Reconsidering the Practical Aspects of ELF in Thai ELT Classroom

Abstract

The role of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has been expanding its functions and scopes beyond geographical, social and racial boundaries in the form of a bridge to connect multilingual and multicultural groups of people. English language teaching (ELT) of standard varieties of British and American English has been accepted and promoted, within the last decades, as the only internationally acceptable pedagogical model in ELT contexts worldwide for a long time. In the 21st century, however, the phenomenon of ELF has shaded a new light on the issue of whether English should be taught and used based on the mainstream English or other Englishes. Research has suggested that the notion of teaching and learning English through native speaker norms may gradually be de-emphasized in international communication. In this light, therefore, this article reconsiders some practical aspects of integrating ELF in the Thai ELT classroom.