1 . Defining ELF

1. English as a lingua franca 1. Defining ELF Lingua Inglese 2 LM 2013-14 modulo B

2. PART 1 • What does “English as a lingua franca” mean?

3. Origins of the word “franca” Franks: westerners/europeans OEDhistorical definitions of ”frank”: 1) of Germanicorigin, conquerors of Gaul 2) In the easternMediterranean region: a person of Western nationality. L17. cfFeringhee • ”as a man of liberal views, it might have amusedhim to annoy Ali Pasha by selling the land to Frank Protestants” (Ottoman minister of state, 1861).

4. Dictionary definitions of “lingua franca” • New Oxford Shorter: from Italian (+++), anylanguageserving as a medium betweendifferent nations etcwhoseownlanguagesare not the same; a system of communicationprovidingmutualunderstanding. This looks as if a lingua franca is neutral, but is it?

5. An early prophecy for the mission of English English is destined to be in the next and succeeding centuries more generally the language of the world than Latin was in the last or French in the present age. John Adams to Congress, 1780

6. English as a vehicle for spreading English culture A class of persons, Indians in blood and colour, English in taste, in opinion, in morals and in intellect. Lord Macaulay, 1835

7. or spreading Anglo- American culture? In 1838 the ‘Board of Foreign Missions of the USA’, 13 ‘colonies’, propounded ‘a belief in the manifest destiny of Anglo-Saxon culture to spread around the world’ Joel Spring, The cultural transformation of a Native American family and its tribe 1763-1995. 1996, Lawrence Erlbaum. The whole world should adopt the American system. The American system can survive in America only if it becomes a world system. President Harry Truman, 1947 cited in Pieterse, Jan N. 2004. Globalization or empire. New York and London: Routledge, 131.

8. or spreading science ? • ‘Science cannot be advanced without the English language and textbooks and students will make better progress in the sciences by taking the English textbooks and learning the English to boot than they will by giving exclusive attention to their own language and textbooks in our field

9. ………. or creating a global identity Who the first inhabitants of Britain were, whether natives or immigrants, remains obscure: one must remember we are dealing with barbarians Tacitus, AD 97 • National British English: The Queen’s/Oxford/standard • American English as an instrument for forming American national identity, Noah Webster, 1791. The American Dictionary of the English Language of 1828 became in 1890 Webster’s International Dictionary, while Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1961, aims at meeting the needs of the ‘whole modern English-speaking world’

10. So is “lingua franca” another crusade? • ”linguafranca” was the term (from Arabic) for the language of the Crusaders and the Franks • It is now the term for the the crusade of global corporatisation, marketed as freedom, democracy (& human rights?).

11. Is the term “lingua franca” misleading? • A pernicious, invidiousterm if the language in question is a firstlanguage for somepeople but for others a foreignlanguage. • A misleading term if the language is supposed to be neutral and disconnected from culture. • Afalse term for a languagethat is taught as a subject in general education.

12. 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

13. Why is English the international lingua franca? • Practicalreasons English is the languageofinternational air trafficcontrol, international tourism, international politics, 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.

14. PART 2 • How do weclassify the modern english as a lingua franca?

15. Labels–what’s the difference? • English as a foreignlanguage (EFL) • English as a secondlanguage (ESL) • English asan International language (EIL) • English as a lingua franca (ELF)

16. Englishes • Global Englishes • International English • World Englishes • Varietiesof English

17. World Englishes

18. The threecircles • Three concentriccircleswhichdescribe the spread of english worldwide - innercircle (english as a native/first language) - outercircle (english as a secondlanguage) - expandingcircle (english as a foreignlanguage)

19. English as a first language English as a second language inner circle ENL outer circle - ESL English as a foreignlanguage expanding circle - EFL Kachru, 1985

20. 380 million 300 million inner circle ENL outer circle - ESL expanding circle - EFL 1 billion Kachru, 1985

21. ELF covers interaction between the circles EFL speakers ELF speakers ELF speakers ENL speakers ELF speakers ESL speakers

22. World Englishes and ELF • ‘It is of course true that ELF research has had its primary focus on Kachru’s Expanding Circle, but obviously communication via ELF frequently happens in and across all three of Kachru’s circles. Research in the ‘world Englishes paradigm’, on the other hand, has been less concerned with the Expanding Circle’ (Seidlhofer, 2009a: 236)

23. The difference between ELF and EIL • ‘In this book, I will use the term ‘ELF’ to refer to the use of English in an international context as a lingua franca between two people with a different L1, but excluding L1 speakers of English. I will use the acronym EIL to refer to the use of English in an international context as a lingua franca between people with a different L1, including L1 speakers of English when they are using English with L2 users.’ (Prodromou, 2008)

24. International English (1) • ‘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 clearly is not the case.’ (Seidlhofer, 2004: 210)

25. International English (2) • “‘International English’” is indeed generally interpreted as the distribution of native-speaker Standard English rather than the way English has changed to meet international needs.’ (Seidlhofer, 2009a:237)

26. Where ELF isusedmost • International business communication • Academiccommunication • Touristcommunication • Specificworkplaces– air trafficcontrol, university information services (e.g. forErasmusstudents)