Linguistics

I opined that it seemed somewhat disingenuous to expect learners of the language to struggle with mastering phonemes that many native speakers didn't bother with much themselves.

English as a Lingua Franca
September 18, 2012
By Fitch O'Connell
In an earlier article, "How Now, Brown Cow?,"

These two principal methods of language teaching and learning have dominated the scene since the 19th century and each have their own parameters and peculiarities derived from well established paradigms.

In time, perhaps, the natives of North America and the British Isles, amongst others, might be viewed as using a quaint, old-fashioned form of the language which is almost indecipherable to those who are fluent in the new international English.

In my previous article I concentrated mainly on the contradictions of focusing on "standard" English pronunciation, given the enormous variety of regional and national accents to choose from, and how the effort students might put into perfecting their vowels or diphthongs might not be worth the trouble when they eventually interact with most native speakers.

I opined that it seemed somewhat disingenuous to expect learners of the language to struggle with mastering phonemes that many native speakers didn't bother with much themselves.

Indeed, some have argued that native speakers of English will need to learn this new international English because if they default to their own idiosyncratic use then they might not be understood.

I opined that it seemed somewhat disingenuous to expect learners of the language to struggle with mastering phonemes that many native speakers didn't bother with much themselves.

If your main purpose for using English is to communicate with other non-native speakers of English then many of the culturally resonant features of the language will become redundant.

But it does seem worth while, before all that happens, to consider if it is worth going to all that trouble to teach the future perfect, decipher complex consonant clusters, and memorize phrasal verbs, when the likelihood is that none of this will be needed in English-language interactions with other non-native speakers.

If your main purpose for using English is to communicate with other non-native speakers of English then many of the culturally resonant features of the language will become redundant.

What will be excluded from the use are the current norms of "standard" English, and this could also mean exclusion of native speakers from the teaching/learning process.

But it does seem worth while, before all that happens, to consider if it is worth going to all that trouble to teach the future perfect, decipher complex consonant clusters, and memorize phrasal verbs, when the likelihood is that none of this will be needed in English-language interactions with other non-native speakers.

In that earlier article I was only concerned about the relationship between learners of English and native speakers of English, and this was a tacit reference to the traditional division of English Language Teaching (ELT) into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL, or ESOL — English for Speakers of other Languages — as it is often referred to now).

These two principal methods of language teaching and learning have dominated the scene since the 19th century and each have their own parameters and peculiarities derived from well established paradigms.

Like all languages it would start to develop its own momentum, references and (international) cultural markers, and it would do this without so much as a nod in the direction of those native speakers immersed in their own language developments, which would flourish in parallel.

But it does seem worth while, before all that happens, to consider if it is worth going to all that trouble to teach the future perfect, decipher complex consonant clusters, and memorize phrasal verbs, when the likelihood is that none of this will be needed in English-language interactions with other non-native speakers.

Like all languages it would start to develop its own momentum, references and (international) cultural markers, and it would do this without so much as a nod in the direction of those native speakers immersed in their own language developments, which would flourish in parallel.

This has given rise to a new phenomenon and third acronym — ELF — referring to English as a Lingua Franca.

ESL mainly exists in countries where the dominant language is English and is aimed predominantly at immigrants needing to acquire language skills for work and day to day survival.

Like all languages it would start to develop its own momentum, references and (international) cultural markers, and it would do this without so much as a nod in the direction of those native speakers immersed in their own language developments, which would flourish in parallel.

Both forms have traditionally assumed interaction with native speakers as one of the primary functions of the language and thus both have looked for standards based on native speaker English as the models, and both forms have also recognized the importance of placing the language being learned within the mother culture from whence it derived.

Both forms have traditionally assumed interaction with native speakers as one of the primary functions of the language and thus both have looked for standards based on native speaker English as the models, and both forms have also recognized the importance of placing the language being learned within the mother culture from whence it derived.

You only need to look at any current course book for learners to to realize what a big step that would be, given how how culturally laden with Western values and concepts the books are.

The concept of a "standard" form of English becomes blurred and does not necessarily look on American or British or any other version on which to model itself.

These two principal methods of language teaching and learning have dominated the scene since the 19th century and each have their own parameters and peculiarities derived from well established paradigms.

In that earlier article I was only concerned about the relationship between learners of English and native speakers of English, and this was a tacit reference to the traditional division of English Language Teaching (ELT) into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL, or ESOL — English for Speakers of other Languages — as it is often referred to now).