The british empire colonized a significant portion of the earth. While it has been a subject of controversy for some time, linguistic observations on actual use have largely been missing out of the debate. Something to read over, go back over excerpts, etc. The routledge handbook of english as a lingua franca elf provides an accessible, authoritative and comprehensive introduction to the main theories, concepts, contexts and applications of this rapidly developing field of study. It explores the various ways in which elf represents a challenge to the predominance of the nativespeaker model, as well as its implications for other fields of linguistic research and for english language teaching.
Nov 25, 2019 teaching english as a lingua franca is the latest in the delta teacher development series and is authored by marek kiczkowiak and robert lowe. Although most contemporary linguists regard english as a lingua franca elf. English has by now penetrated more deeply as an international language than any of its predecessors, being widely used by tourists, shopkeepers, advertisers, pilots and scientists in addition to more traditional categories such as diplomats. The sole purpose of this organisation is to pair companies with towns and cities so much of our daily lives are consumed with the modern obsession for success, money. The history here is both complex and fascinating, but ill just. How to teach english as a lingua franca elf british council. Taking hong kong as an example, english is set to be the second language here, abilities of english usually come first than chinese. Analysis of the history, evolution of english and its impact on other languages leads us to sketch out a prospective future of it as a global lingua franca.
I never knew how i landed on the radar squarely enough to. His most recent book is eye chart bloomsbury 2017, on the history of visual testing and graphic design since the 17th century. How to teach english as a lingua franca elf british. English as a lingua franca has become a hot topic in applied linguistics and english studies. Further reflections on the adjustments that we are all having to make as a result of american dominance of the new media. English as a lingua franca elf has evolved from a niche topic of a relatively small group of specialists to a highly productive research area that now has a firm place on the map of linguistics. Pros and cons of english being the international lingua franca. In other parts of the world too lingua francas have been or are now used by millions of people. His books include the bestselling the story of english, my year off, wodehouse. The journey from efl to elf, published by delta publishing, is the latest in their teacher development series and is authored by marek kiczkowiak and robert lowe.
The term english as a lingua franca elf refers to the teaching, learning, and use of the english language as a common means of communication or contact language for speakers of different native languages. The unexpected lessons of lingua franca when i joined the lingua franca blog in 2012, i felt sure i would run out of things to write about long before the venue would disappear. Nov 14, 2014 the french whose language was the last viable alternative in the race to become the worlds lingua franca are understandably sore about the triumph of english. Including 47 stateofthe art chapters from leading international scholars, the handbook covers key concepts, regional spread, linguistic features and communication. William germano is professor of english literature at cooper union. Miles platting is the founder and owner of the naming rights agency lingua franca. English is the first truly global lingua franca, if by global we mean used on every inhabited continent. A literary lingua franca, less widely known than its forerunner. Thus, nowadays, the idea of perceiving english as a lingua franca is being pushed, linking thailand culturally, intellectually, net. The lingua franca role of english, coupled with its status as the official language of asean, has important implications for language policy and language education. The future of english english as she was spoke books. The rise of english in diplomacy began in 1919, after world war i, when the treaty of versailles was written in english as well as in french. New lingua franca upsets french from bbcs from our own correspondent.
When yiddish is the lingua franca yiddish book center. Interview with author of new book on english as the lingua franca of. English is the current lingua franca of international business, science, technology and aviation. English is the worlds lingua francathe most widely spoken language in human history. In my videos i use that phrase a lot, and i often get questions in the comment section asking me what it means.
Chapter 2 the spread of english as a lingua franca begins with a historical. The routledge handbook of english as a lingua franca. Lingua franca simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A subscription is required to access the full text content of this book. It will address all aspects of book history, including the composition, mediation, reception, survival, and transformation of written communication in material forms from marks on stone to new media. Aims and scope lingua franca society for the history of. English as a lingua franca in japan towards multilingual. Using a corpus of data drawn from naturallyoccurring second language conversations, this book explores the role of idiomaticity in english as a native language, and its comparative role in english as a lingua franca. Research into english as a lingua franca has been slower to take off, despite pioneering work by a. Therefore, parents always place english a high place. Her current major research interests are english as a lingua franca, corpus linguistics, and modelling spoken language.
