As English has steadily grown into a lingua mundi,
many teachers of English around the globe have
assumed that we are teaching the same language,
and that the preferred teaching methodology for
this language should naturally emanate from those
countries where English is spoken as a ‘native’
language. As we increasingly export English
language teaching (ELT), by providing professional
resources based on a communicative approach to
language teaching (CLT) to countries where
requirements for English may not be geared to oral
communication, and to cultures pedagogically
socialized to a teacher-centred approach, we >nd
that these assumptions are now being questioned.
Issues emerging from the expanding reach of
English as an international language (EIL), include
questions as to the cultural ownership of
international English; the establishment of
standards of speech, writing, and language
pro>ciency, in intercultural contexts; and the
development of socioculturally appropriate
teaching methodology. These issues, and others
related to them, are examined in Sandra Lee
McKay’s book: Teaching English as an International
Language.
There is no doubt but that the status of English and
consequently of ELT, has changed radically over the
past half century, to arrive in the 21st century as a
language dominating global economic,
information, and popular media spheres. McKay
begins her book with a description of the extent of
the use of English around the world, and a brief
historico-political explanation of the ascent of
English to global status. In this >rst chapter, she
introduces a key model that underpins her analysis
of the use and teaching of EILthroughout the book,
as adapted from Kachru’s categorization of nations
using English: concentric rings identifying the inner, outer,and expandingcircles of English. Inner
circlecountries, such as the United Kingdom, the
United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
and the Republic of South Africa, provide an
estimated 320–80 million speakers of English.
These Englishes are distinguished as native
speaker varieties. Outer circlecountries, such as
India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Jamaica, and
Singapore are essentially countries where English is
a non-settler post-colonial heritage; at a
conservative estimate they provide a further
150–300 million speakers. The expanding circle
comprises countries such as Japan, China, and
Germany, where English is not an institutionalized
language, and is commonly taught as a ‘foreign’
language. The number of English language
speakers in the expanding circle is estimated at
anywhere between 100 and 1,000 million—
potentially the largest group, but not, of course, of
any single identi>able standard. However, in many
expanding circle countries—the Netherlands and
Costa Rica being good examples—English is
increasingly >nding a larger role within the country.
This makes the expanding circle countries a nursery
for extending English language usage. This
potential for language growth in non-native
contexts underscores Graddol’s prediction (1999)
that as English comes to be increasingly used as an
adjunct language in multilingual contexts, the
authoritative centrality of the native speaker of
English will be challenged.
McKay tackles the thorny issue of the ‘native’
speaker in Chapter 2, raising awareness of the
hegemony of native speaker norms in ELT, and the
fallacy of teaching nationalized norms, given the
deterritorialized nature of international English.
She engages the essential notion of the bilingual
speaker, introducing the concept of clines of
bilingualism, as well as the need for considering
bilingual norms based on relative needs in teaching
ELT. Her discussion reinforces the argument posed
by Grosjean (1992) that bilingualism must be
understood holistically; it cannot be justly treated
as ‘double monolingualism’.Teachers of all languages are concerned with
establishing acceptable norms, and imposing the
‘standard language’ in the classroom, di;cult
though it may be to de>ne a standard. McKay
tackles the question of standards for EILin Chapter
3, beginning with a description of politicized
standards, such as those mandated for French by
the Académie Française, and moving into a
description of sociolinguistic variation. Singapore
is used to exemplify the basilect, mesolect, and
acrolect language varieties typical of outer circle
countries, evident in this case in the Singlish to
standard English dialect range. Cross-cultural
pragmatics and rhetorical conventions are also
discussed, and the debatable relevance of native
speaker norms in international contexts is
highlighted.
In my view, however, McKay is conservative in her
discussion of language variation, focusing as she
does primarily on sociolinguistic variability in real
time contexts. As an applied linguist, I would see
‘standardization’, especially in teaching contexts,
as a far more extensive problem, given the massive
and immediate e=ects of digitalization on use and
usage conventions in all languages used in virtual
space, notably English, which is in highest global
use as a virtual medium (Lotherington and Xu
2003). Insu;cient attention is paid to the language
change e=ected by children socialized into the
digital era, whose chat shorthand is invading not
only classrooms but also living-rooms across the
globe at a dizzying pace. Digital conversations are
increasingly an avenue for non-threatening
conversational practice for English language
learners, but they also provide potentially
confounding standards for learners of ELTwho are
struggling to make sense of any English.
