So, English as an International Language and as a Lingua Franca…
Research and debate have intensified in the last decade about the role that English is increasingly playing as an International, or global, language. It is a fact, a reality that cannot be ignored, whether we like it or not. We, and even more so our students, are surrounded by English, which has become the main lingua franca in international communications also in Europe.
But what and which English? Non-native speakers outnumber by far native speakers, and numbers are bound to increase in this sense – so should Inner circle countries (Great Britain, Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) be referred to as determining standards and models? Or should English as a Lingua Franca (see amongst others Barbara Seidlhofer and Jennifer Jenkins’ works) be considered a variety in its own rights and a possible reference model, also in TEFL?
A few references:
An easy-to-read and interesting article where to start from: NOT THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH - NON-NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEAKERS NOW OUTNUMBER NATIVE ONES 3 TO 1. AND IT'S CHANGING THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE. http://www.newsweek.com/id/49079
David Graddol’s English Next (2006) can be downloaded at http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-englishnext.htm
And the University of Verona GlobEng conference site: http://profs.lingue.univr.it/globeng/index.html
It’d be great to hear what you think…
Paola
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3 commenti:
dear Paola, you are like a colourful box wich make me curious and, when I open it I always find a treasure....
maria pia
Paola, l think you've done a fantastic job of it..!!! Looking forward to reading more of your interesting messages... Anna Franca
Hello you all!
Last week's GlobEng Conference in Verona has been a very involving and challenging experience form many points of view. Cognitivelly so many ideas sprung up in connection to ELF - not only the plenary sessions and speakers but also the presentations form the many speakers have been very interesting. And it has been great to share them with academics, collegue teachers and students. Should you be interested in knowing more, keep checking the GlobEng site - it will be updated shortly with new material.
Last but not least... Nancy and I finally met f2f. Just sorry that things were so hecting that we didn't have the chance to talk longer, and that I didnt' make it to your presentation, Nancy: I'm sure it's been great!
Paola
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