thomas christiansen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by thomas christiansen
Textus, 2014
This paper examines the way in which the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), together with selected feature... more This paper examines the way in which the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), together with selected features of delivery, can be shown to affect intelligibility and thus constitute what a sample of learners regard as "good" pronunciation (cf. Christiansen 2011b). We do this by making reference to a questionnaire-based survey in which respondents have to rate for intelligibility recorded extracts of NS and NNS. We compare the results of this survey with a detailed phonological analysis of the extracts
Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 2020
The right of Australian Indigenous groups to own traditional lands has been a contentious issue i... more The right of Australian Indigenous groups to own traditional lands has been a contentious issue in the recent history of Australia. Indeed, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders did not consider themselves as full citizens in the country they had inhabited for millennia until the late 1960s, and then only after a long campaign and a national referendum (1967) in favour of changes to the Australian Constitution to remove restrictions on the services available to Indigenous Australians. The concept of terra nullius, misapplied to Australia, was strong in the popular imagination among the descendants of settlers or recent migrants and was not definitively put to rest until the Mabo decision (1992), which also established a firm precedent for the recognition of native title. This path to equality was fraught and made lengthy by the fact that the worldviews of the Indigenous Australians (i.e. Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) and the European (mainly British and Irish) settlers we...
The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in th... more The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in the international trade of products and services of all types. This is because all small, medium and large companies are facing an increasingly globalized world with all the competition that this involves both in the domestic and export market. While quality of the product or service remains a key factor, the ability to communicate in a globalised world can mean the difference between struggling to survive and expanding. In particular, the use of English in the Apulia region is of paramount importance for economic development, especially in the markets for traditional agro-food products (e.g. wine, olive oil or dairy products) and for attracting tourists on the national, European and extra-European levels: areas where English has almost become a second language. In this chapter, we will examine how ELF is used in conjunction with the more traditional English as a native language (ENL) in m...
Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 2021
Linguistic Deception Detection DD is a well-established part of forensic linguistics and an area ... more Linguistic Deception Detection DD is a well-established part of forensic linguistics and an area that continues to attract attention on the part of researchers, self-styled experts, and the public at large. In this article, the various approaches to DD within the general field of linguistics are examined. The basic method is to treat language as a form of behaviour and to equate marked linguistic behaviour with other marked forms of behaviour. Such a comparison has been identified in other fields such as psychology and kinesics as being associated with stress linked to the attempt to deceive, typically in such contexts as examined here. Representative authentic examples of some of the most common linguistic indicators of deception that have been identified are discussed, dividing them into two general categories which we here introduce: language as revealer and language as concealer. We will argue that linguistic analysis for DD should be conducted relative to the subject’s individu...
Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geog... more Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geographical areas and sometimes to certain discourse contexts or domains of use (e.g. French for diplomacy). Increasingly, telecommunication and most recently internet has meant that languages are no longer tied to particular geographical territories but may be found in various non-territorial dimensions. This has created a fluid, constantly changing global speech community in which different languages co-exist and interact in myriad ways and to varying degrees depending on the speakers' backgrounds. Within this complex scenario, not only does English become in effect translocal language (Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010) but English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) variations gain in influence, very possibly replacing traditional native-speaker varieties as the international standard (Seidlhofer 2011, Christiansen 2015). Thus, they will increasingly reflect the plurilingual reality in which spea...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2016
- Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined ge... more - Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geographical areas and sometimes to certain discourse contexts or domains of use (e.g. French for diplomacy). Increasingly, telecommunication and most recently internet has meant that languages are no longer tied to particular geographical territories but may be found in various non-territorial dimensions. This has created a fluid, constantly changing global speech community in which different languages co-exist and interact in myriad ways and to varying degrees depending on the speakers’ backgrounds. Within this complex scenario, not only does English become in effect translocal language (ELF; Lingua Francas; Plurilingualism; Global Language Networks; Translanguaging.Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010) but English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) variations gain in influence, very possibly replacing traditional native-speaker varieties as the international standard (Seidlhofer 2011, Christiansen 2015...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
– In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (L... more – In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (Lambert et al . 1960). In this, we collected NNES ELF users’ reactions, in the form of a Likert Scale, to recordings of various speakers, some of whom NES from the inner circle, others highly proficient ELF users from the outer circle (see Graddol 2010). Respondents were presented the same set of six speakers under different randomised guises according to the two parameters of ±NES (Native English Speaker) and ±Celeb (Celebrity), the latter chosen as a feature particularly relevant in the context of models and the motivation for emulation. Respondents, female Italian ELF users, were asked to rate how happy they would be to speak like the persona (whether genuine or invented) in question. The object was to see whether any discernable pattern could be identified in the way that the features of ±NES and ±Celeb interact to affect attitudes to different manifestations of English, and whether a...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
Based on cognitive linguistics, the authors decided to investigate a particular sort of literatur... more Based on cognitive linguistics, the authors decided to investigate a particular sort of literature, two Balkan collections of laws: the Albanian Kanuni i Skenderbeut and the Serbian Zakonik Cara Stefana Dusana . In these texts metaphors and metonymies are reflected in some expressions containing the body-part terms for ‘face’, ‘hand’, and ‘blood’, Alb. faqe , Se. lice , Alb. dore , Se. ruka , and Alb. gjak , Se. krv . Comparison of the Serb and Albanian texts and the occurrences of the cognates gjak and krv (‘blood’), faqe and lice (‘face’) and dore and ruka (‘hand’) shows that, although differences occur, there are similarities.
