ABSTRACT
This chapter tracks the nature of knowledge construction in the area of World Englishes (WE)—essentially the epistemology of the field—by looking into the methodological lenses undertaken by WE research. It discusses the language-focus orientation of many of the studies in the field, and pinpoints gaps and fertile areas in research which can be addressed. It seeks to expand the methodological reach of the field by exploring the possibility of taking on a user-as-individual orientation as well in order to enrich the knowledge base of WE by reframing users of Englishes as primarily individual participants in the daily practice of social life.
