Nonnative Teachers in the Expanding Circle and the Ownership of English

Abstract

Numerous scholars (e.g. Crystal 2003; Widdowson 2003) have argued that belongs to nonnative speakers because is widely used as an international language and because there are more nonnative speakers than native speakers. Many nonnative teachers in the Expanding Circle accept this argument, believing that having the ownership of empowers them. This forum piece, however, argues that the issue of ownership is not as relevant for them as it is for those living in the Outer Circle because there may not exist local variety of in their respective country. Moreover, claiming the ownership of can bring about detrimental effects in their classroom, especially when only good English is accepted as a powerful symbolic resource (Park 2010: 193), as is the case in Korea. This article also argues that the real source of nonnative teachers' empowerment stems from their identity as the ideal teachers of to as Foreign Language learners.