Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

Chapter 4
English as an International
Language
SANDRA LEE MCKAY
This chapter begins by examining the various ways in which present-day
English use has been characterized. I argue in the fi rst section that although
existing defi nitions and approaches provide insight into the role of English
today, what is needed is a comprehensive view of English use that takes
into account the local linguistic ecology and recognizes the hybridity of
current English use. The next section of the chapter summarizes key
research fi ndings regarding English language learning and how it is related
to imagined communities, identity and technology. This is followed by a
discussion of challenges facing the fi eld in terms of inequality of access to
English language learning, othering in English pedagogy and standards in
English teaching and learning. In closing, I set forth principles that I believe
should inform a socially sensitive English pedagogy.
Defi ning Present-day English Use
World Englishes
The terminology used to describe present-day English refl ects the different
approaches to English use offered by professionals in the fi eld. One
of the most prevalent perspectives aims to describe the phonological,
grammatical, lexical and pragmatic features of the current use of English
as a factor of geographical region. This perspective is typically referred to
as World Englishes. The term World Englishes is based on Kachru’s (1986)
early description of institutionalized varieties of English. Kachru distinguishes
three major types of users of English: (1) native users of English
for whom English is the fi rst language in almost all functions, (2) nonnative
users of English who use an institutionalized second-language variety
of English, and (3) non-native users of English who consider English as a
foreign language and use it in highly restricted domains. Kachru refers to
speakers in the fi rst group as members of the Inner Circle (e.g. speakers
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