Exploring ELF: Academic English Shaped by Non-native Speakers

Abstract

The widest use of English today is its use as a lingua franca (ELF) through which millions communicate for a variety of purposes. Surely there have been other lingua francas throughout history and there are other lingua francas (for example Russian, Spanish, Arabic) in certain geographical areas of the world today, but ELF is different from all. ‘[I]t is the first truly global lingua franca’ (p. 17), used in a wide spectrum of domains. In this book, we ‘explore’ one of these domains, namely academia, and the use of English as an academic lingua franca, as the author Mauranen tells us in the title. A useful preliminary before going into each chapter is a general evaluation. This is an excellent book from a well-known ELF scholar who is undeniably an expert in academic ELF. In this well-written and coherent work, every expectation one may have from a book on academic ELF in general is met. The reader gets a detailed description of English as an academic lingua franca, its characteristics and processes, as well as a review of other important research within this topic up to the publication date of the book. I agree with Ferguson (2013: 431) on what he said in an earlier review of this book: Mauranen does ‘stay[s] clear of ideological debate’ here. Necessary as it may be to have ideological debates, for ELF as a topic has caused much controversy, in this book, we get empirical linguistic description and detailed discussions of specific characteristics of academic ELF based on the ELFA (English as a Lingua Franca in Academic Settings) corpus. With regard to readership, the book would perhaps be put to use best by academic ELF specialists, but also EAP practitioners will find much to benefit from here, as the research and discussions in the book will help them gain a better understanding of international students and international communication in general. Finally, even readers who wish to get a glimpse into the notion of ELF in academia will find much that is helpful and interesting in this work.

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