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Transient international groups (TIGs): exploring the group and development dimension of ELF

  • Marie-Luise Pitzl

    Marie-Luise Pitzl is Assistant Professor/Postdoc in English Linguistics at the University of Vienna and one of the compilers of VOICE. She has been researching spoken ELF for more than a decade and has published on topics such as creativity (especially idioms and metaphors), miscommunication, multilingual practices and methodological challenges. She has recently co-edited a special issue on Teaching ELF, BELF, and/or Intercultural Communication? (2015) and an interdisciplinary volume on English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and Prospects (2016).

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Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 13. März 2018
Journal of English as a Lingua Franca
Aus der Zeitschrift Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Band 7 Heft 1

Abstract

In the past years, it has become generally accepted that the social dynamics of ELF cannot be captured by the notion of a speech community. Instead, the concept Community of Practice (CoP) has gained widespread currency in ELF research. While applications of the CoP framework have given rise to valuable insights, even ELF scholars who work with the concept often acknowledge its limitations. Since factors like situationality and ad hoc negotiation are seen as particularly important in ELF interactions, many ELF researchers have recently emphasized the transient and dynamic nature of the social clusters in which ELF communication typically takes place, especially in light of the multilingualism and language contact. This paper offers a first sketch of how the social dimension of ELF might on many occasions be conceptualized as involving Transient International Groups (TIGs) rather than more stable CoPs. Building on the idea that the Individual Multilingual Repertoires (IMRs) of ELF speakers make up a Multilingual Resource Pool (MRP) in each ELF interaction, the paper argues that ELF theory-building and descriptive work would benefit from exploring the group and the development dimension of ELF more thoroughly than has been done so far. In support, the paper provides a qualitative case study of a TIG in the leisure domain of VOICE. This case study illustrates how an in-depth micro-diachronic analysis of multilingual practices and instances of explicit reference to languages, countries, places, etc., can make visible the group’s development of shared translingual and transcultural territory.

Zusammenfassung

Im Verlauf der letzten Jahre besteht zunehmender Konsens darin, dass die sozialen Dynamiken von ELF nicht adäquat mit dem Konzept der Sprachgemeinschaft erfasst bzw. umschrieben werden können. Als Alternative wird daher vielfach das Konzept der Community of Practice (CoP) bemüht. Obwohl das CoP-Konzept bereits interessante Erkenntnisse gebracht hat, wird auch oft auf Schwächen und Grenzen dieses theoretischen Zugangs hingewiesen. Aufgrund des situativen Charakters von ELF-Interaktionen betonen ELF-Forscherinnen und -Forscher gerade in jüngster Zeit immer wieder die Flüchtigkeit und Dynamik der sozialen Kontexte, in denen ELF typischerweise vorkommt, ganz besonders vor dem Hintergrund von Mehrsprachigkeit und Sprachkontakt. Dieser Artikel skizziert einen alternativen Zugang, in dem die soziale Dimension von ELF im Hinblick auf Transient International Groups (TIGs), im Gegensatz zu stabileren Formen von Communities, konzeptualisiert wird. Aufbauend auf der Idee eines Multilingualen Resourcenpools (MRP) wird dargelegt, dass die Theoriebildung und deskriptive ELF-Forschung stark von einer intensiveren Beschäftigung mit dem Gruppen- und Entwicklungsaspekt von ELF profitieren könnten. Zu diesem Zweck präsentiert der Artikel eine qualitative Fallstudie auf Basis von informellen Gesprächen aus VOICE. Untersucht werden mehrsprachige Elemente und lexikalische Verweise (wie beispielsweise Begriffe, mit denen Sprachen, Länder, Orte etc. explizit referenziert werden). Die Fallstudie zeigt, wie durch einen mikro-diachronen Zugang in der Analyse, Gruppen- und Entwicklungsprozesse (beispielsweise im Hinblick auf Translingualität und Transkulturalität) sichtbar gemacht werden können.

Keywords: Transient International Groups (TIGs); micro-diachronic; English as a lingua franca (ELF); Multilingual Resource Pool; translingual territory; development; methodology
Schlageworte: Transient International Groups (TIGs); mikro-diachron; Englisch als Lingua Franca (ELF); Multilingualer Resourcenpool; Translingualität; Entwicklung; Methodologie

About the author

Marie-Luise Pitzl

Marie-Luise Pitzl is Assistant Professor/Postdoc in English Linguistics at the University of Vienna and one of the compilers of VOICE. She has been researching spoken ELF for more than a decade and has published on topics such as creativity (especially idioms and metaphors), miscommunication, multilingual practices and methodological challenges. She has recently co-edited a special issue on Teaching ELF, BELF, and/or Intercultural Communication? (2015) and an interdisciplinary volume on English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and Prospects (2016).

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Published Online: 2018-3-13
Published in Print: 2018-3-26

© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  3. MY English: a social constructivist perspective on ELF
  4. Transient international groups (TIGs): exploring the group and development dimension of ELF
  5. “You are struggling forwards, and you don’t know, and then you … you do code-switching…” – Code-switching in ELF Skype conversations
  6. Language practices and policies in conflict: an ELF perspective on international military communication
  7. ELF as multilingual “edulect” in a bilingual university
  8. The use of English as a lingua franca in the Japanese second language classroom
  9. JELF Colloquium
  10. JELF Colloquium
  11. ELF-awareness in ELT: Bringing together theory and practice
  12. Book Reviews
  13. English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and prospects. Contributions in honour of Barbara Seidlhofer
  14. Hynninen, Niina.: Language regulation in English as a Lingua Franca: Focus on academic spoken discourse (Developments in English as a Lingua Franca)
  15. Guri Ellen Arnstein Hjelde Sigmund Kvam Anastasia Parianou John Todd: Language and nation. Crossroads and connections
https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2018-0002
Schlagwörter für diesen Artikel
Transient International Groups (TIGs); micro-diachronic; English as a lingua franca (ELF); Multilingual Resource Pool; translingual territory; development; methodology

Artikel in diesem Heft

  1. Frontmatter
  3. MY English: a social constructivist perspective on ELF
  4. Transient international groups (TIGs): exploring the group and development dimension of ELF
  5. “You are struggling forwards, and you don’t know, and then you … you do code-switching…” – Code-switching in ELF Skype conversations
  6. Language practices and policies in conflict: an ELF perspective on international military communication
  7. ELF as multilingual “edulect” in a bilingual university
  8. The use of English as a lingua franca in the Japanese second language classroom
  9. JELF Colloquium
  10. JELF Colloquium
  11. ELF-awareness in ELT: Bringing together theory and practice
  12. Book Reviews
  13. English as a Lingua Franca: Perspectives and prospects. Contributions in honour of Barbara Seidlhofer
  14. Hynninen, Niina.: Language regulation in English as a Lingua Franca: Focus on academic spoken discourse (Developments in English as a Lingua Franca)
  15. Guri Ellen Arnstein Hjelde Sigmund Kvam Anastasia Parianou John Todd: Language and nation. Crossroads and connections
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