International English?

[bibliolept]

A recent thread title referenced "International English."
Am I misinformed?
I though the International English concept was more of an academician's exercise, like most constructed languages*, and had only been implemented in a haphazard way by some educators, each one espousing their own flavor and methodologies. Are there some advances or initiatives that have brought this significantly closer to maturity or to "implementation"?
(Reminds me of science fiction stories of the 40s and 50s, who occasionally mentioned concepts like Basic English as a constructed lingua franca; of course, the "vehicular language" holy grail predates the Basic English of C.K. Ogden in the 30s, beginning with mystical thinkers of ancient times).


*I originally wrote "Esperanto," but I just know someone is going to complain and demand an English-Esperanto section of the forum.

 

[panjandrum]

The thread in question was, I think, using the term International English as an umbrella term meaning all of the variants of English used around the world.

See Soda or pop in International English (IE)

 

[bibliolept]

So, of all those on this forum teaching or learning English as a second language, how many have heard "International English" in reference to their courses? Does it have a special, formal meaning, or do they mean simply that the class will cover some regional variations in usage, pronunciation, etc.?

 

[Algrif]

Hi. I have certainly used the term and you can find it sometimes in Business English courses. The point being that there is a type of English that L2 speakers use that includes only the bare minimum of phrasal verbs, idioms, "get" phrases, etc. This is a type of English that English businessmen should learn before venturing into the international market if they want to be understood by their foreign counterparts.