Alessia Cogo

Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca

We begin by considering how the recent phenomenon of English as a Lingua Franca (henceforth ELF) fits in with the older notion of lingua francas in general as well as with older versions of ELF. We then explore the beginnings of ELF in its modern manifestation, including the earliest ELF research, and tackle the thorny issue of defining ELF. After discussing the main locations and domains in which ELF research has been carried out to date, we move on to examining research into three linguistic levels, lexicogrammar, phonology and pragmatics, concluding with a discussion of very recent findings revealing ELFs linguistic fluidity. Next, we discuss research into two domains where ELF has proved especially prevalent: business English and academic English. This is followed by a consideration of ELF as a globalized and globalizing practice. We end the article by exploring the implications of ELF research for ELF-oriented English teaching and the role that attitudes are likely to play in this. We conclude that while the relaxed attitudes towards ELF of younger people are promising, strong resistance is still felt by many others, and that the major challenge remains in convincing the examination boards that they should take account of ELF.

Embedding academic writing instruction into subject teaching:A case study

The benefits of embedding the teaching of writing into the curriculum have been advocated by educators and researchers. However, there is currently little evidence of embedded writing instruction in the UK’s higher education context. In this article, we present a case study in which we report the design, implementation and evaluation of an academic writing intervention with first-year undergraduate students in an applied linguistics programme. Our objectives were to try a combination of embedded instructional methods and provide an example that can be followed by lecturers across disciplines and institutions. Through the integration of in-class and online writing tasks and assessment feedback in a first-term module, we supported students’ writing development throughout the first term. We evaluated the effects of the intervention through the analysis of notes on classroom interaction, a student questionnaire and interviews, and a text analysis of students’ writing and the feedback comments over time. The evaluation findings provide insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of this approach. The embedded writing instruction was perceived as useful by both students and teachers. The assessment feedback, whilst being the most work-intensive method for the teachers, was valued most by the students and led to substantial improvements in the writing of some. These findings suggest that embedded writing instruction could be usefully applied in other higher education contexts.

Strategic use and Perceptions of English as a Lingua Franca

Strategic use and Perceptions of English as a Lingua Franca English as a Lingua Franca is today a thriving and vibrant field of research which has sparked considerable debate but also a wealth of studies in various directions. This paper builds on recent research in this field and focuses on two areas of investigation, namely pragmatic strategies and perceptions of ELF, while placing them within the larger theoretical framework of ELF studies.

English as a Lingua Franca: form follows function

In this paper I wish to respond to the article published in ET94 by Saraceni while at the same time providing some clarifications concerning the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (henceforth ELF). In his article Saraceni raises three main questions (and a number of related debatable comments which I will quickly deal with in my final remarks) regarding: 1) the nature of ELF and its speakers, 2) the relationship between ELF and the World Englishes (henceforth WE) paradigm, and 3) the distinction between form and function. I will address each of these questions, and in so doing consider a number of notions concerning the ELF research field.

International perspectives on English as a lingua franca

English as a lingua franca (ELF) is recognised as the most interesting and controversial subject to have emerged in language teaching in the last 15 years. This collection, written by international experts in the field, brings new insight into the relationship between ELF and language teaching. It covers a wide range of areas in school and university contexts, exploring how the pedagogy of intelligibility, culture and language awareness, as well as materials analysis and classroom management, can be viewed from an ELF perspective. The chapters are written in a clear, readable style and include a set of engagement priorities that can be used as a stimulus for class discussion. Combining academic rigour with strong practical relevance, this book will appeal to applied linguists working in pedagogy and the social sciences and is essential reading for any teacher or trainee interested in acquiring an international perspective on an exciting new area of English language teaching.

English as a Lingua Franca: Descriptions, Domains and Applications

There has been a remarkable growth of interest in the phenomenon of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in recent years, and as a result this has become a productive field of research, which has now found its place in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics discussions. Interest in this area started with a couple of seminal publications: Jenkins (2000), an empirical study of phonology and related concepts of intelligibility and accommodation in English international contexts, and Seidlhofer (2001), which called for more empirical descriptions of ELF communication and effectively marked the foundation of VOICE (Vienna Oxford International Corpus of English), a corpus of ELF naturally occurring spoken data. This work signed the beginning of ELF research, which, in the 15 years that followed, has increased exponentially and has developed into a vibrant area of investigation. This field today includes numerous scholars from all over the world, a dedicated Research Network under the auspices of AILA (the ELF ReN, www.english-lingua-franca.org), the foundation of two more large-scale corpora (ELFA, English as a Lingua Franca in Academic settings, and ACE, Asian Corpus of English), an annual international conference (which started in 2008 in Helsinki and subsequently took place in Southampton, Vienna, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Rome, Athens and Beijing), and a journal dedicated to work in this area (Journal of English as a Lingua Franca) and book series (Developments in English as a Lingua Franca), both published by De Gruyter Mouton.

Complexity, negotiability and ideologies: a response to Zhu, Pitzl, and Kankaanranta et al.

Why BELF and intercultural communication? Since the recognition of ELF as a sociolinguistic reality, the links between ELF and intercultural communication have repeatedly been mentioned, usually with reference to ELF being an intercultural phenomenon, but these fields of research and their scholars have so far not joined forces. So it is a welcome effort the one that the editors of this special issue have made and I am delighted to have been invited to write a response to three of this issue’s papers – Zhu’s paper on Negotiation, Pitzl’s on understanding and misunderstanding, and Kankaanranta, Louhiala-Salminen, and Karhunen’s on English in multinational companies. Even at first glance it is obvious that these three papers are quite different and they collectively cover extensive ground. From explorations of negotiation as a crucial phenomenon of intercultural communication and ELF in Zhu’s paper, we move to Pitzl’s critical analysis of understanding in a policy document, and we end with a focus on English as a corporate language in Kankaanranta et al.’s paper. In whichever order we read them these contributions clearly engage with different areas and draw on different theoretical, empirical, and contextual aspects. In the first paper, the focus is on negotiation of cultural frames of reference and identity from a conversation analytic perspective. Zhu explores the points of connection between intercultural communication (IC) and ELF and emphasizes how in recent years there has been a paradigm shift in the study of IC moving away from the reification and essentialization of the concept of “culture” as a national, fixed, and bounded notion. Zhu suggests a focus on negotiation of cultural identities and frames of reference as a key process in intercultural and lingua franca communication. She shows that exploring the negotiation process made relevant by the interlocutors in interaction allows researchers to see the individual agency and to appreciate the contingent nature of interaction rather than the assumed and predicted cultural frames.

Beneath the Surface: how asylum seekers understand and evaluate their well-being.

[Report] Origins and aims of research A group of volunteers at The Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers (SCDAS) undertook research into the wellbeing of clients at the centre (see introduction). The group of volunteers included experienced researchers and newly trained volunteers who already worked at the centre providing advice and support. The idea for the research came from the SCDAS co-ordinator and staff, who were keen to understand more about the wellbeing of clients and how the centre might better enable clients to ‘move on’ in terms of their wellbeing. The aims of the research were: • To establish how SDCAS clients understand and evaluate their ‘wellbeing’ using a range of qualitative research methods • To identify the personal resources and skills that clients already possess • To train clients in qualitative research methods in order to help further develop their sense of wellbeing and to enable them to support other clients • To identify how SDCAS might better provide opportunities and preparation for clients to feel more empowered in their sense of wellbeing and better able to move on The definition of wellbeing used for the research was developed from work done by Dodge et al (2012:230). The see-saw representation of wellbeing (Dodge et al 2012: 230) allowed us to interpret wellbeing as a dynamic phenomenon