Over the past decades, the concepts and principles of communicative language teaching have significantly shaped how foreign languages are taught in our educational institutions. Success is largely measured and experienced in relation to Standard English communication with native speakers, which, however, is in stark contrast with profound changes outside the English classroom. The expanding use of English around the world as a global lingua franca for intercultural communication has led to new “sociolinguistic realities” not only for second language speakers of English in post-colonial contexts but also for speakers of English as a foreign language and, last but not least, for native speakers as well. Against the backdrop of a social constructivist perspective, I will explore some of the challenges and opportunities these changes provide for English language teaching. Special attention will be given to a pedagogical approach that incorporates speaker-centered notions like ownership and satisfaction, and aims to help learners develop their own voice and non-native speaker creativity while maintaining an overall Standard English orientation.