English as a lingua franca (ELF)

English as a lingua franca (ELF)

An inexorable trend in the use of global English is that fewer interactions now
involve a native-speaker. Proponents of teaching English as a lingua franca (ELF)
suggest that the way English is taught and assessed should reflect the needs and
aspirations of the ever-growing number of non-native speakers who use English to
communicate with other non-natives.

Understanding how non-native speakers use English among themselves has now
become a serious research area. lingua franca interactions,
which is intended to help linguists understand ELF better, and also provide support for the recognition of ELF users in the way English is taught.

Proponents of ELF have already given some indications of how they think coventional
approaches to EFL should be changed.  for example, argues for different priorities in teaching
English pronunciation. Within ELF, intelligibility is of primary
importance, rather than native-like accuracy. Teaching certain pronunciation features, such
as the articulation of ‘th’ as an interdental fricative, appears to be a waste of time whereas
other common pronunciation problems (such as simplifying consonant clusters) contribute
to problems of understanding.

Such an approach is allowing researchers to identify a ‘Lingua Franca Core’ (LFC)
which provides guiding principles in creating syllabuses and assessment materials.
Unlike traditional EFL, ELF focuses also on pragmatic strategies required in intercultural
communication. The target model of English, within the ELF framework, is not a native speaker but a fluent bilingual speaker, who retains a national identity in terms of accent, and who also has the
special skills required to negotiate understanding with another non-native speaker.

Research is also beginning to show how bad some native speakers are at using
English for international communication. It may be that elements of an ELF syllabus
could usefully be taught within a mother tongue curriculum.

ELF suggests a radical reappraisal of the way English is taught, and even if few adopt
ELF in its entirety, some of its ideas are likely to influence mainstream teaching and assessment practices in the future.