Introduction  

This week marks International Education Week when institutions around the country “celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide” (US Department of State, 2024). At Brown, international students comprised 14% of the undergraduate population and 48% of the graduate students in the 2023-2024 academic year, representing over 100 countries (News from Brown, 2024). These figures do not also account for the rich linguistic diversity among domestic and international-identifying students without visa status, many of whom are affiliated with linguistically minoritized communities speaking African-American Vernacular English, Chicano English, Cape Verdean English, and other varieties.

"It is crucial to enhance the transparency and accessibility of learning content and participation opportunities because English language backgrounds and proficiency do not equal intellectual capacity."

-Lecturer Tricia Kelly, Education

This diversity actively shapes learning experiences and outcomes. Supporting and embracing the linguistic diversity of global speakers of Englishes in classroom teaching and learning correlates with enhanced student learning engagement, critical thinking, academic excellence, and better preparation for professional resilience in globalized workplaces (British Council, 2022: Deng & Asep, 2024; Pascarella et al., 2014). In English-medium educational contexts, the paradigm of global Englishes affirms English as a pluralistic language with global ownership (Galloway & Rose, 2015, p. x). It acknowledges the range and variety of English molded by diaspora, regional, and various language communities (Ishikawa, 2021; Kachru, 1992), and English as a worldwide lingua franca dynamically adapted by speakers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds for professional, academic, and creative expression. Recognizing and supporting global Englishes in classroom teaching aligns with broader efforts toward inclusivity in higher education (Deng & Asep, 2024).

How Instructors Can Acknowledge and Support the Diversity of Englishes

This newsletter offers evidence-based strategies instructors can employ to support the positive learning experiences and outcomes of a diverse student body.

Cultivate a Supportive Class Environment that Respects Diverse Accents, Dialects, and Language Norms  

Explicit Valuation

Instructors can foster an environment of respect and acceptance by acknowledging and valuing the diverse forms of English present in their classrooms. Brown PhD student Karyn Mota, who speaks Portuguese and English, notes, 

“As a global English speaker, I believe faculty could benefit not only from integrating global perspectives into the classroom but also from creating a learning environment that respects diverse accents and prioritizes learning over strict language correctness.”

-Karyn Mota, PhD Candidate, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies

Mota believes this valuation offers students supportive opportunities to grow: “For instance, allowing a global English speaker to lead English-taught classes or assigning them teaching roles in English could provide a valuable opportunity to build confidence and foster a truly diverse and inclusive educational space. Such an approach would have a meaningful impact on multilingual students, supporting their growth in a real-world context.”

A proactive step includes incorporating a statement in the course syllabus that explicitly values diverse forms of English. An example syllabus statement is: 

“Our classroom is a multilingual space where diverse voices and identities are respected and valued. I recognize that English is a global language creatively shaped and used by various regional, national, and language communities. I advocate respect for differences, including diverse accents and communicative norms.”

Although this practice is optional at Brown, such a statement offers a tone of inclusivity from the outset (Horner & Trimbur, 2002).

Normalize Clarification

Instructors can encourage open communication about language differences. Different varieties of English exhibit distinct features in word usage, grammatical structures, and pronunciations. For example, U.S. English often features idiomatic expressions drawn from sports and pop culture, such as “touch base,” “in the ballpark,” “drop the ball,” “call the shots,” or “someone's wheelhouse”— expressions that may be opaque to speakers of other varieties of English. In fact, culturally-based idioms are among the top factors that undermine clarity in communication where English is used by diverse speakers (Morrison, 2016).

Instructors can acknowledge these differences and encourage students to ask clarifying questions when encountering unfamiliar expressions. Effective communication is a shared responsibility, with understanding achieved through the collective efforts of both speakers and listeners (Björkman, 2014), and instructors can model communication strategies such as rephrasing, repetition, and asking for clarification, encouraging all students to use explicitness-raising strategies to enhance clarity in classroom interactions.

Normalizing clarification can be as simple as reiterating the need and value of asking clarifying questions in classroom interactions: “If something your peer or I said isn't clear, feel free to ask questions like, ‘Could you clarify what you mean by... in this context?’ or ‘Could you explain that in a different way?’” Alternatively, instructors can model explicitness-raising strategies by rephrasing or checking for understanding when explaining course content or facilitating discussion, such as “When I say…, I mean…”, “Is there something unclear about this?/Is there something that needs more explanation?” 

Effective communication among diverse speakers of English relies not on rigid adherence to standard grammar and pronunciation but on communication strategies that enhance clarity and mutual understanding (Björkman, 2014; Liu & Kinginger, 2021). Normalizing clarification not only aids comprehension but also reduces the stigma associated with “not understanding.” This strategy aligns closely with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, as it enhances the transparency and accessibility of learning content and participation opportunities for not only global speakers of Englishes but all students with diverse learning needs and backgrounds.

