Changing Preservice Teachers Attitudes Toward Linguistic Diversity by Introducing a World Englishes Perspective

2015 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved. There is little argument that English has become the international language, but there is a widening debate over the variety of English that is most acceptable. Should there be only one Standard English, and if so, which variety (from the United Kingdom, North America, or another standard)? Or, should a number of varieties of English (Englishes) be considered legitimate for use globally? As stated by Kubota (2001), the World Englishes (WEs) paradigm challenges the homogenous viewpoint of English and offers a heterogeneous perspective. World Englishes challenges the acceptance of one Standard English variety, rather WEs embraces emerging varieties of English used in diverse sociolinguistic contexts and includes local and international varieties.

Changing Preservice Teachers Attitudes Toward Linguistic Diversity by Introducing a World Englishes Perspective Chapter