English language teachers and ELF

Research on language teaching was drastically affected by two major developments that have altered the way people have been considering English language teaching. These two developments were the beginning of research on non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) and also the beginning of research on English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Overall, research on ELF and NNESTs has brought the people to a point in which traditional English language teaching models need to be challenged and transformed. This chapter focuses on the notions of learner and user and how the different stakeholders in the language learning process place themselves in relation to them. It looks at the different groups of people that are mainly involved in the language teaching/learning situation. The chapter establishes three constituencies: people who are at the beginning of their second language learning process; former learners who have some experience in using the language and have therefore had the opportunity to communicate successfully; and language teachers.