EIL in Action: Non-native Speaking English Teachers’
reflections on the Spread of English as an International
Language
Iris Yi-shin Liou, PhD
Associate Professor, General Education Centre
Ching-Kuo Institute of Management and Health
Keelung, Taiwan
1. Introduction
English as an international language (EIL) has been a major topic in applied
linguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) education
research since decades ago. Crystal (1997) and Graddol (1997) have drawn attention
to the fact that non-native English users in the world out-numbering native speakers,
making the native speakers a minority group among users of the language. The
implications of EIL highlight the functional role of the English language for cross
cultural and international communication among non-native speakers, rather than for
communicating with native speakers. Kirkpatrick (2003) celebrated that the notion of
EIL will be ‘liberating’ (p. 87) non-native speaking (NNS) teachers from the assumed
peripheral ownership of English. Kachru campaigned for ‘a paradigm shift’ (B.
Kachru, 1992:360) to cultivate English learners the ability to accommodate different
English accents and varieties in the world in English teaching and research in several
aspects (B. Kachru, 1992, 1996; B. Kachru & Nelson, 1996).
2. Literature Review
As a consequence of the spread of EIL, there is a view that native-like
proficiency should not be the ultimate goal for learning and teaching English; nor
should it be considered as the standard used for judging English teachers’ professional
competence (B. Kachru & Nelson, 2001; Y. Kachru, 2005; McKay, 2002). English
with local accents was celebrated and encouraged as a variety of the English language.
Widdowson (1994) argued that since outer circle1 English speakers have altered the
English language from the norm of inner circle Englishes to suit their local
communication needs, this act itself has claimed and confirmed outer circle English
1
Kachru (1985) proposed a model to explain the history and function of English in different parts of
the world. According to his definition, inner circle countries refer to those major English-speaking
countries, such as the USA or the UK. Outer circle countries refers to those countries that were
formerly colonized by the UK, where the English language was altered and mingled with the local
language to fit the local communication needs, such as Singapore or India. Outer circle countries refers
to those countries that English remains a foreign language. English was mainly used for international
communication.
1
speakers’ ownership over the language, and they are the native speakers of the locally
developed English varieties. Scholars proposed that learners should be exposed to
more English varieties to understand the actual use of English around the world (B.
Kachru, 1992; Matsuda, 2003; McKay, 2002, 2003; Modiano, 1999). And Modiano
(1999) optimistically predicted that teaching materials for teaching English as an
international language would soon be available. Jenkins (2000, 2002, 2006) proposed
a ‘lingua franca core’ (LFC), which was derived from her empirical studies among
EIL users, to be taught in EIL classrooms for developing the EIL interlocutor’s
accommodation skills and making their pronunciation intelligible and acceptable.
The global development of EIL has thus potentially challenged the traditional
ownership of English, and has the possibility to change the traditional definitions of
English teachers’ professional competences, to change their self-images and their
sense of professionalism in the TESOL profession. To English teaching professionals,
the notion of EIL that encourages local varieties of English should therefore exert a
strong impact on NNS English teachers’ sense of professionalism and language
proficiency. Studying NNS English teachers’ responses towards the notion and
implications of EIL also provides a good opportunity to study closely the way
teachers’ professional identity is linked with their perception of subject competence.
However, many suggestions concerning teaching English as an international language
are based on theoretical assumptions. NNS English teachers’ perspectives are lacking
in the study of EIL. Therefore, key to the data analysis in this study is teachers’
responses to and reflections on the implications of EIL, with special emphasis on their
attitudes toward English proficiency and cultural knowledge as an English teaching
professional. Participants’ responses to the notion of EIL will serve as a good
indicator of the future development of the implications of EIL in teaching English.
3. Research method
The notion of EIL was yet a new idea to many English teachers in expanding
circle countries (Seidlhofer, 2002). Introducing the development of EIL to research
participants was essential before collecting data for this study. Creswell (2003)
suggests that interviews are useful research method when observation is not available
for collecting data. It is unlikely to observe teachers’ teaching practice of teaching EIL
as this idea is yet new to them. In-depth interview therefore served as a suitable
research method to achieve deeper understanding of teachers’ concerns and reflections
on teaching English as an international language. Research and interview invitation
was sent 337 teachers in 21 tertiary colleges in the greater Taipei metropolitan. 28
teachers replied with acceptances.
The form of the EIL information session and interview process was carefully
2
explained before meeting the teachers, so they were aware of the content of the
meeting. The interview was designed to be semi-structured. The notion and
implications of EIL were introduced to the participants in one EIL information session,
and the participants were exemplified by the samples of World Englishes in email
correspondences between the researcher and the participants in the following weeks.
Three items were presented in the EIL information session. They are as follows:

A PowerPoint presentation: introducing the development of EIL and those
proposals for teaching English as an international language in the literature. This
15-minute power point presentation was presented as a ‘warm-up’ before
showing a video program to introduce the concept of EIL, the emergence of new
varieties of Englishes, and EIL teaching implications.

A video program - English, English, Everywhere: an educational program
produced by Open University (Open University, 1997). The program presents a
good demonstration of how widely the English language has spread all over the
world and how different varieties of English have been emerged and accepted as
the medium of local and international communication.

A Newsweek article: ‘Not the Queen’s English’ (Power, 2005). This article
echoed the notion of the spread of English in the video program, which described
the emergence of different varieties of English around the world, and how it
might affect English teaching in the future. After the on-site video presentation,
this magazine article was intended to play the role of strengthening the notion of
EIL. It also carries the function of refreshing participants’ memory of what has
been shown in the video program.
Freebody (2003:133) suggests that the key point of semi-structured interviews is
to pursue what is relevant to the interviewees, while the predetermined set of
questions keeps the interview relevant to the guiding research question. The questions
are not to be asked in any fixed order. Rather, they should follow the flow of the
interview, enabling the participants to develop and explore the issues that concern
them the most. It is a method applied to avoid the researchers’ biased knowledge
when entering into this research field, which can enrich the research result from the
participants’ perspectives, allowing them to present their concerns in this specific
research field. This also resulted in a fuller understanding of the interaction between
EIL and teachers’ professional identity in this study.
Email correspondences were designed to elicit teachers’ responses to English
varieties and how language variation related to their teaching practices. The email
discussions aimed at deepening the teachers’ understanding of English varieties and
3
their awareness of the spread of EIL. Samples of English varieties from inner, outer
and expanding circle countries were provided for discussion. Liu (1999) suggested
that using emails would allow the researcher and the participants sufficient time to
reflect on the issues and contribute to the discussion effectively. Teachers could
choose, to respond or not to the emails and the discussion questions.
After the first interview, I explained to the teachers about the email discussion of
English varieties. The email EIL input was designed to present written (see Appendix
1, 2 and 3) and spoken samples of English varieties to the teachers. Participants were
invited to respond to the samples or give any comments if they wished. The spoken
language samples were collected from various internet radio news programs.
