ABSTRACT
This chapter looks in more detail at English as an international language, at some of the results of work done to describe it, and at some of the implications of using new corpora of English as a lingua franca to inform ELT provision. One thing is certain: the majority of people using English are already speakers of other languages as well, and bilingualism or multidialectalism are already the norm. Crystal anticipates the emergence of what he terms a World Standard Spoken English (WSSE), which he describes as a 'regionally neutral international spoken standard, acting as a stabilising force on global spoken diversity'. For Crystal Standard English today 'is a global reality only with reference to the written language: it might more accurately be called World Standard Printed English (WSPE)'. The world is becoming aware of the fate of endangered languages and more anxious over the long-term impact of English on world cultures, national institutions and local ways of life.
