Addressing the Issue of Teaching English as an Intercultural Language: Eight Teaching Guidelines

Addressing the Issue of Teaching English as an Intercultural Language: Eight Teaching Guidelines

This paper aims to address the issue related to a model of English gravitating around English as an intercultural language (EIcL) (K.-Y. Lee, 2012, 2013; Sifakis, 2004, 2007; Sifakis & Sougari, 2003, 2007), so EIcL needs to be viewed as a contemporary workable one among many other different models of English in the study of English language teaching (ELT). This is mainly because (1) EIcL views the English language as a language of heterogeneous norms and grammars bound predominantly for communication, comprehensibility, and culture and (2) EIcL not only promotes interculturally multidialectical English speakers/listeners among world Englishes by promoting linguistic and cultural diversity with cultural tolerance, but minimizes the so-called inner circle speakers’ linguistic and cultural dominances. For this, this paper suggests eight EIcL guidelines which could empower ELT teachers’ intercultural English language competency. For this, this paper first addresses why EIcL among the variety of models of English needs to be dealt in the contemporary ELT arena. Secondly, it suggests the eight workable EIcL teaching guidelines.