– To examine the issue of how far ELF can be endonormative, we report on a matched-guise test exp... more – To examine the issue of how far ELF can be endonormative, we report on a matched-guise test experiment (Lambert et al. 1960) measuring NNES ELF users’ reactions to ostensibly different speakers, some of whom identified as NES, others as NNES ELF users from the outer circle. Two speakers – one NES, the other a highly proficient NNES (Graddol 2010) – made various short recordings in a studio. Each of these was modified using specialist software to make them sound like different people without affecting intelligibility as regards pronunciation. On a Likert scale, respondents rated how happy they would be to speak like the persona in question. The object was to identify patterns in the way that the features of Nativeness, on the one hand, and Affinity on the other, interacted to affect attitudes to different manifestations of English, and whether any affinity effect (our provisional term) can be shown to exist as a possible alternative to the nativeness principle (Jenkins 2007; Seidlh...
– The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in ... more – The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in the international trade of products and services of all types. This is because all small, medium and large companies are facing an increasingly globalized world with all the competition that this involves both in the domestic and export market. While quality of the product or service remains a key factor, the ability to communicate in a globalised world can mean the difference between struggling to survive and expanding. In particular, the use of English in the Apulia region is of paramount importance for economic development, especially in the markets for traditional agro-food products (e.g. wine, olive oil or dairy products) and for attracting tourists on the national, European and extra-European levels: areas where English has almost become a second language. In this chapter, we will examine how ELF is used in conjunction with the more traditional English as a native language (ENL) in...
Lingue e Linguaggi, Dec 20, 2011
The nativeness principle is a major factor in attitudes to the use of ELF (see: Seidlhofer 2001, ... more The nativeness principle is a major factor in attitudes to the use of ELF (see: Seidlhofer 2001, 2011; Jenkins 2007). Aside from issues of identity and the maintenance of an increasingly unjustifiable disparity in status between NES and NNES users of English, the emulation required by the nativeness principle is difficult to justify in the face of the fact that no single NS model of English exists (Seidlhofer 2011) and that research shows that NNES users are, in any case, unreliable at identifying NESs (Christiansen 2014), thus casting doubt over whether such models are as important in practice as conventional wisdom maintains. In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (Lambert et al. 1960). In this, we collected NNES ELF users’ reactions, in the form of a Likert Scale, to recordings of various speakers, some of whom NES from the inner circle, others highly proficient ELF users from the outer circle (see Graddol 2010). Respondents w...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2017
– In this paper, we investigate whether the nativeness principle in language teaching and learnin... more – In this paper, we investigate whether the nativeness principle in language teaching and learning can ever be replaced by something more reflective of the fact that English has become not just an international lingua franca in the traditional sense of Latin, for example, but also a fluid and spontaneous set of language variations (Widdowson 2015) that emerge in contexts where L1 speakers of different languages use English primarily as users , rather than as mere learners . We look for signs that the nativeness principle is losing influence by trying to gauge how far respondents to a survey hold views which show that they are NES-norm oriented in their attitudes to English and also how they react to ELF-oriented alternatives. The methodology adopted is both qualitative and quantitative and is based around analysis of a dedicated online questionnaire administered to 188 learners of English, mostly at school or university, comparing answers to the question “Why are you learning Englis...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
– Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as ... more – Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a kind of “Broken English”: a “degrammaticalised” code akin to a so-called pidgin. The implication is that ELF variations are only explicable in terms of interlanguages (Selinker 1972) and ELF users are merely L2 learners who fail to achieve full competence and who involuntarily mix elements from their L1 with the target language. In essence, according to this view, ELF users’ major failing is their inability to replicate Native Speaker Standard English sufficiently well. By contrast, scholars specialising in ELF emphasise, among other things (such as the rights of ELF users to negotiate their own norms), how the notion of the existence of a single, immutable standard is highly questionable (Seidlhofer 2011). As many descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive, linguists of all persuasions have pointed out, a key feature of any linguistic system is its power to generate new structures and fo...
