Archive for the ‘EIL (English as an International Language)’ Category

“The surprising thing to most observers, including some historians of language, is that contact varieties of English came to ‘belong’ to other populations, that Americans and Englishmen who use EIL/ELF (English as a Lingua Franca/ English as a Lingua Franca) are not automatically authorities on it. If they want to use it, they must learn to do so from the Africans, Indians, Chinese who are expert (if, by definition, not native) speakers. Usually, the native speakers of English are quite clumsy in their attempts to use EIL/ELF; they are often objects of mockery to more proficient users” All- American English J L Dillard pg 14   (more…)

I’ve been reading “English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity” (hence “the ELF” of the post title) by Jenny Jenkins, and although its a much easier read than that Pseuds Corner book title might make you think, the main reaction so far is “Who cares?”

To summarize 37 pages in 37 words, the concept of English as a Lingua Franca is that as more and more English is used between non-native speakers a new variety or varities of English are being created that are just as valid and important as Glaswegian English or even RP and SAE- and much more relevant than those forms to most students studying English. So far, so fascinating- if we are in the process of the language and teaching changing, you can probably tell from the post below that I’d be happy to have something to shake things up. The important little grammar word here, though, is “if”.

Let’s see what Prof Jen Jen has to say about it: (more…)

“Only half of the activations in the brain were to do with the speech and language areas. The voice is not just coming from your lips. It’s coming from the whole body and you need to think about that when you’re trying to change aspects of it.” (more…)