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The English as a Foreign Language / Lingua Franca Debate:
Sensitising Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Towards
Teaching English as a Lingua Franca
El debate del inglés como lengua extranjera o como lengua franca:
sensibilización de docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera hacia la enseñanza
del inglés como lengua franca
*
Gillian Mansfield
University of Parma, Italy
Franca Poppi**
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
The function of English as a lingua franca for communication needs rethinking in the teaching of
English as a foreign language classroom as a consequence of globalisation. The present contribution is
an empirical study carried out in an Italian university environment which aims to show how teachers
should take on board awareness raising activities in the recognition of other varieties of English which,
albeit not exploited as benchmarks for language testing and certification, must nevertheless boast a rel-
evant place in the global scenario. This can be achieved in practical terms by interrogating an expressly
made corpus of Chinese English news texts and carrying out simple concordance activities.
Key words: Awareness raising, concordances, English as a foreign language, English as a lingua franca,
globalisation.
Debido a los procesos de globalización, la función del inglés como herramienta internacional o
como lengua franca para la comunicación exige un replanteamiento de la enseñanza del inglés como
idioma extranjero. En este artículo se presenta un estudio empírico llevado a cabo en un contexto
universitario italiano que pretende mostrar cómo los docentes deberían desempeñar actividades para
facilitar el reconocimiento de otras variedades del inglés que, al no ser utilizadas como modelos de
evaluación y certificación lingüística, exigen en cambio una mayor atención en el escenario global.
En la práctica, esto puede realizarse analizando un corpus específico de textos periodísticos en inglés
chino y llevando a cabo actividades sencillas de concordancias.
Palabras clave: concordancias, inglés como lengua extranjera, inglés como lengua franca, facilitación
del reconocimiento, globalización.
* E-mail: gillian.mansfield@unipr.it
** E-mail: franca.poppi@unimore.it
This article was received on June 30, 2011, and accepted on November 2, 2011.
PROFILE Vol. 14, No. 1, April 2012. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 159-172 159
Mansfield & Poppi
Introduction in a position to access and save in electronic for-
The worldwide spread of English is just one mat –assembled as a general or specific corpus
of the many different developments subsumed and which they can subsequently interrogate– a
under the general phenomenon of globalisation. It large amount of authentic English data from all
is furthermore associated with boundless mobili- corners of the world. This innovative means of
ties and, as such, is the language of globalisation retrieving and investigating information about the
(Gnutzmann & Intemann, 2008, p. 9). language has clear implications for future teacher
If, on the one hand it is true that language is EFL teaching
training courses and the updating of
a vital commodity in the globalised world, it is on methodology.
the other also true that globalisation raises issues The work we present is supported by corpus
for second language learning and teaching. As a evidence provided by a collection of articles from
result, the function of English as an international the on-line version of the China Daily newspa-
ELF) for communication per, published in China, a country belonging to
tool or as a lingua franca (
1
needs rethinking in the English as a foreign lan- Kachru’s (1985) Expanding Circle. The aim of our
guage (EFL) classroom. This does not only require analysis is two-fold, both purposes linked to each
that teachers help their students develop the lin- other like a pair of stepping stones: 1) to sensitise
guistic skills needed to understand various kinds teachers of the existence of different Englishes
of accents and in turn be understood by others, around the world, which represent the voices and
but it also paves the way for an enhanced aware- interests of different non-native speakers in their
ness of the existence of non-native speakers all sociolinguistic and cultural uses of the language
over the world who use English as a means of com- by identifying unfamiliar or even inventive lexico-
munication. With this in mind, it is essential that grammatical features that appear in the corpus; 2)
teachers respond appropriately (and pragmatically) to propose an analytical framework that can be
to equipping their students with the skills needed applied to any variety of texts in order to enhance
in the face of cultural and linguistic differences EFL teaching methodology.
emerging between interactants in an international Thus we emphasize that the main aim of this
context, as, for example, Mauranen (2006) has paper does not lie in an attempt to investigate how
highlighted in her study of misunderstanding and much regularity/stability there actually is in the use
ELF communication. EFL), but simply to
repair strategies in of a standard form of English (
The present contribution is an empirical study raise awareness and acceptance of other Englishes.
ELF can
which investigates how instances of written From a contextual point of view, the paper will
be used to make EFL teachers come to terms with first provide some background information on the
the concept of the other; in particular, the other Italian university teaching context, and then focus
with respect to the standard (British or American) on some of the main issues prevalent in the EFL
English model, object and target of an institutional and ELF debate. After a description of our objec-
teaching syllabus. This otherness exists in its own tives, methods and materials, preliminary data will
right and as a natural consequence of cultural and be provided from a small-scale case study, carried
sociolinguistic realities in other parts of the world.
Thanks to developing technology and the wide- 1 Regarding the Englishes spoken around the world, Kachru
spread availability of documents, teachers are now devised a three circle concentric model - inner, outer and expanding.
160 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras
The English as a Foreign Language / Lingua Franca Debate: Sensitising Teachers of English...
out on a corpus of articles from the on-line ver- by requirements in both academic and other pro-
sion of the China Daily newspaper. Results from fessional circles where international certifications
this study will serve as a possible instance of good such as ESOL (First Certificate English, Cambridge
practice for teachers in creating awareness-raising Advanced and Proficiency) and (Test of English as
4
TOEFL attest the non-native
activities for themselves (and consequently their a Foreign Language)
students), such as interrogating a corpus of articles speaker’s ability to produce native speaker-like lan-
from the above-mentioned newspaper (or indeed guage and are seen as a kind of valid visiting card
others) and investigating unfamiliar localised or key qualification on a curriculum vitae. In the
forms that may be identified (with respect to the particular case of Italy, university degree syllabuses
CEFR for benchmark levels
standard language) by means of a simple concor- look to and apply the
2
dancing software . of students’ competences, where an “accurate” B1
is required of non-language specialists reading for
The Italian Educational context degrees in disciplines ranging from the sciences to
At present English is the dominant language in the humanities, and a highly desirable C1-C2 for
the educational sector in Italy, as all over the rest language specialists.