International Corpus of English (ICE) website was visited for collect outer circle
countries’ audio samples. As for samples from expanding circle countries, the BBC
World Service internet radio web page was visited to find news stories that had
interviews with speakers from those specific countries.
Following the EIL information session and the participants’ reflections on the
samples of English varieties, the final interview aimed at understanding teachers’
reflections on the development of EIL and implications of EIL in teaching English,
and how it may relate to their teaching practices and their perception of professional
competence.
4. Result and discussion
The first part of the data analysis presents participants’ various attitudes towards the
notions of EIL and the samples of World Englishes. The second part presents
participants’ attitudes towards the practicality of the implications of EIL in teaching
English.
4.1 Participants’ attitudes towards native-like English and local variety of
English
After being introduced to the notion of EIL, pursuing native-like proficiency or
encouraging a local English variety turned out to be the central issues of discussion
during the interviews. From the observation of teachers’ responses, it was found that
one group of participants (12 participants) showed a strong rejection to the notion of
EIL and strong commitment to standard English. In contrast, another group of
participants’ (4 participants) attitudes showed that they questioned the appropriateness
of reaching native-like proficiency as the key purpose of their teaching. Their attitudes
are more in line with the arguments of EIL in that they believed that achieving
native-like proficiency was not possible, and not necessary. As for the rest of the
participants (12 participants), they made a clear distinction between their role as an
4
English teacher and their role as an English user. The distinction influences their sense
of language proficiency and their attitude towards the notion of EIL.
4.1.1 Strong commitment to Standard English
One group of the participants took a strong stand on the use of standard English.
These participants revealed their hesitation regarding local accents or varieties.
Reaching native-like proficiency when learning a foreign language certainly was the
target for achievement:
I really wish that I could speak beautiful and fluent English, just like native
speakers. When I heard my students speaking in a beautiful American accent,
I really envy them that they could start learning English at a very young
age … but I can’t change much of my Taiwanese accent, right? [Julie (P01),
2Q04]
Julie did her MA in Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics in the UK.
Although her spoken English is clear, fluent and very native-like, she would still hope
to improve her pronunciation to be closer to a native speaker’s way of speaking as
much as possible. She does not have much patience with herself if she finds herself
speaking English with a Taiwanese accent. She does not have much patience with her
colleagues’ accented English either:
When I heard my colleagues speak English with obvious Taiwanese accent,
there would be a big question mark in my mind. How could they speak and
teach English like that? [Second interview]
Peter (P03) also believed that the goal in learning and teaching English is to
reach native-like proficiency. Peter received all his education in Taiwan. He did not
give much thought to varieties other than American English in his teaching. He
believed that part of a teacher’s duty in teaching English is to correct students’
English if they don’t sound like native-speakers. There is a strong link between his
identity as an English teacher and a good command of standard English:
I will expect to see my students’ English proficiency getting better and better. I
cannot force them, but I can correct them. … Otherwise, what do students
need teachers for? Since we are teachers of English, our pronunciation, our
intonation should be good enough to be students’ model. … We have got to
have this kind of confidence. Why should students listen to other incorrect
English? [First interview]
5
Daniel was a military officer in charge of foreign affairs before he started his
current job in teaching English. He has rich experiences in using English to
communicate with American army officers regarding complicated operational
manuals of modern weapons. During the knowledge transferring process, Daniel had
to be very precise in English, in both receptive and productive aspects. Since he
started teaching English in his retirement from army service, the standard of his use
of English was even higher than ever before. Having a good command of native-like
English proficiency as part of the professional competence is the fundamental
qualification to be an English teacher. This kind of self-demand is not coming from
external pressure, , it is coming from an inner urge to maintain and develop English
proficiency at a professional standard. Constantly maintaining and improving
teachers’ command of English to be native-like is an important part of his teaching
life:
Now I am an English teacher, I am doing language education, I am teaching
English, I should not make any grammar mistakes, and I should try to be as
close as I can to be like American or British native speakers … If we give up
our commitment to formal English or native-like proficiency, we are giving up
ourselves as English teachers; … we are losing our identity as English
teachers. [D2-4-1]
Sandy (P22) spends hours every day on maintaining and improving her
command of English. She listens to radio English teaching programs in those spare
moments when she is driving to and from her university and when she is cooking
family dinners. Whenever she is in contact with students, either in written or spoken
forms, using formal and standard English is the way of expressing her identity that ‘ I
am an English teacher.’ Sandy believes that English teachers in Taiwan should be the
gatekeepers of Taiwanese people’s English performance, and teachers should stick to
standard English at all times. She expressed a strong opposition to the idea of
encouraging a local English variety. In her opinion, keeping local accents and
language variety is an excuse of teachers’ laziness. She believed that local accents in
English would seriously damage Taiwanese people’s international intelligibility with
people from other countries:
If all the English teachers start telling themselves that ‘I will teach Taiwanese
English’ and not keeping themselves close to the correct English, once they
start doing that, students’ English will become worse and students will
6
produce even more local Taiwanese English, until one day no one out there in
the world can understand us. [10-5]
The fact that 80% of the English users in the world are non-native speakers of
English does not seem to change the ownership of English in the participants’ view.
The ownership of English does not seem to be determined by the number of its users,
but by its origin:
If people want to learn English, I still believe that it should be the 20%
English speakers’ English. … it should be the first-hand English. Right? If you
want to learn English, will you choose to go to England or Singapore? Of
course you will go to England and other English-speaking countries to learn
English. I think it is the rule of learning a foreign language that is recognized
around the world. [Peter P03, first interview]
When the context is moving out of the classroom, avoiding non-standard accents
remains as important to these participants. Daniel (P20) recalled from his experiences
of communicating with people from different countries when he attended an intensive
English training program in the United States. He found that accent alone was a
practical obstacle when communicating with other trainees:
There were trainees from Italy, Egypt, Korea, Philippines, etc. We all had
different accents, and we all had communication problems. The
communication between us was very difficult; we could not understand each
other much. [10-5]
From their responses to those language samples of World Englishes, we can see
even more clearly their strong commitment to formal standard English. In their
responses to the English language samples of inner circle countries (Appendix1),
these participants paid special attention to the spelling, grammatical correctness, and
formality of the samples. The participants suggested revisions with comments such as:
Yes, I can accept these three passages, even though there are some
grammatical mistakes. … I will be eager to revise it! [Julie (P01), first email
discussion].2
2
Participants’ responses to the written samples are quoted directly from their English writing in the
email correspondences.
7
No, they are not understandable … I will ask them to re-write … over 90% of
the writing are completely inaccessible… better rewrite everything. [Gerald,
(P28), first email discussion]
I will correct the spelling as ‘proof reading’ in the second sample and
‘volleyball’ in the 3rd… I will revise them. [Emily (P05), first email discussion’
The sample from an outer circle country (Appendix 2) written by a social worker
in Kenya reporting their missionary work has won lots of these participants’ approval.
