Trajectories of change in English language teaching. An ELF-aware approach.

The spread of English as the world’s primary lingua franca (ELF) is an epiphenomenon of globalisation that has enhanced the importance of intercultural contact between speakers of different mother tongues. Inevitably, this will have a far-reaching impact on English language teaching (ELT), for the reality of ELF challenges the primacy of standard English and the traditional native-speaker model in foreign language education. In particular, the topics under discussion focus on: • A definition of ELF based on the most recent studies in this area. • The views of interculturalists on ELF through a survey involving members of Professor Michael Byram’s CultNet. • An exploration of controversial issues regarding the incorporation of ELF into the English language syllabus (e.g. the role of the native-speaker model in ELT; errors and creative forms of ELF; the assessment of ELF in the English classroom). • The implementation of telecollaboration in the English classroom to improve learners’ intercultural competence through ELF-based networked activities. This book is designed to provide language educators, teachers of English, and researchers with a vision for the future of ELT based on a plurilithic notion of English and intercultural understanding. This, the author believes, is all the more necessary in the present age, characterised by the socio-political challenges posed by globalisation.