"Ante et Retro Occulata": Looking Back and Looking Forward

Abstract

This article briefly looks at what changes might occur linguistically with the widening of English within ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) while at the same time looking at the changes that have taken place in both the language and attitude in the history of English in its country of origin in terms of two forms of imperative: the cooperative and the territorial. In one case, the cooperative imperative is seen as a need to continually modify the language in order to communicate with people within new contexts and cultures. On the other, the territorial imperative seeks to secure and protect a separate and social identity. What lessons can we learn from history and what consequences such lessons can have for teaching in terms of the differences between teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and the growing awareness of the wider use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) will also be discussed.