scholarly journals World Englishes or English as a Lingua Franca: Where does English in China stand?

English Today ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang

As the English language spreads and functions as an international language, scholars have been investigating some of the ideological issues behind the function and use of English in various contexts, and have pondered the future status of this global language. From early research of World Englishes (WE) the legitimacy of post-colonial Englishes, or ‘New Englishes’, as they have been termed, has emerged in scholars’ discussions (Platt, Weber & Ho, 1984; Kachru, 1985, 1992). Some have argued that the research on WE envisages the varieties of English in the outer circle contexts, such as the varieties of English spoken in Singapore, Nigeria, and India, and that people have used those varieties of English to exhibit their own identities (Kachru, 1992; Kachru & Nelson, 2006). Therefore, WE has created ‘new paradigms and perspectives for linguistic and pedagogical research and for understanding the linguistic creativity in multilingual situations across cultures’ (Kachru, 1985: 30).

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 114-118
Author(s):  
Cansu Orsel ◽  
Fatih Yavuz

Usage of the English language as Lingua Franca has caused an increasing demand on the English Language Teaching (ELT) in early childhood and according to Braj Kachru’s Three Circles Model of World Englishes as the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle the approaches to the Young Learners dramatically differs. Besides the features of English as a global language and the nature of early language learning, this paper also focuses on the comparison of the three different examples from the Three Circles Model of World Englishes. They are compared in terms of techniques that are used and the approaches to the Young Learners. The examples taken are from the official websites of the three countries from the Inner Circle, Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle; respectively, New Zealand’s Ministry of Education, Indian Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Turkish Board of Education and Instruction. Keywords: Young Learners, The World Englishes, Lingua Franca, Braj Kachru, English Language Teaching (ELT).


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Rose ◽  
Jim McKinley ◽  
Nicola Galloway

Abstract The rise of English as a global language has led scholars to call for a paradigm shift in the field of English language teaching (ELT) to match the new sociolinguistic landscape of the twenty-first century. In recent years a considerable amount of classroom-based research and language teacher education (LTE) research has emerged to investigate these proposals in practice. This paper outlines key proposals for change in language teaching from the related fields of World Englishes (WE), English as a lingua franca (ELF), English as an international language (EIL), and Global Englishes, and critically reviews the growing body of pedagogical research conducted within these domains. Adopting the methodology of a systematic review, 58 empirical articles published between 2010 and 2020 were shortlisted, of which 38 were given an in-depth critical review and contextualized within a wider body of literature. Synthesis of classroom research suggests a current lack of longitudinal designs, an underuse of direct measures to explore the effects of classroom interventions, and under-representation of contexts outside of university language classrooms. Synthesis of teacher education research suggests future studies need to adopt more robust methodological designs which measure the effects of Global Englishes content on teacher beliefs and pedagogical practices both before and throughout the programme, and after teachers return to the classroom.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-648
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Hino

For the past two decades, the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has been a topic of much debate among researchers in the global use of English, including those involved in English language teaching (ELT). While in many respects ELF may be viewed just as a new name for its predecessors, such as World Englishes (WE) and English as an International Language (EIL), in other ways it also provides some fresh perspectives for the function of global Englishes. In particular, having grown chiefly out of Europe, where English has traditionally been studied as a foreign language rather than a second language, the ELF paradigm is often suited for the needs of learners of English in the Expanding Circle. With Japan as a primary example, the present paper discusses the significance of the concept of ELF and of the studies within its framework for ELT in the Expanding Circle. An important argument of this article is that studies in the early days of ELF, seeking for elements to facilitate international intelligibility, are still highly useful for ELT in the Expanding Circle. They cater especially to ELT in the Asian Expanding Circle, where pedagogical models are of crucial importance, no less than current ELF studies focusing on the fluid and translingual nature of ELF do. This paper points to the need for ELT teachers to be eclectic and integrative, learning from multiple paradigms, including ELF, WE, and EIL, while even going beyond the newness and oldness of pedagogical approaches, in order to best serve their students.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 96-104
Author(s):  
Samar Alharbi

English language considers a global language spoken by a majority of people around the world. It is a language used mainly for communication, trades and study purposes. This widespread of English language being wildly spoken lead to different varieties of English as a lingua franca (ELF) means that non native speakers of English still be able to communicate with each other. Using ELF as a legitimate variety of English in language classrooms is questioned by some researchers. This paper will provide an overview of the concept of ELF. It will also present implications and limitations of using ELF in Saudi English as foreign language classrooms.


RELC Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seran Dogancay-Aktuna ◽  
Joel Hardman

Despite the proliferation of publications on teaching English as an international language (EIL) or a Lingua Franca (ELF), the diffusion of these concepts into the world of English Language Teaching has been slow and incomplete. There is some wariness among educators about the teaching of ELF and EIL, with no consensus regarding appropriate pedagogy. In this article we look at some of the research on the integration of global Englishes into English language classrooms and discuss issues concerning a model of language to guide pedagogy when there are multiple Englishes. We maintain that it is by relying on theoretical understandings of concepts underlying the development and use of global Englishes and basing pedagogical decisions on contextual needs, rather than on prescriptions for practice, that teachers can make realistic decisions about integrating Englishes into their own classroom pedagogy. We refer to a model of teaching English that is based on a vision of situated teacher praxis and show how one component of this model, meta-culture, can be used to teach language-culture connection in the era of global Englishes.