In spite of the minor syntactical variation and some local words in the written form,
participants welcomed such samples with comments such as:
Three of them are all well written. They are all English. Very good sentence
structure… But I will ask them about some words that I don’t understand.
[Julie, second email discussion]
Although they have used some local vocabularies, they are easier to
understand than those writings by native speakers…but clear notes of the
vernacular must be provided. [Gerald, second email discussion]
Respondents’ responses to the samples show that spelling, correct grammar and
good sentence structure make for a good use of the language. Comprehensible
communication is made possible by a formal use of the language. In addition to
allowing effective communication, formal and standard use of English also represents
people’s inner quality: ‘Language is not for communication only. It also represents a
person’s education and their cultivation in cultures’ [Peter P03, first interview]. That
is why a good exposure to refined English language is important to Peter’s teaching
practice. Peter believed that he should teach native speakers’ educated English to his
students:
What is the standard of English? That is the English that educated native
speakers would speak. Although native speakers have become a minority of
English users in the world, … after all, we are not the countries where the
English language originated. We should teach refined and decent upper class
English to our students. [D1-4]
Through the exposure to the notion and implications of EIL in this project,
although this group of participants were informed that the majority of English users
8
are non-native speakers and of the proposed new definition of the ownership of
English, they still firmly believe that the ownership of English belongs to its native
speakers. Participants’ responses to the notion of EIL reveal an aspect of their
professional identity, that a good command of formal and standard English is
important not only to their role as an English teacher, but is also important to their
role as an English user outside the classroom context. Pursuing native-like proficiency
carries a moral value for their role as an English teacher. When teaching and using
English, local English accents or varieties should be avoided as much as possible. The
goal of learning a foreign language certainly is reaching native-like proficiency.
Daniel’s and Gerald’s past experiences of using English in international settings told
them that having formal and native-like proficiency in English increased their
accessibility in international society.
4.1.2 Proud of being different from native speakers
In contrast, another group of participants showed a very positive attitude towards
the notion of EIL that local accents and varieties should be valued and encouraged.
They consider people’s first language (L1) will inevitably influence their command of
a second language or foreign language (L2). Tracy (P23) agreed that sounding like
native speakers of a foreign language indeed is ‘something remarkable.’ However, her
postgraduate study in language education had increased her open attitudes towards
non-native speakers’ imperfect English. Tracy had rich experiences of using English
for practical communication in doing business before she started doing postgraduate
studies and applied for her current English teaching job. She was not an English major.
English was the language that she learned from and used in doing international
business with people of different nationalities and cultural backgrounds for more than
twenty years. She does not mind having an L1 accent in her English when she speaks
English or teaches in the classroom:
Of course our L1 will influence our L2!’ You don’t need to be embarrassed
about that…I truly believe that communication should be the first priority,
intonation, accent, and pronunciation are not that important. … So, since we
as teachers are not that good in native-like pronunciation, how can we request
our students to sound like native speakers? … communication is the top
priority. [2Q04]
Accents or grammatical mistakes are not perceived as serious problems for
successful communication, either in the classroom context or in formal occasions such
as conference presentations. Accents or grammatical mistakes have never been among
Daisy’s (P26) concerns, as long as she can convey comprehensible messages. Daisy
9
was never an English major from her undergraduate education through to her PhD
studies. She had rich experiences of using the English language for educational as
well as practical purposes when living in an English-speaking country. She applied
her own experiences of learning and using English as a non-English major to her
English teaching practice:
I don’t care much about having non-native-like pronunciation in my
speaking when I teach, as long as I have clear pronunciation. I always told
my students what is important is that they have to be clear in pronunciation,
not necessarily native-like, when they speak English. That is most important.
I don’t care much about my grammar either, and I told my students the same
thing. [10-1]
Having accents will not necessarily affect mutual comprehension in
communication. On the contrary, keeping a local accent is regarded as a symbol of a
local and personal identity among this group of participants. Wendy (P19) had been
living in the US for nearly ten years. She finished her MA study in bilingualism while
she was staying in the US in a very multi-lingual and multi-cultural city. Her
postgraduate study in bilingualism had confirmed her actual experiences of using
NNS English communicating with people of a different L1 background. From her
teaching practicum experiences with children in that multi-lingual environment, she
firmly believed that accent is nothing to be ashamed about when speaking English.
Furthermore, it should be something to be proud of. She does not mind having a
Taiwanese accent when she teaches English, and she encourages her students to keep
their own accent, as it is part of their personal unique features:
Talking about accent and communication, let’s take the United States for
example. They have Spanish accents, Italian accents, New York accents, and
Texas accents ... Accent is their specific feature. They don’t think that they
have to speak in Standard American English. Take French people, they are
even proud of their French accent in English! [10-1]
Although these participants show a positive attitude towards local accents, the
awareness of accents and identity does not come as a free gift. Steven (P06) probably
is the strongest supporter of the notion of EIL among the participants. Steven was not
an English major for his BA degree. When he started doing his postgraduate study in
applied linguistics in the US, he had tried all means to immerse himself in a ‘total
language’ environment to be as native-like as much as he can:
10
I really wished that I could speak fluent English. ... I tried not to hang out with
friends who speak Chinese, not to eat Chinese food, not to read Chinese
newspapers. … I tried every possible mean to copy an American accent and
American expression and immersed myself in that total English environment. I
watched TV programs three hours a day, followed those speakers in the TV
programs loudly and repeated those sentences to myself. [10-1]
Steven was glad when he found that his English proficiency was notably
improved within one semester. He was truly happy about this when he found himself
sounding more and more like American people. One of Steven’s English language
instructors even recommended Steven’s English learning strategy to other students at
the university’s English Language Centre. But still from time to time, when Steven
listened to those tapes that he recorded of his own English for self-checking, he was
very frustrated as there was still a ‘strong’ Taiwanese accent in his English. Until one
day one of his American friends challenged him: ‘Do you really want to speak exactly
the same as us, and make everyone believe that you are an American?’ It was a big
shock to him. He had never thought about the relations between language and his
personal identity. He spontaneously replied ‘No, no, of course not.’ Steven then
thought about some of his classmates who were from India. They had strong Indian
accents, but they never thought about changing their accent to be more American-like.
Steven had asked them why they wanted to keep their accent? The replies were that
‘We just want to be different from the American people’ [First interview].
Since then, Steven realized that he did not have to sound like American people
for making successful communication. His adviser further confirmed his new
discovery. He told Steven that from his experiences of supervising research students,
he found that international students’ English is indeed ‘different’ from local American
students’. But he did not find international students’ English hard to understand. They
may write English with a Malaysian or Taiwanese ‘accent’, yet ‘generally speaking,
they are understandable’. Steven then realized that in terms of native-like proficiency,
he can never be as good as his fellow American classmates; however, ‘we can do
much better than they do in many other aspects’ [First interview].
