The Status of English as a Lingua Franca in the 21st Century

The status of a language as a lingua franca in the 21st century is not determined by its linguistic merits,or the number of people who speak the language,or a country's language policy,but the combined effect of political,economic and cultural forces.English as a future lingua franca has three characteristics:the status of official language in several countries;a priority in countries' foreign-language teaching programme;being widely used all over the world.

Implications of English as a Lingua Franca(ELF) for Task-based Language Teaching(TBLT) in China

Task-based language teaching(TBLT)methods to some extent counteract the dilemma of emphasis on authentic con text and the focus on non-native L2 learning circumstance.The notion of English as a Lingua Franca(ELF)is much a product in formed the concept that language acquisition is a process of learning language and using language.This paper explores the con cept of English as a lingua franca(ELF)and the nature of task-based language teaching.ELF and TBLT share a common ground that the interlocutors aim to convey information and sheer themselves of the baggage of English hegemony.Thus the implications of ELF for TBLT are discussed.

Are Englishes as lingua franca?

It is well-known that English is a global language.People around the world are not speaking a certain type of English but different varieties of English.With the increasingly awareness of this phenomenon,the word“Englishes”has been widely applied.This essay is to focus on the issue of“Englishes function as lingua franca”by discussing whether“English as a lingua franca”is a distinct variety.

Should English Be the Only Lingua Franca?

English is becoming the dominant global language.Its status has triggered a debate on whether English should be the on⁃ly lingua franca.There are some controversies.Esperanto is more neutral,but it’s unable to meet the communication needs of soci⁃ety.With the increasing diversification of the economy,the diversification of the world’s common languages seems inevitable.

Moving English Pronunciation Teaching Approach Beyond Native-like Proficiency or Standard Models:International Mutual Intelligibility and Lingua Franca Core(LFC)

As English serves as an international language(or Lingua Franca),increasing attention is paid to English pedagogy of English as International Language(EIL).This essay maintains that international mutual intelligibility is a more practical and achievable goal in English pronunciation pedagogy,compared with native-like proficiency and various of standard English.Meanwhile,Jenkins(2000)’s Lingua Franca Core(LFC),a Phonological Core for EIL,is briefly introduced.

“一带一路”背景下融入思政元素的ELF理论在“英语口语”课程中的教学应用

为顺应当前“一带一路”语境,将融入思政元素的英语通用语(English as a lingua franca,ELF)理论应用于“英语口语”课程教学设计。通过嵌入模块化的英语通用语教学内容,采取“学用评一体,三化融合”的教学策略,设计“跨越学科,育人导向”的教学过程,从而实现思政元素的有效融入。教学实践表明:采用该教学方式能够帮助学生树立语言文化自信、习得语言文化知识和培养语用交际能力,从而更好地为我国“一带一路”建设服务。

"Nativeness" and Intelligibility:Impacts of Intercultural Experience Through English as a Lingua Franca on Chinese Speakers' Language Attitudes

This paper investigates the impacts of intercultural experience through English as a lingua franca （ELF） on language attitudes, with the focus on Chinese speakers＇ narratives of ELF experience in relation to their views of Englishes. The data retrieved through 769 questionnaires and 35 interviews with Chinese users of English revealed the impacts in four aspects. First, the lack of ELF experience helps to maintain the assumption that conformity to native English is necessary for interactants to understand each other. Second, ELF experience triggers the question about the exclusive connection between nativeness and intelligibility. Third, it raises challenges to the exclusive relevance of native English for successful intercultural communication. Fourth, it helps to develop an awareness of intercultural communication strategies as important for communicative effectiveness in the context of the diversity of English. Attitudes revealed in the four aspects all point to a concern with the issue what is intelligible English. This paper thus discusses intelligibility in relation to （non-） nativeness and the role of intercultural experience in making sense of the issue of intelligibility, which leads to the exploration of pedagogical implications of this study.

