The Increasing Use Of English As An International Language Has Led To Much Linguistic Variation

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There are tried-and-tested languages teaching initiatives developed by practitioners working together with academics, which employ the tools of critical theories to develop understanding of communication in an unequal society. Examples of the application of the pedagogy of Freire can be found in Auerbach and Wallerstein's Problem-posing at Work: English for Action (2004), a textbook that takes seriously the complex demands of adult ESOL students in workplace contexts, and in Action Aid's Reflect for ESOL project (Moon and Sunderland 2008), also run on Freirean principles. It involves teachers working together with students on strategies to counter the excesses of inequality that they meet daily. Cooke and Roberts' (2007) handbook exemplifies a pedagogical approach developed by teachers researching their own classrooms, which aims to provide conditions whereby students can 'speak from within'. And Roberts et al. (2007) present a set of materials informed by the research into D&G Jewelry authentic institutional interaction mentioned earlier. Thus, there are ways in which ...
... applied linguistics can mediate critical theories into appropriate and workable pedagogies, ones which address both questions of power and the need for authenticity in language learning and teaching.

The increasing use of English as an international language has led to much linguistic variation. As Kachru's (1982) model of three concentric circles illustrates, English is spoken as a native language in inner circle countries (e.g. the UK and USA), and also as a second or foreign language in outer (e.g. India and Singapore) and expanding circle countries (e.g. China and Russia). The far-reaching influence of English on international communication has also re-established the role of the native speaker, causing a heated debate as to who exactly native speakers are, how they are defined, what makes them native speakers, and so forth (Davies 2003). The changing role of the native English speaker is particularly obvious in Wholesale Jewelry the area of language assessment and testing. The assumption that a native English speaker's performance is the criterion against which the performance of non-native speakers must be assessed is no longer the golden rule; multiple Englishes are now used in testing materials to reflect the particular features of English used in different English-speaking regions (Taylor 2006). These developments are also found in major high-stakes proficiency tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), and the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), suggesting that new opportunities in language assessment may be opening for non-native English speakers. In response to these developments, the current study investigates whether native English-speaking (NS) and non-native English-speaking (NNS) raters assess the speaking performance of ESL students in different ways, with particular attention on (i) the extent to which NS and NNS raters contribute to score dependability (or reliability), and (ii) changes in score dependability when the number of NS and NNS raters is varied. Using generalizability theory (G-theory) as a framework, two specific research questions will be addressed: (i) what are the relative contributions of NS and NNS raters to score dependability in ESL speaking assessment? (ii) How does score dependability change when the number of NS and NNS raters is varied?

Ten Korean ESL students were selected based on their English language proficiency. They were enrolled in a college-level language institute in Montreal, Canada and placed into five different classes according to their ability levels, from beginner (Level 1) to advanced (Level 5). One student from Level 1 participated in the study, one student from Level 2, three students from Level 3, three students from Level 4, and two students from Level 5. Twenty-four teachers (12 NS and 12 NNS) were recruited to assess the speaking performance of the students. The NS teachers were Canadian teachers of English at a college-level language institute in Montreal, Canada, and the NNS teachers were Korean teachers of English at a college-level language institute in Daegu, Korea. Most teachers (11 NS and 11 NNS) had at least 1 year of prior experience teaching English conversation courses to non-native English speakers on a college level, and had a graduate degree in a field related to linguistics or language education.