English as a Lingua Franca: The Study of Language Practices (original) (raw)
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O’Regan, J. P. (2014) English as a Lingua Franca: An Immanent Critique
Applied Linguistics, 2014
Over the last 15 years or so there has developed a school of thought within English language education and applied linguistics globally which refers to the phenomenon and use of English as a lingua franca. The thinking of ELF movement researchers has placed their work at the centre of current debates about the form, function and legitimacy of the English that is used by speakers from diverse linguacultural backgrounds when they are in interaction with one another. In this article, I intervene in the arguments of the ELF movement from the perspectives of Marxism, globalization theory and poststructuralism by means of an immanent critique. This shows that in the articulation of its discourse the ELF movement reifies and hypostatizes ‘ELF’ as a seemingly stable form, that in its ideology it exhibits a rationalist idealism which blinkers it to the political economy and class stratification of English in a globalized world, and that in its theory it combines a rationalist, positivist and objectivist epistemology with a transformationalist, postmodern and poststructuralist sensibility which is both incommensurable and undertheorized.
What is ELF: finding discursive focus for English-as-a-Lingua-Franca debate
Research Reports of The Department of International Studies, Kochi University, No 14, Kochi University, 2013 (国際社会文化研究第11号). pp 19 - 38
This paper critically examines models and understandings of 'English as Lingua Franca (ELF) and some of its competitors, applying frame for an appropriate model. It is found that persistent traditional monolithic views focusing on English or other language form rather than the variable and dynamic lingua franca (LF) aspect are problematic, partly due to inherent historicity. Though these may inform present situations, they are of less use as they present ELF more as a static than dynamic phenomenon. Generic language-evolution process models can better account for variation and dynamism in ELF, but views seeing ELF as pluralithic, are more relevant and usable. In order to pin down what ELF is, it was concluded that dichotomization between a local language community-based lingua-franca English ('Our ELF') may show more, or less, traditional English-ness, and also a generic concept view based in the notion of English as phenomenon ('Phenomenal ELF'). The latter includes the collective of ELF situations, a pluralithicity of ELFs which are recordable as text, thereafter showing identifiable English in use, in no particular medium, which also can be taught or otherwise learned.
The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 2013
, 2011. xvii+244 pp. ISBN 978-0-19-437500-9 (pbk). £32. Barbara Seidlhofer's latest monograph, Understanding English as a Lingua Franca, comes at a moment when the English language, while serving this function since the first colonizations in the 16 th century (Jenkins et al. 2011), has truly established itself as a language of nearly global communication, a language for which the predominant reason for learning has become to interact primarily not with its native speakers, but with other non-native users. The past two decades have accordingly witnessed a burgeoning of articles, dissertations, conferences, corpora, and a dedicated journal devoted to the topic; yet in many circles the phenomenon has still remained unnoticed or unacknowledged, acquired many misunderstandings, is raising mixed opinions or encountering strong resistance. Barbara Seidlhofer, a long-time expert on the subject and one of the pioneers of research in the field, explores and elucidates the many facets and repercussions of the controversial topic at hand. For the purpose of her book, Seidlhofer defines ELF 1 as any use of English among speakers of different mother tongues and linguacultural backgrounds, across all three Kachruvian circles 2. In contrast to some earlier definitions and conceptualizations (e.g. House 1999, Jenkins 2007), this importantly includes native speakers of English (NSs), who for aims of intercultural communication may use ELF as their additional language. The opening chapter sets the scene by casting light on the familiar phenomenon of the growing masses of people learning English worldwide, on a scale unprecedented by any previous lingua franca. Chapter 2 makes readers aware of the deeply rooted and all-pervasive misconception-in both popular and scholarly discourse-that English is the preserve and asset of native speakers, the only legitimate and authoritative provider of standards. In her critique of this linguistic imperialism, Seidlhofer also devotes some space to interrogating the very concept of NS, showing how this stable, homogeneous and hypercorrect construct is an idealized notion and how difficult it is to agree on its satisfactory definition (let alone a definition of an 'educated' NS). Chapters 3 and 4 turn to the reified and equally elusive notion of 'proper', 'real', 'Standard English' (StE) and to why (contrary to Quirk 1985, for instance) it is an inappropriate objective for learning the language. The first interesting chapter for this reviewer is chapter 4, devoted to a discussion of how non-native users adapt and variably alter English ad hoc to suit their communicative purpose (rather than "adopt" it as a "franchise language", per Widdowson (2003:50)). Thus, they preserve their identity without striving to mimic NSs' communicatively irrelevant conventions, and therefore play an active role in the development and spread of the language. The aim of lingua franca interactions is communicative efficiency, which is achieved by accommodating to the interlocutor. This is different from grammatical correctness. In Chapter 5, drawing on data from the VOICE corpus and other empirical studies-though without adequately explaining annotation conventions used in VOICE corpus data-Seidlhofer provides numerous examples of authentic ELF talk that diverge from standard English to illustrate the processes and communication strategies at work. 1 Sometimes also labelled 'English as an International Language' (EIL). 2 'Inner', where English has historically been the mother tongue of the vast majority of the population, 'Outer', where its varieties function as official and second languages, usually owing to colonial history, and 'Expanding', where it is being taught in schools as a foreign language (Kachru 1985).
