Global Englishes Language Teaching: Beliefs and Practices of Materials Designers at an English Language School in Thailand

Abstract

This study compares the self-reported attitudes and beliefs of materials designers at a private English language school in Thailand regarding Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT) with their practice of materials design for speaking and listening classes. Twenty sets of previously-created English teaching materials were submitted for documentary analysis, and the attitudes of seven materials designers toward GELT-related notions were surveyed. In principle, participants appear positive about GELT-associated concepts, such as prioritising communicative function over linguistic form, selective use of learners’ first languages (L1) as resources for second language learning, and positioning advanced users of English (rather than ‘native’ speakers) as a model of success. Yet their submitted teaching materials bear little trace of GELT-informed decision-making. All presented language norms and pronunciation models are Inner-Circle varieties. No other languages – even Thai – are referenced in any of the sample materials. The broadest range of cultural representations are from the Inner Circle. We draw on relevant literature to identify factors underlying this misalignment between the sample’s reported attitudes toward GELT and their actual materials design practice.