English has become an international language which people use to communicate with others to achieve a variety of purposes. Traditional English language teaching (ELT) pedagogy tends to promote native-like competence as the ultimate goal of English language learning. However, many scholars have criticized such a traditional teaching orientation and have proposed the concept of English as an international language (EIL) (McKay, 2003). In the framework of EIL, there is no one Standard English; rather, English learners should be aware of English varieties (e.g., American English, Singlish, Indian English, etc.) and be able to use appropriate English varieties in certain contexts. While the notion of EIL is accepted by many scholars, ELT professionals and English learners are usually unaware of EIL. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the attitudes of English teachers and students in Taiwan toward EIL. It discusses differences between teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward EIL through quantitatively analyzing the questionnaire of EIL attitudes completed by 300 students and 17 teachers in the English department of a university in Taiwan. The findings indicated that both students and teachers had positive attitudes towards the concept of EIL, but resisted using Taiwanese English. In addition, while most students felt inferior to native speakers, the teachers tended to encourage their students to put emphasis on linguistic correctness during communication. Pedagogical implications are also provided.
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Journal of English as an International Language 12(1), p.66-85