Education Professor Tricia Kelly builds multimodal resources and reflective activities into her instruction to normalize clarification during lectures and class activities. She shares, 

"If I teach with slides, I give both oral and written directions to activities and try to be as succinct and explicit as possible with these directions. I also consistently build in processing time if there is a substantial amount of language input, such as during lectures. I adhere to the 10-2 rule where students turn-and-talk about the content after about ten minutes of instruction. Additionally, I offer choices on assignments whenever possible and really enjoy using Harmonize on Canvas as a discussion tool, giving students the option to respond either orally or in writing. Most importantly, I ask for student feedback on exit tickets and pay attention to what they say. For example, an international student recently noted that it was hard for them to hear their partners in small group discussions in class, so we are making creative use of our physical space to mitigate this."

-Lecturer Tricia Kelly, Education

Support Global English Writers   

Understand Language Differences and Respect Students’ Language Choices

Supporting global English writers begins with recognizing how language differences can be mistakenly treated as language errors. What appears to be a mistake might actually reflect a legitimate feature of a student's dialect of English. For instance, phrasal verbs (verb + preposition or adverb combinations, such as “break down” or “break in”) have flexible structures across language communities. For example, while “integrated into” is standard in U.S. and British English, Indian English commonly uses variations like “integrated in” and “integrated to,” as evidenced in media outputs (Davies, 2013).

In all varieties of English, including U.S. English, grammar rules are not prescriptive but evolving, reflecting social and generational changes and speakers’ intentional choices (Ariel, 2009). It is important to leverage students’ intentional language choices as a learning opportunity.  For example, Lu’s (1994) research explored a Chinese-Malaysian student’s use of the phrase “can able to,” discovering that the student deliberately coined this phrase to convey “being able to achieve something despite external constraints”—a meaning not fully captured by either “can” or “be able to” alone. The phrase expressed the student’s admiration for scholars who could advocate for their communities despite minority status constraints. As Canagarajah (2006, p. 609) notes, “An important lesson here for teachers is that not every instance of nonstandard usage by a student is an unwitting error; sometimes it is an active choice motivated by important cultural and ideological considerations.” Recognizing the student writer’s agency, instructors can guide students to communicate their intentionality to the audience to achieve their desired rhetorical impact.

Clarify Academic Writing Conventions

Academic writing conventions follow diverse norms across global educational cultures. For many multilingual and global English writers, U.S. academic writing conventions—such as linear structure, evidence-based arguments, critical engagement with sources, and writer responsibility—may be unfamiliar (Angelova & Riazantseva, 1999). Instructors can help by providing clear, explicit guidance on academic writing expectations in the specific subject area or discipline through examples and resources. The Writing Center and English Language Support Hub at the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning offers one-on-one writing consultations and workshops upon request. Instructors can also make a referral by emailing Writing and English Language Support at wels@brown.edu.

A graduate student in History of Art and Architecture highlights the importance of clarifying the “what” and “why” of academic writing conventions for global English writers: 

"In the classes I have taken, academic writing conventions are typically not explained explicitly, as faculty may assume that graduate students admitted to the institution already have some knowledge of academic writing in English. For multilingual writers from diverse English backgrounds, it is important to not only have a transparent understanding of what the conventions are within the institutional culture, but also why we are expected to follow these conventions because there is influence from different languages, thought patterns, rhetoric, and educational cultures when it comes to understanding these conventions. My native tongue is Chinese, which is a language that tends to adopt a passive voice and omit subjects in writing. When I was advised to use a more active voice in my essays, I wanted to understand the 'why' behind this expectation."

-International graduate student in HIAA

Use Formative Assessment that Prioritizes Learning Development

Implement assessment strategies that prioritize learning and improvement over strict adherence to a single variety of English. This might include using rubrics that value effective communication and ideas over perfect grammar or providing opportunities for revision based on feedback. Research shows adopting various formative tasks and assessment approaches that facilitate students’ ongoing progress in learning (Ranalli et al., 2018) such as providing multiple opportunities for revision after peer, self-reflective, and instructor feedback effectively enhanced multilingual students’ writing motivation, autonomy, and skills (Lee, 2011; Zhong & Yang, 2021).

Undergraduate Elhadj Boubacar Barry, who studies electrical engineering, affirms that this focus on the “what” rather than the “how” has helped him to feel included in class. A speaker of multiple languages including Fulani, French, Arabic, and English, Barry shares, “In my persuasive communication class, when I had to present and people had to give me feedback, there was no language judgment - the focus was on the audience understanding the message and improving public speaking skills, instead of correcting your accent or pronunciation.” Barry stresses the importance of such awareness of global Englishes, “because accent is innate to people, from the environment where they were raised.”

