scholarly journals Miscommunication in Using English as a Lingua Franca

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruoyan Cui
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Communication Breakdowns

English is now widely used as a lingua franca in international communication. Communication is a collaboration of all its participants. Although mutual understanding is commonly assumed during interaction, miscommunication is inevitable. ELF communication, with its interactants from diversified lingua-cultural backgrounds, is assumed to be susceptible to communication breakdowns. To verify this assumption, some empirical studies on ELF miscommunication are reviewed. It is found that miscommunication is infrequent in ELF communication and ELF interactants proactively employ communication strategies to preempt and repair understanding problems to ensure mutual understanding.

“It’s always different when you look something from the inside”

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Louise Brunner ◽  
Stefan Diemer ◽  
Selina Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Spoken English ◽  
L1 Influence

The article discusses linguistic creativity in informal Skype conversations between university students from eight different European countries. The basis for the study is the Corpus of Academic Spoken English (CASE), a corpus of Skype conversations in an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) context. With the help of qualitative examples, the article examines innovative language use and proposes a taxonomy for functionally accepted innovations, distinguishing instances of L1 influence, approximations and ad hoc innovation. Our findings point towards an assertive and creative perspective on language use, which seems to have a positive influence on the communicative setting, e.g. illustrated by code-switching in combination with laughter. CASE participants use non-standard forms and innovations freely, accommodating to each others’ language use. They also establish their own ephemeral communication strategies and showcase and emphasize their respective language and cultural backgrounds.

Teaching communication strategies in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Danni Xia
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
College English ◽  
The Past ◽  
Teaching Content ◽  
English Textbooks

Since English is now used as a Lingua Franca (ELF), it is important to explore how English learners may be trained to employ multiple Communication Strategies (CSs) to achieve mutual understanding, particularly in ELF contexts. This study explores which CSs were taught in recent years in China and how the teaching content is presented in domestic textbooks from an ELF perspective. Ten college English textbooks that were published in the past five years (2014–2019) were selected and evaluated based on an adapted framework of CSs. The findings revealed a notable inclination toward certain types of macro-strategies and were not systematically mapped out. Moreover, an initial effort in manifesting “cultural diversity” was observed but failed to construct intercultural contexts. Knowledge explanation as well as student-oriented exercises were found to be conducive in consolidating learners’ acquisition of forms. However, the function and context of the target CSs were neglected. Furthermore, an absence of sociocultural pragmatic concern resulted in a discrepancy between explicit knowledge explanation and context-based practice. Accordingly, this study suggests implications for both textbook writers and instructors in practice.

scholarly journals Communication During Bushfires, Towards a Serious Game for a Serious Matter

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Adam ◽  
Charles Bailly ◽  
Julie Dugdale
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
General Public ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Modelling And Simulation ◽  
Serious Game ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Communication Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Agent Based Modelling

Australia is frequently hit by bushfires. In 2009, the ''Black Saturday'' fires killed 173 people and burnt hectares of bush. As a result, a research commission was created to investigate, and concluded that several aspects could be improved, in particular better understanding of the population actual behaviour, and better communication with them. The authors argue that agent-based modelling and simulation is a great approach to provide tools to improve mutual understanding: let managers test communication strategies, and let residents understand the managers' perspective. Concretely, they extended an existing simulator with a theoretically-grounded communication model based in social sciences; they added user interactivity with the model and investigated gamification to turn it into a serious game to involve the general public. The authors present the results of first experiments with different communication strategies, providing valuable insight for better communication with the population during such events. Finally, they discuss future extensions and generalisation of this simulator.

