From EFL to ELF

During the first decade of a new millennium, interest in English as a lingua franca (ELF) increased dramatically. Therefore a lot of research has been done at a range of linguistic levels, such as lexis, grammar, pronunciation and pragmatics as well as on the morpho-syntactic properties of ELF interactions and the communi-cation strategies used by ELF speakers in order to facilitate communication and avoid misunderstandings. This has also been reflected in the approaches and attitudes towards English as a lingua franca in English Language Teaching. That is why we might need to rethink not only how English is taught, but also which kind or variety of English. We should take into account a wide range of global trends and the current transformations that English is undergoing. In this article we pay attention to the definitions and features of ELF. We also deal with the reasons why English has become a global language. We concentrate on the global nature of English, the process of globalization, and the results of various empirical research which have raised profound questions about current principle and practice in English language teaching. According to the pedagogic implications of ELF, it is necessary to take into account the key areas in particular: the nature of the language syllabus, teaching materials, approaches and methods, language assessment and the knowledge base of language teachers. Apart from this, we would like to highlight that the main aim of this article is to demonstrate the communicative advantages of an ELF approach and to raise awareness of ELF among teachers.

The research draws on a multidisciplinary approach to provide multiple perspectives and interpretations of three learner narratives on multilingualism. The Labovian (1972) narrative structure (from the field of sociolinguistics), Kristeva’s (1980) semiotic approach, complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) (Fekete, 2024; Larsen-Freeman, 1997), and an English as a lingua franca (ELF) vs English as a foreign language (EFL) perspective (Widdowson, 2012, 2022) are used to provide multiple interpretations of three learner narratives, as special cases, shedding light on the complexities and nuanced details of becoming mul­tilingual. This research is part of a bigger research project where data were collected from 38 multilingual En­glish majors at a Hungarian university using the struc­tured interview method (Dörnyei, 2007) in the form of a recording made by the participants. However, for the present research, three complex narratives were selected for analysis from multiple perspectives. Following multiple cycles of coding (Saldana, 2013), qualitative content analysis was applied to reveal var­ious aspects of multilingualism. The results pointed out how the complex narrative structure proposed by Labov (1972) was used to de­scribe experiences of multilingualism. Furthermore, the narrative genre of folk tales was drawn on to cre­ate a culturally appropriate account (Kramsch, 2009), and multilingualism was associated with authentic in­teractions in an English as a lingua franca (ELF) con­text. The narratives also shed light on the complex and dynamic nature of second language acquisition (SLA) and the nuances of becoming multilingual. Fi­nally, additional interpretations of the longest narra­tive are offered, including a feminist and a semiotic reading of the narrative.

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has constituted a major part of the curriculum in private and public institutions in Saudi Arabia for over eight decades. More recently, the emergence of English as a global language has made it a socially desirable language in Saudi society, as elsewhere in the world. However, despite the long history of English teaching in Saudi Arabia and the growth of the profession over the years, the overall English proficiency level of the majority of students is low and unsatisfactory. Saudi researchers have reported many reasons for the ineffectiveness of English Language Teaching (ELT) including, but not limited to, low levels of student motivation, negative attitudes toward English, a substandard English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum, and inefficient teacher pedagogical practices. These problems fall into two major categories: problems related to the lwhyr of teaching and learning of EFL, and problems related to the lhowr of teaching and learning EFL. In investigating these issues, much of this research has been carried out within individual/psychological/structuralist/positivist frameworks, which has failed not only to problematize the complexity of such constructs but also to appreciate the fact that all realities are produced/(re)produced via ldiscourser. Hence, the present study investigated EFL teaching and learning practices by employing Foucauldian and poststructuralist frameworks. This study used poststructuralism not only as a theoretical lens per se, but also established it through the implemented analytical tools and textual representations of the collected data. Employing a poststructuralist discursive perspective made it possible to view EFL teaching and learning as complex social practices, interacting with the discourses of English and ELT practices available in the global as well as the local context(s). These discourses create the nexus between power and knowledge and impact on what an EFL teacher/ learner does within a classroom setting by constructing perspectives of reality through which he or she comes to understand the EFL teaching and learning process in certain ways which constitute epistemological spaces and generate particular practices. Drawing on policy documents, EFL textbooks, classroom observations, interviews with two Saudi EFL teachers, and focus group discussions with Saudi EFL students in two rural areas, the study identified seven discourses circulating within and competing across the examined discursive spaces. The first three discourses are related to English and its values, including: English as a universal language; English as the language for better employment opportunities; and English as the language for spreading religion. The remaining four discourses centred around ELT with exams as an important aspect of EFL learning and ELT; CLT as the key to success in ELT; L1 as a barrier to successful EFL learning; and EFL textbooks as an essential aspect of the processes of EFL learning and ELT. In exploring the production and (re)production of these discourses through the examination of how visibilization, normalisation, exclusionary/inclusionary acts, classification, and subject positioning as discursive strategies are employed, it was found that whether a particular discourse was made visible or invisible depended on other discourses operating across the examined discursive spaces: the social context, the policy, the textbook, the classroom, and the teachers and students. The analysis of the connection(s) and misconnection(s) between these discursive spaces demonstrated that the interplay between the different discourses constructed discursive battlegrounds, which impacted the processes of EFL teaching and learning. Through the investigation of this interplay, it was found that there was a disconnect and an ambivalent relationship between the study participantsr espoused discourses of English and their EFL teaching and learning practices, suggesting that EFL teachers and learners should not be considered lstabler figures, but rather as social agents with discursively constructed ever changing subjectivities. Furthermore, the analyses of the constructions of the discourses operating within the examined policy texts demonstrate an intra disparity and fragmentation. This was manifested in the difference between the ideals of the EFL curriculum and the institutionally imposed regulating techniques, that is, examinations and teachersr assessment practices which had negative effects on EFL teaching and learning dynamics. Additionally, as a consequence of the competition between the different sources of discursive constructions, I found that there was a gulf between the EFL policies and the enactment of these policies in EFL teaching and learning dynamics in the observed EFL classrooms. The findings of this study also indicate that if a discourse promoted through the policy is mediated by discourses operating in the larger societal context, it became more visible in teaching and learning practices as compared to other discourses that did not have social moorings. This suggests that taking the prevailing social expectations into account at the stage of developing any policy is of paramount importance.nThe study concludes with a discussion of the implications of the interplay of connections and misconnections between competing discourses across different spaces in Saudi educational settings for improving the EFL teaching/learning environments in Saudi Arabia and other similar contexts.n

