Negotiation as the way of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication: trames of reference and interculturality

The paper argues that Negotiation (capitalised to differentiate from negotiation as an activity type such as business negotiation) is the most important means of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication. In intercultural and lingua franca communication, thus also in English as a lingua franca (ELF), variability, heterogeneity, and uncertainty are the norm, and therefore, the need to negotiate frames of reference and cultural identity is greater than in other types of communication. By providing a Negotiation approach for intercultural and lingua franca communication, we are able to focus on individuals taking part in interactions along with their agency rather than cultural groups, the here-and-now nature of interactions rather than assumed or predicted course of actions, the resources individuals bring with them rather than problems, and the process rather than the outcome

Explaining employees’ reactions towards a cross-border merger:the role of English language fluency

In this paper, we focus on the role of language in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and explore how organization members’ language skills, or fluency, in the adopted lingua franca may impact their reactions to a merger. Drawing on a qualitative study of the post-merger integration between a French and Dutch airline where English was adopted as a lingua franca, we illustrate how language fluency influences the ability of individuals to give meaning to their changed circumstances. Moreover, we elaborate on how language fluency indexes social groupings and identities, and may thus be a driver of perceptions of status inequality and identity politics between different groups of employees. With our study we draw attention to the multi-faceted role of English as a lingua franca. Our findings also contribute to research on sociocultural dynamics associated with post-merger integration and the role of language in mergers and acquisitions, as well as in multinational companies more generally

Striving for Higher University World Rankings: The Role of the Language Centre

There has been a long discussion in academia about crucial competencies of university graduates and factors which particular universities manage to perform better in the prestigious Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE World University Ranking) or Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU, also called Shanghai Ranking) than the others. The role of university language centres (LC) has not been explored in this context, till now. This paper deals with a role of LCs as homes not only to language instruction but also as workplaces through which universities may become more successful institutions in terms of the rankings. A meaningful language policy (LP) is thus closely related to the future development of LCs beyond their current perceived role of a university language centre. This paper gives examples of language policy implementation steps while building on marketing principles for addressing target audience needs and communication. Drawing on the higher education institutions (HEI) priorities in terms of university rankings, the LCs´ natural role is to foster university communication culture, conditions for successful internalization and readiness to effectively communicate research results. The process of language policy implementation at the Language Centre of the University of Pardubice may provide an insight into the practice of a middle-size institution and illustrate the workplace emancipation process within an HE institution. Attention will be paid to general EU context as well as to tangible experience, implications of which may go beyond the limited space of one institution

“National Language” and its Discontents: A French Debate in European Context

Utilizando el caso del idioma francés, el presente artículo explora el concepto de comunidad lingüística, en contraste con el de lengua nacional, como una categorización más adecuada para explicar el desarrollo de las políticas lingüísticas europeas. En el contexto actual de la globalización y los movimientos migratorios intraeuropeos, las distinciones entre centro y periferia, en términos de lengua dominante y regional o subordinada, carecen de sentido, ya que lo que se han considerado tradicionalmente lenguas nacionales se ven sometidas a procesos constantes de mestizaje. Este fenómeno, en lugar de empobrecer la idiosincrasia cultural de las mismas, las enriquece debido a que amplía su efectividad comunicativa.The author posits the concept of language communities, as opposed to that of national language, as a more adecuate categorization in explaning the development of European language policies. Using the case of French, he argues that globalization and the current migration waves render the distinction centre / periphery, in terms of dominat vs. regional or subordinate languages, meaningless, since what have been traditionally considered national languages are being exposed to constant instances of creolization. Such a phenomenon, far from empoverishing these languages' cultural idiosincracy, enriches them by enlarging their communicative effectiveness

Global Language Variation in Online Writing Instructional Spaces: English as a Lingua Franca Among Global Participants in a Massive Open Online Course

Two vectors of the internationalization of US higher education—online courses and student diversity—intersect at a point where a broad mix of culturally and linguistically diverse students enroll in online courses, including writing courses. This study applies an English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) lens to examine language in an online writing environment in order to understand how the participants use their linguistic resources to communicate in English across varieties and around the world. This study employs discourse analysis to two discussion forums from a US-based composition MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). More than three quarters of the MOOC participants came from outside of North America; almost half reported being native English speakers, and an equal amount reported speaking English enough for most situations. One discussion board centered on the concept of ethos and another centered on brainstorming ideas for the final writing project. In examining how global English language users from a variety of linguistic backgrounds discuss writing in these spaces, this study found that participants expressed understanding and valuing of English language variation across time and geographic locations, and they demonstrated accommodation in use of culturally-laden language forms for the global audience through uses of idioms in the discussion posts. Throughout the forums, deviations from English as a native language (ENL) norms occurred, but in these forum spaces, the flow appears to continue with attention on the communicative goal rather than on the non-ENL variations. These findings evidence strong potential for the inclusion of language awareness activities in US composition instruction spaces. Such work aims to create US university writing courses that are more equitable and effective for a global audience, including helping domestic US students develop important intercultural skills to participate in culturally and linguistically diverse arenas

