Introduction

Abstract

While written English in Asia is still cleaving reasonably closely to the norms of traditional, norm-based “citadel English”, spoken English is expanding, diverging and adapting to local conditions at an increasing rate, as can be seen from named varieties like Singlish (Singapore) and Taglish (Philippines). The roles of English are likewise multiplying, both informally and formally: SEAMEO, for instance, adopted English as its working language. English is the first “foreign” language in Asia, to the point where it can even endanger the health of local national languages. And it is being used more and more as a lingua franca.

The question is therefore what kind of English, or what kinds of English, are appropriate for Asian countries, and how they should be regarded, propagated and taught. The model of English teaching based on the native speaker, which was so long the lynchpin of ELT, EFL and ESL, is now diversifying. And while Asian varieties of English are not yet widely established in education systems in Asia, the reality of English in use is much more varied.

This chapter introduces the twelve chapters of this volume, beginning with an overview chapter by Bolton. The remaining chapters fall into four groups: Education (Kirkpatrick, Gill, Hamied and Wen); Communication, International English and Lingua Franca English (Proshina, Oanh and Pennycook); Languages and cultures in contact (Hino, Sussex); and Norms (Mukherjee, Moody). The volume ends with a “Postscript and a prolegomenon” (Sussex and Kirkpatrick), which explores the factors like communicative skillsets which now confront the future of English language teaching in Asia.