Until the last decade, the terms "English as a Second Language" and "English as a Foreign Language" were often used interchangeably in the United States. The careful distinction between the two made by the British, however, is gaining wider currency: by "English as a Foreign Language" is meant English taught as a school subject or on an adult level solely for the purpose of giving the student a foreign-language competence which he may use in one of several ways--to read literature or technical works, to understand the radio, movies, television, or English speakers. This use of the language is not too different from the purpose of teaching foreign languages in the United States. The second term, "English as a Second Language," usually refers to a situation where English becomes a language of instruction in the schools, as in the Philippines, or a lingua franca between speakers of widely diverse languages, as in India. The author discusses various English language teaching situations around the world in the light of this distinction. (AMM)