An English as a Lingua Franca(ELF) Perspective in Asian English Language Teaching

The global spread of English as a Lingua Franca （ELF） has implications for practice in English Language Teaching （ELT） classrooms. This paper presents a study on attitudes toward ELF which is crucial to its incorporation because attitudes influence the learning output in ELT. It uses a mixed method approach through a questionnaire survey on attitudes toward ELF, which contains a modified Verbal Guise Technique （VGT）, complemented with semi-structured interviews. Seventy university students and 4 lecturers from three English departments in Japan （Waseda University and Sophia University） and Indonesia （Universitas Negeri Jakarta） were involved in filling out the questionnaire and semi structured interview sessions. The results highlight positive attitudes towards ELF and its incorporation into ELT （Japan： 3.71, and Indonesia： 3.51）. In addition, factors which influence these attitudes （aspects related to language learning experience） were proven significant. The interview sessions also suggest ways to incorporate an ELF perspective into the ELT classrooms. Further, it addresses the issue of the gap between theory and practice in research on Global Englishes in Language Teaching （GELT） where a ＂conceptual gap＂ is often found. The study is of value to those interested in ELT curriculum evaluation and design to meet the needs of both ELT and ELF community in countries like Japan and Indonesia.

Intelligibility and Segmental Phoneme Repair Strategies in English-as-a-Lingua-Franca Interactions among Chinese and Japanese Speakers of English

This is a qualitative study of the types of segmental repair that maintain mutual intelligibility in English-as-a-Lingua-Franca interactions among Chinese and Japanese speakers of English （Jenkins, 2000; Matsumoto 2011; O＇Neal 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2016, in press）. Repair refers to a set of practices through which conversation participants stop the ongoing action to attend to actual or potential problems 1：o the maintenance of mutual intelligibility （Schegloff, 2007; N^meth, 2012）. Although anything can potentially be a problem to the maintenance of mutual intelligibility, this study focuses only on instances of the repair of segmental phonemes so that the pronunciation remains mutually intelligible. Using conversation analytic methodology to examine a corpus of repair sequences concerning pronunciation among Chinese and Japanese students at a Japanese university, this study claims that three segmental repair strategies are used in the interactions to maintain mutually intelligible pronunciation： segmental phoneme modification, segmental phoneme insertion, and segmental phoneme deletion.

ELF Interactions Among Chinese, Greek, and Swiss Speakers of English

The paper concerns the issue of ELF （English as a lingua franca） in the European and Asian context. The authors start from a brief conceptual perspective to shed light on salient aspects related to ELF. Then, this paper discusses the study investigating the interactions among NNS （non-native speakers） of English in the naturalistic settings, namely in Zhangjiajie （China）, Masouri （Kalymnos/Greece）, and Unterwasser （Switzerland）. The main objective of the research based on the qualitative methodology was to analyze the ELF interactions from the linguistic point of view focusing on lexicogrammar and pragmatic features. The secondary objective was to establish whether the identified ELF features contributed to communication intelligibility. The obtained results indicated a few significant similarities with the Seidlhofer＇s list of the ELT characteristics. Furthermore, it was established in the study that the ELF features did not interfere with effective communication between interlocutors

Changing English in a Changing World

This paper first investigates the phenomenon of changing English in our global village and the possible reasons for the changes,and then tries to discuss how people can understand this kind of change in terms of English is regarded as lingua franca nowadays.Finally,the implications and suggestions are drawn in terms of how people should have appropriate attitudes towards those changes.

Intelligibility or Native-like Proficiency--What Should Be the Priorities of English Pronunciation Teaching？

Pronunciation plays an important role in English language teaching. This essay reviews literature on English pronunciation teaching and English as a Lingua Franca. Through examining the priorities in English pronunciation teaching, teachers' and students' attitudes towards intelligibility and native-like proficiency, as well as the value of adhering to a language standard, the author provides rational reasons for choosing intelligibility rather than native-like proficiency as the priority of English pronunciation teaching.

功能负载原理是否预测了音位对比对ELF使用者的语音清晰度的重要性?--从ELF的角度对Munro and Derwing(2006)的部分复制研究

功能负载(FL)原则预测高FL音位对比,例如/i:/和/?/,比低FL音位对比,例如/u:/和/?/,对发音的相互可懂度的影响更大。为了评估FL原则是否能准确预测英语作为通用语言(ELF)条件下的清晰度,本研究部分复制了由Munro和Derwing(2006)所做的第一项实证支持FL原则的研究。中国人录制了24个包含目标词的高低FL音素替换的英语句子,171名日本大学生听了这些句子并将目标词转写成书面英语。本研究的假设是,具有高FL音素替换的目标词比具有低FL音素替换的目标词更难理解。结果表明,具有高FL音素替换的目标词的清晰度确实低于具有低FL音素替换的目标词,而且多个高FL音素替换的叠加更加降低清晰度。本研究结果与Munro and Derwing (2006)的发现一致,即高FL音素替换比低FL音素替换更能降低清晰度,因此这项研究宣称在ELF条件下成功复制了该研究的一个方面。

