The emergence of English as a global language has given rise to many interesting and important debates. Who, if anyone, owns the language – the relatively smaller numbers of native speakers or the much larger numbers of speakers who use it for an ever-growing range of functions? Does International English offer opportunities for neutrality that mitigate the colonial imperialism of the British or the cultural imperialism of the USA? Alternatively, is what we are witnessing best understood in terms of appropriation, as international users harness English for their own purposes?

The meteoric rise of English is closely mirrored, of course, by the growth in the teaching of the language. Given the millions of consumers and the thousands of teachers and support staff, references to the English language industry are by no means overplayed. Initially, native speakers dominated English language teaching and they remain in high demand. Growing numbers of English teachers are, however, multilingual, non-native speakers of English. But how do they position themselves in relation to the debates about English? Do they see themselves as international servants or mediators of English? How are they perceived within their own societies? How do they reconcile their own cultural assumptions about teaching with those which underpin the pedagogies associated with teaching English as an international language?

In the pages which follow, Phan Le Ha addresses these and many other related issues. Her arguments and evidence challenge conventional wisdom and nudge our thinking forward. At the same time, and most unusually, she melds Western and Eastern perspectives on similar themes. She sets about this task with a highly distinctive, often lyrical, voice.

Many writers alert us to the dangers associated with the post-colonial dimension of TESOL and ownership of English as an international language. Phan Le Ha, however, demonstrates that this is not a black-and-white issue by drawing attention to both advantages for international teachers of English and to the ways in which they negotiate and resist.