English as a Lingua Franca and English language teaching: a way forward

Abstract

I enjoyed Andrew Sewell’s recent article on ontology and ideology in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) (Sewell 2013). He argues that neither advocates nor opponents of ELF have come to terms with the complexities of English in the era of globalization. In my view, he successfully pinpoints several fallacious arguments underlying much of the ELF literature, such as the tendency for ELF researchers to essentialize and exaggerate the differences between ELF and English as a native language (ENL), thereby creating a false dichotomy between them. Yet he also suggests, as do advocates of ELF, that there is further scope for an enhanced awareness of language variation in ELT. In response to Sewell’s article, I feel that two issues still need further discussion, that is, the importance of acknowledging learner choice and the relevance of ELF research findings to classroom practice. In his article, Sewell (ibid.: 8) points out that some ELF researchers tend to ‘oversimplify the notion of learner choice and downplay the constraints posed by social structures and inequality’. However, I do not agree with his reservations about learners’ flexibility to choose ‘to speak like native speakers when they want to’ (Cogo 2012: 104). Of course, we must acknowledge the difficulties many learners face in the process of learning any given model of English. However, we should not underestimate their ability to nevertheless adapt and ‘appropriate’ linguistic features, ENL or ELF, when speaking English. In Rindal (2010), English learners in Norway exploited different native-speaker-like pronunciation features and adapted the social meaning of these features for the construction of their desired identities. For instance, a learner reported a desire to use more phonological features of British English in situations that require a certain level of formality, and to sound more ‘American’ in peer interactions, indexing less formality and more ‘coolness’. Apart from this ability to appropriate differing variants from ENL pronunciation, Jenkins 2000, (2007) also found that some learners of English chose to keep traces of their L1 accent when speaking English in order to retain their lingua-cultural identity, owing to their emotional attachment to their nationality and L1.

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