Volume 11, Issue 1

In the last decade numerous studies have been published in the field of English as an academic lingua franca (academic ELF). The majority of them, however, are devoted to the speaking mode. The present paper investigates written academic ELF texts – research articles in the social sciences and humanities. It explores the ways in which L2 speakers express epistemic stance in their texts and analyzes ELF-specific non-conventional forms of epistemic stance expressions. I use data from the SciELF corpus (https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/english-as-a-lingua-franca-in-academic-settings/research/wrelfa-corpus/scielf-corpus), which is unique in that it allows the study of academic texts written by L2 speakers in their unedited form. To uncover whether non-conventional expressions are also used in published academic texts, and to gain a deeper understanding of the extent to which variability in language use is accepted in published texts, I use the Google Scholar database as a reference corpus. My analysis shows that L2 authors creatively exploit linguistic resources to express epistemic stance, demonstrating considerable variability in language use. Findings also indicate that some non-conventional expressions are found in published texts.

This paper examines the relationship between English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF) and European identity. In the first place, the ELF phenomenon and its status in the European context, where multilingual policies prevail, are discussed. Secondly, this article addresses how globalization has triggered identification processes that are novel and should be treated as such and it analyses the characteristics of an alleged European identity, triggered by the pulse of globalizing processes. The role ELF may play in identification processes with Europe is examined. Finally, this article demonstrates that the flexible and hybrid nature of both ELF and European identity make them two very similar phenomena that add an extra layer to localized languages and national identities, respectively. Under this light, the hypothesis is presented that ELF and European identity are interconnected, and that ELF may be an essential condition for a sense of European identity to form.

Researchers have a number of methodological tools and theoretical frameworks at their disposal when examining how English language identities are constructed in lingua franca encounters, including a conversation analytic understanding of an “emic social reality”; according to this perspective, a speaker’s identity falls within the interests of a researcher if, and only when, it is made relevant through social interaction. This paper builds on this tradition by studying how language identities can be understood from multiple analytic perspectives, including from an emic perspective. Drawing from a corpus of chat room data, the study examines how the social categories used by interactants to engage in identity work, such as categories that are inherently deficit in orientation (e.g., foreign language learner), may not precisely align with the preferred categories used in the lingua franca literature, such as categories that are more positive in nature (e.g., expert language user). These observations are used to explore some of the general methodological issues that exist when situating an analysis of identity within the study of lingua franca interactions.

The expanding internationalisation of higher education (HE) has resulted in the inte rcultural dimensions becoming a core aim of many institutions. This is frequently represented though the concept of intercultural or global citizenship with students expected to engage with academic, professional and social communities across multiple scales from the local to the global. The language though which both the internationalisation of HE and intercultural citizenships is expected to take place is often English, or more precisely ELF, epically in English medium education (EME). Therefore, given this key role for English, English language teaching (ELT) provides an ideal setting for developing intercultural citizenship education. However, at present, this is an under-researched area. To address this gap, this collection of short papers provides a snap shot of current thinking and research form ELF perspectives. We include reports on the development of intercultural citizenship through study abroad for university students from China, Japan and Thailand; the role of intercultural citizenship in pre-service teacher education in Turkey; and a discussion of the relationship between intercultural citizenship, identity, symbolic power and language in the ELT and EMI classroom.

Study abroad (SA) is one of the popular ways for universities to develop their students as global citizens because the experience of sojourning is believed to be able to improve the students’ language skills of English as an international lingua franca as well as global awareness. This paper investigates whether SA can contribute towards the development of global citizenship, focusing on a group of Japanese students’ perceptions of English. This study reveals that SA may need some interventions in order to fulfill the expected role.

Currently, HE institutions in Anglophone countries cater for the largest number of international students (particularly non-native English speakers) and thus, have benefited the most from internationalization policies. In such intercultural educational environments, Anglophone Englishes now play a much less significant role in HE. This paper aims to explore to what extent Thai students who came back from study abroad (SA) in Anglophone countries have developed a sense of intercultural citizenship and their experiences and perceptions in relation to intercultural communication, ELT and SA. A mixed-method approach was adopted at four universities in Thailand. Extracts from semi-structured interviews and questionnaire data have been analyzed. Findings have been divided into three themes: 1) The usefulness of intercultural citizenship courses, 2) The development of intercultural citizenship from lived experience, and 3) ELF mindedness. According to the findings, we argue that intercultural citizenship education (Byram, Michael. 2008. From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters) ought to be part of the pedagogic approach in both EMI and ELT classrooms, and ELT courses in Thailand should put more emphasis on strengthening learners’ intercultural competence and awareness while also moving away from traditional methods associated with standard language ideologies. ปัจจุบัน สถาบันอุดมศึกษาในประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ รองรับนักศึกษาต่างชาติจำนวนมากที่สุด (โดยเฉพาะกลุ่มผู้เรียนที่ไม่ได้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่) นักศึกษากลุ่มนี้จึงได้รับประโยชน์สูงสุดจากนโยบายความเป็นสากล ในสภาพแวดล้อมทางการศึกษาแบบต่างวัฒนธรรมเช่นนี้ ภาษาอังกฤษตามแบบฉบับของประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ มีบทบาทสำคัญน้อยมากในสถาบันอุดมศึกษาปัจจุบัน บทความนี้มีจุดมุ่งหมายเพื่อสำรวจว่านักเรียนไทยที่กลับมาจากการศึกษาในประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ ได้พัฒนาความรู้สึกของการเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม ตลอดจนประสบการณ์และการรับรู้เกี่ยวกับการสื่อสารระหว่างวัฒนธรรม การสอนภาษาอังกฤษและการเรียนในต่างประเทศ ในระดับใด วิธีการเก็บข้อมูลการศึกษาแบบผสมผสาน ได้นำมาใช้เก็บข้อมูล ในมหาวิทยาลัย 4 แห่งในประเทศไทย ข้อมูลการศึกษาที่ได้จากการสัมภาษณ์และแบบสอบถามได้นำมาวิเคราะห์ ผลการวิจัย แบ่งออกเป็นสามหัวข้อ: 1) ประโยชน์ของหลักสูตรความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม 2) การพัฒนาความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรมจากประสบการณ์ และ 3) การตระหนักถึงการใช้ภาษาอังกฤษระหว่างผู้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ จากผลการวิจัย เราโต้แย้งว่าการศึกษาเรื่องความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม (Byram, Michael. 2008. From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections . Clevedon: Multilingual Matters) ควรเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของแนวทางการสอนทั้งในห้องเรียนแบบใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นหลักในการสอน และการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ อีกทั้งหลักสูตรการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในประเทศไทยควรเน้นการเสริมสร้างความสามารถและความตระหนักระหว่างวัฒนธรรมของผู้เรียน โดยหลีกเลี่ยงวิธีการสอนแบบดั้งเดิมที่เกี่ยวข้องกับภาษาอังกฤษตามมาตรฐานของประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ

This article explores the concept of intercultural citizenship and the significance of involving culturally sensitive issues in English language teaching and teacher education curriculum to train future global citizens. Before exploring ways to implement intercultural citizenship education from K-12 to university level, it is necessary to emphasize the need to integrate “intercultural citizenship education” into teacher education programs. In other words, English language teachers should become intercultural citizens themselves so that they can help their students to become intercultural citizens. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of training interculturally sensitive future teachers of English. In this respect, we report the findings of studies on intercultural telecollaboration projects involving cultural exchange between students in pre-/in-service teacher education programs in Turkey and abroad. We also suggest ways of increasing these intercultural citizenship courses and modules in training teachers to gain intercultural communicative competence and intercultural citizenship skills.