This chapter examines the complexity and confusion that the term global english has generated in various literatures. With this problem in mind, lingua franca seeks to promote the internationalization of book history, by producing the most significant work in the field in the form of accessible english translations. This series welcomes book proposals detailing innovative and cutting edge research and theorisation in the field of english as a lingua franca elf, in essence, english as the chosen medium of communication among people from different first languages. The french whose language was the last viable alternative in the race to become the worlds lingua franca are understandably sore about the triumph of english. However, the standard deviation for english in this estimate is also the highes t. When i joined the lingua franca blog in 2012, i felt sure i would run out of things to write about long before the venue would disappear.
The routledge handbook of english as a lingua franca elf provides an accessible, authoritative and. Frankish language language used as a means of communication between populations speaking vernaculars that are not mutually intelligible. In lingua franca interactions it functions as a nativeculturefree code. This book reflects achievements in the growing field. More than 1 billion people speak english worldwide but only about 330m of them as a first language, and this population is not. Americanisms are encroaching across the world, and have done for the last 40 years including the uk but thats modern us media changing the way english is spoken, not the us causing the spread of the language. English is the best candidate language for lingua franca. It has replaced french as the lingua franca of diplomacy since world war ii. English is the worlds lingua franca the most widely spoken language in human history. Language history lingua franca blogs the chronicle of. It argues that the insight that language is far more than an instrument of communication edwards 2010. At that time, it represented a conglomeration of mostly italian, with a smattering of french, portuguese, spanish, turkish, greek, and arabic, and was used primarily as the language of commerce. English as a global language, second edition institute for cultural. English as a lingua franca elf is a term used to describe the use of english as a common language for communication between speakers whose first language is not english.
Her publications focus on spoken language, corpus linguistics, contrastive rhetoric, translation, and academic discourses. The rise of english in diplomacy began in 1919, after world war i, when the treaty of versailles. This paper challenges the existence of the dichotomy with regard to the english language as it is used today. English is expanding as a lingua franca but not as a mother tongue. Through examining how idiomaticity enables first language learners to achieve a greater degree of fluency, the book explores why idiomatic language poses such a challenge for. English is the most successful language in the history of the world. There are arguably benefits to the world in having a lingua franca.
In those places that they colonized, english became the langua. English is expanding as a linguafranca but not as a mother tongue. The routledge handbook of english as a lingua franca, edition. French, greek, portuguese and latin have all been major lingua franca at some point in history.
What are the benefits of english being a lingua franca. The term was first used during the middle ages to describe a french and italianbased jargon, or pidgin, that was developed by. Lingua franca aramaic is the first example of a lingua franca a common second language, shared by people who are unable to communicate in their native tongues. Oct 24, 2018 william germano is professor of english literature at cooper union. Established in 2017, and taking over from what was previously the translations page of sharp society for the history of authorship, reading. The most important of these are a conceptualization of speakers of lingua franca english as language users in their own right, and the acknowledgment of the legitimacy of, and indeed the need for, a description of salient features of english as a lingua franca elf, alongside english as. Elf is also defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication rather than formally by its reference to nativespeaker norms whereas english as a second or foreign language aims at meeting native speaker norms and gives prominence to. The chapter considers the evolution, relevance, and utility of the constructs english as a lingua franca elf and lingua franca english lfe described in the applied linguistics and world englishes literatures.
