Can (An) Elf Have a Life of Its Own?

• Authors: Sylwia Scheuer
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper I wish to look at whether English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is likely to acquire an identity of its own and be universally perceived as a linguistic entity different from, and independent of, native speaker English(es). The discussion begins with a brief overview of certain controversies surrounding the ELF case, before turning to the so-called Latin analogy theme. The fate of Latin, another well-known example of a language of international communication in the history of mankind, was in fact sealed by the emergence - in the early Middle Ages - of a non-native variety of the language, decidedly distinct from the natural language that later developed into Romance. The paper will attempt to present certain aspects of the Latin-English analogy, with a view to obtaining clues as to the possible future development of the modern lingua franca.

Keywords

EN

English as a Lingua Franca; LFC; Latin analogy; codification; intelligibility

• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Journal: Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 46
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 331-347

Dates

published

2010-09-01

online

2010-09-22

Contributors

author

Sylwia Scheuer

• Université Paris 3

References

• Adams, J. N. 2003. Bilingualism and the Latin language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Chambers, J. K. and P. Trudgill. 1998. Dialectology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Cogo, A. 2008. "English as a Lingua Franca: Form follows function". English Today 24(3). 58-61.
• Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K. and J. Przedlacka. 2005. English pronunciation models: A changing scene. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
• Edwards, J. 2001. "No good past Dover". English Today 17(4). 3-12.
• Farrell, J. 2001. Latin language and Latin culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Fraser, A. 1993. The wives of Henry VIII. New York: Vintage Books USA.
• Graddol, D. 2006. English Next.
• Jenkins, J. 2000. The phonology of English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Jenkins, J. 2004. "Beware the natives and their norms". The Guardian, 22 Jan. 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/jan/22/tefl.wordsandlanguage
• Jenkins, J. 2005. "Misinterpretation, bias, and resistance to change: The case of the Lingua Franca Core". In: Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K. and J. Przedlacka (eds.). 199-210.
• Jenkins, J. 2006a. "Global intelligibility and local diversity: Possibility or paradox?" In: Rubdy, R. and M. Saraceni (eds.). 32-39.
• Jenkins, J. 2006b. "Current perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca". TESOL Quarterly 40. 157-181.[Crossref]
• Jenkins, J. 2007. English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Jenkins, J. and B. Seidlhofer. 2000. "Global English: The European lessons". The Guardian Weekly - Learning English. 19-25 April 2000.
• Kirkpatrick, A. 2006. "Which model of English: Native-speaker, nativised or Lingua Franca?" In: Rubdy, R. and M. Saraceni (eds.). 71-83.
• MacKenzie, I. 2002. "Language teaching and the uses of so-called English as a Lingua Franca". Paper presented at the seminar "English as a Lingua Franca in Europe", ESSE 6, Strasbourg, 3 Sep. 2002.
• Mayer, R. 1997. "Metropolitan Latin". English Today 13(2). 11-17.[Crossref]
• McKay, S. L. 2002. Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Prodromou, L. 2007. "Is ELF a variety of English?" English Today 23(2). 47-53.[Crossref]
• Rajagopalan, K. 1999. "Of EFL teachers, conscience, and cowardice". ELT Journal 53(3). 200-206.[Crossref]
• Rajagopalan, K. 2009. "‘World English’ and the Latin analogy: Where we get it wrong". English Today 25(2). 49-54.[Crossref]
• Rubdy, R. and M. Saraceni (eds.). 2006. English in the world. Global rules, global roles. London: Continuum.
• Saraceni, M. 2008. "English as a Lingua Franca: Between form and function". English Today 24(2). 20-26.
• Scheuer, S. 1998. Interference-motivated pronunciation errors in Polish students of English. A corpus-based study. (Unpublished PhD dissertation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań.)
• Scheuer, S. 2005. "Why native speakers are (still) relevant?" In: Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K. and J. Przedlacka (eds.). 111-130.
• Scheuer, S. 2007. "Why certain errors seem to matter more than others, or: what is wrong with native speakers being right?" Speak Out! 38. 17-21.
• Scheuer, S. Forthcoming. "How could English really become a new Latin?" In: Henderson, A. (ed.), English pronunciation: Issues and practices. Conference proceedings of EPIP I. Chambéry: Presses de l'Université de Savoie.
• Seidlhofer, B. 2001. "Towards making ‘Euro-English’ a linguistic reality". English Today 17(4). 14-16.
• Seidlhofer, B. 2002. "The shape of things to come? Some basic questions about English as a Lingua Franca". In: Knapp, K. and C. Meierkord (eds.), Lingua franca communication. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 269-302.
• Seidlhofer, B. 2005. "Language variation and change: The case of English as a Lingua Franca". In: Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, K. and J. Przedlacka (eds.). 59-75.
• Seidlhofer, B. 2006. "English as a Lingua Franca in the Expanding Circle: What it isn't". In: Rubdy, R. and M. Saraceni (eds.). 40-50.
• Trudgill, P. and J. Hannah. 2008. International English. A guide to the varieties of Standard English. (5th ed.) London: Hodder Education.
• Tucker, G. R. 2003. "Language contact and change: Summary observations". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 23. 243-249.
• Wright, R. 2002. A sociophilological study of Late Latin. Turnhout: Brepols.
• Wright, R. 2004. "Latin and English as world languages". English Today 20(4). 3-19.[Crossref]

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/v10010-010-0014-6