Farzad Sharifian is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Language and Society Centre within the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, Monash University, Australia. He is also the Convenor of the academic program of English as an International Language at Monash University. He has a wide range of research interests including cultural linguistics, pragmatics, English as an International Language, World Englishes, language and politics, and intercultural communication. He is the editor (with Gary B. Palmer) of Applied Cultural Linguistics (2007, John Benjamins) and the editor (with René Dirven, Ning Yu and Susanne Niemeier) of Culture, Body and Language (2008, Mouton de Gruyter). He has published numerous articles in many international journals.

This praiseworthy and useful volume is highly commendable not only for linguists but also for English language practitioners. It provides a step forward in this new and vibrant field of research.

• 1) English as an International Language: An Overview - Farzad SharifianPart 1: Native/Non-native Divide: Politics, Policies, and Practices2) English as a Lingua Franca, ‘Non-native Speakers’, and Cosmopolitan Realities - Adrian Holliday3) Teaching English as an International Language (EIL) in the GCC Countries: The Brown Man’s Burden - Sadia Ali4) EIL, Nativespeakerism, and the failure of European ELT - Marko ModianoPart 2: EIL, Attitudes, and Identity(ies)5) Researching Non-native Speakers’ Views Toward Intelligibility and Identity: Bridging the Gap Between Moral High Grounds and Down-to-Earth Concerns - David C. S. Li6) Attitudes Towards English as an International Language: The Pervasiveness of Native Models Among L2 Users and Teachers - Enric Llurda7) 'I Thought I was an Easterner; it Turns Out I am a Westerner!': EIL Migrant Teacher Identities - Bojana PetrićPart 3: EIL, Teacher Education and Language Testing: Gaps and Challenges8) Global Warning? West-Based TESOL, Class-blindness and the Challenge for Critical Pedagogies - Vaidehi Ramanathan and Brian Morgan9) Desirable But Not Necessary? The Place of World Englishes and English as an International Language in English Teacher Preparation Programs in Japan - Aya Matsuda10) Imperialism of International Tests: An EIL Perspective - Sarah Zafar KhanPart 4: The Scope of EIL: Widening, Tightening and Emerging Themes11) Broadening the ELF Paradigm: Spoken English in an International Encounter - Paul Roberts and Suresh Canagarajah12) Pragmatics and EIL Pedagogy - Sandra Lee McKay13) Cultural Conceptualisations in English as an International Language - Farzad Sharifian14) English as the International Language of Scholarship: Implications for the Dissemination of ‘Local’ Knowledge - Andy Kirkpatrick15) Local or International Standards: Indigenised Varieties of English at the Crossroads - Eric A. Anchimbe