ESOL covers a less specific
of Europe, where it is primarily taught as the first Interestingly enough,
foreign language and almost totally EFL biased, 130 countries around the world while on the TOEFL
5
where accuracy is considered to be the norm, be it site , reference is made to acceptance in the Inner
regarding productive skills in either the written or Circle countries (Kachru, 1985). Both sites thus
the spoken code. Native and non-native speakers imply, rather short-sightedly, that both British and
alike demand allegiance to and achievement of the American standards are the only acceptable norms
native speaker standards; neither pronunciation on a worldwide scale. Indeed, what is emerging
nor general written works are allowed to present any (Seidlhofer, 2008, p. 169) with some clarity is
L1 interference. Moreover, EFL teaching institutions that in view of the present globalisation through
(in secondary and further education) design their English and of English, insistence on a ‘mono-
courses often to match the requirements of inter- chrome’ native-speaker standard has now become
national examination boards such as the University an anachronism that inevitably leads to some con-
of Cambridge English for Speakers of Other Lan- fusion in the discourse of and about linguistics and
guages (ESOL), who base their examinations on the language teaching which manifests itself in a num-
descriptors of the Common European Framework ber of contradictions and discrepancies.
3
CEFR). This design is also confirmed
of Reference ( What we need is a critical appraisal of language
use and language teaching analogous to what we
2 The software used in this particular case was the freely find in other areas of English study, and a fostering
downloadable ConCapp.
3 The Common European Framework of Reference is available
at: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf. It is 4 While TOEFL does not take the CEFR into consideration
a document that consists of a series of levels (A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2) it likewise establishes the strict criteria candidates need to satisfy
across five language strands – listening, spoken interaction, spoken in order to achieve a particular level of competence. The TOEFL test
production, reading and writing. It has been designed with adult lan- measures your ability to use and understand English at the university
guage learners/users, as well as self-assessment in mind. It has the level. And it evaluates how well you combine your listening, reading,
benefit of not being specific to any country or context and offers a speaking and writing skills to perform academic tasks. http://www.
continuum for identifying language proficiency within a self-assess- ets.org/toefl/.
ment grid. 5 See above.
PROFILE Vol. 14, No. 1, April 2012. ISSN 1657-0790. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages 159-172 161
Mansfield & Poppi
of language awareness in the true sense of the word the university under the false impression that they
with regard to how language functions in social will be learning the language rather than about
contexts of use. the language. Hence, teachers must set themselves
To be able to move forward, it is necessary for the task of helping students to overcome an initial
teachers to take on board the present reality which difficulty in adjusting to more theory-oriented
does not rely on the hegemony of the norm-based investigative lessons that focus not on the form of
standard English, be it the British or the American the language but its particular meaning and func-
model. While noting the increasing need for a lin- tion in the speech context.
gua franca, which English may provide, Seidlhofer This confirms the general consensus among
(1997, p. 54) highlights its repercussions on the scholars reported by Jenkins (2006, p. 173) on the
teaching of English: importance of language awareness on the part of
[This constellation of factors] creates the opportunity to use teachers, teacher trainers and educators in all three
the teaching of English, from early schooling onwards, as an circles, and the need for them, together with their
integrative force equipping young people with two crucial assets students, “to learn not (a variety of English), but
simultaneously: the instrumental one of access to a lingua franca, about Englishes, their similarities and differences,
6
and the educational one of fostering language awareness. issues involved in intelligibility (the strong link
between language and identity, and so on)”. Indeed,
This move forward will have no chance of it is this conviction that triggered the suggested
survival unless, as Seidlhofer (1997, p. 54) affirms, awareness-raising activities proposed in the latter
“teacher education is carefully re-evaluated, re- part of this contribution, for the very reason that
thought, and re-formed”, implying that teachers, Language teachers must move away from viewing the non-
both native and non-native speakers of English, native language as if operated in a social void. It is vital to realize
must no longer simply teach what they them- the essential fact that language is, above all, a social creation
selves were taught to do and how to teach it in their and that communication is a social act. In most communities
teacher training courses. Seidlhofer (1997) supports the speakers’ status depends on their linguistic abilities; their
her claim by proposing a rather useful analogy with intelligence, personality and even value as human beings may
other areas of life, such as healthcare: all be judged according to their style of speaking. Because of
While there are sound arguments and great demands for various these factors, a socially oriented linguistics is unquestionably
forms of ‘alternative medicine’, most doctors still rely exclusively of immediate and practical relevance to non-native language
on a repertoire of drugs and surgery simply because this is what learners; sociolinguistic research and themes must be integrated
they were taught in medical school. Genuine change in healthcare into L2 courses. (Loveday, 1982, p. 176)
can only come in the wake of changes in medical training. (p. 54)
Such a claim is still relevant more than ten EFL vs ELF
years on and needs to be applied, in our opinion, Teachers must come to terms with the fact
more extensively in the Italian university system. that university students will be confused by what
Furthermore, it is also our view that under- is meant by EFL and ELF. For them the acronyms
graduates reading for language degrees come to might seem synonymous, since their practical lan-
EFL, yet what
guage studies go under the name of
6 Bold in original. Changed to italics here. learners are required to do is to make use of their
162 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Humanas, Departamento de Lenguas Extranjeras
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