1. ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA
Penny Ur

2. expanding circle
outer circle
inner circle
Kachru, 1985

3. Probably between two and three billion people speak English.
The majority use it as a foreign or second language.
It is used for: academic purposes; political negotiation; tourism; entertainment; business and finance; information; personal social interaction …
Most educated speakers of other languages are at least bilingual.
To compare: total world population, as estimated in July 2005: about 6.4 billion; China about 1.3; USA about 300m.

4. A LINGUA FRANCA
The most important function of the English language today is as a lingua franca not as a native language.
citation condition for promotion
Amir Peretz
80% of websites
Red Cross, UN organizations, Amnesty, World Bank, European Central Bank, Interpol (85%),

5. A TYPICAL ENGLISH SPEAKER
Speaks English as a foreign/second language;
Is at least bilingual (‘English-knowing bilingualism’);
Speaks the standard international variety;
‘English-knowing bilingualism’ not the same as knowing Flemish and French in Belgium, or Spanish and English in theh southern states of the US, or French and German in Europe: no identifiable ‘owner’ population or geographical ‘base’, no clearly defined accompanying culture or ethnic identity; clearly instrumental; skill akin to computer skills, driving, basic numbering, etc.

6. Is not interested in aspects of culture of ‘inner circle’ countries;
May never have visited an ‘inner-circle’ country, may not be particularly interested in doing so;
Is skilled in communicative and comprehension strategies.

7. WORLD STANDARD ENGLISH
There is rapidly developing an ‘international’ variety of English (‘World Standard English’), distinct from ‘native’ varieties.
It has the basic standard grammar and lexis.
But beyond the basics, some international norms are evolving.

8. PRONUNCIATION
/hi: cæn du:/
/hi: cən du:/
I’m
I am
/ti:t∫ə/
/ti:t∫ər/

9. WHAT SOUNDS ARE ESSENTIAL IN WSE? WHAT SOUNDS ARE NOT?
Question:
What mispronunciations lead to a breakdown in communication? What mispronunciations make no difference to understanding?
(Jenkins, 2002)
Jenkins, J. (2002). A sociolinguistically-based empirically researched pronunciation syllabus for English as an International Language. Applied Linguistics, 23(1),
Description of Jenkins’ research: data collected from speakers of a variety of mother tongues (e.g. a Japanese talking to an Italian) over a number of years; and analysis of where communication broke down. Field observations, recordings, in one-to-one conversations and classroom situations.

10. /I/ versus /i:/ (‘i’ versus ‘ee’) /p/, /t/, /k/ versus /b/, /d/, /g/
RESULTS
The following items were found to be essential for good understanding (a selection):
/I/ versus /i:/ (‘i’ versus ‘ee’)
/p/, /t/, /k/ versus /b/, /d/, /g/
initial consonant clusters eg. strong
use of tonic stress e.g. He came by TRAIN versus HE came by train.
note that this is just a selection – her research is far more detailed.
th – probably because so widespread as to be taken for granted

11. The following items were found to be non-essential:
/ð/ and /θ/;
The schwa sound /ə/.

12. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
We should place more stress on teaching the items that lead to misunderstanding than on the ones that don’t.
this doesn’t mean we don’t teach them at all!

13. SPELLING
program
programme
color
colour
centre
center
organize
organise

14. VOCABULARY Cheers! Thanks! line queue autumn fall apartment two weeks
flat
apartment
two weeks
fortnight
lift
elevator
pavement
sidewalk

15. GRAMMAR I have got / Have you got? I have / Do you have?
She has just finished
She just finished
If I had…
If I would have …

16. We have been waiting for an hour.
We are waiting for an hour.
Your name is Jenny, no?
Your name is Jenny, right?
Your name is Jenny, isn’t it?

