Reconstructing English Teaching Objectives from the Perspective of GELT: From Standard-Language Accuracy to International Communicative Competence

Abstract

With the globalization of English, English users, interlocutors, and communicative contexts have become increasingly diverse. Traditional English teaching objectives, which mainly use British and American standard English as their reference, are gradually proving insufficient to fully meet the needs of real-world international communication. From the perspective of Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT), this paper discusses the shift in English teaching objectives from “standard-language accuracy” to “international communicative competence.” First, it analyzes the historical rationality and limitations of the traditional accuracy-oriented approach based on standard English, highlighting its shortcomings in language ideology, views of communication, and the development of learner agency. Second, it explains the core connotations of international communicative competence in terms of intelligibility, intercultural awareness, negotiation and accommodation abilities, local cultural expression, and the construction of subjectivity. Finally, it proposes corresponding adjustments in curriculum content, classroom tasks, and assessment concepts. This paper argues that reconstructing teaching objectives from the GELT perspective does not mean denying linguistic accuracy. Rather, it repositions accuracy within the framework of authentic communication, enabling it to serve effective communication, intercultural understanding, and learners’ subjective expression.