The increasing use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) calls for substantial changes in the English Language Teaching (ELT) pedagogy both in Italy and elsewhere. This chapter illustrates an ongoing research project aimed to explore the dynamics of ELF discourse in the educational domain, and ultimately, to devise guidelines for developing cognitive-experiential practices that enhance ELF communicative competence in ELT classrooms. The study investigates ELF communicative strategies through naturally occurring discussions in which school-age learners – ELF users – talk about a challenging topic under unconstrained conditions, namely without the supervision of their English teacher and without English as a Native Language (ENL) requirements. This experimental activity was performed by observing and audio recording natural spoken ELF interactions among Italian students and students of ten different nationalities participating in intercultural exchange programmes in three upper-secondary schools. The qualitative data analysis is conducted within a conversation analytic framework by means of a protocol based on conversational moves. It focuses on the cooperative practices that school-age ELF users enact to achieve effective communication. The analysis reveals that participants (i) generally orient to their interlocutors, employing pragmatic strategies that are commonly used in ELF communication, and (ii) implement languaging and interactional skills that show their authentic involvement in the spoken activity as it was designed. These findings demonstrate that school-age ELF users put into play their language resources, but also themselves as individuals with their own identity, cultural background and experiences. The results of this study may be translated into teaching practices that enhance ELF-mediated communication, promoting language and intercultural awareness

This article reviews the significant and diverse range of research on English language education in Indonesia in the eight-year period 2011–2019. It brings together a body of research consisting of 108 sources, ranging from journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings and doctorate dissertations, to inform the international research and practice community. The contributions cover primary education, secondary education and tertiary education in highly diverse Indonesia where 707 living languages co-exist and struggle to find space in its linguistic ecology. The discussion will provide insights into how factors such as educational policies, ideologies as well as sociocultural and religious values are in contestation in shaping research into and the practice of English language education in the complex, dynamic and polycentric sociolinguistic situation of Indonesia, which has been recently conceptualized as superglossia (Zein, 2020). It is hoped our insights will help inform other multilingual contexts facing the unprecedented need for transforming English language education in this increasingly globalized world.

This article aims to explore whether well-attested findings in the fields of World Englishes (WE) and of English as a lingua franca (ELF) have determined a shift in perspective in the overall approach to English language teaching (ELT), and how far this shift has permeated teaching materials and coursebooks. The research study was carried out in Italy, a country where ELT coursebooks have often played a relevant role in introducing innovations in language teaching methodology. The research design included a corpus of ten coursebooks that have been published and adopted in Italian secondary schools in the last 6 years. The coursebooks were evaluated in terms of the presence or absence of references to WE and/or ELF, of awareness-raising activities, of the promotion of using English outside the school environment and of the use of effective English communication and intercultural strategies among nonnative speakers. Findings show that there have been no significant changes in the inclusion of WE- and ELForiented materials and related tasks, apart from the area of promotion of cultural and intercultural awareness.

