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Volume 1 Number 1, Spring 2004, Pages 1-403   


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Teaching English as an International Language: The Role of Culture in Asian Contexts

    Sandra Lee McKay


This paper explores the role of culture in the teaching of English as an international language in an Asian context. The paper opens with a description of the features of an international language. Then the author discusses how culture plays an important role in language learning in the teaching of semantics, pragmatics, and rhetoric, in the development of language materials, and in the choice of teaching methodology. Throughout the paper, the author argues that the role of culture in teaching an international language needs to be significantly different from the role of culture in teaching other languages. One of the major aims of the paper is to explore what this means for English teaching in Asian contexts.