After Steven started teaching in Taiwan, it was hard for him to agree with his
colleagues’ attitude towards accents in English. From Steven’s observations, many of
his colleagues still believed that English teachers should speak and sound like native
speakers of American English or British English. His colleagues looked down on
English with Taiwanese accents and took it as ‘lousy and broken English’. Steven
could not agree with their attitude. The consequence of this attitude was that none of
11
the NNS English teachers in his department had the courage to speak English in
public. This attitude has influenced students’ attitude towards learning and using
English: ‘they tend not to speak English unless they are fully sure that they are good
enough in accent and accuracy. [Second interview]
From his experiences of using English for educational purposes in an
English-speaking country, Steven did not have much doubt about his language
proficiency in English: ‘So far there are not any American people who had told me
that they couldn’t understand me because of my accent’. But would he be happy if
people said his English was very native-like? Steven replied to my question:
Yes, of course I will be happy for that. But perhaps I will be happy about
that achievement only for a little while. I still feel that, the more English I
learn, the more I want to try not to be the same as native speakers. [D2-3]
Steven believes that having an accent means someone’s English is ‘different’
from, not ‘inferior’ to, native speakers’ English. This attitude is also reflected in his
responses to those written samples in our email discussion. Those samples of inner
circle English were fine to him, because those ‘three samples are pretty acceptable in
their own specific contexts. … I don’t think it’s necessary to modify the three samples’
[Steven, first email discussion]. As for those samples of outer circle English, again,
local comprehensibility is his major concern: ‘If the latter two are in their own
contexts (Singapore and India), there’s no need to rewrite them because the locals
understand them’ [Steven, second email discussion]. He further pointed out that if
native speakers were not aware that they were having cross-language communication
with ESL or EFL speakers, they would have difficulties in understanding people from
different cultural background. Native speakers will have to improve their international
communication skills too.
This group of participants display a unique feature of their professional identity
that native-like proficiency is not important to their teaching competence. They focus
on reaching successful communication by using imperfect English proficiency, both
outside and within the classroom context. Tracey’s successful experiences of using
English for doing international business and her postgraduate studies have confirmed
her open attitude to accents. Daisy’s practical experiences of using English in an
English-speaking country gave her freedom in using imperfect English for
communication purposes, as well as in the teaching context. As for Wendy, one’s
accent represents personal uniqueness. It is something to be proud of, not to be
ashamed about. Steven would let his accent speak for his identity, and he consciously
12
tried to be different from English native-speakers’ use of English. Based on their
actual experiences of using English in English-speaking countries, their open attitudes
and encouragement of local or individual accents are consistent with the arguments of
EIL.
4.1.3 Different role, different standard of the use of English
In addition to participants who hold a salient and consistent attitude regarding the
use of standard English, other participants are more neutral and they believe that their
use of standard English should depend on the contexts and occasions when this
language is used. These participants make a clear distinction between their role as an
English teacher and their role as a common English user. They welcome the notion of
EIL that emphasises the functional role of English for international communication
when they are members of the public; but they would emphasise accuracy in their use
of English when they are playing the role as an English teaching professional.
The participants hold a view that various accents in English have brought rich
diversity into the English language, but it is not appropriate for an English teacher.
Thomas (P12) had rich exposure to different accents in English from his habit of
listening to an Internet radio station Radio Netherlands Worldwide Service, which is
an English medium radio station based in Holland. Thomas was well exposed to
different accents of the radio hosts and guest speakers from European countries
invited to those radio programs. Thomas’s favourite accent of English is Italian
English, which is ‘just beautiful’ to his ears. In Thomas’s view, having an accent in a
foreign language is a natural consequence:
Accent doesn’t matter that much. There are differences among people’s use
of English, which is the nature of the language. Just like every one of us has
a different face, it is the same to language … it is hard to unify people’s
accent … but diversity is definitely much better than singularity. Diversity
makes the world more beautiful and more interesting. [First interview]
But even though Thomas has a rather open attitude toward people’s accents in
English, he has strong concerns about his accent when he is teaching English. He
worries that his students might question his qualification as an English teacher if he
has a strong Taiwanese accent:
Students will question your teaching competence, since you learned English
for such a long time, why do you still have a Taiwanese accent, how can you
teach us? … I will pursue perfection in my English proficiency in standard
English as much as I can. I cannot use the reason that there are many
13
English accents or varieties in the world as an excuse to indulge myself. … I
hope, and I will try my best, to reduce my accent to zero when I teach.
[Second interview]
Although it is hard to change people’s accent, English teachers will have to try
harder. Eric (P27) did not think that people should be sorry for their L1 accents in
English. He believes it is very difficult for people to reach native-like proficiency:
Accent is part of you. If you can make your self clear enough, people can
understand you even though you have an accent… I won’t be sad if I can’t
speak like native speakers, because I know it is not possible. [Second
interview]
But when he is in the role of an English teacher, Eric looks at the issue from a
different perspective:
As for being a teacher, we are regarded as professionals in English. We
should have higher demand for our command of English. We are not
learners; we are teachers. Being teachers and being learners are two
different stories. [Second interview]
Concerning the occasions when standard English is to be used, these participants
made a clear distinction between classroom teaching and other occasions out of the
classroom context. They all insist on the importance of having native-like proficiency
as their professional competence when they teach English, but are quite flexible when
they use the language for communication purposes:
You have a desire to speak English more like native speakers when you are
teaching … I think that desire comes from my professional role. I try my best
to teach standard English as much as I can. … If my English has got strong
Taiwanese accents, I feel that people might question my qualification as an
English teacher. I don’t want it to happen. … If I am a businessman, or doing
other kind of jobs … I won’t put such a high standard on myself when I use
English. [George (P07), D2-4-1]
After all, you are an English teacher; of course you have to teach according
to a standard. I become very careful of my use of English … But if I am
doing business, the purpose of using English is for communicating with
14
other people, grammatical mistakes are not my concern at all …our job as
an English teacher is very special, we are teaching English, and standard
English should be the guiding principle in our teaching. [Jennifer (P18),
D2-4-1]
In sum, we can observe among these participants a consensus on self-requirement
to use standard English as an English teaching professional. These participants have
revealed a multi-faceted and dynamic professional identity. When they are playing
the role of an English teacher, their sense of language proficiency is as strict as those
teachers’ who have a strong commitment to standard English. When they are not in
the role as an English teacher and using English for other purposes, they have a rather
relaxed attitude towards the use of English. They accept varieties of English in the
world, but they have little tolerance of this in their own productive skills in the
classroom. They all emphasized the importance of "good" English when they are in
the identity of an English teacher, and most of them use the word ‘standard English’
to refer to native speakers’ English that they think they should teach. To them, a good
command of standard English is logically the basic qualification for their professional
role, and that identity has firmly linked them with their professional competence in
the use of formal native speakers’ English. When they are out of their professional
context and become a common English user, they tend to have a more relaxed use of
English when they are not recognized as English teachers. They have good reasons to
justify their accents or imperfect use of English, and they are not worried that local
accents or variety is a problem in communication. In this aspect, their relaxed attitude
is in line with the implications of EIL that emphasise the functional role of English in
communication.