Expanding dialogical analysis across (sub-)cultural backgrounds

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mogens Jensen ◽  
Danilo S Guimarães
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Psychological Practice ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Communication Processes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theoretical View

This paper aims to develop a diagram as a tool for analysing empirical data concerning the issue of difference of subcultural backgrounds and worldviews in the dialogue and its implications to the psychological practice in social work. From a theoretical view on dialogical and cultural psychology, we will trace the roots of selected contemporary dialogical and social representation theories and elaborate on it how distinct subcultures of interlocutors can produce misunderstandings when the professional interprets the utterance of the other. Focusing the social pedagogic practice, we will approach dialogues between people that belong to different cultural contexts as instances of the challenges in the communication, i.e. pedagogues and adolescents, doctors and patients, people belonging to different societies, etc. We argue that the theoretical approach presented and discussed here is part of a general understanding of communication processes, showing that despite mutual understanding will never be fully achieved in a dialogical situation, the possibility of sharing meanings and senses depends on the effort to take into consideration the worldview of the other in the background of what is presently uttered.

The Pragmatics of English as a Lingua Franca: Research and Pedagogy in the Era of Globalization

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 80-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Taguchi ◽  
Noriko Ishihara
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Formal Instruction ◽  
L2 Pragmatics ◽  
Recent Trends

ABSTRACTIn step with advancing globalization, applied linguists are compelled to reconsider established assumptions about language use and learning (Kramsch, 2014). Focusing on English as a lingua franca (ELF), this article illustrates how realities of globalization have challenged our conventional ways of researching and teaching second language (L2) pragmatics. In the context of ELF where English is used as a medium of communication among nonnative speakers as well as between native and nonnative speakers, researchers need to examine pragmatic competence based on how L2 learners can navigate communicative demands by using communication strategies skillfully while negotiating their identities. At the same time, it is tenable for teachers to move away from the sole dependence on idealized native-speaker models of appropriateness, politeness, and formality in their pedagogical practice and instead incorporate a nonessentialist viewpoint into formal instruction. This article discusses these recent trends in researching and teaching pragmatics under the lingua franca framework.

scholarly journals Sustained English lingua-cultural education: a solution for Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 166 ◽  
pp. 10004
Author(s):  
Oleg Tarnopolsky ◽  
Nataliia Volkova ◽  
Svitlana Kozhushko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
International Communication ◽  
International Community ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Cultural Education ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
The People ◽  
Western European

Ukraine, as a state striving to join on the parity basis the international community of developed and democratic countries, lacks some important prerequisites for achieving this goal. Besides several economic and political factors making obstacles for the desired achievement, of no lesser importance are the humanitarian factors, such as the monolingualism and monoculturalism of a substantial part of Ukrainian population. They preclude unimpeded mutual understanding and mutual acceptance, as well as free unimpeded contacts, between many Ukrainian citizens and their European counterparts. In this aspect, the solution for Ukraine can be found in sustained foreign language lingua-cultural education of the broadest strata of Ukrainian population that could open for the people a way out in what concerns their ability to communicate freely and fluently all through the Western European space sharing with the people living there not only the language of international communication but also the cultural approaches and beliefs. The article discusses the ways of developing such sustained (life-long) English lingua-cultural education for the young generation of new Ukraine. It analyzes the section of that education to be implemented at Ukrainian nonlinguistic tertiary schools with the aim of designing its efficient model.

Using stimulated recall to explore the use of communication strategies in English lingua franca interactions

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Communication Strategy ◽  
Strategy Research ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
Strategy Types

AbstractIn this study, the communication strategy use of two pairs of English as a lingua franca (ELF) users was explored in relation to two contextual factors, the communicative goal and the ELF users’ thoughts and feelings about the interactions. The ELF users were video-recorded engaging in researcher-designed tasks which required sharing information to achieve a joint goal. Subsequent stimulated recall with individual speakers targeted instances of potential or actual difficulties in understanding. Recordings and transcripts of the paired tasks and stimulated recall were used to identify communication strategies used to address difficulties in understanding. Results showed that overall, 11 different strategy types were seen across both pairs of speakers. However, the pair which achieved the shared goal showed a different pattern of strategy use and of interaction than the pair which did not achieve the shared goal. The two pairs also differed in how they attributed responsibility for successful communication. These findings, discussed in the context of previous ELF communication strategy research, highlight benefits of investigating interlocutors’ contemporaneous thoughts and feelings and the ways in which communication strategies are used during interactions.

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