Earticle

This paper is aimed at capturing some fingerprints of possible Englishes at lexical and syntactical levels by Indonesian speakers. 16 written narratives of four male and four female pre-service teachers were selected in this study. Three American colleagues and the researcher intersubjectively identified and triangulated possible Englishes in the narratives of personal experiences of these pre-service teachers during their teaching practicum. The analyses show that the Standard English was deviated when Indonesian expressions were re-phrased (or are implied to have been stated) in English words/phrases/sentences which may inevitably still sound nonnative or erroneous for the American speakers. Despite the Americans’ conformity to their Standard English, the researcher contends that deviations from the American English are not to always be viewed negatively as being linguistically inferior. Rather, EFL educators are to explore how English nonnative speakers, especially those from Indonesia, use various possible Englishes and how these educators address the Englishes.