The worldwide spread, diversification, and globalization of the English language in the course of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has significant implications for English Language Teaching and teacher education. We are currently witnessing a paradigm shift towards Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL) that aims to promote multilingualism and awareness of the diversity of Englishes, increase exposure to this diversity, embrace multiculturalism, and foster cross-cultural awareness. Numerous initiatives that embrace TEIL can be observed around the world, but ELT and teacher education in Germany (and other European countries) appear to be largely unaffected by this development, with standard British and American English and the monolingual native speaker (including the corresponding cultural norms) still being very much at the center of attention. The present volume addresses this gap and is the first of its kind to showcase recent initiatives that aim at introducing TEIL into ELT and teacher education in Germany, but which have applicability and impact for other countries with comparable education systems and ‘traditional’ ELT practices in the Expanding Circle. The chapters in this book provide a balanced mix of conceptual, empirical, and practical studies and offer the perspectives of the many stakeholders involved in various settings of English language education whose voices have not often been heard, i.e., students, university lecturers, trainee teachers, teacher educators, and in-service teachers. It therefore adds significantly to the limited amount of previous work on TEIL in Germany and bridges the gap between theory and practice that will not only be relevant for researchers, educators, and practitioners in English language education in Germany but other educational settings that are still unaffected by the shift towards TEIL.

This book provides the reader with a basis upon which to develop teaching and learning methodologies for the multicultural classroom. It is a valuable tool for language teachers who want to implement educational practices that best serve the needs of learners eager to acquire proficiency in languages of wider communication such as English. Focusing on cross-cultural communicative competency, and with chapters on the historical spread of English, the pros and cons of utilizing American and British norms, and new alternative methods and practices, this book provides English instructors with the foundation they will need to meet the challenges of teaching a lingua franca in the age of globalization. Novel conceptualizations of language are presented which bring pluralism and multiculturalism center stage. The volume serves to show how teachers and teacher trainees can best assist learners in their pursuit of oral communication skills in the world’s most utilitarian language.

This book maps out the pedagogical implications of the global spread and diversification of pluricentric languages for language education and showcases new approaches that can take account of linguistic diversity. Moving the discussion of contemporary norms, aims, and approaches to pluricentric languages in language education beyond English, this book provides a multilingual, comparative perspective through case study examples of Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Dutch, and Vietnamese. The chapters document, compare, and evaluate existing practices in the teaching of pluricentric languages, and highlights different pedagogical approaches that embrace their variability and diversity. Presenting approaches to overcome barriers to innovation in language education, the book will be of great interest to academics, researchers, doctoral students in the field of language education, as well as socio- and applied linguists. Practitioners interested in linguistic diversity more broadly will also find this book engaging. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-4.0 license.

This text explores the pedagogical implications of the continuing spread of English and its role as an international language, highlighting the importance of socially sensitive pedagogy in contexts outside of inner circle English-speaking countries.

This book critically examines current ELT practices vis-à-vis the use of English as an international lingua franca. It bridges the gap between theoretical discussion and the practical concerns of teaching English as an international language, and presents diverse approaches for preparing competent users of English in international contexts.

Collectively, the chapters in this volume make a significant contribution to the emerging paradigm of English as an International Language (EIL) by exploring various aspects of the English language and its pedagogy in the context of the globalization of this language. The volume shows great deal of promise in terms of expanding the paradigm and also establishing new grounds for thinking, research, and practice.