Title: Investigating Teachers' Perceptions of World Englishes and Their Views on its Integration into Language Testing
Authors: Aliyah A. Acobo
Volume: 9
Issue: 4
Pages: 52-63
Publication Date: 2025/04/28
Abstract:
The emergence of World Englishes (WE) has led to various influences in the education sector, including its challenge to traditional language assessments. Despite its rise and development, studies have shown a notable gap on how people view it, especially in its integration into language testing. This study explores the perspectives of secondary English teachers on WE and their views towards its integration in language assessments using a perception scale to assess the six dimensions of World Englishes (i.e., Kachru's three concentric circles, the standard English, the ownership of English, Philippine English, the potential sources of varieties of English, and the other aspect of World Englishes) and through the conduct of Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Interestingly, this study found that teachers hold diverse perspectives. While teachers acknowledge the WE varieties, they still value the established norms of American and British English emphasizing the use of standard grammar in writing but recognizing pronunciation variations in spoken English. Teachers also show a neutral stance when it comes to Philippine English, indicating that they reject the notion of the inferiority of the Philippine English accent but show little interest in promoting its features. Furthermore, teachers prefer communicative competence over strict grammar accuracy in language assessments and underscore the importance of contextualization to promote cultural sensitivity in language testing.