Dar es Salaam as a 'Harbour of Peace' in East Africa: Tracing the Role of Creolized Urban Ethnicity in Nation-State Formation

Dar es Salaam is exceptional in East Africa for having a record of relatively little ethnic tension, and remaining tranquil and true to its name, the ‘harbour of peace’. This paper explores the interface between ethnic and national identities in Tanzania’s capital city, focusing on its ethnic foundations and their malleability with regard to nationalism, asking how nationalist identities were negotiated vis-à-vis existing local ethnic identities. How willing were ethnic groups that were indigenous to the locality to ‘share’ the city, its land, and amenities with newcomer compatriots, given that the city was almost as new as the nation-state? How did their modus operandi affect nation-building?nation-state, Tanzania, nationalism, urbanization

Signalling the loopholes and spreading the trampoline: a relevance-theoretic perspective on ELF communication

The paper examines English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) communication from a relevance-theoretic perspective. Communication in English as a Lingua Franca is a type of interaction in which multilingual speakers use a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic means to achieve mutual intelligibility and maximum communicative effectiveness. The interaction of the ad hoc and dynamic conditions results in the development of properties that become typical for communicative encounters, where successful communication and mutual intelligibility are the goals. ELF interaction is thus characterized by the presence of properties relating to communicative success and mutual understanding, often making these communicative encounters ‘distinct’. The paper argues, drawing on spontaneous spoken production of Ukrainian, Russian and Polish speakers of English, that ‘distinct’ properties of ELF interactions emerge due to the realization of the Principle of Relevance. If the Principle of Relevance guides speakers in their search for appropriate communicative strategies and means of expression, then this supports the view that communication in English as a Lingua Franca follows the principles of any human communication and contributes to conceptualizing ELF as natural human communication. As non-native speakers of English understand the nature of ELF interactions and its scope, namely participants’ limited communicative resources and mismatches in the common ground, they explicate and simplify their utterances, switch to other languages shared by the hearers, and accommodate to the hearers in terms of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Doing so, speakers intuitively follow the Cognitive Principle of Relevance and the relevance-theoretic production strategy, allowing their interlocutors to process utterances and make inferences at low costs. The emergence of ELF-specific features, relating to achieving mutual intelligibility and maximum communicative effectiveness, such as the explicitness of proposition, accommodation, paraphrase and translanguaging are explained in terms of explicatures in the areas of free enrichment, reference assignment, disambiguation and ad hoc concept construction that contribute to providing a comprehensible input to the hearer. The paper is exploratory in suggesting directions that ELF research could further pursue

Exploring Multilingualism: English as a Lingua Franca in the European Framework

openThe aim of this dissertation is to investigate the role that English has gained in Europe, and, in particular, in intercultural communication. Therefore, this dissertation will analyse English as a lingua franca, its importance in intercultural interactions and its implications in a multilingual Europe. In order to explore this topic six semi-structured interviews have been conducted among students, professors and administrative employers of the University of Padua. The results showed that the power English has in Europe is strong and it has brought several consequences to today’s societies. Therefore, actions should be taken in order to restrict this supremacy or to use it properly to promote multiculturality and multilingualism.The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the role that English has gained in Europe, and, in particular, in intercultural communication. Therefore, this dissertation will analyse English as a lingua franca, its importance in intercultural interactions and its implications in a multilingual Europe. In order to explore this topic six semi-structured interviews have been conducted among students, professors and administrative employers of the University of Padua. The results showed that the power English has in Europe is strong and it has brought several consequences to today’s societies. Therefore, actions should be taken in order to restrict this supremacy or to use it properly to promote multiculturality and multilingualism

OVERVIEWING RESEARCH ON BELF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES From professional practice to ELT materials

The present paper focuses on the use of English in BELF contexts, bearing in mind both teaching and practice in the professional field. After an overview of the state of the art in ELF and BELF research over the last twenty years, the topic is tackled from three different perspectives, which mirror the studies carried out by the unit of the University of Verona in a three-year-long nationally funded research. Firstly, we will address BELF in professional settings, to shed light on what facilitates success in online interactions, with a special focus on e-mail exchanges. Secondly, still addressing e-mail exchanges, we will suggest a broadening of the notion of BELF communication strategies that goes beyond sheer successful, mutual understanding in the professional field. Finally, bearing the first two steps of our research in mind, we will turn to the teaching environment, overviewing if and to what extent international business ELT coursebooks deal with BELF communication strategies at different levels of competence, so as to provide hints and suggestions for more effective materials in this field