4.2 Practicality of teaching EIL
After discussing participants’ responses to the notion of EIL, the data analysis in
this section focuses on teachers’ responses to the practicality of teaching EIL. In the
context of EFL, a generally accepted goal of teaching English is to help learners reach
native-like proficiency and increase their knowledge of the culture of the speakers of
the language. In this circumstance, NS English teachers’ language proficiency and
their cultural knowledge of the target language are the most mentioned advantages of
their professional competence in teaching English. In contrast, in the context of EIL,
many scholars argue that the English language is supposed to be a utilitarian language
that mainly serves the communication of ideas among NNS users, not for
communicating with native speakers (Graddol, 2001).
15
Other researchers of EIL (Llurda, 2004; McKay, 2002; Sifakis, 2003) have further
suggested that since English has become an international language, the English
language supposedly should not carry cultural values of English-speaking countries
when English is being taught in the classroom. When applied to actual English
teaching, the teaching itself should not only favour Anglo cultural values. The
teaching should bring learners’ awareness of their local culture and world cultures
through English education. Participants’ reflections on these practical issues in
English teaching are presented in the following sections.
4.2.1 Introducing different accents and varieties in the classroom
After presenting the EIL information sessions and having email discussions on
the samples of World Englishes with the participants, participants were invited to talk
about their opinions on the implications of EIL in teaching English. Considering the
actual situation of using English for international and cross-cultural communications
in a modern world, the participants agree that it is important to prepare the students
for such encounters with people of different L1 backgrounds from everywhere in the
world in the future. Introducing different accents and varieties of English to students
is regarded as necessary in the classroom. As a consequence of historical, social and
economic development, American English is the most available and popular English
variety in Taiwan. In the participants’ view, in addition to American English, students
must be aware of the existence of other English varieties and learn to accommodate
different English accents, even though they may not appreciate this idea for the time
being:
I told my students that they need to get in touch with different kinds of
Englishes, not only American English … My students may have to wait until
they go to work and come across Japanese English or different countries’
English then they can realise what I mean now. I told them that there is no
single standard English in the world, … they must pay attention to different
kinds of Englishes whenever they have the opportunities, such as watching
films or TV programs. … It is very important that they have this awareness
that there are different kinds of English in the world. [Jade (P17), first
interview]
16
In the current teaching situation in Taiwan, students are often exposed to one
certain kind of English, which has limited their flexibility to accommodate different
accents of Englishes in the future: ‘Many of our students can understand their
teacher’s English only. … They had problems in understanding other teachers’
English’ [Emily (P05), 2Q09]. Therefore, Emily (P05) would try to find the textbooks
with an audio CD and texts read out by different speakers to increase students’
exposure to different people’s spoken English. However, although participants are
aware that there are various English varieties in the world and the importance of
bringing the varieties to students’ awareness, they will not necessarily encourage
students to develop local English with Taiwanese accents. Their recognition of
English varieties in the world is confined to the differences between American
English and British English:
When they start working in the future, they will encounter different kinds of
Englishes. They have to learn how to understand different people’s English
and what they say. So I had quite often introduced different accents of English
in my teaching. … My students must know the different pronunciation between
American English and British English. [Gerald (P28), 2Q09]
The data shows that British English, as another English variety in the
participants’ view, is acting as an alternative standard in their teaching practice. The
local English varieties that have emerged in the outer circle countries are not yet
considered in the participants’ English teaching. It reveals the fact that inner circle
English is still valued as the main content in participants’ teaching. Participants
believe English teachers must be able to demonstrate the differences between these
two English varieties, which is recognized as part of their subject competency in
teaching English.
Although it is good to recognize that there are different varieties in the world,
some participants warn against the risk of confusing the students’ acquisition of a
foreign language if they are exposed to more than one variety of English when they
are still at a lower level of proficiency in English:
To avoid students’ confusions of different accents, I would prefer having my
students getting familiar with one variety first. After they have advanced into a
17
higher level of English, they can start knowing more about other varieties. …
But most of our students have enough difficulties in learning one variety of
English, I don’t have any opportunities to introduce other varieties or accents
to them. [Sandy (P22), 2Q09]
Participants’ responses to the samples of World Englishes have further
demonstrated their attitudes towards choosing suitable teaching materials. They
cannot accept those samples as teaching materials because they are not formal and
standard enough in style and not clear enough in conveying meaning:
They’re not good models for foreigners who have only limited amount of
exposure to English. [Sandy (P22), first email discussion]
It is not the formal English. I think it is ok for fun. … I will not teach my
students such kinds of English. … I think it’s not suitable for the classroom.
[Thomas (P12), first and second email discussion]
Some of them are not clear enough, so I can’t accept that in the classroom.
[Emily (P05), 3rd email discussion].
If in any case they want to introduce different varieties to students in the
classroom, this would be for the purpose of demonstrating error analysis to the
students. They want to teach students how to avoid those mistakes displayed in the
samples:
They can be used for error analysis. … After all, we are not learning
Taiwanese English. We can’t communicate with people from other countries
with our Taiwanese English. [George (P07), second email discussion]
The second sample (of inner circle English) is OK if the teacher wants to show
what mistakes should be AVOIDED3 in writing. [Julie (P01), first email
discussion]
3
This word was capitalized by the participant.
18
In addition to the concerns about students’ English learning, introducing
different accents itself is a challenge to the NNS English teachers if the teachers are
familiar with one certain variety of English only. Jennifer (P18) talked about their
uneasy experiences of teaching the English variety that she is not familiar with:
It was difficult for me to get used to. I had once tried a British English
textbook for one semester. It was really a tough time for me. That was out of
my experience. I couldn’t get used to it … I will not introduce other accents in
my teaching. [2Q09]
As other English varieties are new to the teachers, preparing for teaching them
can be more time-consuming than focusing on American English. Susie (P21) had
tried one British textbook for one semester. She said she would never do that again:
I had to spend more time to do teaching preparation, and it was more difficult
for me … I will try to avoid teaching other varieties of English in the future. …
I have too much work to do. I can’t afford it. … If one textbook has two
versions of American English and British English, I certainly will avoid
British English. [2Q09]
Another practical problem in teaching English varieties is that there are not
sufficient resources to support teachers. Even though some of the participants agree
that it is a good thing to let their students know more about different English accents
or varieties in the world, it is hard to find a suitable textbook that contains different
accents and varieties for students of different levels of English proficiency:
I can accept all kinds of different accents. I also believe that when learning
English, it is essential for my students to learn to accept all kinds of accents.