In the past 15 years, english as a lingua franca elf has evolved from a niche topic of a relatively small group of specialists to a highly productive research area that now has a firm place on the map of linguistics. Anna mauranen is professor of english at the university of helsinki. His book also comes with a cd of recordings of nonnative speakers. These include the relationship between english, the respective national languages of asean and thousands of local languages. And yet, as historian and linguist nicholas ostler persuasively argues, english will not only be displaced as the worlds language in the notdistant future, it will be the last lingua franca, not replaced by another. In doing so, the chapter considers the challenges in. Perspectives and prospects contributions in honour of barbara seidlhofer. Prescriptivists generally nonlinguists tend to dismiss elf as a kind of foreigner talk or what has been disparagingly called bsebad. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read english as a lingua franca. About the authors this edited book examines the phenomenon of english as a lingua franca elf in the japanese context, using multilingualism as a lens through which to explore language practices and attitudes in what is traditionally viewed as a monolingual, monocultural setting. That the french resent the global supremacy of the english language is nothing new, but as hugh schofield finds out, a newly evolved businessspeak version is taking over. Walker suggests using interviews with nonnative internationally known figures, such as football managers, or using clips from news websites from around the world.
The second drawback of english being the international lingua franca is that the dominance of the english language proposes a threat to our own language. As you would expect with the delta teacher development series, this book follows the wellknown and respected formula as with other books. This is an excerpt from an oral history with david schorr. Lingua franca is a publication of sharp the society for the history of authorship, reading and publishing. This edited book examines the phenomenon of english as a lingua franca elf in the japanese context, using multilingualism as a lens through which to explore language practices and attitudes in what is traditionally viewed as a monolingual, monocultural setting. Studies and findings ebook written by anna mauranen, elina ranta. Although most contemporary linguists regard english as a lingua franca elf as a valuable means of international communication and worthwhile object of study, some have challenged its value and the idea that elf is a distinct variety of english at all. Including 47 stateofthe art chapters from leading international scholars, the handbook covers key concepts, regional spread, linguistic features. New book argues that english has become the global language of science. Lingua franca by william thacker uses a very original premise to discuss precisely these issues. Subject area english language essays the lingua franca there are both pros and cons of english becoming the international lingua franca.
It will address all aspects of book history, including the composition, mediation, reception, survival, and transformation of written communication in. English is the worlds lingua francathe most widely spoken. In his book, teaching the pronunciation of english as a lingua franca, r. Understanding english as a lingua franca ebook united. Lingua franca the history of the book in translation.
Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids discover. It started with the british empire and the colonization of america. This is now changing fast, and the study of english as a lingua franca has become a vibrant research field. Many countries take english as the second language, students learn english under the education system mandatorily. This book examines the use of english as a lingua franca elf from various perspectives. Lingua franca the history of the book in translation sharp. The term lingua franca was first coined in the beginning of the 17th century by the italians. But it was a different kind of lingua franca, less plebeian by far than koine, and less regnant than latin.
Such languages, essential in the history of communication, are usually a byproduct of empire. You might consider ostler a popularizer of the field of sociolinguistics. The current lingua franca of international business is english. I work for an international ngo where english is the lingua franca and. A lingua franca is a language that is used widely outside the country where it is spoken as a native language. Lingua franca is a publication of sharp the society for the history of authorship.
Preamble very languages on the globe is found going. Aims and scope lingua franca society for the history. His new book, published in the us on november 23rd, is an extended essay on the role of english as a lingua franca in the modern world. A lingua franca of a different and fascinating kind is the nonphonetic chinese script.
Keywordsenglish, global lingua franca, history, evolution, simultaneous. The question leads to seek clarification as to benefits to whom. It comes from the author whose book the phonology of english as an international language spearheaded the english as a lingua franca movement a challenge to assumptions, bias and asymmetry held within nativespeaker english standards in efl pedagogy and growing nonnative speaker dominated contexts of english use. Lingua francas of the world 661 the use of this particular form of french eventually died out, but not before having left its own name as its heritage for languages which are used in a similar fashion. Lingua franca is an annual electronic journal devoted to the best international research on book history, translated into english. Today when we find a language which is commonly used by people whose native languages are different, we describe it as a lingua franca. English language as a lingua franca english language essay. Language history lingua franca blogs the chronicle. English as a lingua franca elf is the use of the english language as a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages. The speed and availability of travel, the increasingly global nature of trade and forei.
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