17. Fairly standard written dialect, more varied spoken
DISCOURSE
Fairly standard written dialect, more varied spoken
Development of an ‘e-dialect’:
informality of style (headings? sentences? salutations?)
short paragraphs, line spaces
characteristic formatting: use of capitals (‘shouting’), asterisks, repeated punctuation, emoticons :-)

18. The ‘save-a-keystroke’ principle:
American spelling
abbreviations [pls, B4N, CU, thanx, fyi, CWOT]
‘close it up’ [startup, ]
minimal punctuation and capitals [london, i]
(Crystal, 2001)

19. In general:
‘Native’ dialect is not necessarily the model
And not necessarily purely American or British English.

20. Pronunciation
Comprehensible, clear, not necessarily native
Spelling
Simpler, so normally American
Vocabulary
Universally comprehensible, unambiguous, simple

21. Grammar
Mainly American (simpler)
Written, not spoken
Discourse
Mainly formal, conventional
Awareness of distinction between informal and formal, and when each is appropriate
Awareness of growing differences between conventions of different discourses

22. A. STANDARDS, GOALS AND MODELS FOR TEACHING
IMPLICATIONS
A. STANDARDS, GOALS AND MODELS FOR TEACHING

23. If the standard is not a native speaker dialect (British or American), then what is it?
If the goal of English teaching is not to reach native-speaker competence, then what is it?
If the model is not the native speaker, then who is it?

24. Key concepts:
Lingua Franca
World Standard English / International English
International comprehensibility and acceptability
The proficient speaker / user of English

25. B. THE NATIVE / NON-NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEACHING TEACHER
The native-speaker English teacher
The non-native-speaker English teacher
May speak a more correct and fluent English.
May speak a less correct and fluent English.
Feels confident of own knowledge of English.
May feel less confident of own knowledge of English.
Is likely to speak an appropriate variety of English (WSE).
May speak an inappropriate (native) variety of English.
May not be familiar with students’ L1 and culture.
Is familiar with students’ L1 and culture.
Cannot serve as a role model.
Can serve as a role model.

26. Probably the whole issue of ‘native’ / ‘non-native’ is an irrelevant question anyway.
What is important is that the teacher should be:
a competent and fluent speaker of (World Standard) English;
a good teacher;
fluent in the learners’ L1 and familiar with the learners’ home culture.

27. C. INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
Importance of genuinely intercultural competence: i.e. not just ‘foreign’ versus ‘English-speaking’ cultures.
There is possibly evolving a ‘world culture’ of international interaction, to match ‘World Standard English’.
e.g. hotels, letter-writing, website design, norms of courtesy,
e.g. a white dress for a wedding? Flowers for a funeral?

28. D. COURSEBOOK CONTENT
The language: predominantly WSE
The cultural content: ‘source’; ‘English-speaking’; ‘international’
Scenarios: in international rather than English-speaking locations.
Recordings: a mix of native and non-native accents
More use of L1

29. E. THE SOURCE OF EXPERTISE
The relative number of EFL experts coming from places outside the ‘core’ English speaking countries is rising.
There is a similar rise in the proportion of home-designed EFL materials.
1997 – 29%
2000 – 41%
2003 – 57%

30. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
English today has two major communicative functions:
As the means of communication between its native speakers within a ‘core’ English-speaking country
As the means of international communication, anywhere in the world: a Lingua Franca.
The second is predominant in the world today, and it is the one on which we should focus in our teaching.

31. There is in the process of development a ‘World Standard English’, based on:
internationally acceptable lexis (very large, but often domain-specific);
grammatical rules based on commonly accepted standards (mainly American);
pronunciation to some extent variable, but has to be comprehensible.

32. The goals of English teaching are therefore to enable our learners to reach a high standard of comprehension and self-expression in an English which will be readily understood worldwide.

33. It is the proficient user of English as an International Language who is the appropriate model for our learners, rather than a native speaker.

34. Learners need to learn ‘intercultural competence’: enabled to recognize and respect other cultural norms and communicate effectively with their owners.

35. Coursebooks should be based on the source culture of the learners, moving towards international culture(s).

36. Authoritative experts on English as a Lingua Franca may or may not themselves be originally native speakers; but the geographical focus of such expertise is increasingly the countries where English is a second or foreign language rather than the first.

37. Thank you for your attention
THE END
Thank you for your attention