Book excerpt: This book provides the reader with a basis upon which to develop teaching and learning methodologies for the multicultural classroom. It is a valuable tool for language teachers who want to implement educational practices that best serve the needs of learners eager to acquire proficiency in languages of wider communication such as English. Focusing on cross-cultural communicative competency, and with chapters on the historical spread of English, the pros and cons of utilizing American and British norms, and new alternative methods and practices, this book provides English instructors with the foundation they will need to meet the challenges of teaching a lingua franca in the age of globalization. Novel conceptualizations of language are presented which bring pluralism and multiculturalism center stage. The volume serves to show how teachers and teacher trainees can best assist learners in their pursuit of oral communication skills in the world’s most utilitarian language.