English as a lingua franca: Towards changing practices
The Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF), an initiative of a private university in Tokyo, was founded with serious consideration given to the pedagogical implications of the widespread use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Such deliberation is not yet prevalent among academics and practitioners who should be most affected by ELF (Seidlhofer, 2011). Most ELF users have different first languages and do not usually interact with speakers of English as a first language, but rather with other ELF users. The transformation occurring in English as it is being used as a lingua franca need not be viewed as unusual but can be seen as part of the process of language evolution (Seidlhofer, 2011). In this paper we consider the implications of this process for teaching and learning in Japan, report on research in progress, and discuss how an ELF perspective may influence current pedagogical practices. ELFセンター（English as a lingua franca：国際共通語として英語）は、ある東京の私立大学において、先駆け的に設立され た。背景には、国際共通語としての英語使用の普及があり、それを教育現場で実践的に取り入れることを目的としている。この ような考え方は、ELFに最も影響があるべき研究者や教育者の間にまだ広まっていない（Seidlhofer, 2011）。ELF使用者のほ とんどは、第一言語が異なり、英語を第一言語とする人との交流よりも他のELF使用者との接触の機会の方が多い。このよう なELFとしての英語使用への移行は、特別なものと捉えられるというより、言語の進展と考えられる（Seidlhofer, 2011）。本稿 では、日本での教育や学習におけるこの言語移行過程の在り方を探る。ELFが現在の教育実践の場でどのような影響を与えて いるのかについての中間報告である。
English as a Lingua Franca: An Examination of Two Perspectives
ELF is described as English communication occurring between non-native English speakers who have different first languages (Kirkpatrick, 2011; Maley, 2009; Seidlhofer, 2005). Furthermore, Seidlhofer also argues that the notion of ELF can refer to English as an international language (2005). It is also stated elsewhere that the notion of ELF is proposed to recognize its distinctions from English as a native language (ENL)(Sewell, 2013). The claims that English functions as a global lingua franca cannot be denied regardless the support and disagreement over this theory (Seidlhofer, 2005). In this paper I elaborate the issues pertaining to ELF from the perspectives of learners and teachers.
A linguistic anthropologist looks at English as a lingua franca
Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 2013
The scene is 1969, Lake Balaton, a resort in Hungary. I was there as a teenager, returning to Hungary for the first time since my early childhood, when my family had emigrated from there to the United States. I was spending a summer with cousins who had remained in Hungary. In that Cold War epoch, Lake Balaton was well-known as a place where German families from East and West, divided by the Iron Curtain, could safely meet. But inevitably they also met Hungarians. While sunbathing, I noticed enthusiastic singing coming from a nearby blanket. Listening more closely, I was surprised to hear English. It was German teenagers and Hungarian ones getting acquainted by singing together the original English lyrics of Beatles songs. This was well before the ubiquitous teaching of English in Eastern European schools. They had probably learned the words from recordings. Singing provided the means of expressing solidarity, as well as a set of "ready made" expressions that later would be creatively used and changed. Many German-Hungarian love affairs were initiated in this way, some flowered into marriages. English as a lingua franca, perhaps, avant la lettre! This image has stayed with me for many decades as a fascinating phenomenon: The intersection of a global popular genre, travel, youth culture, and linguistic diversity as bridged by an English not native to any of the participants. Of course today there are ever more settings, functions, genres, and forms of what can be called English as a lingua franca: business interactions, talk in international organizations, NGOs, humanitarian and other aid, mass media, scientific congresses, touristic venues, and many others. Focus on these uses follows on the earlier recognition by scholars that the many different Englishes around the world should be analyzed on their own terms-not with reference to an "inner circle" of monolingual standards. This shift is the result of a global politics of language and a politics of language teaching. It reflects a change in conceptualization that has been as significant for sociolinguistic theory as for pedagogy and for speakers themselves (Bhatt 2001). The field of studying "English as a lingua franca" takes this trend a step further. As a linguistic anthropologist, and one Brought to you by | HEC Bibliotheque Maryriam ET J.
On language, culture, and controversies
Asian Englishes, 2018
Controversies in applied linguistics are often products of clashes between diverging theoretical perspectives. To overcome contro versies and aim towards new forms of knowledge, academics and practitioners therefore need to adopt interdisciplinary approaches to addressing theoretical issues at the heart of controversies, so as to find threads within and across epistemologies and further clarify objects under investigative scrutiny. From this perspective, this essay presents the controversy over whether English as a lingua franca (ELF) constitutes a valid approach to English language learning and teaching as the outcome of conflicting theoretical understandings of language. The article also provides a realist view of language as a stratified and emergent social phenomenon. Finally, some preliminary observations regarding the adoption of a realist approach to ELF oriented education are offered.