English literature has gone from being considered primarily British literature to being any literature that is written in English. This allows for a multicultural canon within the family of what’s considered English literature.

English is spoken by over 1.5 billion people worldwide. The English language is everywhere, literally. As a teacher in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, I see the desire for the local population to lean our global language. They want to be able to read, speak, and listen to English so they can engage with the world and access a much broader pool of tertiary education opportunities and subsequent career options. Although many schools, including my own school of employment, accommodate these local students, we also see the danger in glorifying the western culture and allowing our ethnocentricity to create a students body who believe the West is better than the East, especially the developing South East Asian countries. An introduction to regional literature, either originally written in English or translated into the English language, helps promote a more balanced student perspective on global issues and ideals.

A school-wide (or class-wide) balanced perspective may not always be easy to gauge or assess but a developing cultural competence will likely be seen through many “windows” of observation - a comment made, a friendship fostered, a journal entry, a debate, a casual conversation, a video production, or a prevailing mood of cultural tolerance and acceptance.

English language arts curriculum has access to literature from all over the world. There likely is not a culture in existence that a student could not be given access to through literature. Here at Logos International School, we use local stories like First They Killed My Father, Angkor Priestly journals, and A Dragon Apparent to ensure students have adequate time to engage with their own culture while studying the English language and preparing for a cross-cultural university education.