Different expressions used to refer to ELT (English Language Teaching)

It is a “contact language” between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national) culture, and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication (FIRTH, 1996, p. 240, apud SEIDLHOFER, 2004, p. 211).

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

It is a language (for want of a better term, that is) spoken across the world—routinely at the check-in desks and in the corridors and departure lounges of some of the world’s busiest airports, typically during multi-national business encounters, periodically during the Olympics or World Cup Football seasons, international trade fairs, academic conferences, and so on. (RAJAGOPALAN, 2004, p. 112)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

It is part of the MODERN (FOREIGN) LANGUAGES paradigm, according to which most interaction involving non-native speakers is with native speakers of the language, and non-native speakers’ goal is to approximate the native variety as closely as possible. (JENKINS, COGO & DEWEY, 2011, p. 284)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

It refers to the spread of English as an imperial beast threatening local languages and cultures. As the ones in charge of dealing with the monster and its multiple, ever growing heads, English teachers may see themselves as having “guilt of complicity in a most insidious enterprise of neocolonialism that works by taking possession of the minds rather than the bodies of its potential subjects” (RAJAGOPALAN, 1999, p. 201). (SZUNDY, 2017, p. 173)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

It refers to the teaching and learning of English to immigrant populations in countries traditionally defined as English-speaking. In the UK, the acronym ES (English for speakers of other languages) has now become established as the preferred term. (DEWEY & LEUNG, 2010, p. 13)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

In mainstream education in the UK, this term is used to refer to children in the school system who do not speak English as a mother tongue. (DEWEY & LEUNG, 2010, p. 13)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English Language as Hydra

English as a Second Language (ESL)

English as an Additional Language (EAL)

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

World English (WE)

Different expressions used to refer to ELT (English Language Teaching)

More Quizzes