Lingue E Linguaggi, Dec 20, 2011
Lingue e Linguaggi 27 Special Issue, Guido, Maria Grazia (ed) Tematiche e stili shakespeariani attraverso epoche, discipline e culture pp. 97-123, ISSN: 2239-0367, 2018
Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a ... more Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a kind of "Broken English": a "degrammaticalised" code akin to a so-called pidgin. The implication is that ELF variations are only explicable in terms of interlanguages (Selinker 1972) and ELF users are merely L2 learners who fail to achieve full competence and who involuntarily mix elements from their L1 with the target language. In essence, according to this view, ELF users' major failing is their inability to replicate Native Speaker Standard English sufficiently well. By contrast, scholars specialising in ELF emphasise, among other things (such as the rights of ELF users to negotiate their own norms), how the notion of the existence of a single, immutable standard is highly questionable (Seidlhofer 2011). As many descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive, linguists of all persuasions have pointed out, a key feature of any linguistic system is its power to generate new structures and forms and generally to be creative, which if course is a central factor in linguistic change and the evolution of languages in general (Seidlhofer, Widdowson 2009). Indeed, according to Widdowson (2015), the emphasis of ELF is not the variety of a homogenous speech community but of the variations that spontaneously emerge when speakers of different L1s communicate with each other. In this chapter, we will examine the English of William Shakespeare, the "nation's bard" (Hudson 2008) and a figure often appropriated by prescriptionists as an exemplar of the beauty and power of the English language (rigorously in the singular). We analyse Shakespeare's English as an example of a variation of English in order to illustrate how processes such as adaptation and accommodation together with strategies such as translanguaging (García and Li 2014), inherent in ELF, are neither new nor foreign and can be found in native speaker variations of English, even those which enjoy the highest artistic prestige.
Textus, 2014
This paper examines the way in which the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), together with selected feature... more This paper examines the way in which the Lingua Franca Core (LFC), together with selected features of delivery, can be shown to affect intelligibility and thus constitute what a sample of learners regard as "good" pronunciation (cf. Christiansen 2011b). We do this by making reference to a questionnaire-based survey in which respondents have to rate for intelligibility recorded extracts of NS and NNS. We compare the results of this survey with a detailed phonological analysis of the extracts
Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 2020
The right of Australian Indigenous groups to own traditional lands has been a contentious issue i... more The right of Australian Indigenous groups to own traditional lands has been a contentious issue in the recent history of Australia. Indeed, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders did not consider themselves as full citizens in the country they had inhabited for millennia until the late 1960s, and then only after a long campaign and a national referendum (1967) in favour of changes to the Australian Constitution to remove restrictions on the services available to Indigenous Australians. The concept of terra nullius, misapplied to Australia, was strong in the popular imagination among the descendants of settlers or recent migrants and was not definitively put to rest until the Mabo decision (1992), which also established a firm precedent for the recognition of native title. This path to equality was fraught and made lengthy by the fact that the worldviews of the Indigenous Australians (i.e. Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) and the European (mainly British and Irish) settlers we...
The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in th... more The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in the international trade of products and services of all types. This is because all small, medium and large companies are facing an increasingly globalized world with all the competition that this involves both in the domestic and export market. While quality of the product or service remains a key factor, the ability to communicate in a globalised world can mean the difference between struggling to survive and expanding. In particular, the use of English in the Apulia region is of paramount importance for economic development, especially in the markets for traditional agro-food products (e.g. wine, olive oil or dairy products) and for attracting tourists on the national, European and extra-European levels: areas where English has almost become a second language. In this chapter, we will examine how ELF is used in conjunction with the more traditional English as a native language (ENL) in m...
Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 2021
Linguistic Deception Detection DD is a well-established part of forensic linguistics and an area ... more Linguistic Deception Detection DD is a well-established part of forensic linguistics and an area that continues to attract attention on the part of researchers, self-styled experts, and the public at large. In this article, the various approaches to DD within the general field of linguistics are examined. The basic method is to treat language as a form of behaviour and to equate marked linguistic behaviour with other marked forms of behaviour. Such a comparison has been identified in other fields such as psychology and kinesics as being associated with stress linked to the attempt to deceive, typically in such contexts as examined here. Representative authentic examples of some of the most common linguistic indicators of deception that have been identified are discussed, dividing them into two general categories which we here introduce: language as revealer and language as concealer. We will argue that linguistic analysis for DD should be conducted relative to the subject’s individu...
Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geog... more Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geographical areas and sometimes to certain discourse contexts or domains of use (e.g. French for diplomacy). Increasingly, telecommunication and most recently internet has meant that languages are no longer tied to particular geographical territories but may be found in various non-territorial dimensions. This has created a fluid, constantly changing global speech community in which different languages co-exist and interact in myriad ways and to varying degrees depending on the speakers' backgrounds. Within this complex scenario, not only does English become in effect translocal language (Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010) but English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) variations gain in influence, very possibly replacing traditional native-speaker varieties as the international standard (Seidlhofer 2011, Christiansen 2015). Thus, they will increasingly reflect the plurilingual reality in which spea...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2016
- Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined ge... more - Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geographical areas and sometimes to certain discourse contexts or domains of use (e.g. French for diplomacy). Increasingly, telecommunication and most recently internet has meant that languages are no longer tied to particular geographical territories but may be found in various non-territorial dimensions. This has created a fluid, constantly changing global speech community in which different languages co-exist and interact in myriad ways and to varying degrees depending on the speakers’ backgrounds. Within this complex scenario, not only does English become in effect translocal language (ELF; Lingua Francas; Plurilingualism; Global Language Networks; Translanguaging.Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010) but English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) variations gain in influence, very possibly replacing traditional native-speaker varieties as the international standard (Seidlhofer 2011, Christiansen 2015...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
– In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (L... more – In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (Lambert et al . 1960). In this, we collected NNES ELF users’ reactions, in the form of a Likert Scale, to recordings of various speakers, some of whom NES from the inner circle, others highly proficient ELF users from the outer circle (see Graddol 2010). Respondents were presented the same set of six speakers under different randomised guises according to the two parameters of ±NES (Native English Speaker) and ±Celeb (Celebrity), the latter chosen as a feature particularly relevant in the context of models and the motivation for emulation. Respondents, female Italian ELF users, were asked to rate how happy they would be to speak like the persona (whether genuine or invented) in question. The object was to see whether any discernable pattern could be identified in the way that the features of ±NES and ±Celeb interact to affect attitudes to different manifestations of English, and whether a...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
Based on cognitive linguistics, the authors decided to investigate a particular sort of literatur... more Based on cognitive linguistics, the authors decided to investigate a particular sort of literature, two Balkan collections of laws: the Albanian Kanuni i Skenderbeut and the Serbian Zakonik Cara Stefana Dusana . In these texts metaphors and metonymies are reflected in some expressions containing the body-part terms for ‘face’, ‘hand’, and ‘blood’, Alb. faqe , Se. lice , Alb. dore , Se. ruka , and Alb. gjak , Se. krv . Comparison of the Serb and Albanian texts and the occurrences of the cognates gjak and krv (‘blood’), faqe and lice (‘face’) and dore and ruka (‘hand’) shows that, although differences occur, there are similarities.
– To examine the issue of how far ELF can be endonormative, we report on a matched-guise test exp... more – To examine the issue of how far ELF can be endonormative, we report on a matched-guise test experiment (Lambert et al. 1960) measuring NNES ELF users’ reactions to ostensibly different speakers, some of whom identified as NES, others as NNES ELF users from the outer circle. Two speakers – one NES, the other a highly proficient NNES (Graddol 2010) – made various short recordings in a studio. Each of these was modified using specialist software to make them sound like different people without affecting intelligibility as regards pronunciation. On a Likert scale, respondents rated how happy they would be to speak like the persona in question. The object was to identify patterns in the way that the features of Nativeness, on the one hand, and Affinity on the other, interacted to affect attitudes to different manifestations of English, and whether any affinity effect (our provisional term) can be shown to exist as a possible alternative to the nativeness principle (Jenkins 2007; Seidlh...
– The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in ... more – The English language as an international language has become a key element of communication in the international trade of products and services of all types. This is because all small, medium and large companies are facing an increasingly globalized world with all the competition that this involves both in the domestic and export market. While quality of the product or service remains a key factor, the ability to communicate in a globalised world can mean the difference between struggling to survive and expanding. In particular, the use of English in the Apulia region is of paramount importance for economic development, especially in the markets for traditional agro-food products (e.g. wine, olive oil or dairy products) and for attracting tourists on the national, European and extra-European levels: areas where English has almost become a second language. In this chapter, we will examine how ELF is used in conjunction with the more traditional English as a native language (ENL) in...