English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Luisa Carrió-Pastor ◽  
Rut Muñiz-Calderón

English is a global language used by millions of people in very different contexts, such as academia, science, technology, business, mass media, entertainment, etc. The number of non-native speakers of English outnumbers native speakers, as a high number of multinational companies use English as a lingua franca. Electronic communication has also led to an increase in the use of English as an international language. People from different social backgrounds communicate using this lingua franca, and the language may be evolving faster than before.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Mair

Contact between and mutual influences among varieties of standard and non-standard English have always been a central concern in research on World Englishes. In a mobile and globalising world such contacts are by no means restricted to diffusion of features in face-to-face interaction, across contiguous territories in space or up and down the sociolinguistic scale. In order to better represent and understand the complex relationships obtaining between varieties of standard and non-standard English in the contemporary “English language complex” (McArthur 2003: 56; Mesthrie and Bhatt 2008: 1–3), the present paper proposes a new theoretical model, based on language systems theory (de Swaan 2002, 2010). While the model is not designed to supersede existing alternatives, such as the Kachruvian (1982) Circles, it will nevertheless complement them in important ways, chiefly because it is better equipped to handle uses of English in domains beyond the post-colonial nation state. The “World System of Englishes” model was developed in the course of the author’s work on the use of pidgins and creoles in web forums serving the post-colonial West African and Caribbean diasporas. The way Nigerian Pidgin figures in the creation of a globalised digital ethnolinguistic repertoire will hence serve as an illustration of its usefulness.


English Today ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cui Xiaoxia

Some perspectives from an English educator. Since the implementation of the policy of reform and opening up, and China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has been gaining strength quickly in the international, political, and economic arena. Globalization has led to China taking part in varous kinds of international cooperation and exchange. At the same time, globalization and the Internet have been providing a novel context in which to use English as an international language. Under such circumstances, the Chinese are using more English than ever before, and China English is being simultaneously localized and globalized. Like any other language, China English is a living entity or organism that is not only growing and progressing in the ‘Information Age’, but is also making a contribution that is enriching and developing world Englishes at large. Indeed, China English now plays a significant role in increasing international understanding and cooperation within the WTO and in the whole world.


English Today ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan James Runcieman

The position of ‘E’, for English, has always been at the forefront of all the acronyms of language learning and descriptions of world trends in English language teaching and acquisition, EFL, ESL, ELT, ESP, EIL, ELF, or second only to ‘T’ for teaching, TEFL and TESOL. We have become so used to seeing the letter ‘E’ out there in front, the Theme rather than the Rheme, that we do not even seem to question that position anymore. Despite developments in the study of World Englishes (Kachru, 1985, 1990, 1991, 2005; Jenkins, 2003; Bolton, 2005, 2006; Canagarajah, 2006, 2007, 2009) and a supposedly secondary role for so-called Native English and the Native English speaker, we continue to place the ‘E’ at the front, as though we have no option but to accept its primacy in every concept. If we always place ‘E’ at the beginning though, as the defining Theme, surely we are giving both it and its origin England a leading role in all conceptual beginnings. The Theme after all is always the principal actor, the familiar, whilst the Rheme is the unfamiliar and undefined object (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004), but what English is now, in its global context, is exactly that, the unfamiliar and undefined object. In the following article I will argue for a rethinking of our terminology, particularly regarding the use of the acronym ELF (English as a Lingua Franca), and how perhaps we should be thinking more carefully about our choice of acronyms in order to be more precise about our approach to the study of English in the changing world.


Author(s):  
Diogo Oliveira do Espírito Santo ◽  
Robson Ribeiro da Silva

<p>Este artigo discute pressupostos e implicações dos termos translingualimo ou práticas translíngues (CANAGARAJAH, 2011, 2013; GARCÍA, 2009, 2014) e ensino bilíngue (GARCÍA, 2014; WEI, 2013) em contextos de ensino de língua inglesa no Brasil. Na primeira parte, serão discutidas algumas nomenclaturas conferidas ao <em>status</em> do inglês ao redor do mundo, como World Englishes (WE), Inglês como Língua Internacional (ILI) e Inglês como Língua Franca (ILF). Em seguida, serão tecidas considerações sobre as definições de sujeitos bilíngues que mais se adéquam aos objetivos deste artigo. A discussão será finalizada com o debate sobre os desdobramentos da perspectiva translíngue no ensino, como forma de problematizar as relações linguístico-culturais que os sujeitos aprendizes de língua inglesa desenvolvem em cenários cada vez mais multilíngues.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> <em>This article discusses the premises and implications of translingualism (translingual practices) (CANAGARAJAH, 2011, 2013; GARCÍA, 2009, 2014) and bilingual education (GARCÍA, 2014; WEI, 2013) concepts in English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts in Brazil. In the first section, we will review some of the labels that have been attributed to the current status of the English language worldwide, such as World Englishes (WE), English as an International Language (EIL) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Moreover, we will approach different definitions of bilingual subjects. Finally, we will consider the debate about the unfolding of the translingual perspective in order to reflect on the linguistic and cultural relations that English language learners develop in ever more multilingual settings</em><em>. </em></p><pre><em> </em></pre><p>Keywords<em>: English; </em>Translanguaging<em>; Bilingual Education. </em></p><p> </p><p>Palavras-Chave: Língua inglesa; Translingualismo; Práticas translíngues; Ensino bilíngue.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document