Empower the Identities of Global English Speakers 

Empowering students to embrace their linguistic identity in academic work is crucial for inclusive teaching. Instructors can use asset-based language that highlights students’ linguistic repertoire as a strength. For example, when giving assignment instructions, instead of specifying “extra resources for non-native speakers,” instructors could say, “additional resources for multilingual speakers.” When encouraging balanced class participation, instructors could use asset-based language such as: “I encourage speakers of English as an additional language to share your unique insights, as your multilingual and multicultural perspective enriches our class discussions.” Such inclusive language helps challenge deficit-based narratives and affirms the linguistic and cultural assets that multilingual students bring to the classroom (Paris & Alim, 2017). As Professor Kelly notes, “English is but one of many languages and all languages should be treated with respect and care. Language cannot be stripped from identity. Multilingual students should be given every opportunity to draw on all of their linguistic and cultural assets in order to succeed in our classes.”

Conclusion

Language is not merely a medium of instruction and academic learning; it is fundamental to our students’ identities and a powerful tool for mediating thinking and expression. Supporting and valuing global Englishes in our classrooms creates a more inclusive, global-minded, and intellectually nourishing learning environment for all. This approach not only enhances the learning experience for multilingual and international-identifying students but also prepares all students for the linguistically and culturally diverse global society they will navigate after graduation.

Resources

If you would like a consultation to discuss multilingual learning and supporting global English speakers in your classroom, please contact Sheridan_Center@brown.edu. More teaching resources on supporting multilingual learning are available in past Sheridan newsletters:

• Inclusive Language: Supporting Multilingual Learners

• Supporting a Diverse International Student Community

References:

Angelova, M., & Riazantseva, A. (1999). “If you don’t tell me, how can I know?”: A case study of four international students learning to write the U.S. way. Written Communication, 16 (4), 379-531.

Ariel, M. (2009). Discourse, grammar, discourse. Discourse Studies, 11(1), 5-36.

Björkman, B. (2014). An analysis of polyadic English as a lingua franca (ELF) speech: A communicative strategies framework. Journal of Pragmatics, 66, 122–138.

British Council. (2022). Developing intercultural communication skills in a hybrid workplace. https://corporate.britishcouncil.org/insights/developing-intercultural-communication-skills-hybrid-workplace

Canagarajah, S. (2006). The place of World Englishes in composition: Pluralization continued. College Composition and Communication, 57 (4), 586-619.

Davies, M. (2013). Introducing the 1.9 billion word global web-based English corpus (GloWbE). The 21st Century Text. https://21centurytext.wordpress.com/introducing-the-1-9-billion-word-global-web-based-english-corpus-glowbe/

Deng, Y., & Asep, B. (2024). Embracing linguistic diversity: Global Englishes language teaching for anti-racist education. Frontiers in Education, 9, https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1413778

Galloway, N., & Rose, H. (2015). Introducing global Englishes. Routledge.

Horner, B., & Trimbur, J. (2002). English only and U.S. college composition. College Composition and Communication, 53(4), 594-630.

Ishikawa, T. (2021). Global Englishes and ‘Japanese English’. Asian Englishes, 23(1), 15–29.

Kachru, B. B. (1992) World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching, 25, 1–14.

Lee, I. (2011). Formative assessment in EFL writing: An exploratory case study. Changing English, 18(1), 99–111.

Liu, S., & Kinginger, C. (2021). The sociocultural ontogenesis of international students’ use of pragmatic strategies in ELF academic communication: Two contrasting case studies. Journal of Pragmatics, 186, 364–381.

Lu, M-Z. (1994). Professing multiculturalism: The politics of style in the contact zone. College Composition and Communication, 45(4), 442–58.

Morrison, L. (2016, October 31). Native English speakers are the world’s worst communicators. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20161028-native-english-speakers-are-the-worlds-worst-communicators

News from Brown. (2024, September 6). Brown’s newest students, by the numbers. https://www.brown.edu/news/2024-09-06/new-students

Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world. Teachers College Press.

Pascarella, E. T., Martin, G. L., Hanson, J. M., Trolian, T. L., Gillig, B., & Blaich, C. (2014). Effects of diversity experiences on critical thinking skills over 4 years of college. Journal of College Student Development, 55(1), 86–92.

Ranalli, J., Feng, H., & Chukharev-Hudilainen, E. (2018). Exploring the potential of process-tracing technologies to support assessment for learning of L2 writing. Assessing Writing, 36, 77-89.

U.S. Department of State. (2024). International Education Week 2024. https://iew.state.gov/ 

Zhong, Y., & Yang, M. (2021). Formative assessment in higher education classrooms: Second language writing learning. International Journal of TESOL Studies, 3(4), 61-78