中国英语学习者对不同英语口音态度的研究

研究调查并分析了574名高校英语专业学生对不同英语口音的态度。研究结果表明参与者对不同英语口音持有矛盾心理。一方面,他们对英语本族语者口音表现出明显的好感,而对带有中国口音和其他非英语本族语者的英语口音带有明显偏见。另一方面,部分参与者对语言权利和英语使用者的身份有了新的认知,主要表现在强调交际中的实用性、认可带有母语口音的中国人身份、质疑英语本族语者的语言特权等。研究呼吁国内学界和教育界重视语言现实与语言教学规范之间的差距,了解并关注中国英语学习者通过带有母语口音的英语来投射其身份的潜在诉求,努力构建符合时代要求和中国英语学习者诉求的英语教学范式。

我国早期商务英语的产生及语言属性——兼论洋泾浜英语与商务英语的关系

盛行于我国清代通商口岸为涉外商贸服务的"中国洋泾浜英语"(CPE),就其词源及辞书释义、形成及用途、教学及读本内容、使用者的职业等而言,就是我国早期的商务英语。CPE产生于早期中西商贸语言接触和语言混合,经历了广州英语和上海洋泾浜英语两个主要发展阶段,是近代中外商贸交往中不可或缺的商贸通用语、混合语和有限的二语习得。

中华优秀传统文化融入大学英语课堂的思考

为了培养具有国际化视野的人才,大学英语教学必须融入中华优秀传统文化教育的内容,克服英语表达中“中国文化失语”现象,增强学生跨文化交际能力。要解决目前中华优秀传统文化教育融入大学英语课堂教学存在的诸多问题,可以从教学目标定位、教材编撰优化、教学方法创新和师资素质提高等方面入手。

通用语背景下的中国英语语音教学思考

随着英语成为全球通用语,非本族语使用者的数量已超过本族语使用者。上世纪五十年代以来,以英式英语和美式英语为标准的本族语语音范式不断受到质疑。在通用语语境中,相互可理解性逐步成为受到认可的新的语音标准。本文根据Jenkins提出的通用语核心语音理论和多年的教学研究与实践,提出应在教学中涵盖核心语音层面内容并有意识地增加适应性能力训练,以顺应英语作为全球通用语在世界各地的发展,促进国内英语语音教学的改革。

从标准英语到世界英语的规范

英语作为世界通用语,在国际交流中起着重要的作用。随着英语在世界范围内的迅速发展,呈现出"多变体"、"多方言"的现象。在总结探求"国际标准英语"应用中遇到现实困难的基础上,提出世界英语在国际间使用的过程中,存在着世界英语规范。世界英语的规范不是任何人或组织推行的结果,而是来自不同国家地区的英语使用者以"可理解、可接受"的原则,为自然交际中形成的。通过论述世界英语规范的特点和展望世界英语规范下的英语发展趋势,提出重视对世界英语规范的调查和研究,为英语作为世界通用语提供必要的理论和现实依据。

对近20年“中国英语”争论的反思——兼谈中国英语教学改革

客观派认为“中国英语”是客观存在,对立派认为“中国英语”的存在缺乏政治、社会和理论基础。由于对“中国英语”的定性缺乏同一性,使双方往往是在不同的前提下进行争论,对“中国英语”的采集也不是在同一个准则下进行。应从“语言使用”和“语言使用者”两个侧面对“中国英语”进行定性;应把国际通用英语与地域英语区别开来;应该明确在国际交往中英语言文化不是国际通用文化。

ELF理念下大学英语课程思政的创新:现状、机理与路径

大学英语课程思政建设的突破口在于依托ELF理念,聚焦“国际性”价值中真实语境的多元取向,祛魅“工具性”中标准英语的单一导向,贯彻“人文性”中纵横中外的全球视野。以ELF意识为载体,ELF理念在机理上契合课程思政内隐的主流意识形态,既有利于创设“三联动”目标效应与“三合奏”内容体系,也有助于化解评价机制不完善的堵点和难点。该隐性路径在实践中首先需要在教师队伍中推行用中国智慧培养适度语言态度的表率,继而在课堂教学中推动态度转变与价值引领互促于课程知识与能力提升的知行共显体系,实现思政教育与课程建设“化合为一”之境。