QuiTE

The Association for the Promotion of

Quality in TESOL Education

Abstract, Adrian Holliday
Standards of English and principles of inclusion

Yes, there should be standards of English for English language teacher
education; but they must be carefully qualified on political as well as
linguistic grounds. Any definition of such standards on the basis of
speakerhood would immediately fall into the trap of native-speakerist
discrimination. Native-speakerism can be defined as an established belief
that ‘native-speaker’ teachers represent a ‘Western culture’ from which
spring the ideals both of the English language and of English language
teaching methodology. The belief is intensified by unspoken associations
with ‘ethnicity’. Who can be recognised as ‘native speaker’ or ‘near
native speaker’ is not simply a matter of language. An alternative
established belief is that ALL users of English can claim ownership of the
language. Any definition of English standards must therefore acknowledge
this fact. The issue is complex. Recent suggestions that there can be a
non-aligned, international English lingua franca, have themselves been
perceived as Centre-driven. Standards must therefore be convincingly
de-Centred, and must allow those who consider themselves Periphery to take
Centre-stage.

Adrian