Lingua Franca

Półrocznik Językoznawczy Tertium

The changed nature of English into that of a global language means that contemporary learners of English are more likely to acquire the language for the purposes of a lingua franca than to communicate exclusively with native speakers. It is therefore considered that learning the language through traditional native-speaker models does not serve them well, nor does it meet their needs. The models of 1) native speaker, 2) nativised and 3)English as a lingua franca (ELF), originally presented by Kirkpatrick (2006), are re-examined with their attributes and drawbacks in this modern context. An analysis of responses to the question ‘Which model of English should we teach?’ was carried out on two Reddit (reddit.com) discussion groups which included teachers and learners. These responses from actors in the field of English language teaching (ELT) were first categorised and then compared with academic opinions. The comparisons showed that both groups were generally in agreement with regard t...

Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 2004

This chapter shows just how deeply affected English has already been through its unprecedented spread, and the unique function it has as the world language. It argues, however, that it would be premature to launch into a discussion of the teaching of this lingua franca before certain prerequisites have been met. The most important of these are a conceptualization of speakers of lingua franca English as language users in their own right, and the acknowledgment of the legitimacy of, and indeed the need for, a description of salient features of English as a lingua franca (ELF), alongside English as a native language (ENL). The presentation summarizes the empirical research into the lingua franca use of English, which has recently gathered considerable momentum. It sets this research in relation to other relevant work in descriptive linguistics, sociolinguistics, and applied linguistics for language pedagogy. Finally, it discusses the implications of this historically unique situation for potential developments in the pedagogy of English teaching and outlines some research questions that must be addressed if advances in the teaching of English as a lingua franca are to have a secure theoretical and descriptive base. 210 BARBARA SEIDLHOFER Defining Terms English as an International Language Wherever English is referred to as the preferred option for communication among people from different first language backgrounds, the denomination English tends to get modified by the addition "as a(n) x": "English as an international language" (EIL) (e.g., Jenkins, 2000; McKay, 2002), "English as a lingua franca" (ELF) (e.g., Gnutzmann, 2000; Seidlhofer, 2001), "English as a global language" (e.g., Crystal, 1997; Gnutzmann, 1999a), "English as a world language" (e.g., Mair, 2003), "English as a medium of intercultural communication" (e.g., Meierkord, 1996). The term International English is sometimes used as a shorthand for EIL, but is misleading in that it suggests that there is one clearly distinguishable, codified, and unitary variety called International English, which is certainly not the case. In fact, the term 'International English' is sometimes employed for the English used in territories where it is a majority first language or an official additional language, as in Todd and Hancock (1986) and Trudgill and Hannah (2002). The same approach is also taken by the International Corpus of English, or ICE; see, for example, Greenbaum's explanation "Excluded from ICE is the English used in countries where it is not a medium for communication between natives of the country" (1996, p.4). This definition of International English, limiting itself as it does to contexts with an institutionalized intranational role for English, (i.e., Kachru's Inner and Outer Circles) is thus not only different but actually in complementary distribution with the lingua franca perspective of the Expanding Circle, which is the focus of this paper. It is important to note that the term International English is thus used in reference to two quite different linguacultural situations: on the one hand, there are Kachru's Outer Circle countries, where English can be said to be localized to meet domestic, intranational purposes. On the other hand, there is English as a globalized means for international communication, which, of course, transcends all national boundaries. The difference between localized and globalized forms of EIL naturally cuts across the Outer/Expanding Circle distinction, since communities that use English intranationally in the Outer Circle also participate in the global uses of English as do, of course, Inner Circle speakers. English has expanded in its use across all of the regions that Kachru has so clearly distinguished. Whatever terms are chosen, then, it is obvious that the uses of English internationally are not only to be associated with the Expanding Circle but also include speakers of English as a native language in all its dialects (i.e., Kachru's Inner Circle), as well as speakers of New Englishes, or indigenized/nativized varieties (i.e., Kachru's Outer Circle). All these contribute to the phenomenon captured by the term World Englishes (for comprehensive overviews of which, see

The paper discusses World Englishes (WEs) in relation to English as an International Language (EIL) and Applied Linguistics. Taking into account Kachru's interesting but at the same time controversial debate about the status of English in its varieties, which are commonly called WEs and the opposing ideas presented by Quirk, it is aimed to present an overview of these discussions, together with some examples. Kachru's three concentric circles, the Interlanguage theory, Standard English and English as a Lingua France (ELF) were paid special attention while touching upon the controversial debates on World Englishes. Moreover, following these discussions on WEs, EIL and Applied Linguistics, some answers were provided regarding the questions on teaching and teacher education, seeing that the uses of English internationally are not just related to the Expanding Circle, but also they include native speakers as well as members of the Outer Circle.

Global Education begins with raising an awareness of global challenges, creating an in-depth understanding of what the challenges entail with the goal of changing people's thoughts and attitudes, encouraging them to live out their lives to the fullest and play their special parts effectively. To this end, in order to enhance these goals, communication is crucial especially being that it entails making use of an acceptable and intelligible language variety. How can Global Education attain its goals if it does not begin to prescribe and describe for itself, a Global variety of the English language developed just for instructional purpose in the delivery of Global Education? This paper therefore proposes a move towards the prescription and description of a mutually intelligible variety of the English language, to be used just for Global Education. This proposal is born out of our experience during our first collaboration with three other Universities in taking the course 'Global English Varieties'. One of the major challenges that impeded our flow was the variety barrier. This paper will also ascertain the percentage of Covenant University students confronted with this same challenge by the use of questionnaire. A hundred questionnaires was distributed and analyzed.

Two decades of research and development in language and literacy education have yielded a broad, multidisciplinary focus. Yet education systems face constant economic and technological change, with attendant issues of identity and power, community and culture. This series will feature critical and interpretive, disciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives on teaching and learning, language and literacy in new times.

The paper discusses World Englishes (WEs) in relation to English as an International Language (EIL) and Applied Linguistics. Taking into account Kachru's interesting but at the same time controversial debate about the status of English in its varieties, which are commonly called WEs and the opposing ideas presented by Quirk, it is aimed to present an overview of these discussions, together with some examples. Kachru's three concentric circles, the Interlanguage theory, Standard English and English as a Lingua France (ELF) were paid special attention while touching upon the controversial debates on World Englishes. Moreover, following these discussions on WEs, EIL and Applied Linguistics, some answers were provided regarding the questions on teaching and teacher education, seeing that the uses of English internationally are not just related to the Expanding Circle, but also they include native speakers as well as members of the Outer Circle.

Journal of NELTA, 2011

The global spread of English has been acknowledged and responded on different grounds for language teaching and learning purposes. The traditional classification of the role of English in language teaching and learning makes a distinction between English as a native language (ENL), English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) . English functions as a native language in countries where the language is used by a large population of people for primary daily functions, and is acquired mostly as the first language by children. The countries where English is used as native language are North America, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. In the ESL context, English is used for a range of functions within the country and is usually one of the official languages.

Talk about the most international language, English