This article investigates textbooks used in English classes in German schools to evaluate their relevance to current trends of teaching English as an international language. For many European students, English is no longer just a foreign language, but an important European lingua franca. Thus, we argue it is essential for the language to be positioned as such in key textbooks used in English classrooms, which aim to prepare students for future use of English. An analysis of three main textbook series used in Germany was done through an adapted framework that depicts a Global Englishes approach to language teaching, focussing on representations of ownership, users, models and target interlocutors of English. The analysis found that there was over-reliance of UK models of English, and static depictions of language users and cultures. The findings can be generalized to other countries where the sociolinguistic reality of English may not be accurately represented in English teaching materials.

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The growth of English as an international language has challenged the validity of many assessment practices, especially in contexts where students are learning English as an international language (EIL). The constructs of many tests center on standardized, inner circle English language norms, and the content of these tests are often sampled from similar contexts. EIL research challenges the validity of these practices in a globalized world, where speakers are using English in its plurality within fluid cultures and contexts. When assessing EIL, it is necessary to refocus practices to center on learners' strategic competence in using the language rather than their grammatical knowledge of it. Although assessment practices in classroom contexts are reflexive to change, standardized testing remains more resistant to change due to inherent difficulties in measuring language use, as opposed to linguistic knowledge of language forms.

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