Introducing English as a lingua franca (ELF): Precursor and Partner in Intercultural Communication

Abstract

It is an indisputable fact that in the 21st century English has become a global lingua franca with non-native speakers of the language outnumbering its native speakers. This calls for the acknowledgement of the language as being dissociated from its primary lingua-cultural roots and transferred to new communicative contexts with ever-changing constellations of interactants. The paper outlines the position of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) as one of several options multilinguals have at their disposal in todays globalized world. It provides an overview of recent empirical studies conducted on the linguistic phenomena emerging from the processes of intercultural communication through English. It seeks to show that effective intercultural interactions are not dependent on adherence to native-speaker norms but are the result of on-line negotiations of meaning between the speakers. Thus ELF cannot be considered bad or deficient English since its users are capable of exploiting the forms and functions of the language effectively in any kind of cross-linguistic exchange ranging from the most rudimentary utterances to elaborate arguments. Language users are perceived as drawing on their multi-faceted linguistic repertoire and selecting the most effective resources for their particular purposes. It is argued that ELF is not, therefore, to be regarded as a fixed, all-dominating language but as a flexible communicative means interacting with other languages and integrated into a larger framework of multilingualism, especially in the current European situation.