New Englishes, New Literatures in English: Challenges for ELT Practitioners
Dr. Malachi Edwin Vethamani
University Putra Malaysia
Selangor, Malaysia
The proliferation of new varieties of the English language and their
attendant literatures is a linguistic phenomenon in many parts of the
world, including some South East Asian countries, like the Philippines,
Singapore and Malaysia. Yet, many teachers continue to teach the English
language as if there were only one variety of the English language: either
British or American English. The local variety is often perceived as
impoverished or lower in standing in comparison to the established English
or American varieties. In this paper, the writer will contend that the
study of new varieties of English and their literatures is both valid and
valuable. The writer will also address teaching-learning issues that arise
from the incorporation of new literatures in English into the language
classroom. The writer will also share teaching approaches that have worked
when using new varieties of English and literatures in English.
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