The Cultures of English as a Lingua Franca

Abstract

The cultural dimension of foreign and second language use and teaching has risen in prominence since the 1980s. More recently there has been much interest in and debate concerning the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). However, there has been little empirical investigation into what communication through ELF might mean for an understanding of the relationships between languages and cultures. This article reports on a qualitative study investigating seven users of English in a higher education setting in Thailand engaged in intercultural communication. Analysis of these examples of intercultural communication, together with the participants' metadiscussions of culture, revealed cultural frames of reference perceived of and made use of in a hybrid, mixed, and liminal manner, drawing on and moving between global, national, local, and individual orientations. Although the limited number of instances reported means that further research is needed to confidently make generalisations, it is suggested that cultural forms, practices, and frames of reference through ELF may be viewed not as a priori defined categories, but as adaptive and emergent resources which are negotiated and context dependent. Therefore, ELF needs to move beyond the traditionally conceived target language—target culture relationship to incorporate an awareness of dynamic hybrid cultures and the skills to successfully negotiate them.

An Exploratory Study of Thai University Students’ Understanding of World Englishes

“…This is consistent with the findings of item 1 above. This might be construed as a reflection of the legacy of British English popularity when Thailand mandated that (British) English be a school subject for the mass beginning in 1921 (Baker, 2009). That is, compared to British English, American English, to a no small number of Thais, might take a second rank in terms of "correctness.…”

“…Over the past three decades, World Englishes (WEs) (Baker, 2009;Bennui & Hashim, 2014;Higgins, 2003;Jenkins, 2006;Kachru, 1990;Kirkpatrick, 2012) has been extensively researched in fields that run the gamut of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, English education and intercultural communication. While it is considered a "realistic" linguistic phenomenon due to its emphasis on a sociolinguistic reality (Yano, 2009), educated laypersons who nevertheless are key stakeholders may not necessarily be aware of its existence.…”

Facilitating Intercultural Study through Novel Reading —The Application of Reading Task Journals

“…While the American TV series stimulates the comparison between American and Chinese cultures, the selected novel aims to provide a third culture to enrich cultural diversity. With the introduction of various cultures, students will have a "more dynamic and heterogeneous perspective on culture and reject as simplistic the equation of a language, culture, and national identity" (Baker, 2009, p. 570).…”

Culture Teaching in Historical Review: On the Occasion of ASOCOPI’s Fiftieth Anniversary

“…Authors in the 2000s group continue the poststructuralist turn to culture. In these writings, culture is approached as dynamic, diverse, and emergent-a set of symbolic tools for meaning-making that are learned and shared in group settings of inequity (Agudelo, 2007;Baker, 2009;Guest, 2002;Roberts, Byram, Barro, Jordan, & Street, 2001;Singh & Dogherty, 2004;Turizo & Gómez, 2006). A representative definition from this literature can be found in Álvarez and Bonilla (2009) who have written in PROFILE.…”