The lingua franca factor

Abstract

This article explores the question of whether there is anything peculiar—linguistically, discursively, and interactionally—about English as a lingua franca. Is there, in other words, a “lingua franca” factor at play? If, as some have speculated, this is indeed the case, in uncovering unique features of English as a lingua franca, we can hope to produce detailed descriptions and pedagogical materials that will further bolster the status of English as a lingua franca within Applied Linguistics, that will enhance our understanding of matters relating to multilingualism, multicompetence, additional language learning, intercultural communication, and spoken interaction. The article contends that there is a “lingua franca factor,” but argues that it resides not in the language or discourse forms produced, but in two other spheres, one being entailment, the other in metatheory . “Entailment” concerns the inherent interactional and linguistic variability that lingua franca interactions entail. “Metatheory” refers to theoretical underpinnings and dispositions brought about by adopting a lingua franca outlook on language.

Cite this

Alan Firth (2009). The lingua franca factor. Intercultural Pragmatics. https://doi.org/10.1515/iprg.2009.009

@article{alan2009the,
  title  = {The lingua franca factor},
  author = {Firth, Alan},
  year   = {2009},
  journal = {Intercultural Pragmatics},
  doi    = {10.1515/iprg.2009.009}
}

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