English As A Lingua Franca In Higher Education

With English-medium higher education burgeoning in Europe and elsewhere outside the English-speaking world, this book is the first to offer an ethnographically-embedded analysis of such classroom discourse by taking cognizance of English functioning as a lingua franca (ELF) in international student groups. By virtue of investigating one such educational programme in its entirety, the study also enlarges the present knowledge on ELF discourse as it offers novel insights into the interactional dynamics that shape and develop an educational community of practice.

Review text: This book is an important contribution to research on multilingualism: the author does not only discuss theoretical aspects of this research field but also attempts to verify theoretical premises with respect to their empirical validity.(Dieter Wolff, Bergische Universität Wuppertal).

In this book, Jennifer Jenkins, one of the leading proponents of English as a Lingua Franca, explores current academic English language policy in higher education around the world. Universities around the world are increasingly presenting themselves as "international" but their English language policies do not necessarily reflect this, even as the diversity of their student bodies grows. While there have been a number of attempts to explore the implications of this diversity from a cultural perspective, little has been said from the linguistic point of view, and in particular, about the implications for what kind(s) of English are appropriate for English lingua franca communication in international higher education. Throughout the book Jenkins considers the policies of English language universities in terms of the language attitudes and ideologies of university management and staff globally, and of international students in a UK setting. The book concludes by considering the implications for current policies and practices, and what is needed in order for universities to bring themselves in line linguistically with the international status they claim. English as a Lingua Franca in the International University is an essential read for researchers and postgraduate students working in the areas of Global Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca and English for Academic Purposes.

As a result of globalization, higher education institutions throughout the world are adopting English for parts of their education. Higher education is becoming increasingly international and thus linguistically diverse, for educational, idealistic and financial reasons. This book presents a much-needed description of English as a lingua franca (ELF) from an international university setting and focuses on form and pragmatic issues, using authentic spoken data. It provides useful insights into how communicative effectiveness can be achieved in spoken lingua franca communication.

In this book, Jennifer Jenkins, one of the leading proponents of English as a Lingua Franca, explores current academic English language policy in higher education around the world. Universities around the world are increasingly presenting themselves as "international" but their English language policies do not necessarily reflect this, even as the diversity of their student bodies grows. While there have been a number of attempts to explore the implications of this diversity from a cultural perspective, little has been said from the linguistic point of view, and in particular, about the implications for what kind(s) of English are appropriate for English lingua franca communication in international higher education. Throughout the book Jenkins considers the policies of English language universities in terms of the language attitudes and ideologies of university management and staff globally, and of international students in a UK setting. The book concludes by considering the implications for current policies and practices, and what is needed in order for universities to bring themselves in line linguistically with the international status they claim. English as a Lingua Franca in the International University is an essential read for researchers and postgraduate students working in the areas of Global Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca and English for Academic Purposes.

This volume examines the role of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in education in Europe. Following the implementation of the Bologna process, English has assumed a central role in European education offering institutions the opportunity to cater to the needs of an internationalized student body and increase their competitiveness. On the other hand, the increased use of ELF has become an issue of concern, often perceived as a threat to other languages, tilting the scale towards linguistic inequality and stressing the urgent need for the development of new language policies. Both aspects of ELF are at the center of discussion in the proposed volume, which consists of a variety of papers examining ELF in different parts of Europe (Eastern, Central and Western) and different levels of education. The volume makes a substantial contribution to the lively and controversial debate about what is recognized as a central topical concern of language education policy in Europe and beyond.

English is increasingly used as a lingua franca (ELF) in communicative situations the world over with the acceleration of globalisation. This is in line with the increased introduction of English-medium instruction (EMI) to higher education institutions in many parts of the world to further promote both students' and faculty's mobility to make them competitive and employable in the globalised world, and to make their institutions more attractive and reputable. EMI and ELF, however, are rarely explicitly investigated together despite the fact that the spread of EMI cannot be separated from that of ELF. This volume tackles the issue head on by focusing on EMI in higher education from an ELF perspective. The volume includes contributions by Asian, European, Middle Eastern, South American and Anglo-American scholars. It discusses language policies, attitudes and identities, analyses of classroom EMI practices, case studies and finally, pedagogical implications from an ELF perspective, incorporating also theoretical and empirical issues in conducting EMI courses/programmes. The volume will be of great interest and use, not only to those who are conducting research on ELF, EMI, CLIL, language policy and related fields, but also to classroom teachers and policy makers who are conducting and/or planning to start EMI courses/programmes in their institutions or countries all over the world.

English is increasingly used as a lingua franca (ELF) in communicative situations the world over with the acceleration of globalisation. This is in line with the increased introduction of English-medium instruction (EMI) to higher education institutions in many parts of the world to further promote both students’ and faculty’s mobility to make them competitive and employable in the globalised world, and to make their institutions more attractive and reputable. EMI and ELF, however, are rarely explicitly investigated together despite the fact that the spread of EMI cannot be separated from that of ELF. This volume tackles the issue head on by focusing on EMI in higher education from an ELF perspective. The volume includes contributions by Asian, European, Middle Eastern, South American and Anglo-American scholars. It discusses language policies, attitudes and identities, analyses of classroom EMI practices, case studies and finally, pedagogical implications from an ELF perspective, incorporating also theoretical and empirical issues in conducting EMI courses/programmes. The volume will be of great interest and use, not only to those who are conducting research on ELF, EMI, CLIL, language policy and related fields, but also to classroom teachers and policy makers who are conducting and/or planning to start EMI courses/programmes in their institutions or countries all over the world.