ABSTRACT
Southeast Asian languages, whether national or minority, have been demoted or not given enough attention at the expense of English. The dynamicity of higher education is a major promoter of English as a lingua franca. Mutual Recognitions Arrangements is an important initiative in Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) integration in education, business, trade and services. Andy. Kirkpatrick, who rejects a native-like approach, argues that language-learning objectives, teacher training and the curriculum will be affected. He argues that English could be presented as an ‘Asian’ lingua franca, a language spoken by multilinguals who need English mainly to talk to other ASEAN speakers. The majority of ASEAN speakers will only interact in English with other ASEAN speakers in general with whom they may share common first languages and some with whom they do not. ASEAN countries should work together to promote exchanges of English teachers in ASEAN, thereby increasing familiarity with each other’s forms of English.
