Franca Poppi

Global Interactions in English as a Lingua Franca

This volume investigates the changes undergone by written communication in our globalized world as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). The latter usually functions as a language for communication purposes, but also becomes a language for identification purposes. The study takes into account different web-genres: from the replication of existing genres in other media to cybergenres, whose key evolutionary force is the progressive exploitation of the new functionalities afforded by the new medium. The variety of the contexts of use has made it possible to consider different ELF-using communities of practice, whose members adopt ELF and adapt it to express individual, national and professional identities in international interactions. The analysis focuses on lexicogrammatical innovations, which inevitably change in accordance with the different contexts of use, as well as on the communicative strategies underpinning these changes.

From Business Letters to Emails: How Practitioners Can Shape Their Own Forms of Communication More Efficiently

The last few years have witnessed dramatic changes in technology, which, in turn, have permanently altered the way information and expertise are disseminated. Nowadays people and organizations around the world are connected to other people and organizations by means of electronic media, which create the necessary conditions for a rapid sharing of knowledge and information. While in the past knowledge itself was considered to be synonymous with power, in the 21st-century it is rather the quick and efficient retrieval and exchange of knowledge and information that provides parties with an edge in transactions, especially those of a business nature.