English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for the Classroom
It is now widely recognised that one of the most important roles of English in the world is as a lingua franca. But what does this mean, and to what extent should ELF affect what we do in the ELT classroom? In this talk I will begin by clarifying what we mean by English as a lingua franca, and then go on to look at the practical implications that this new role of English has for the ELT classroom.
The Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca
The role of English as a lingua franca brings with it the need to review targets for learners of the language with respect to pronunciation. Until now prestige native speaker accents such as RP have been used unchallenged as model and goal. The new role of English sets new targets, and new targets require us to re-define the profile of the ideal instructor.
The Vocabulary of English as a Lingua Franca
Recent debate has changed attitudes as to what is an error in ELF pronunciation. But is this shift relevant to vocabulary, or as teachers in ELF contexts, should we be guided by the results of native-speaker corpus linguistics? That is to say, if it’s in the dictionary or comes up in a corpus, teach it. But if something a student has invented, mark it wrong.
Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca
I’m thinking of taking the plunge and taking an ELF approach to teaching pronunciation. But what does this mean in terms of what I do in class? What model can I use? What are my priorities? Will I have to use a whole new set of techniques? And how do I asssess my students’ pronunciation? Perhaps I’ll just stick to RP.
Putting the Lingua Franca Core to Work
The advantages of ELF for teaching English pronunciation include a reduced workload, greater achievability, the legitimizing of the learner’s L1 phonology, and the validity of the non-native speaker teacher as an instructor. But is it all plain sailing? This talk looks at some of the difficulties teachers might encounter if they adopt an ELF approach to teaching the pronunciation of English.
Accent, Intelligibility and Priorities in ELF
Learners want to be intelligible. Intelligibility comes through accent. Or does it? Well not according to Canadian researchers Tracy Derwing and Murray Munro. So if accent and intelligibility are different, what is the relationship between them, and what are our priorities with learners that want ot be intelligible?
ELF Pronunciation: Planning and Assessment
The teaching of ELF pronunciation begins with competence in the lingua franca core. But it doesn’t end there. Jenkins cites five levels of competence for the pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca, for example. And as learners move from one level to another we need ways of assessing their competence.
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