The majority of students that study in international schools are English as an Additional Language learners. Yet they are often benchmarked or judged using English as a first language criteria. Is this fair? A necessary evil? Or is this time for a paradigm shift in the way English is conceived, assessed, and used within international education?

This talk will explore the subtle assumptions that we as international educators may carry about what it means to be fluent in a language, the (ir)relevance of monolingual English approaches, and the ways classroom practice, assessment, and even the Western-dominated post-secondary education system can adapt.