English as a Lingua Franca: an insight
After listening the program by the BBC ‘The Battle for English’, I thought it to be truly interesting and worth examining since it offers an insight into the idea of English as a lingua franca and its potential development in the future.
The fact that English is one of the most spoken languages across the globe is undeniable. What is more, English has become a lingua franca, that is, a means of communication between speakers of different languages whose native languages are not English. As Professor David Crystal explains, a lingua franca develops into an international and global language thanks to the power of the people who speak it. This power is manifested in four main ways which are through politics, science and technology, economy and culture. The English language easily meets these requirements and thus has undergone the process of becoming a widely used language. However, there are other languages such as Mandarin and Spanish which are very dominant in certain parts of the world. In fact, Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world and the most dominant language in the east. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly important in many other parts of the world. For example, in Africa many are keen to learn it because they see potential opportunities for jobs and trading due to the geographical proximity. In addition, in the BBC Podcast, a business manager in Mumbai states that, despite the fact English is spoken in a large part of the countries the company trades with, the need for its employees to learn Chinese is growing rapidly.
Another important aspect of English as a lingua franca is the fact that the language itself undergoes changes and its users constantly modify it. According to professor Jenkins, these modifications are most of the time not accidental but consciously chosen. Many users of English as a lingua franca are very aware of the rules and vocabulary of the language but decide not to use them due to practical reasons. Professor Jenkins exemplifies this phenomenon by contrasting the English expression “a cup of tea” vs. “one tea, two teas, etc.”, which is the newly adopted and more simplified form. These constant changes often lead to the birth of different varieties such as hybrid Englishes – for instance Hinglish or Spanglish – and the Euro English, which after Brexit might develop in a different direction according to Professor Crystal. It is thought to become a more neutral language in Europe because less native speakers will be using it. However, as Professor Crystal points out, whether the UK stays or not in the UE does not necessarily imply a reduction of the use of English in Europe but a shift in its development.
In my particular case, I am a non-native speaker of English but I have been learning it since birth through songs, movies, books, and later on in class as well as abroad in English speaking countries. As far as my memory goes, I have always loved languages and so this is my main point when justifying the reason why I have learnt it. I use English as a lingua franca with other non-native speakers as well as with native speakers. In general, when speakers use English as a lingua franca, there is a tendency to show more language awareness and to pay more attention to form and pronunciation. Non-native speakers also tend to reflect more on the language and as a result they might end up having conversations about the language itself and analysing it. Contrarily, native speakers do not tend to reflect on their own language while speaking it unless they are especially interested in language or linguistics, or unless they are in a context where the language needs to be analysed (e.g., in school). They simply do not need to make hypotheses on the language they are using because they can most of the time access the right utterances in an innate and instinctive manner. In my case, that is the reason why I pay special attention to native speakers of English when I share a conversation with them; it is my opportunity to double-check whether the utterances I use are right or wrong and, if I am lucky enough, it allows me to acquire new ones.
As a non-native English teacher myself, I do not think that I would be willing to teach for fully communicative competence. Accuracy would remain an important part of my lessons because it is absolutely human to attempt to speak and teach the language correctly. However, I do believe that a combination of both approaches would be the most adequate option in my teaching context. In other teaching contexts such as in language courses that are merely for fun, in integration courses where several languages are spoken, in plurilingual settings, … the use of English as a lingua franca would be totally acceptable as a language of instruction. In a more academic setting where students need to sit an English test by the end of the course, it is more adequate to use a standard version of English for instruction because that just meets the needs of your students. In short, depending on the educational context as well as on the needs of the students, the teacher should decide what kind of English and which approaches would be more satisfactory in that particular context.
In brief, the fact that English remains vulnerable due to the influence of other languages does not mean that its use will be weakened; it will in fact still be dominant for a while – as Dent ensures. It might be a different English, an English we are not familiar with, but that should not be seen as a negative fact. Change is inevitable as the language is exposed to and used by 2.3 billion speakers, and only one out of five is a native speaker. Supporting this idea that the change of English should be counted as positive process, Dent states that “that has to be a good thing; without change, a language would almost certainly fade into obscurity and the battle for English would be a different one indeed.”
References
Dent, S. (Presenter), Parker, S. & Adamson, L. (Producers) & Shah, S. (Executive Producer) (2020). The battle for English. BBC Sounds. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000gkv4
The Acquisition of English As a Foreign Language in Bilingual and Multilingual Contexts 
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