Languages Without Borders: TESOL in a Transient World

TLDR: In this article, the authors discuss the changing faces of English within and beyond the field of TESOL and argue that the spread and natural evolution of English itself, combined with the transience in the population of English-language users, have forced a reexamination of the goals of English language learning and teaching as well as a reconceptualization of the English language itself along with sacredly held paradigms in ELT.

Abstract: In today’s transient world, where a continual multidirectional flow of people, goods, and services has deterritorialized languages and their users, languages, especially English, are now without borders. In this context, English language teaching (ELT) as a profession is called to a new task. In this article, I examine this task by asking the fundamental question: What does/should English-language teaching and learning look like in a world of languages without borders? I discuss the changing faces of English within and beyond the field of TESOL. I argue that the spread and natural evolution of English itself, combined with the transience in the population of English-language users, have forced a reexamination of the goals of English-language learning and teaching as well as a reconceptualization of the English language itself along with sacredly held paradigms in ELT.