Global English

Just saw an article on the Telegraph (here) reporting that Prof. David Crystal believes everyone will need to master two forms of English - a local variety determined geographically and an internationally intelligible Standard English. He gives some convincing arguments to support his case.

This of course needs to be taken into account when teaching - depending on personal needs, learners need to be exposed to Standard English as much as possible rather than just the local version. I can see that technology could be the answer to the problem again with the Internet breaking down the traditional barriers. Standard English as well as the range of international varieties can be brought into the classroom through text, audio and video.