Voices of ASEAN Teachers of English regarding Target Variety Issues of English as the Official Language of the ASEAN Community

Abstract

             This study investigates the uses of various Englishes throughout the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with   a view to re-imagining teaching English in the ASEAN countries. The study researches the varieties of English, English language teaching models, roles, and discrepancies of English in the ASEAN countries through 374 practitioners from ten ASEAN member countries via questionnaires and six focus group interviews with 28 interviewees. Respondents expressed their attitudes toward English varieties they learned, and the reasons English was currently taught and learned in their contexts, English varieties they taught, factors influencing their teaching preferences, and English varieties for their future teaching preferences. During the focus group interviews, interviewees shared their thoughts regarding concepts of a standard variety of English , and definition of terms i.e., varieties of British (BrE) and American English (AmE), English as an International Language (EIL), and English as a Lingual Franca (ELF). Findings portrayed the strong beliefs in AmE and BrE varieties which conflicted with the linguistic reality in the region. Issues in terms of identity, native or non-native English teachers, and English ownership were mentioned, and the notions of ELF and EIL among the interviewees were unclear. Further discussions regarding an English Language Teaching (ELT) reconceptualization as the steppingstone for ELT in the current and the future globalization were provided.