English as a lingua franca and intercultural communication

2017 ◽  
pp. 25-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Baker
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Lingua Franca

scholarly journals Culture and complexity through English as a lingua franca: rethinking competences and pedagogy in ELT

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Will Baker
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Intercultural Competence ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
Language Pedagogy ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Meaningful Category

AbstractEnglish as a lingua franca (ELF) research highlights the complexity and fluidity of culture in intercultural communication through English. ELF users draw on, construct, and move between global, national, and local orientations towards cultural characterisations. Thus, the relationship between language and culture is best approached as situated and emergent. However, this has challenged previous representations of culture, particularly those centred predominantly on nation states, which are prevalent in English language teaching (ELT) practices and the associated conceptions of communicative and intercultural communicative competence. Two key questions which are then brought to the fore are: how are we to best understand such multifarious characterisations of culture in intercultural communication through ELF and what implications, if any, does this have for ELT and the teaching of culture in language teaching? In relation to the first question, this paper will discuss how complexity theory offers a framework for understanding culture as a constantly changing but nonetheless meaningful category in ELF research, whilst avoiding essentialism and reductionism. This underpins the response to the second question, whereby any formulations of intercultural competence offered as an aim in language pedagogy must also eschew these simplistic and essentialist cultural characterisations. Furthermore, the manner of simplification prevalent in approaches to culture in the ELT language classroom will be critically questioned. It will be argued that such simplification easily leads into essentialist representations of language and culture in ELT and an over representation of “Anglophone cultures.” The paper will conclude with a number of suggestions and examples for how such complex understandings of culture and language through ELF can be meaningfully incorporated into pedagogic practice.

Chinese Netizens’ reactions to the use of English as a lingua franca

English Today ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-12
Author(s):  
Weihong Wang ◽  
Fan (Gabriel) Fang
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Linguistic Capital ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Global English ◽  
Local Varieties ◽  
British English ◽  
Linguistic Imperialism ◽  
The World

With the spread of English around the globe, academics increasingly seek to figure out what global English means to the world. Some accept English globalisation as a reality and take it as natural, neutral and beneficial for international and intercultural communication (Crystal, 2003). Some recognise English skills as important linguistic capital and must-have global literacy (Park & Wee, 2012; Tsui & Tollefson, 2007). However, others associate the global expansion of English with linguistic imperialism and the death of indigenous languages (Phillipson, 2009). Some regard globally spread English as native English varieties, particularly American and British English (Modiano, 2001; Trudgill, 1999), others argue for the rise of local varieties of World Englishes (WE) (Bolton, 2005; Kachru, 1986) and the international use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) (Jenkins, 2007; Seidlhofer, 2011). Although these generic interpretations of English have solid arguments from their own perspectives, none is sufficient to elucidate all the ‘complexity of ideological ramifications of the spread of English in [any] particular locality’ (Pan, 2011: 79).

scholarly journals Intercultural Communicative Competence: Why Is It Significant and How Can It Be Enhanced in EFL Settings?

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 793-803
Author(s):  
Seçil Tümen Akyıldız ◽  
Vildan Çelik ◽  
Kwestan Hussein Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Foreign Language Teaching ◽  
Intercultural Communicative Competence ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
Different Cultures

In the current literature on foreign language teaching, it has become clear that having the requisite ability of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) to be aware of different cultures, respect them, and interact with people from different cultures is crucial. Language is connected to culture and societies, in which people need to communicate with one another. English as a lingua franca provides a means of communication among different cultures. Thus, English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching classes offer perfect situations to foster ICC. From this viewpoint, this article gives an account to raise awareness of ICC in EFL settings by explaining ICC and its relationship with language, describing the significance of ICC, and illustrating some suggestions in the literature for the enhancement of ICC in EFL classes. This paper seeks to improve EFL teachers’ understanding of intercultural communication and to help them with their classroom practices.

Interpreting in Tanzania from the perspective of Tanzanian interpreters

Babel ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Getta
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
The Other ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The One

Abstract The study overviews the role of interpreting services in Tanzania, presenting mainly the experience of practicing freelance interpreters. The two official languages of Tanzania – English and Swahili – have separate roles in the country. Although most Tanzanians accept English as a necessary medium of intercultural communication, Swahili is perceived as an important part of Tanzanian national identity. It is the country’s lingua franca. On the one hand, Tanzania aims to preserve communication in Swahili; on the other hand, there is an inevitable need for intercultural communication with the rest of the world that grows especially in the context of globalization. The paper focuses on the role, status, education, working languages, conditions of Tanzanian interpreters, and the requirements of local and international clients. The study also creates a broader context that mentions crucial historical moments that have influenced the country’s current character of intercultural communication.

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