The practicality and relevance of peace in an EFL teacher training program: Applications and implications

ABSTRACTThis study examines the practicality and relevance of positive peace (Galtung, 1964) in English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher training. It focuses on a collaborative three-month study abroad program, funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council, for EFL teachers from rural communities in western China to participate in an intensive professional development program hosted at a large Canadian university. Beginning with the premise that the teaching and learning of Global English is not apolitical, and that the power imbalance between Center based institutions and remote Periphery communities should not be ignored, we consider how the concept, and practice, of positive peace can counter English linguistic and cultural hegemony. In Summer 2016, thirty-five teachers from western China attended the program; thirteen agreed to participate in interviews and focus groups for research purposes. Thematic analysis was used to first code the data for prominent themes with subsequent rounds of interpretive c...