ABSTRACT
In Germany, English is typically learned as a foreign language in educational settings characterized by a persistent, exclusive exonormative orientation towards ‘Standard English’, i.e., standard British and/or standard American English (see, e.g., Syrbe & Rose, 2018). However, an emerging paradigm shift in English Language Teaching (ELT) initiated by the worldwide expansion and diversification of the English language calls for a re-consideration of this practice. While we are witnessing numerous initiatives that introduce English as an International Language (EIL) into teacher education around the world (Matsuda, 2017), this growing body of conceptual work needs to be supplemented with practical suggestions to impact actual teaching practice in local learning and teaching contexts. Against this background we have developed an innovative teaching model at the interface of linguistics, language education and teaching practice, introducing elements of EIL into the curriculum for future teachers of English at the University of Bremen, Germany. During the course of one semester, teacher students learn about World Englishes and develop small teaching projects for the ELT classroom which are then put into practice in collaboration with local schools. In this chapter, we report on the design, curricular implementation and evaluation of this new model as a first step towards closing the gap between theory and practice in TEIL.