The question of ‘whose English?’ is central to
discussion of the place of culture in teaching an
international language. In Chapter 4, McKay reexamines the teaching of culture in EILcontexts,
raising questions as to whose culture should be
primary in language teaching, especially where the
teacher is a non-native speaker, and how these
cultural interpretations can be made and taught. I
found this discussion to be very practical, given the
eroding validity of claiming nationally-de>ned
cultural standards in the teaching of an
international language. The chapter usefully
demonstrates how non-native teachers of English
in expanding circle countries must struggle to
centre their and their students’ cultural
understanding of a language that will be used in
socioculturally tailored circumstances.McKay examines teaching methodology, tackling
the assumed superiority of CLT. As she points out,
CLT, which is grounded in the learning cultures of
inner circle countries, has been a concomitant of
the spread of global English. Basic to CLTare
cultural assumptions that may not >t well in
classrooms in outer circle and expanding circle
countries. For example, CLTtypically curtails
mother tongue use in the ELTclassroom, which is a
practice inconsistent with the holistic view of
bilingualism needed in contexts where English will
be an adjunct language. Furthermore, as McKay
points out, CLTis typically exported to outer and
expanding circle contexts in material and human
resources that, according to Halliday’s theory, lean
towards an oral-oriented, problem-solving ‘weak’
orientation to CLT, as opposed to a more
discourse-oriented ‘strong’ version. Yet a strong
approach to CLTmay be better suited to countries
in which socio-historic traditions of pedagogical
authority do not easily accommodate learnercentredness.
McKay concludes the volume with a chapter on
rethinking goals and approaches in EIL, in which
she appeals for cultural sensitivity in the teaching
of English as an international language. She
recommends that teachers of EIL think globally and
act locally, stressing that pedagogical
particularization is needed to e=ect culturally
re?ective teaching and learning.
Teaching English as an International Languageis a
very accessible book, appropriate for professionals
in the broad >eld in ELT, particularly those involved
in the education of adults, and ideal for courses in
ESL/EFL/EILtheory, practice, and pedagogy at
undergraduate as well as graduate levels. Each
chapter o=ers suggested further readings, and the
volume includes a helpful glossary.
In this slim volume, McKay systematically probes
assumptions that native speakers of English know
best. As she outlines, English is a language that
increasingly belongs to people around the globe as
an intercultural and interlingual interface.
Pedagogy must adapt accordingly.
As English has steadily grown into a lingua mundi,
many teachers of English around the globe have
assumed that we are teaching the same language,
and that the preferred teaching methodology for
this language should naturally emanate from those
countries where English is spoken as a ‘native’
language. As we increasingly export English
language teaching (ELT), by providing professional
resources based on a communicative approach to
language teaching (CLT) to countries where
requirements for English may not be geared to oral
communication, and to cultures pedagogically
socialized to a teacher-centred approach, we >nd
that these assumptions are now being questioned.
Issues emerging from the expanding reach of
English as an international language (EIL), include
questions as to the cultural ownership of
international English; the establishment of
standards of speech, writing, and language
pro>ciency, in intercultural contexts; and the
development of socioculturally appropriate
teaching methodology. These issues, and others
related to them, are examined in Sandra Lee
McKay’s book: Teaching English as an International
Language.
There is no doubt but that the status of English and
consequently of ELT, has changed radically over the
past half century, to arrive in the 21st century as a
language dominating global economic,
information, and popular media spheres. McKay
begins her book with a description of the extent of
the use of English around the world, and a brief
historico-political explanation of the ascent of
English to global status. In this >rst chapter, she
introduces a key model that underpins her analysis
of the use and teaching of EILthroughout the book,
as adapted from Kachru’s categorization of nations
using English: concentric rings identifying the inner, outer,and expandingcircles of English. Inner
circlecountries, such as the United Kingdom, the
United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
and the Republic of South Africa, provide an
estimated 320–80 million speakers of English.
These Englishes are distinguished as native
speaker varieties. Outer circlecountries, such as
India, the Philippines, Nigeria, Jamaica, and
Singapore are essentially countries where English is
a non-settler post-colonial heritage; at a
conservative estimate they provide a further
150–300 million speakers. The expanding circle
comprises countries such as Japan, China, and
Germany, where English is not an institutionalized
language, and is commonly taught as a ‘foreign’
language. The number of English language
speakers in the expanding circle is estimated at
anywhere between 100 and 1,000 million—
potentially the largest group, but not, of course, of
any single identi>able standard. However, in many
expanding circle countries—the Netherlands and
Costa Rica being good examples—English is
increasingly >nding a larger role within the country.
