Journal of English as a lingua franca 

About: Journal of English as a lingua franca is an academic journal published by De Gruyter. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): English as a lingua franca & Sociolinguistics. It has an ISSN identifier of 2191-9216. Over the lifetime, 204 publications have been published receiving 3233 citations. The journal is also known as: JELF (Print) & JELF (Internet).

Towards a post-normative approach: learning the pedagogy of ELF

Abstract: Abstract This paper considers the impact on pedagogy of ELF research and theory in relation to language teacher education and development. As has been much remarked, research in ELF has reached the point where established principles and sanctioned good practice in ELT (English Language Teaching) require substantial reassessment. Empirical work and theoretical discussions pose profound questions to the ELT profession, with major implications for common beliefs and assumptions about all manner of concerns, especially the language syllabus, teaching materials, and language assessment. Yet, as we have also seen, any discussion of major change in pedagogy tends to provoke controversy and unease among practitioners. There has thus far been relatively little in-depth exploration of what teachers might do to incorporate an ELF perspective in practice. Modifying the curriculum or materials in response to ELF requires fundamental rethinking and (re)training in approaches to teaching. This paper reports ongoing attempts to engage and work collaboratively with ELF-aware teachers to re-examine current methodology and practice in context- relevant ways. Only by working with teachers can we properly explore the feasibility of incorporating an ELF perspective in order to move beyond a norm-driven approach.

New Chinglish and the Post-Multilingualism challenge: Translanguaging ELF in China

Abstract: Building on the extensive ELF research that aims to reconceptualise English as a resource that can be appropriated and exploited without allegiance to its historically native speakers, this article explores the issue of English in China by examining New Chinglish that has been created and shared by a new generation of Chinese speakers of English in China and spread through the new media. This new form of English has distinctive Chinese characteristics and serves a variety of communicative, social and political purposes in response to the Post-Multilingualism challenges in China and beyond. I approach New Chinglish from a Translanguaging perspective, a theoretical perspective that is intended to raise fundamental questions about the validity of conventional views of language and communication and to contribute to the understanding of the Post-Multilingualism challenges that we face in the twenty-first century.

ELF and super-diversity: a case study of ELF multilingual practices from a business context

Abstract: This article explores the link between English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and super-diversity in the multilingual business context of a small IT company, where English is used as a lingua franca and various linguistic resources play an important role in the company practices. The aim of the study is to examine the practices, orientations to and use of ELF and multilingual resources within an ethnographically-oriented approach, with data collected through observations, interviews, focus groups and recordings of naturally-occurring interactions. The findings show that the company's practices are highly multilingual, whereby ‘languaging’ is a common and positively valued phenomenon. Results also show that ELF is highly collaborative, both in spoken and written communication, and the staff's sociolinguistic repertoire is sensitive to the interlocutors' communicative resources.

ELF and the inconvenience of established concepts

Abstract: Abstract The purpose of this article is to put ELF in broader perspective and to speculate on how it raises general epistemological and practical issues in (socio)linguistics and language pedagogy. Such issues have not escaped the notice of ELF researchers, of course, and so this paper will have nothing to offer in the way of revelation. My intention is not to argue for the legitimacy of ELF study as such but to consider its effect as a catalyst for change in established ways of thinking. We can only make sense of the world by imposing our own order on it by devising abstract constructs so as to bring it under conceptual control. This is as true of linguistics and language pedagogy as of everything else: both of them necessarily disconnect the continuum of actual experience to make simplifying distinctions so as to come to terms with reality – distinctions between languages and varieties, for example, between competence and performance, between language learners and users. Making abstract distinctions of one kind or another is a necessary convenience and cannot be avoided, but having made them, we need also to consider how they are related and how far they remain convenient. What ELF research reveals so clearly is the need to review the distinctions that have become conventionally established in the description and the teaching of English.

English as an Asian Lingua Franca: the ‘Lingua Franca Approach’ and implications for language education policy

Abstract: Abstract The major issues confronting language policy makers in East and Southeast Asia typically include balancing the need for English as the international lingua franca and language of modernization, a local lingua franca as the national language for national unity, and local languages as languages of identity and community. Choices faced by policy makers include which languages to use as media of instruction and when, and how to ensure that the languages complement each other rather than compete with each other. In this paper, particular focus will be placed on the countries which make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), especially in light of the recently ratified ASEAN charter which enshrines the position of English as the sole working language of the organisation. The perceived need for the importance of English has resulted in the current and increasing regional trend to include English as early as possible in the primary school curriculum, often as a medium of instruction. Even with this increase in English in the government school system, parents will often make substantial financial and emotional sacrifices and choose to send their children to private schools (including those overseas), where they can be taught through English. “To actually forsake the public school system that teaches in your own language for the private one that teaches in English is an increasingly common phenomenon” (Wang Gungwu 2007: xiv). A major consequence of these moves towards the learning of English in both public and private education systems is that local Asian languages are overlooked in the school curricula. Indeed it is hard to find a single government education system in ASEAN which requires the teaching of any of the languages of its fellow member states. The exception is Mandarin, which is increasing in demand through its rising instrumental value. While accepting that English needs to be taught, it will be argued that it is essential that the perceptions that are leading to the trends outlined above be challenged. A proposal for ways of combining English and local languages in more equitable and effective ways will be presented and a ‘Lingua Franca Approach’ to teaching English will be proposed.