This paper presents a conversation-analytic study investigating the interactional functions of repetitions and formulaic language in post-match football (soccer) interviews. The study is based on a data set of 57 interviews with German male football players and focuses on the interplay between formulaic language, the communicative tasks accomplished by the interview and the interview’s role in the wider media social context as a ritualised dialogic genre. Unlike other types of media interview, the post-match interview is characterised by its collaborative and consensual style. It will be shown that formulaic language, whether conventionalised or locally produced, contributes to the interview as a social and ritual media event by signalling participation and cooperation. Insights gained into the role of formulaic language in international media sports communication might eventually help to inform media training and thus improve professional practice of journalists and players.

As applied linguistics is mainly concerned with solving the language-related problems of laypeople, the examination of folk views constitutes an important research field and its relevance is illustrated in this issue of the AILA review. In this introductory article, we address some of the more general aspects that need to be considered in the scientific investigation of folk views of language and communication. Among those aspects are the nature and significance of folk knowledge and folk attitudes for applied linguistics, the social construction of the roles of expert, scientist and layperson, and the connection between folk linguistic research and other related approaches. As a general introduction into the topic, this contribution prepares the ground for the other articles collected in this issue.

This study investigates a particular type of media interview to explore the use of epistemic stance markers in professional media sports contexts. The study focuses on interviews with male professional football players usually taken straight or very shortly after the match (post-match interviews or PMIs). Two data sets were investigated using a simple quantitative and an ethnographic conversation analytic approach: 57 interviews conducted with German professional football players in German, and 27 interviews conducted with professional football players of various nationalities and first languages, including German, in English as a lingua franca (ELF). The aim of this study is to find out how the use of epistemic stance markers such as I think in English and the German equivalents ich denke/ ich glaube contributes to the foregrounding of the player’s perspective and thus the maintenance and negotiation of an epistemic gradient, which is essential for a smooth and unproblematic progression of the interview.

The monster and the zombie: English as a lingua franca and the Latin analogy ANTJE WILTON AbstractThis article discusses how current sociolinguistic research in ELF, a comparison of English and Latin as linguae francae (the Latin analogy) and language teaching can be drawn upon to bring the phenomenon of ELF to the attention of young language users and learners in order to help them understand what is happening in the linguistic world around them. The discussion involves considerations of the following issues: (1) the emotionally charged debates, both academically and publicly, of English as a lingua franca; (2) sociolinguistic research on English as a lingua franca; (3) the Latin analogy, making reference to the historical development of Latin as an indicator for the future development of English; (4) the integration of sociolinguistic issues such as the use of English as a lingua franca into the language curriculum; and (5) the development of cross-curricular language teaching units. Das Monster und der Zombie -Englisch als Lingua Franca und die Latin Analogy Abstract Dieser Beitrag zeigt, in welcher Weise aktuelle Forschungen zu ELF, ein Vergleich zwischen Englisch und Latein als linguae francae (die Latin analogy) und Fremdsprachenunterricht zusammengeführt werden können, um jungen Sprachnutzern und -lernern das Phänomen ELF näherzubringen, um ihnen ein Verständnis von den sprachlichen Entwicklungen ihrer Umwelt zu verschaffen. Die Diskussion bezieht die folgenden Aspekte ein: (1) die emotional geladenen Brought to you by |

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