English · Year 13

Active learning ideas

Global Englishes: Lingua Franca and Identity

Active learning works well here because Global Englishes is a politically charged topic that benefits from lived debate. When students physically move, speak, and write about ownership, they confront native-centrism rather than absorb it.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• A-Level: English Language - Global English
• A-Level: English Language - Language Variation

• 30–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Formal Debate
• 50 min · Small Groups

Debate Carousel: Ownership of English

Divide class into four groups, each assigned a stance (native owners, global users, post-colonial nations, neutral ELF advocates). Groups prepare 3-minute opening arguments using evidence from varieties. Rotate to debate against others, with whole class voting on strongest case at end.

Evaluate who 'owns' the English language in a post-colonial global context.

Facilitation Tip

During the Debate Carousel, assign a ‘devil’s advocate’ role to students who must argue against their own initial stance to deepen critical listening.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If English is spoken by more non-native speakers than native speakers globally, who has the greater claim to 'owning' the language?' Facilitate a debate where students must defend their position using evidence from case studies of World Englishes.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Formal Debate
• 35 min · Pairs

Text Analysis Pairs: ELF Varieties

Provide paired excerpts from global Englishes (e.g., Chinua Achebe, Arundhati Roy). Partners identify hybrid features, discuss identity implications, then share findings in a class gallery walk. Conclude with justification for local identity preservation.

Analyze the implications of English as a lingua franca for cultural diversity.

Facilitation Tip

When analyzing ELF text samples, provide a shared graphic organizer that asks learners to note phonology, syntax, and lexis before they draw conclusions.

What to look for

Ask students to write one sentence explaining how English as a lingua franca might threaten a local language, and one sentence describing a strategy to preserve linguistic diversity. Collect and review for understanding of the core tension.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Formal Debate
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role-Play Simulations: Lingua Franca Scenarios

Assign roles in international business or UN meetings using ELF. Students improvise dialogues incorporating non-standard varieties, reflect on communication success and cultural erasure risks via group debrief.

Justify the importance of maintaining local linguistic identities in a globalized world.

Facilitation Tip

In the Identity Mapping timeline, supply color-coded strips so students can visibly layer local languages, English varieties, and hybrid forms without erasing any layer.

What to look for

Present students with short audio clips or text samples of different World Englishes. Ask them to identify which variety they believe it is and provide one linguistic feature that helped them make that determination. This checks their ability to recognize variation.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Formal Debate
• 30 min · Whole Class

Identity Mapping: Whole Class Timeline

Project a global timeline; students add sticky notes with events shaping Englishes (e.g., colonialism, internet). Discuss in plenary how these forge identities, justifying maintenance of diversity.

Evaluate who 'owns' the English language in a post-colonial global context.

Facilitation Tip

Keep the Role-Play Simulations short—no more than three minutes per scenario—so energy stays high and accents don’t fossilize into caricature.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If English is spoken by more non-native speakers than native speakers globally, who has the greater claim to 'owning' the language?' Facilitate a debate where students must defend their position using evidence from case studies of World Englishes.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers approach this topic by positioning English as a moving target rather than a fixed code. Avoid framing ELF as a deficit—it’s a living system where power shifts with every speaker. Research shows that when students confront their own pronunciation biases in low-stakes role plays, misconceptions about ‘correctness’ fall away faster than in lectures.

Successful learning looks like students citing specific linguistic features to justify their positions, switching codes fluidly in role-plays, and mapping hybrid identities without reducing any variety to deficit. Evidence replaces assumption in every output.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Debate Carousel, watch for students claiming that only British or American speakers can ‘own’ English.

  Redirect by asking them to tally user numbers from the infographic provided and then restate their position using data rather than nationality.

• During Role-Play Simulations, watch for students treating ELF as a replacement for local languages.

  Pause mid-scenario to ask pairs which local terms they avoided and why, then have them reinsert those terms and observe the shift in meaning.

• During Text Analysis Pairs, watch for students labeling all non-standard forms as ‘errors’.

  Hand them the functionalist lens card that asks, ‘Does this feature achieve the speaker’s communicative goal?’ and require a revised judgment based on context.

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Methods used in this brief

• Formal Debate