World Englishes Lesson 5

1. World EnglishesLesson 5 ELF – English as a Lingua Franca

2. The spread of English as an international lingua franca “Not only ‘English’ has become international in the last half century, but scholarship about English has also become international: the ownership of an interest in English has become international. We are no longer a language community which is associated with a national community or even with a family of nations such as the Commonwealth aspired to be. We are an international community. (Brumfit 1995:16)

3. Why is English the international lingua franca? • Ambivalent attitude towards English as an international lingua franca • Reasons for the international status of English: • Historical reasons • Internal political reasons • External economic reasons • Practical reasons • Intellectual reasons • Entertainment reasons • Personal advantage/prestige (Crystal 2003)

4. Why is English the international lingua franca? • Historical reasons: English is still used institutionally because of the legacy of British or American imperialism. • Internal political reasons: English provides a neutral means of communication between the different ethnic groups of a country and may be seen as a symbol of national unity or emerging statehood. • External economic reasons: the USA’s dominant economic position often acts as a magnet for international business and trade

5. Why is English the international lingua franca? • Practical reasons: English is the language of international air traffic control, international tourism, international business and academic conferences. • Intellectual reasons: Most of the scientific, technological, and academic information in the world is expressed in English. English is the gateway to Western culture. • Entertainment reasons: English is the main language of popular music, sat TV, computers and video games. • Personal advantage/prestige: Proficiency in English is often perceived as conferring higher status.

6. Why is English the international lingua franca? • Which of the above reasons are most relevant to those who want or need to be able to communicate internationally in the English language? • Are the reasons still the same or have they changed? Are there any new circumstances? • Why do you think beliefs about the intrinsic linguistic superiority of English persist?

7. Mutual intelligibility and group identity • Intelligibility and identity: two opposing forces “The need for intelligibility and the need for identity often pull people and countries in opposing directions” (Crystal, 2003) • Mutual intelligibility: in order to fulfil its role as the international lingua franca, English must be able to achieve mutual intelligibility among its users. Accent differences must decrease. • Identity: the increase in number of users of ELF has inevitably led to an increase in the range of differences among their Englishes with pronunciation being the most visible level of divergence. Accent differences, that are often strictly linked to personal and group identity, are likely to increase.

8. Mutual intelligibility and group identity • Haveyou ever reflected on or given importance to retaining your L1 identity in English? • Do you think you should retain your L1 accent in your English or try to sound ‘native-like’? • Should you be more intelligible to native speakers of English, non-natives or both groups? • Is it possible to retain your L1 accent in English and still be intelligible to native/non-native speakers? “Most people do not learn English to speak to native speakers. On the other hand, people learn Spanish because they are interested in Hispanic culture for some reason and will therefore want a spoken and written model which will further this aim. There is a world of difference between English and, in fact, all other living languages at present. “ (Prodromou 1997)

9. English as a lingua franca (ELF) “ELF is the most extensive contemporary use of English worldwide.” (Seidlhofer 2001) • ELF is a contact language among speakers from different first languages: it is used in contexts in which speakers with different L1s (mostly, but not exclusively, from Expanding Circle) need it as their means to communicate with each other • ELF is an alternative to EFL rather than a replacement for it – depends on speaker’s (or learner’s) individual needs and preferences

10. English as a lingua franca (ELF) Kirkpatrick (2007b) adapted from Jenkins (2006c)

11. English as a lingua franca (ELF) • ELF involves linguistic innovations that differ from ENL and which, in some cases, are shared by most ELF speakers. • ELF involves the use of certain pragmatic communication strategies, particularly accommodation and code-switching. ELF forms crucially depend on the specific communication context. • Descriptions of ELF that may lead to codification are drawn from communication involving proficient ELF speakers.

12. ELF features • Lexicogrammatical features (Seidlhofer 2004) • ‘dropping’ third person –s • interchangeable use of who and which • flexible use of articles (omission or insertion) • invariant tag questions, e.g. ‘isn’t it?’ or ‘no?’ instead of ‘shouldn’t they?’ • additional prepositions, as ‘we have to study about..’ • frequent use of hot verbs (do, make, have) • heightened explicitness, e.g. ‘black colour’, ‘how long time...?’ • Infinitives replaced by ‘that’ clauses

13. ELF features • Pronunciation (core features) • all consonants except th- sounds and dark ‘l’ • strong forms used instead of weak forms • vowel length contrasts • avoidance of consonant deletions at the beginning of words • production and placement of tonic stress

14. ELF processes • ELF features are the result of processes similar to the ones affecting ENL (e.g. regularisation) • Additional factors in ELF • language contact on a massive scale • intercultural communication • Acceleration of processes Attitudes towards ELF still scepticism/rejection among many linguists and ELT professionals