The Application of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) Research Findings to the Teaching of Pragmatic Competence

Abstract

This chapter seeks to create links between research findings on the pragmatic competence of users of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and implications for teaching English, notably in the light of the considerable changes that have affected the use of English worldwide as a result of globalization. ELF can be defined as a shared language used by speakers of different linguacultural backgrounds. In contrast to other lingua francas used both in the past, such as Latin, and in the present, such as Arabic, Swahili or Spanish, ELF has spread faster and further than any other lingua franca (Mauranen 2012). Prior to globalization, the geographical spread of English was already considerable, as a result of British colonialization (Kachru 1985); the subsequent economic strength of the USA served to increase its importance. However, globalization has reinforced the use of English as one of the major lingua francas, and the recent rise of the BRICS has increased the use of Business English as a lingua franca (BELF) (Kankaanranta and Louhiala-Salminen 2010, Kankaanranta and Planken 2010, Nickerson 2005). Internationalization in higher education has also led to the increasing use of English in teaching in universities worldwide, and as the international language of research in many scientific fields (Mauranen 2012). Indeed, it is estimated that 80 per cent of communication in English worldwide is between non-native speakers of English (Graddol 2006).