This contribution aims at presenting the underlying construct and the research design of a study carried out by the Roma Tre University unit of a 3-year national research project (PRIN), as well as the findings about English language (EL) teachers’ attitudes towards English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) as they emerge from the study and from the in-service teacher education course designed and implemented during the project. The study investigated native and non-native teachers’ understandings, beliefs and attitudes towards ELF and the challenges brought about by the notion of ELF awareness in English Language Teaching (ELT). This investigation was carried out through the online administration of two questionnaires, one for Italian non-native teachers of English teaching in the Italian school system, and one for native English language assistants working at university level. The survey findings informed the design of a post-graduate blended EL teacher education course, with a special focus on developing English language teachers’ awareness of the emerging realities of English, while providing an ELF-aware reflective approach to revisit the EL teachers’ syllabus design, lesson planning and implementation. Course participants’ feedback is presented and pedagogical implications for EL teacher education are illustrated and discussed.

This is a qualitative study of nonnative English speakers who speak English as a lingua franca (ELF) in their graduate student dormitory in the United States, a community of practice (Wegner, 2004) comprised almost entirely of second language users. Using a sequential analysis (Koshik, 2002; Markee, 2000; Sacks, Schegloff, & Jefferson, 1974; Schegloff, Koshik, Jacoby, & Olsher, 2002), the study investigates how these ELF speakers successfully manage their intercultural communication through accommodation strategies (e.g., Jenkins, 2000, 2006) used to address differences in pronunciation and familiarity with a range of ELF speech styles. Drawing on my own experience as a member of this community, I investigate how speakers display equality and legitimacy as English language users in the ELF community in face‐to‐face interactions when they negotiate understanding in spite of their different accents. ELF speakers exhibit a wide variety of pronunciations as a result of first language cross‐linguistic influence, and those phonological differences may hamper intercultural communication, more than any other linguistic feature. For this reason, I have chosen to focus on phonological issues for this study. I argue that sequential analysis of the interactions among speakers of English as a lingua franca may provide useful examples of successful communication among these groups. Data from such analysis should be included in English language teaching as a model of successful interaction strategies directed toward students who will face these situations. The analysis of this ELF data will also be useful as a model for the study of other languages that are often used as lingua francas.

Speakers of English as a lingua franca (ELF) represent the largest contemporary group of English users around the world. Much empirical research into the phenomenon of ELF over the past 10 years or so has focused on identifying the linguistic regularities of their English in diverse contexts of use. More recently, research has demonstrated the extent to which ELF is characterized by extensive online variability, with speakers accommodating their English to an extent not found in other language use, so as to make it appropriate to the interaction in hand and the diverse interlocutors involved.The acknowledged variability of ELF has resulted in a dilemma for English language teaching and assessment. That is, grammatical and pragmatic norms conventionally associated with an idealized “standard” version of the native language no longer seem appropriate as benchmarks, because the majority of ELF use takes place among non‐native English speakers. English language assessment thus needs to develop new benchmarks that are able to evaluate the degree to which ELF users’ English is fit for purpose.This chapter begins by discussing ELF from the perspective of teaching and learning, and, in doing so, dispels the myth that ELF eschews any kind of standards. It goes on to explore the notion of “standard” English and the extent to which it is grounded in language ideology rather than appropriate use of language in context, as well as the ways in which this ideology is being reinforced by the powerful transnational English language testing enterprises and, in turn, diverting attention from the changes needed in English language teaching. Finally, taking note of work in the field of critical language assessment and paying attention to empirical findings regarding ELF‐mediated communication, the factors that need to be taken into account in order to enrich the agenda for future developments are considered.

Multicultural education in English Language Teaching (ELT) has gained significant attention, although challenges still persist in its classroom implementation. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate challenges and strategies associated with implementing multicultural education in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes within Islamic higher education institutions in Indonesia. A case study method was used, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with six teachers actively involved in EFL teaching to explore the complexities and nuances of integrating multicultural education in this context. The results showed various challenges, including the need to balance cultural sensitivity with standardized curriculum requirements, addressing potential resistance or discomfort among students during discussions of culturally sensitive topics, and mitigating resource limitations hindering comprehensive multicultural education. Furthermore, teachers emphasized the importance of enhancing mutual respect, improving intercultural understanding, and integrating diverse cultural content into the curriculum. Future studies were recommended to emphasize collaborative efforts, institutional support, and ongoing professional development to help teachers adapt teaching methods effectively. Despite limited resources, teachers remained committed to creating inclusive learning environments that prepared students to become proficient English speakers and global citizens capable of appreciating and thriving in a diverse world. In conclusion, this study provided valuable insights for teachers, institutions, and policymakers to improve multicultural education in similar educational contexts.