But the problem is that, usually the textbooks that I could find in Taiwan
contained American or British accents only. It is difficult to find textbooks that
have Indian accents or other accents that I can show my students how they are
different from American English. [Daisy (P25), 2Q09]
19
The limited English teaching hours in the curriculum is another practical
problem that discourages teachers’ intention to introduce other varieties. In most cases,
the participants would choose to give up other varieties and focus on American
English as it is the most popular variety in Taiwanese society:
That is a good idea, but we don’t have enough teaching hours to cover various
varieties. We have very limited English teaching hours every week. The time is
already not sufficient to do the necessary teaching of American English. …
that’s why I didn’t really give much thought to other varieties. [Eric (P26),
2Q09]
In many tertiary technology institutes in Taiwan, students are required to pass a
required level of the GEPT4 as the threshold for their graduation. The GEPT is
mostly based on the norm of American English. This institutional policy of taking the
GEPT has potentially reduced students’ interests and motivation to be exposed to
other English varieties or accents:
I have observed that my students found it difficult to understand other English
accents. Just think about it, they have to take GEPT, and GEPT is based on
American English. Students may want to focus on American English only and
try to get higher scores in the exams. [Daisy (P25), 10-1]
In sum, from the data presented above we can find that participants have a
mixture of attitudes to the idea of bringing in different English accents to their
students. It is valuable to expand students’ exposure to different English accents, but
various practical problems in implementing this teaching approach have frustrated the
teachers. Those problems include lack of supporting resources, insufficient teaching
hours, and the pressure to pass the GEPT. Based on their consideration of the actual
teaching situation in the classroom, some teachers are reluctant to introduce different
accents to their students. They are worried that introducing too many accents in their
teaching may cause confusion to students’ acquisition of a foreign language if
students are still at a lower level of English proficiency.
4
GEPT stands for General English Proficiency Test. It is a locally developed English proficiency test
in Taiwan, sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
20
It should be noted that, even though these teachers are aware of different
varieties of English in the world, their choices of different accents of English remain
in two major inner circle varieties – American English and British English. Other
inner circle varieties, such as Australian English or Canadian English, were not yet in
their consideration. To those teachers who are used to American English, the British
accent is a challenge for them. For Jennifer and Susie, this was related to their own
confidence and competence in dealing with other accents, and possibly this would be
true of the others. Introducing different English accents would require more time to do
teaching preparation. Considering teachers’ heavy workload, they would teach the
English variety that they are most familiar with. Another reason to support their
choice is that American English is currently the most popular currency of English
varieties in Taiwan. Within the limited hours of English teaching in the curriculum,
participants are inclined to give up other varieties and focus on American English.
4.2.2 English teaching and Anglo-culture
Regarding the issue of whether English teaching should encompass
Anglo-culture or world culture in the content when teaching English, the participants
gave various definitions to culture when they referred to it. When culture is defined as
a set of norms of a language, the participants believed that it is not appropriate to
separate language from the culture. If people want to use English to communicate
with foreign people and let other people understand their cultural heritage, they will
need to know the set norm of the English language, people’s ways of thinking in that
language, and the language rules. People need to know how to present themselves
appropriately in the English language to let the world understand them. Therefore, it
is not appropriate separating language from culture when teaching a language.
Language is more than just a communication tool. If you want to introduce
your own culture by using English language, you have to know the manual of
that language and culture is part of the manual … If I am not familiar with
that manual, I may not be able to present myself in that language correctly.
[Julie (P01), 10-3]
I hope that someday in the future, we can introduce the beauty of Taiwanese
culture to the world, to help other people to understand us. If we want to
promote Taiwanese culture to the world, … we will need to know how to use
formal English in promotion activities. [Thomas (P13), 10-3]
21
It is regarded as part of an English teacher’ duty and professional competence to
inform students of the pragmatics of a foreign language. Emily (P05) introduced a
very practical aspect of the need to link language teaching and culture. Students have
to be aware of the taboos in the language, make sure that they do not ‘offend the
addressee’ [First interview]. In this case, understanding the culture is indispensable to
understanding the use of the language, and a language teacher has a responsibility for
explaining to the student how to use a language appropriately in its cultural context. It
is worth noting that the data presented below implies that participants were still
presuming that they are training students to talk to native speakers. They value the
significance of understanding Anglo culture while learning English:
Language cannot be separated from its culture. To understand a culture, the
best medium is its language. To understand a language, the best way is its
culture too. [Peter (P03), D1-4]
A language learner should have more contact with the culture behind the
language. It helps to understand the language better, and helps the
communication go better. [Jennifer (P18), first interview]
Understanding another culture is part of the purpose of learning a new
language. [Jade (P17), first interview]
Learning a language is learning a culture. [Tracy (P23), first interview].
It is a pity if you don’t get to know more about Anglo culture from your
learning of the language. … understand the culture of a language and it will
motivate you to learn more about the language too. [Thomas (P12), D1-4]
From another aspect, culture is defined as a collective term that includes cultural
heritage, cultural events, festival, historical architectures, and people’s ways of life.
Introducing Anglo cultural heritage is regarded as a good way to make the teaching
content more interesting and lively. Therefore, integrating Anglo cultural heritage in
the teaching of English can motivate and increase students’ learning motivation.
Introducing cultural events and cultural stories is an important part of Wendy’s (P19)
teaching. It is a good way to make the language teaching relevant to the cultural
content of the target language. By doing this, she found that it helps a lot to make the
teaching more fun and it has increased students’ motivation in learning the language:
22
Since I had stayed and lived in the States for a long time, I have a lot of photos
that I can share with my students. I found that having this kind of cultural
experience and background is a great plus in my teaching, … my students
liked those stories very much. I am glad about that too. [D1-4]
In contrast, some participants have concerns about cultural imperialism and they
support the idea of separating English language from Anglo culture in teaching
English. They suggested that teachers should try to make the teaching content relevant
to the learners’ immediate life experiences. They worry that over-emphasising Anglo
culture in the teaching content has the potential risk of causing imbalances in learners’
cultural identity. Integrating learners’ culture in English teaching content would help
to build up learners’ confidence in their cultural identity:
We should put more weight in our local culture in the textbook … I truly felt
that we put too much weight on Anglo culture in English textbooks, and forget
about those beautiful customs in our own culture. We should write new
textbooks and increase the portion of Chinese and Taiwanese culture in
textbooks; at least it has to be half local culture materials and half Anglo
culture materials. [Daniel (P20), first interview]
When I taught Freshman English, I deliberately chose a textbook published in
Taiwan, which contained a lot of materials introducing Taiwanese history,
famous museums, and cultural life. You have to let your students know how to
introduce their own culture in English to foreign visitors or foreign friends. …
It is important that my students know how to appreciate their own culture, as
well as other people’s cultures. [Jade (P17), 10-3]
NNS English teachers and NNS learners should not be responsible for the
transition of Anglo cultural heritage from generation to generation. Since English is a
foreign language in Taiwan, the meaning of English cultural education is not as
significant to Taiwanese learners as it is to English native speakers:
When English native speakers are teaching and learning the English language,
they are also passing on their cultural legacy. In the situation in Taiwan,
English is a foreign language. It is not our responsibility to carry on Anglo
cultures in teaching the language. [John (P02), 10-3M
23
John pointed out that culture is a ‘local product’ in each specific social context.