Lingue e Linguaggi, Dec 20, 2011
The nativeness principle is a major factor in attitudes to the use of ELF (see: Seidlhofer 2001, ... more The nativeness principle is a major factor in attitudes to the use of ELF (see: Seidlhofer 2001, 2011; Jenkins 2007). Aside from issues of identity and the maintenance of an increasingly unjustifiable disparity in status between NES and NNES users of English, the emulation required by the nativeness principle is difficult to justify in the face of the fact that no single NS model of English exists (Seidlhofer 2011) and that research shows that NNES users are, in any case, unreliable at identifying NESs (Christiansen 2014), thus casting doubt over whether such models are as important in practice as conventional wisdom maintains. In this paper, we report on an experiment broadly following the matched-guise test technique (Lambert et al. 1960). In this, we collected NNES ELF users’ reactions, in the form of a Likert Scale, to recordings of various speakers, some of whom NES from the inner circle, others highly proficient ELF users from the outer circle (see Graddol 2010). Respondents w...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2017
– In this paper, we investigate whether the nativeness principle in language teaching and learnin... more – In this paper, we investigate whether the nativeness principle in language teaching and learning can ever be replaced by something more reflective of the fact that English has become not just an international lingua franca in the traditional sense of Latin, for example, but also a fluid and spontaneous set of language variations (Widdowson 2015) that emerge in contexts where L1 speakers of different languages use English primarily as users , rather than as mere learners . We look for signs that the nativeness principle is losing influence by trying to gauge how far respondents to a survey hold views which show that they are NES-norm oriented in their attitudes to English and also how they react to ELF-oriented alternatives. The methodology adopted is both qualitative and quantitative and is based around analysis of a dedicated online questionnaire administered to 188 learners of English, mostly at school or university, comparing answers to the question “Why are you learning Englis...
Lingue e Linguaggi, 2018
– Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as ... more – Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a kind of “Broken English”: a “degrammaticalised” code akin to a so-called pidgin. The implication is that ELF variations are only explicable in terms of interlanguages (Selinker 1972) and ELF users are merely L2 learners who fail to achieve full competence and who involuntarily mix elements from their L1 with the target language. In essence, according to this view, ELF users’ major failing is their inability to replicate Native Speaker Standard English sufficiently well. By contrast, scholars specialising in ELF emphasise, among other things (such as the rights of ELF users to negotiate their own norms), how the notion of the existence of a single, immutable standard is highly questionable (Seidlhofer 2011). As many descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive, linguists of all persuasions have pointed out, a key feature of any linguistic system is its power to generate new structures and fo...
Lingue E Linguaggi, Dec 20, 2011
Lingue e Linguaggi 27 Special Issue, Guido, Maria Grazia (ed) Tematiche e stili shakespeariani attraverso epoche, discipline e culture pp. 97-123, ISSN: 2239-0367, 2018
Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a ... more Sceptics of the utility of studies into ELF (English as Lingua Franca) typically dismiss it as a kind of "Broken English": a "degrammaticalised" code akin to a so-called pidgin. The implication is that ELF variations are only explicable in terms of interlanguages (Selinker 1972) and ELF users are merely L2 learners who fail to achieve full competence and who involuntarily mix elements from their L1 with the target language. In essence, according to this view, ELF users' major failing is their inability to replicate Native Speaker Standard English sufficiently well. By contrast, scholars specialising in ELF emphasise, among other things (such as the rights of ELF users to negotiate their own norms), how the notion of the existence of a single, immutable standard is highly questionable (Seidlhofer 2011). As many descriptive, as opposed to prescriptive, linguists of all persuasions have pointed out, a key feature of any linguistic system is its power to generate new structures and forms and generally to be creative, which if course is a central factor in linguistic change and the evolution of languages in general (Seidlhofer, Widdowson 2009). Indeed, according to Widdowson (2015), the emphasis of ELF is not the variety of a homogenous speech community but of the variations that spontaneously emerge when speakers of different L1s communicate with each other. In this chapter, we will examine the English of William Shakespeare, the "nation's bard" (Hudson 2008) and a figure often appropriated by prescriptionists as an exemplar of the beauty and power of the English language (rigorously in the singular). We analyse Shakespeare's English as an example of a variation of English in order to illustrate how processes such as adaptation and accommodation together with strategies such as translanguaging (García and Li 2014), inherent in ELF, are neither new nor foreign and can be found in native speaker variations of English, even those which enjoy the highest artistic prestige.