ABSTRACT
English in its WE plurality and in its Lingua Franca role is the most widely used language of communication in the world, in face-to-face as in digital contexts. Global Englishes can be encountered daily in a variety of situations, from multilingual classes to the (social) media, the linguistic landscape, and mobility. This entails that awareness of GE and of the need to include them in pedagogic practices should be fostered in teacher education. The activities showcased in this chapter aim to promote pre-service primary teacher learners’ methodological skills in GE during their English Language and Didactics course at the University of Verona, in Italy. An introductory module aimed at raising awareness of GE deals with the issues concerning the global spread of English such as variation in World Englishes (WE) and the Lingua Franca role English plays today (ELF). Teacher learners are encouraged to reflect upon these issues, also drawing from their previous experiences, in order to explore the implications for teaching English in the primary classroom. Then, after reading samples of relevant literature presenting examples in practice, they devise classroom activities adopting GE-aware perspective for primary school settings.