For example, cowboy cultures, a sub-culture in the USA, may be totally irrelevant to
Taiwanese EFL learners for their entire life. John does not agree with teaching this
kind of sub-cultural materials to EFL learners in Taiwan:
There was one English textbook writer in Taiwan who proposed that we should
learn to speak and behave like local Americans, such as cowboys, when
learning English. I just couldn’t understand why we should learn to speak like
cowboys … Just imagine, how many of us will go to the States and become
cowboys? That is impossible. [First interview]
In John’s view, it is this kind of mindset that forces students to be like
American people that causes frustration and failure in students’ English learning. So
he supported the idea that we should separate Anglo culture from its language when
teaching English.
Some participants hold a broader view that accommodates the previous two
attitudes. For these participants, one of the key purposes for learning English is to
gain a world view, for English is the most commonly used language around the world.
To these participants, learning the culture where the English came from is as
important as using English to understand a non-English culture. Vivian (P24) hoped
that she could educate her students to be ‘World Citizens’. She believed that ‘English
is not used to understand Anglo culture only. We use English to understand the world’
[10-3]. When she started learning English as a teenager, she found that English was
the language that could link her to the world. When she studied in New York for her
postgraduate studies, in that very multi-cultural environment, she found that people
were interested in the culture that she was coming from, but not her knowledge of
Anglo-culture or English literature. That experience has influenced her teaching; she
would put more weight on introducing diverse cultural content in her teaching,
including Chinese culture, Anglo culture, and various cultures in the world. She said
in a very excited tone:
I introduced the film “My Fat Greek Wedding” in my teaching. It was a good
way to make my students to think about the confrontation of two different
cultures and its consequences. … I also asked my students to try to introduce
Chinese culture as a group assignment in my English classes, such as Chinese
traditional painting. … I want to educate my students to be world citizens.
First of all, they have got to have a good command of English. Then I hope
that they can be proud of their own culture, and they should learn how to
24
appreciate and respect other cultures. Their life will be different. They will
learn to appreciate differences and cultural diversity. [First interview]
The data presented above shows that participants have a mixture of attitudes
towards the link between language and culture. When culture is defined as a set of
norms that provides expectations about language use for conveying meaning
accurately, it is inappropriate to separate a language from its culture, such as when
teaching English. In this sense, English teachers’ knowledge of the target culture is
highlighted as important to their subject competence. When culture is defined as
cultural heritage or people’s ways of life, introducing the target culture is a good
method to increase students’ motivation in learning English. Some participants
consider it as the first step to cultivate students’ cross-cultural awareness, which is an
important dimension of foreign language education. These participants, such as
Wendy, use their own experiences and knowledge of living abroad to enliven their
teaching and motivate students in learning English. In this sense, their experience of
foreign exposure is a positive factor that enhances their sense of credibility as being
an English teacher. However, if too much Anglo culture appears in the teaching
materials, this will cause identity issues for learners. Thus some participants believe
that part of the purpose of learning English is to learn to know how to present the
learners’ culture in English to the world, but not to increase the learners’ knowledge of
Anglo cultures. Lastly, introducing a diversity of world cultures to their students will
make students ‘World Citizens’ who know how to appreciate and respect different
cultures in the world. They believe that a good understanding of the diverse cultures
in the world is essential for achieving successful mutual communication
internationally and cross-culturally. In this sense, having broad knowledge of the
cultures of the world will become part of the subject competence that an English
teacher should have.
5. Conclusion
The focus of the data analysis of this study is to investigate teachers’ reflection
on the notion and implications of EIL. The participants displayed diverse attitudes
towards the notion of EIL and the practicality of the implications of EIL in teaching
English. Concerning participants’ responses to the notion of EIL, in the debates
between pursuing native-like proficiency or encouraging local innovation of English,
we could observe in many participants a strong connection between their role as an
English teacher and their use of standard English. Most of these teachers commit
themselves to the use of standard English when they are in the identity of an English
25
teaching professional. Some of these teachers extended this commitment to their use
of English out of the classroom context; some of them separated their role as an
English teacher from their role as a common English user. When they are in the role
of a common English user, their attitudes towards using English tend to be more
relaxed. They do not feel obliged to display their proficiency in English out of the
classroom context. In this circumstance, English is serving for communication
purposes; reaching native-like proficiency is not really necessary. The data analysis
also shows that there is a group of participants who displayed different attitudes
towards the use of English and their role as an English teacher. This group tended to
have rich experiences in learning and using English for practical purposes when
pursuing further study or living in an English-speaking country. Even when they are
playing the role as of English teaching professional in the classroom, they do not
think it is important to reach native-like proficiency. In these teachers’ view, a
personal or local accent in English is something to be valued as it represents the users’
identity.
Considering the English teaching context in Taiwan, Taiwanese NNS teachers
may have difficulties appreciating the value and usefulness of teaching EIL.
Participants’ evaluation of the practicality of introducing different English varieties to
students involved a thorough consideration of the practical problems concerning
curriculum design, availability of teaching materials, and the status of American
English in society. Some of the participants agree with the value of building up
students’ awareness of different accents in the world. But their acknowledgement of
English varieties is confined to the difference between American English and British
English. In fact, participants take British English more as an alternative standard of
English than another variety of English. Outer circle and expanding circle countries’
English varieties were not yet considered. A few of the participants would consider
EIL as part of their teaching content. But the difficulties in finding suitable EIL
textbooks make this instruction less possible in practice. Teachers’ limited exposure to
other English varieties has made the implications of EIL in teaching English a
challenge to themselves. Considering the status of American English in Taiwanese
society and the limited English teaching hours in the curriculum, most of the
participants would choose to teach American English.
As for teachers’ professional competence in the knowledge of Anglo culture, a
few of the participants think it is important that English teachers should integrate
Anglo culture in their teaching, under the circumstance that culture is defined as a set
of norms relating to language use. When used properly, some teachers thought
26
introducing Anglo cultural events was a good motivator to encourage English learning.
One thing that should be noted is that some of those teachers, such as Daniel, who
thought it was important to reach native-like proficiency as an English professional,
do not think it was equally important to have sufficient knowledge in Anglo culture.
