Creating a Global Englishes-informed Speaking Skills Course

This paper describes the introduction and students’ reactions to a Speaking Skills course that focused on Global Englishes and international communication. Twenty-three third year students were exposed to a diverse range of English speakers, learning about accents, dialects and communication strategies. The literature review summarises the needs for Global English programmes, highlighting key proposals and course goals and discusses similar courses at three other Japanese universities. An online survey was used to gage student reactions. Overall, the results were positive and motivation and confidence in speaking with international English speakers were increased.