World Englishes: ELF - English As A Lingua Franca

World Englishes
Lesson 5
ELF – English as a
Lingua Franca
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)
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)
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
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.
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?
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.
Mutual intelligibility and group identity
 Have you 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)
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
EFL ELF
Part of modern foreign Part of World Englishes
languages
Deficit perspective Difference perspective
Metaphors of transfer / Metaphor of contact / evolution
interference / fossilisation
Code-mixing and switching are Code-mixing and switching are
seen as interfererence errors seen as bilingual resources
Kirkpatrick (2007b) adapted from Jenkins (2006c)

 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.
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
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
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

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World Englishes

“Not only ‘English’ has become international in

 Ambivalent attitude towards English as an

 Historical reasons: English is still used institutionally

 Practical reasons: English is the language of international

 Which of the above reasons are most

 Intelligibility and identity: two opposing forces

 Have you ever reflected on or given importance to retaining your L1

“ELF is the most extensive contemporary use of English worldwide.”

Kirkpatrick (2007b) adapted from Jenkins (2006c)

 ELF involves linguistic innovations that differ from ENL

 Lexicogrammatical features (Seidlhofer 2004)

 Pronunciation (core features)

 ELF features are the result of processes similar to the ones

Attitudes towards ELF

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