English as

an International Language
Nowadays it’s especially important to know
foreign languages.

Some people learn languages because they

need them for their work,

others travel abroad,

for the third, studying foreign languages is a

hobby.
English is the official language of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States
of America, Australia and New Zealand.
English belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-
European family of the languages.
Nowadays it is the language of literature, education,
modern music, and international tourism.
 English is the language of the great literature. It’s the
language of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and
others.
Many English words are derived from other languages, such as
Latin, French, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and several
others.
For example, the words “family, number, school” come from
Latin,
the words “royal, menu, hotel” come from French,
the word “siesta” is of Spanish origin,
the word “judo” is Japanese,
the words “tsar, borscht” are Russian.
 Possible Terms
• English as an International Language
• English as a global language
• English as a world language
• English as a lingua franca
• English as a medium of intercultural communication

(Seidlhofer, 2003: 9)
 Kachru’s Circle Classification (1985)
• Inner Circle:
English as a Native language
the United Kingdom, the United States, English Canada and South
Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Malta, and some of
Caribbean territories.
• Outer Circle:
English as a Second language
India, Nigeria, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia,
Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone South Africa and Canada, etc.
• Expanding Circle:
English as a Foreign language
China, Russia, Japan, most of Europe, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, etc.
David Crystal adds:
As English becomes the chief
means of communication between
nations, it is crucial to ensure that
it is taught accurately and
efficiently, ... (1997: 3)
 Teaching EIL

• "the teaching and learning of an international

language must be based on an entirely
different set of assumptions than the teaching
and learning of any other second or foreign
language. The purpose of this book is to
clarify these assumptions and advocate that
they be considered in the design of English
as an international language (EIL) teaching
methods and materials." (McKay, 2002: 1)