ESL/EFL Dichotomy Today: Language Politics or Pragmatics?

In this article, I situate the two most widely used acronyms, ESL and EFL , in their historical‐structural contexts, examine their denotative consistency, evaluate the credibility and validity of their individual and contrastive statuses, and suggest a taxonomic reorientation. I argue that these labels, which are more the products of history and demography than of linguistic reality and which the professional and commercial interests of the English language teaching enterprise have nurtured and promoted, are becoming reified in professional discourse, unconcerned with the realities of the changing role of English in today's world. I demonstrate the referential vagueness and denotative variations of the label ESL by tracing its genealogy and by detailing the great ecological and implicative differences between two of its major current interpretations. I also present contexts of situational overlaps that obscure the current basis for an ESL/EFL distinction. Finally, I recommend a taxonomic nomenclature with a more realistic sociolinguistic base and a more appropriate applied linguistic motivation.