The Goal of ELT in Outer or Expanding Circle Essay

The Goal of ELT in Outer or Expanding Circle - Essay Example At present, English could well be called as a multi-ethnic, multi-national and, multi-cultural language. It is still the connecting thread of the shrinking world, which is a product of advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs). English language teaching too has become a complex and controversial issue as the influence of English continues to grow. In this essay I am going to provide evidence that the goal of ELT in Outer or Expanding Circle should not be the Native-Like use of language. Since we are living with not only 'English' but indigenized varieties of 'Englishes' in today's world, this, in my view, is better understood with greater grasp of the concepts of World Englishes (WEs) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Later on, the paper will probe more to the conceptual similarities and differences of WEs and ELF and the very common controversies around these phenomena. Further, I would look more closely into the implications of WEs/ELF on Teachers of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). This would be a segment where this essay deals with the association, inclusion and involvement of them both in today's ELT. Then, the paper will also deal with the (in)appropriateness of native Standard English in expanding and outer circles with arguments for and against the native norms. At the same time, the need to incorpo rate World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca in testing would be discussed. Finally, the paper will hold a critical view of the native versus non-native teachers of English.The traditional view had that the correct form of English was the language used by educated British or American natives the so called Native Speakers (NS). Thus, indicating that the learners of the English language, who are, in fact, Non-Native Speakers (NNS) must follow the norms of the NS. So, one began consider NS to be the best teachers of the language, as they were the best models of the language using and they had reliable linguistic knowledge. As a result, Parents were willing to pay huge amount for their children to be taught English by native teachers, while schools considered it as abetter investment to employ native English teachers than the local English teachers.However, now the scenario has widely changed, though Rinvolucri (2008) believe we should continue to use the current 'standard native ' model in language teaching and learning, others, for example Barbra Seidlhofer (2004) and Jennifer Jenkins (2005) believe we must take stock of what is happening to English and its users, recognise the change and begin to describe and codify a new model such as a lingua Franca (ELF), which reflects how English is used by the majority of users in the world. The Concept of World Englishes (WEs) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) The history of world Englishes is backed to the end of the region of Queen Elizabeth I in sixteen century when English language was spoken by 'a relatively small group of mother-tongue speakers born and bred within the shore of British Isle' Jenkins (2003: 2) but nowadays it is spoken in almost all over the world. According to Jenkins (2003), the global spread of English has been viewed as two Diaspora.