk about in their discussion classes. the following themes were extracted from their interviews: preference for controversial issues, having enough background information on the topic, the relevance of topics to one’s life, becoming familiar with other cultures, and being aware of our own sociocultural issues. overall, the findings revealed that the students preferred to talk about glocal topics rather than exclusively global or local ones.

Global, Local, or Glocal? Students’ Preferences for Topics in B.A. English Discussion Classes

As part of the B.A. curriculum of English language majors, discussion classes have a special role in not only increasing students’ speaking and listening proficiency but also giving them the opportunity to talk about various topics. In fact, the topic that is selected for discussion can be much significant in prompting students to speak and leading to a fun and active classroom atmosphere. The present study attempted to examine English Literature students’ preferences for topics in English discussion classes based on the globalized or localized nature of topics. Global topics entail universal ones, such as friendship, youth, global problems, etc., whereas local topics refer to those pertaining to the students’ native sociocultural context. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually with 42 students of English Literature at the BA level to find out about their preferences for topics they have to talk about in their discussion classes. The following themes were extracted from their interviews: preference for controversial issues, having enough background information on the topic, the relevance of topics to one’s life, becoming familiar with other cultures, and being aware of our own sociocultural issues. Overall, the findings revealed that the students preferred to talk about glocal topics rather than exclusively global or local ones.