Intelligibility and world Englishes in the classroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Notions of ‘the Good’ in English‐language usage are informed by teachers’ experience and by authoritative sources such as rhetoric handbooks and reference grammars. In recent decades, new ways of evaluating language interpretation and use have been explored and tested; such recent conceptions of what it means to be intelligible may be seen as ‘better’ in that they accord more closely with the observable data and situations around us. In particular, the choice of overall model of English that is presented to students and by which their English is evaluated ought to be considered in pragmatic rather than a priori terms.