Abstract:

With the ever-increasing global demand for English proficiency, English language teaching (ELT) has become a global industry. English proficiency, as part of the modernisation agenda in many countries, is a major part of government initiatives. However, the globalisation of the English language has changed the foundations of how the language is taught and learned and it is questionable how far 'traditional' ELT and the focus on 'native' English is relevant to English language learners preparing to use English as a global lingua franca. Discussions surrounding the pedagogical implications of the change in the usage of English by second language learners is gathering momentum and many scholars have called for a paradigm shift in ELT to make it more reflective of how it functions as a global lingua franca. Researchers within the field of Global Englishes (Galloway and Rose, 2015) have put forward many proposals for change and in this presentation, I will outline what a Global Englishes for Language Teaching (GELT) ( Galloway, 2011, 2013, 2017; Galloway and Rose, 2015; Rose and Galloway, 2017) perspective entails. In doing so, I report on the results of an empirical study with pre- and in-service Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) practitioners on a one-year Masters programme at a Russel Group University in The UK. The mixed methods study elicited their attitudes towards achieving successful and sustainable GELT curricular innovation in their diverse ELT contexts and highlights the complex nature of innovation and the various ‘barriers’ that exist (Rose and Galloway, 2018). The presentation draws on curriculum innovation theory, highlighting the complexities of the innovation process.

Keywords:

Global Englishes, TESOL, ELT, English as a Lingua Franca, Curriculum.