In academic research on intercultural communication (IC), students’ perceptions and experiences regarding English as a lingua franca (ELF) have been central to the discussion because they form the basis for English teaching policies and practices in multilingual and multicultural environments. Substantial theoretical research on ELF has called for a paradigm shift from emphasizing the over-simplistic correlation between language and Anglophone cultures to recognizing the legitimacy of non-native English learners’ home culture in English teaching pedagogy. Nonetheless, little empirical research has been conducted to examine how ELF speakers understand their home culture in ELF communications. Relatively fewer studies have investigated to what extent ELF users’ perceptions of home culture influence their IC practices. To address these gaps, this study aims to explore Chinese international students in a liberal arts university in the United Kingdom and their understanding of Chinese culture in authentic ELF interactions. In addition, the perceived effects of Chinese culture on students’ IC were explored in great depth. This study adopts a mixed-method approach, including a student questionnaire (N = 200) and follow-up semi-structured interviews (N = 10). Following descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of the obtained data, the findings revealed that most participants lacked a thorough understanding of their home culture, while they considered home culture playing a significant role in ELF communications. The contribution of this study builds on work in English users’ awareness of home culture in IC to identify the significance of enabling the presence of English learners’ home culture in English language teaching (ELT) classrooms.

This chapter is motivated by a need to fill a lacuna in empirical evidence of an English language teacher educator’s reflexive accounts on the incorporation of critical pedagogy into the English language teaching (ELT) classroom. This is particularly relevant in Indonesia, where English as a lingua franca (ELF) encounters are inevitable between teacher educators and student-teachers, and among the student-teachers themselves. Drawing primarily on the literature of ELF, critical pedagogy in the ELT literature, and the sociocultural perspective of L2 teacher education, I explore two themes: the situated nature of my own Critical Pedagogy & Literacy class impacted by the discourse of the ASEAN Economic Community; and my attempts to have a dialogue on social justice with my student-teachers. To illustrate these themes, I examine a classroom transcript in a class session, a task sheet and newspaper opinion articles used in the class session, excerpts from my own reflective journal, and dialogic exchanges on Schoology. This chapter concludes with a discussion about self-driven professional development when scaffolding student-teachers to negotiate or co-construct notions of ASEAN-awareness and social justice as part of using ELF in the era of the ASEAN Community.

The last decade has witnessed a significant increase of research on English as a lingua franca (ELF) as today's world becomes progressively more globalized (Lei & Liu, 2018). However, studies on ELF in the Chinese contexts remain sparse although linguistic research in China has kept pace with the development of international linguistic academia. Moreover, many researchers studying ELF-informed teaching in China are either non-Chinese scholars or researchers working in countries other than China (Si, 2019). In other words, this newly emerged field of research has not yet been widely embraced by Chinese scholars, nor its paradigm has been promoted in English education while traditional native-English-based teaching has been challenged and initiatives have been taken to promote English education within the ELF paradigm in many countries in the expanding circle (see e.g., Sifakis & Tsantila, 2019). In this paper, we address the issue through identifying various hindrances to teaching ELF in Chinese classroom and analyzing the factors leading to the difficulties and problems with implementing the ELF-informed teaching in Chinese context. Following this, we explore the prospects for taking advantage of the pedagogical value of ELF research in the foreseeable future.

This paper reports on the English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia and the significance of a proposed approach to the ELT, that is, World Englishes. Library research was conducted to answer principal questions regarding “which prestigious variety should be used, the local English teacher (non-native English teacher) and inner-circle teacher debate (native English teacher), and impact of English affecting local languages. The report concludes with recommendations on how to deal with the three issues”. The first recommendation is to incorporate World Englishes teaching method into ELT in educational institutions nationwide hence provide first-hand experience of varieties of Englishes used in other countries. Secondly, it was suggested that it is more efficient to have both native and non-native English Teachers to teach at a language institution. Lastly, as English travels worldwide it may affect heritage languages thus Jenkins (2015) proposes, students should be made aware of their native languages as their identities and function it together with English (Jenkins, 2015, p. 176). Ultimately, bilingualism is essential in order to employ English as the international language but not forgetting to maintaining local languages as students’ important cultural asset

Through this paper, and the various points that have been discussed, it is evident that the ELF awareness is a basic framework which could be used to interpret the beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives of stakeholders. Also, hopefully, this study should influence the principles by which learning activities and classroom practices are implemented. The paper argues that core considerations must be taken into cognizance, as reviewed below, in the perspective of raising ELF awareness while reviewing the place of including ELF awareness concerns and ideas into current curriculum designing and development in order to aid broader application and for maximal impact on the principles and practices that govern ELT within a globally integrative perspective. Keywords: Curriculum, ELF awareness, ELT, principles and practices, stakeholders. DOI : 10.7176/JEP/10-29-04 Publication date :October 31 st 2019