Benefits and Challenges of Teaching English as an International Language

Abstract: During our early part of teacher education, we had the opportunity to learn about teaching English with a global approach in order to reflect the worldwide spread and use of English around the world. However, during our teacher practice we noticed that teachers often tend to maintain a rather traditional focus on English speaking countries such as, the United States and the United Kingdom. In this research synthesis, we aim to investigate the benefits and challenges involved in teaching English as an international language at upper secondary and university levels of education. On the one hand, research shows that an implementation of EIL can have many benefits, such as the development of a broader knowledge of the existing varieties of English and the increment of intercultural awareness. On the other hand, research reveals challenges due to the native speaker ideal still lingering on both in students’ and teachers’ perspectives, and the lack of appropriate teaching materials is another challenge that is highlighted.