Teacher employment practices at a new Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) are not limited by the assumption that only native speaker forms of English are appropriate for international conversations. The CELF, an initiative of a private university in Tokyo, was founded with consideration given to the pedagogical implications and awareness of the widespread use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Such deliberation is not yet prevalent among academics and practitioners who should be most affected by ELF (Seidlhofer, 2011). Most users of ELF have different first languages, and usually interact with other users of ELF. We believe such circumstances warrant questioning of the forms of language targeted in the classroom. Teachers need to examine their teaching practices and consider students’ future uses of English. The transformation occurring in English as it is being used as a lingua franca need not be viewed as unusual, but as part of the process of language evolution...
