A Case Study of English Teachers’ Perception toward the Significance of English in ASEAN Nattiya Bunwirat The Far Eastern University, Chiang Mai Ken Chuaphalakit Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai

Introduction English has taken a main role as a working language of ASEAN since 1967 (Okudaira, 1999).  The role of English in ASEAN has changed from EFL to ELF  The principle of ELF: People study and use English as a medium of communication in different contexts with people who do not speak English as their first language (Ur, 2010). With the shift of the role of English comes several challenges that should be explored.

Purpose and Research Question Purpose of the study To study the English language teachers’ opinions towards the roles of English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN. Research Question How do three English teachers understand the significance of English language in ASEAN?

Methodology Selection of the participants Criteria orientedCriteria oriented Having at least 10 years of English teaching experience Holding a degree in English language field  Three participants Data collection Semi-structured interview

Results Two themes emerge from the participants’ responses Key to successful business communicationKey to successful business communication ASEAN’s English standard and policyASEAN’s English standard and policy

Results Key to Successful Business Communication English language is able to support successful communication in business world. Declaring English as a working language of ASEAN or as a lingua franca sounds reasonable.

Results ASEAN’s English Standard and Policy ‘ASEAN English’  A new variation : Particular vocabularies and terminology  Be diverse from the English used in other English speaking countries  Unique and accepted in the community ASEAN’s English Language Policy  need to be considered  should have co-operation of 10 ministries of education

Results ASEAN’s English Standard and Policy English Language EducationEnglish Language Education  concerned about ways of teaching and learning the language in classrooms  The pedagogy should enhance students’ English proficiency and create high-English-competency laborers to meet the language requirement of AEC in the future.

Discussion ELF in ASEAN may be acceptable regarding the benefits of workers. English language has been used in many domains in ASEAN, for example business and education (Crocco & Bunwirat, 2014).

Discussion English as the sole official language English as the sole official language 1.Concerning over unsystematic policy of English in ASEAN is raised.  ASEAN: such a highly diverse society Probability of loss in linguistic and cultural diversity (Kirkpatrick, 2010). 2.ELF pedagogy is needed. General language pedagogy maybe insufficient to prepare students for AEC (Kirkpatrick, 2010; Kongerd, 2013; Crocco & Bunwirat, 2014). Learning goals : effective communication and support students’ intercultural competence (Kongkerd, 2013).

Discussion 3.Which ‘varieties of English’ will be ‘standard English’ for ASEAN and AEC?  Two prominent varieties of English : TOEFL (US) vs. IELTS (UK)  Standardized test scores Accents and spelling variations can cause a problem for some test takers (i-studentglobal, 2015). What is standard English?

Recommendations Ongoing interdisciplinary research is needed. The cooperation of the stakeholders in ASEAN are necessary for the reformation of English language policy to be successful in real practice in the near future.

Conclusion English is crucial to ASEAN and AEC.  Medium language in business  English proficiency is one of the requirements for work. Areas that Need Considerations   Education: Prepare students to function effectively in multilingual contexts, Require collaboration in planning and designing ASEAN curricula.  English language planning and policy (ELF)  Set English standard of using the language in such particular community

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