English as a Lingua Franca: Approaches to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice

English as a Lingua Franca: Approaches to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice

Aicha Rahal
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-5682-8.ch021
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Abstract

English has occupied a unique place in today's interconnected world. The emergence of ELF opens questions revolving around the change of the teaching and learning habitus. Researchers point to the disparity between theory and practice in this new paradigm and the need for bridging gap between them. The suggested study tries to explore this problem. Its purpose is to reflect on new approaches, which go hand in hand with how English is currently being used, and how it can also be integrated in classrooms. It first presents the development of ELF. The monolingual view of language and language use and the plurilingual view are also highlighted. Then, the discussion will be turned to the central topic of the study. It focuses on approaches to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
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English As A Lingua Franca

Seidelhofer (2011) defines English as a lingua franca as “any use of English among speakers of different first languages for whom English is the communicative medium of choice, and often the only option” (p. 7). Jenkins (2000) also provides her definition of this concept, which is as follows: “ELF emphasizes the role of English in communication between speakers from different L1s, …” (Jenkins, 2000, p. 11). Moreover, Gnutzmann (2000) explains this phenomenon as “[w] hen used as a lingua franca, English is no longer founded on the linguistic and sociocultural norms of native English speakers and their respective countries and cultures” (p. 358). ELF refers to global English, to a common language of its speakers. It is no longer the language of the natives.

Crystal is one of the supporters of English as a lingua Franca. He is enthusiastic about this phenomenon and this is clearly shown in the following:

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