For building learners’ cultural confidence, they contended that we should put more
weight on local cultures in the teaching content. For increasing learners’ cultural
awareness, other participants try to bring world cultures into their classroom. In this
aspect, their attitudes are in line with some scholars’ proposal of broadening the
English language teaching content to include local and world cultures, rather than
focusing on Anglo culture when teaching English.
The data analysis shows that in Taiwan, many factors affect English teachers’
attitudes toward English, and some are challenging the acceptance of EIL. Taiwanese
tertiary NNS English teachers have various perceptions on the implications of EIL in
different dimensions and contexts. The data analysis shows that participants’
reflections on and responses to the implications of EIL were derived from their
perception of their professional role and teaching competence, and their concerns for
their students’ achievement in learning English. Acceptance of EIL depends on a mix
of teacher identity issues and the practicality of teaching EIL, and identity is more
overtly important in some aspects than others.
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29
Appendix 1 Language Sample of Inner Circle English
1. Real estate Advertisement - UK
Exquisite city sanctuary: Restore your sanity in the tranquillity of an extraordinary,
beautiful garden hideaway transformed for sophisticated, modern living, softened by
artistic stables theme – flagstones, sisal, blonded wood etc. imbued with the feel of a
country lodge and extended into a stunning four-bedroom home. A heavenly escape.
Owners have refined the interiors and further developed Italianate gardens, so as
visitors enter they are smitten at the sheer magnificence. Bliss out in a little bit of
country. Wow! In the city.
(Hadfield & Hadfield, 2006, p.72)
2. A sample of email correspondence – UK
Sorry jenny am just doing the revision, and your ‘proff’-reading is very useful! I’ve just been through
the bit with the upper-intermediate etc, and when looking at it now it really sees ok to me, don’t think
it’ll be all that important after all. Sorry about that. If you get the message and want me to change it
after all, then please, if possible, give me the wording that you want. I don’t think it matters much one
way or another.
And on ….
(Jenkins, 2003, p. 122)
3. Deakin University Students Association Campus Newsletter Australia
Campus Clash
Ever wanted to make your own mixed netball, mixed soccer, botchie or volly ball team? Play against
other Deakin campus’ @ Geelong, live your dream! Only $5 to get involved, free T-shirt, BBQ &
transport. Book now @ the bunker. Bring your friends along. Go on, hava go.
(DUSA, 2006, Deakin University campus newsletter)
DUSA. (2006). From the editor. Deakin University campus newsletter, 4, 2.
Hadfield, C., & Hadfield, J. (2006). Estate agent language. ELT Journal, 60(1), 71-75.
Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes: A resource book for students. London: Routledge.
30
Appendix 2 Language Sample of Outer Circle
English
1. Social work report from Kenya
The Baby Home cares for motherless babies aged 1 day to 3 years old, and
continues to follow up their growth progress even when discharged home. With the
current HIV/AIDS related diseases, we have babies whose future depends
on the home.
The Baby Home actively involves the whole community where they have access and
say in the services to be of offered, the identification of activities that affect the
children and implementation of these activities. The Home finds it necessary to
mobilize the community so that they can realize the need for good life for those left
behind without meaningful protection.
With the help of committee of 10 officials who helps to mange the activities, the
Home runs its aim of care and protection. The home acquired land from the
community for its premises and rental. Though there is little donation, however the
local contributes in kind and offer support where able.
2. A clip from an Singaporean website
Welcome to the Talking Forums!
Select forums with discussions of your interest, participate and have a lot of fun! All
are welcome, we don't care what stream, school or superscale grade you are! Our only
rules are:
A. You must now join member to post; and
B. Please stay on topic of the discussions; and
C. Please note that all postings are subject to our disclaimer, which you die die must
read first.
Let's talk about the things you find most cock (1) about Singapore and Singaporeans.
Is it because we are kiasu (2), that we are calculating; we dress real obiang (3); we cut
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queues at buffets, or what? Be hornest and tell it like it is! ….A clear cut case of an
Ang Mor Kau (4).
From website: http://www.talkingcock.com/html/forum.php
3. A sample of Indian English (a clip from The Sunday Times,
Australia, October 17, 2004)
Hinligh is the pukka way to talk – Armit Dhillon, Delhi
Hinglish may be catching, but it could be a while before a British man says to his wife
in the morning: “Darling, can you prepone (bring forward) my meeting with the bank
manager or ask my secretary to do the needful? I have to get the dent in the dicky
(boot) repaired at that time. And can you pass me my chaddis (underpants)?”
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Appendix 3 Language Sample of Expanding Circle English
1. France
Welcome to the official web site of the FRENCH TOURIST OFFICE, the
authority on FRANCE TRAVEL and FRANCE TOURISM. Welcome to the
guide on FRANCE TRAVEL and TOURISM, and welcome to FRANCE ! Also
Paris city visit including monuments & museums.
http://www.francetourism.com/
CAFES : Prices at cafes can vary considerably depending on the location of a particular
cafe as well as where one is seated in the establishment. Prices in areas that attract a
high volume of tourists (for example, the vicinity of the Champs-Elysees, around Notre
Dame) tend to be more expensive. Every cafe has different prices depending on
whether one stands at the counter or sits at a table.
http://www.francetourism.com/practicalinfo/whileyourethere.htm
2. Japan
The Japanese Political Science Association invites you to participate at the 20th
World Congress of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) in Fukuoka,
Japan. Join us for this stimulating meeting on the theme “Is Democracy Working?”
that will be held from July 9 to 13, 2006.
In order to foster the participation in its congresses, especially those of women, young
scholars, and scholars from emerging countries, IPSA offers Travel grants. IPSA also
offers the Stein Rokkan Award to graduate students to facilitate their participation.
The application period starts on March 1st 2005 and is held until October 1st 2005.
http://www.fukuoka2006.com/en/grants/congressgrants.asp
*A clip of email correspondence between the conference host and participant :
With sending this mail, the reservation-cum-bill sent to you before is invalid. Please
abandon it. In addition, please print out this mail and bring it to the hotel only if you
have the printer.
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3. A clip from a Chinese Airline magazine
‘Hello. I am Hatabayashi Asi.’ The smiling cabin crew said fluently in Shanghai
dialect. Therefore, the reporter could not believe that she was a Japanese woman born
in Tokyo and came to China only one year. She said as the same with most Chinese
cabin crews, the Japanese and Korean crews also like to sleep, go shopping and eat
delicious food. When they finish working, they will take buffet dinner in the hotel,
and sometimes go to eat hot pot, crayfish and Nanxiang steamed pork bun. Most of
them like Chinese food and think it is delicate and savory. They also like to buy things
in Xiangang Road, Shanghai, listen to music in pub in Hengshan road, love neon light
in the Bund, and coffee in Xin Tiandi. She who learned fashion design is good at
figuring out the passenger’s favorite, so she always put herself at passenger’s shoes.
From China Eastern Air Connections. Vol. 148, 2005 (2), p. 15
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