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Exploring languages and cultures
Exploring languages and cultures

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2.2 English as a lingua franca

We now turn to the most successful lingua franca the world has ever seen, certainly in terms of the number of speakers – English.

In the next activity, you will listen to various people who have been working together on a project. Only one of them is a native speaker of English, yet they have used English as their lingua franca throughout the project. In this sense, they are like thousands of project teams throughout the world who, at any one moment, are communicating in English in fields such as science and business.

Activity 13

Listen to Teija, Nadia and Jim talk about their experiences of working together in English. Jim is the only native speaker of the language in the group.

As you listen, make notes about the advantages and disadvantages of using English as a lingua franca from the perspectives of the non-native and native speakers on their project. Type your notes into the appropriate spaces below.

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1

Advantages of using English as a lingua franca on the project:

(a) from the non-native speaker perspective

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(b) from the native speaker perspective

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2

Disadvantages of using English as a lingua franca on the project:

(a) from the non-native speaker perspective

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(b) from the native speaker perspective

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Answer

Given that some sort of shared language needs to be used by the participants in this project, the central advantage of English as a lingua franca, from the non-native speaker perspective, is that it is the language of the domains they are discussing. There are, however, three disadvantages mentioned from a non-native viewpoint, disadvantages that could be applicable to any language in which a speaker does not have native-like fluency: it can be tiring, requiring high concentration levels when speaking and listening; there may be a sense of reduced personality in that it is difficult to do justice to one’s ideas or use humour in the same way in a second language; finally, it is time-consuming.

From the native speaker perspective, the principal advantage is that of working in one’s own first language. Nevertheless, there may also be disadvantages: as for the non-native speakers, it may be tiring, due to the high level of concentration required when listening to non-native speakers, and Jim also mentions his feeling of inadequacy and being overawed by others’ linguistic abilities.

The discussion seems to portray the use of English in a rather negative light. Although its practical advantages are acknowledged in passing, the psychological difficulties of operating in a lingua franca are emphasised, along with the physical strain of maintaining the concentration levels required for successful interaction. The next part of the discussion strikes a more upbeat tone.

Activity 14

As you listen to the next conversation, make notes on the liberating and constraining aspects of speaking English as a lingua franca. Then type your answer into the box below.

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Answer

Jim talks of how English is no longer the property of British or American native speakers but is being exploited by a variety of different groups and nations. Teija follows this up by mentioning how being able to draw upon the resources of English while also having a first language which others do not understand is a form of liberation. Her words are reminiscent of a vision expressed by Robert Phillipson, a British linguist who sees English as an ‘additive’ resource which speakers can exploit for particular purposes without suffering a ‘subtractive’ effect on their own language (Phillipson, 2009).

However, the drawback of this notion of English as an additive resource is expressed by Nadia who resents the fact that she cannot communicate effectively in her native tongue about her scientific field of expertise. This is because English is the default language of science. If particular fields are predominantly discussed and written about in English, the danger of speakers of other languages experiencing what Phillipson describes as ‘dispossession’ seems to be very real. Jim’s anecdote about the Austrian woman confirms this danger. She suddenly had the sensation of being linguistically dispossessed because exposure to Dutch and English at different stages in her life left her feeling that she had mastery of none of her languages, not even her first language, German.