ORLD ENGLISHES: CHALLENGES IN TEACHING EFL

Abstract

The global spread of English together with increased migration, advances in telecommunication, travelling across international borders has resulted in a growing linguistic diversity in English-speaking countries. The model of English that should be taught in the classroom has been a subject of debate for a long time. Analysis of English language teaching practices points out the fact that the English taught is based almost exclusively on American or British English, and textbooks include characters and cultural topics from the English-speaking countries of the inner world. Another issue in teaching English is related to dialects, that is standard versus non-standard English. Notions of 'the good' in English-language usage are informed by teachers' experience and by authoritative linguists. In particular, the choice of overall model of English that is presented to students and by which their English is evaluated ought to be considered in pragmatic terms.