This makes the expanding circle countries a nursery
for extending English language usage. This
potential for language growth in non-native
contexts underscores Graddol’s prediction (1999)
that as English comes to be increasingly used as an
adjunct language in multilingual contexts, the
authoritative centrality of the native speaker of
English will be challenged.
McKay tackles the thorny issue of the ‘native’
speaker in Chapter 2, raising awareness of the
hegemony of native speaker norms in ELT, and the
fallacy of teaching nationalized norms, given the
deterritorialized nature of international English.
She engages the essential notion of the bilingual
speaker, introducing the concept of clines of
bilingualism, as well as the need for considering
bilingual norms based on relative needs in teaching
ELT. Her discussion reinforces the argument posed
by Grosjean (1992) that bilingualism must be
understood holistically; it cannot be justly treated
as ‘double monolingualism’.Teachers of all languages are concerned with
establishing acceptable norms, and imposing the
‘standard language’ in the classroom, di;cult
though it may be to de>ne a standard. McKay
tackles the question of standards for EILin Chapter
3, beginning with a description of politicized
standards, such as those mandated for French by
the Académie Française, and moving into a
description of sociolinguistic variation. Singapore
is used to exemplify the basilect, mesolect, and
acrolect language varieties typical of outer circle
countries, evident in this case in the Singlish to
standard English dialect range. Cross-cultural
pragmatics and rhetorical conventions are also
discussed, and the debatable relevance of native
speaker norms in international contexts is
highlighted.
In my view, however, McKay is conservative in her
discussion of language variation, focusing as she
does primarily on sociolinguistic variability in real
time contexts. As an applied linguist, I would see
‘standardization’, especially in teaching contexts,
as a far more extensive problem, given the massive
and immediate e=ects of digitalization on use and
usage conventions in all languages used in virtual
space, notably English, which is in highest global
use as a virtual medium (Lotherington and Xu
2003). Insu;cient attention is paid to the language
change e=ected by children socialized into the
digital era, whose chat shorthand is invading not
only classrooms but also living-rooms across the
globe at a dizzying pace. Digital conversations are
increasingly an avenue for non-threatening
conversational practice for English language
learners, but they also provide potentially
confounding standards for learners of ELTwho are
struggling to make sense of any English.
The question of ‘whose English?’ is central to
discussion of the place of culture in teaching an
international language. In Chapter 4, McKay reexamines the teaching of culture in EILcontexts,
raising questions as to whose culture should be
primary in language teaching, especially where the
teacher is a non-native speaker, and how these
cultural interpretations can be made and taught. I
found this discussion to be very practical, given the
eroding validity of claiming nationally-de>ned
cultural standards in the teaching of an
international language. The chapter usefully
demonstrates how non-native teachers of English
in expanding circle countries must struggle to
centre their and their students’ cultural
understanding of a language that will be used in
socioculturally tailored circumstances.McKay examines teaching methodology, tackling
the assumed superiority of CLT. As she points out,
CLT, which is grounded in the learning cultures of
inner circle countries, has been a concomitant of
the spread of global English. Basic to CLTare
cultural assumptions that may not >t well in
classrooms in outer circle and expanding circle
countries. For example, CLTtypically curtails
mother tongue use in the ELTclassroom, which is a
practice inconsistent with the holistic view of
bilingualism needed in contexts where English will
be an adjunct language. Furthermore, as McKay
points out, CLTis typically exported to outer and
expanding circle contexts in material and human
resources that, according to Halliday’s theory, lean
towards an oral-oriented, problem-solving ‘weak’
orientation to CLT, as opposed to a more
discourse-oriented ‘strong’ version. Yet a strong
approach to CLTmay be better suited to countries
in which socio-historic traditions of pedagogical
authority do not easily accommodate learnercentredness.
McKay concludes the volume with a chapter on
rethinking goals and approaches in EIL, in which
she appeals for cultural sensitivity in the teaching
of English as an international language. She
recommends that teachers of EIL think globally and
act locally, stressing that pedagogical
particularization is needed to e=ect culturally
re?ective teaching and learning.
Teaching English as an International Languageis a
very accessible book, appropriate for professionals
in the broad >eld in ELT, particularly those involved
in the education of adults, and ideal for courses in
ESL/EFL/EILtheory, practice, and pedagogy at
undergraduate as well as graduate levels. Each
chapter o=ers suggested further readings, and the
volume includes a helpful glossary.
In this slim volume, McKay systematically probes
assumptions that native speakers of English know
best. As she outlines, English is a language that
increasingly belongs to people around the globe as
an intercultural and interlingual interface.
Pedagogy must adapt accordingly.
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