This article offers a response to the comments and claims made in Jennifer Jenkins' article, "The spread of English as an International Language: a testing time for testers." It examines some assumptions underpinning her views and responds to claims about current policy and practice in English language testing. It goes on to explain the key…

Suggests that, in countries where a particular nonnative variety of English is spoken, literary works used in English language teaching should be of this variety. It is argued that the integrative goal in language teaching, involving enhancement of sociocultural awareness, self-identity, and local community communicative competence, is more easily…

Discusses teaching and learning English as a foreign language in its cultural context, and the culture of the native speaker of English and its relation to the culture of the learner. Native-speaking teachers should recognize the international status of English and work from local varieties of the language. (Author/LMO)

World English (WE) belongs to everybody who speaks it, but it is nobody's mother tongue. Although today ever more people accept the idea that there is such a thing as WE, very few of them seem to have realized that the full implications of admitting it are much more far reaching than they had hitherto imagined. It may be that some of these…

The needs and motivation of short-term ESL students and immigrants are contrasted, and the wide variety of programs and services needed for immigrant English instruction is emphasized. Aspects of ESL instruction that need changing or restructuring include adult and community education, teacher training and examination, and innovative educational…

Presents a quiz for use in the advanced English classroom that introduces language learners to a variety of amusing slang expressions and idioms. The learner is led to consider the possibility of a little-known rule in English: male=positive, female=negative, and is offered an opportunity for discussion and vocabulary building. (Author/VWL)