Your English, my English: the global lingua franca

When I worked for a tech startup in Silicon Valley several years ago, one day my coworker, a native English speaker, turned to our new French employee, Zack, and asked: “zacker zakry?” Zack had just arrived from France the previous week and wasn’t used to the American accent yet. He turned to me with a confused look on his face and said: “Please translate.” Mind you, he knew that I didn’t speak French, so why did he ask ME to translate? At this moment, our American coworker looked startled as well. “She is asking if you prefer to be called Zack or Zackary,” I explained to him. “Oh, I don’t care. Both are ok,” he smiled.

This English to English “translation” is an example of usage of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). For both – Zach and me – English is a second language. His native language is French; mine is Bulgarian. But we used English as a tool to communicate. And we were able to exchange information in a more efficient way than when a native speaker was involved.

What to the nonnative ear might have sounded as “zacker zakry?” was actually “Zack or Zachary?” said in a way that is referred to as connected speech. Words get fused together and the full phrase may be harder to interpret by a nonnative.

Understanding native English by nonnatives

This article discusses a common pattern where nonnative speakers communicate with each other in English without a problem until a native speaker joins the conversation. The problem with understanding native English speach by nonnatives is usually caused by the way native speakers pronounce different sounds and link words together. They use connected speech and often drop their consonants at the end of certain words, which makes these words sound like different ones.

Besides different pronunciation, Americans often use idioms and jargon that are unfamiliar to people from other countries. Expressions like “break a leg” (which means “good luck”), “you knocked it out of the park” (meaning you did something extremely well), or “right off the bat” (aka “from the beginning”) make nonnative speakers doubt their English skills. American managers may often not realize that “you killed it” doesn’t sound like a praise to some of their nonnative employees.

What is lingua franca

Linguist Alan Firth, who specializes in cross-cultural settings and multilingual encounters, describes the term “lingua franca” in his article “The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis” as:

 

a ‘contact language’ between persons who share neither a the common native tongue nor a common (national) culture

 

According to Wikipedia, the term comes from the Mediterranean Lingua Franca, a language spoken from 11th to 19th century around the Mediterranean basin, related to Italian, and used in trading. Various other languages were used in this role throughout human history. They served as a way to exchange information in such fields as: commerce, culture, religion, diplomacy, administration, and scientific research.

As an interesting fact related to my own roots, one of the early lingua franca used in the eastern and southeastern parts of Europe was Old Church Slavonic – the first literary Slavic language. In addition to its role as a lingua franca, it was the national language of the First Bulgarian Empire. Old Church Slavonic is an ancestor of the modern-day Bulgarian – my native language ?.

English as a modern-day global lingua franca

English is the modern-day global lingua franca. Out of more than 1.5 billion English speakers in the world, 75% are nonnative. The language serves as a form of communication to people who come from many different countries and of different native tongues.

For example, if someone from Russia has a conversation in English with someone from Brazil, they use the language as a lingua franca. But because both of them have different native languages, they speak with different accents. If this creates an issue, the communication may go through iterations. If one doesn’t understand something, the other would modify certain sounds and expressions until the message comes through and is understood.

When I was learning English in the US, I had many classmates from all parts of the globe. I found it fascinating how people whose native languages were Bulgarian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, Amharic, French, etc. were able to convey information to each other using one common language. But what was even more captivating was that, occasionally, our American teacher had trouble understanding something that was clear to the rest of us.

British linguist Jennifer Jenkins started researching this topic after having been in similar situations as an English teacher. She realized that nonnative speakers were able to understand each other without having to use “proper” English, or the English she had taught them in the classroom. She noticed that if people had a problem understanding one another, they quickly adapted and adjusted the way they used the language. That is, they modified their grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

The difference between ELF, ESL and EFL

If you have learned English at school in your native country, you studied English as a foreign language (EFL). In EFL classes most, if not all of the students share the same native language and English is taught in the old, traditional way. That is, the emphasis is on memorizing vocabulary, translating texts from your native language into English and vice versa, drilling grammar tenses, and being constantly tested. While this method familiarizes people with English, it doesn’t focus on real-life communication.

ESL, on the other hand, is the English that you learn when you are in an English speaking country like the UK, the US, Australia, or Canada. Students in an ESL class come from different countries and they don’t share the same native language. ESL classes still teach grammar and vocabulary, but the main focus is on real-life conversation skills. Unlike EFL, which is often taught in students’ first language, ESL is taught in English.

It was in ESL classes when I first used English as a lingua franca (ELF). To be honest, this was one of the most beautiful experiences in my life. Communicating with people from different parts of the world in English fascinated me. When we sometimes couldn’t understand each other, we were able to quickly clarify or find another word to express our thoughts. It’s astonishing how creative we humans can become when we need to communicate something.

Why did English become the leading world language?

There are more people who speak Spanish or Mandarin Chinese as their first language. Yet, English has become the common language when it comes to global communication. The reason is not because it sounds better or it’s easier to learn. The acclaimed linguist David Crystal argues that:

 

A language becomes a global language because of the power of the people who speak it. The ‘power’ of English was initially based on political and military factors, most notably the expansion of the British Empire. Later the role of English as the language of the scientific, industrial, financial and economic revolutions further increased its influence.

 

Should English teaching methods be changed?

There is a growing number of nonnative English speakers in the world who use the language as a common form of communication. But native accents are still perceived to be better. According to a study that surveyed a group of trainee teachers of English in Malaysia, native accents are still rated as more correct and more “proper.” Given this information, how should English be taught?

According to Jenkins, the imposition of native speaker norms to the rapidly growing number of nonnative speakers should change. Such norms attempt to limit the increasing diversity in the way people from different parts of the globe speak English. However, she points out that there is a hierarchical categorization even among nonnative speakers based on the way they speak the language. She states:

 

There is a second tier of power relations in ELF interactions, i.e. among ELF speakers themselves, to the extent that they see ELF varieties not as equals but as hierarchical. Thus, power is, at present, likely to be a major influence in the way many ELF speakers both categorize/affiliate themselves and ascribe identities to each other.

 

Jenkins believes teaching still needs to catch up to the needs of people who use English as a lingua franca. Teachers should decide what to teach and how to move away from the basic rules they are used to. According to her, it’s going to take some clever people to come up with new materials to fit students’ needs.

Jenkins does acknowledge, however, that in some situations people’s intention is to blend in with a certain group in order to feel a sense of belonging. It all depends on how, where, and with whom students intend to use English. There should be a variety of teaching methods to accommodate the learners’ needs.

The “stop saying…” wave on social media

The number of people who teach some aspects of English on YouTube and Instagram is growing. Everyday another video with the “don’t say (a-word-or-expression)” pops up. While many people know the real reason behind such titles (more clicks), unfortunately some are still confused. Don’t trust teachers who tell you “stop saying…” Such videos are meant to attract attention and we should treat them only as a source for learning synonyms.

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In the previous company I worked for we had people from 23 countries who spoke many different languages. In my current job there is even larger linguistic diversity. Everyone pronounces words slightly differently, but we usually understand each other perfectly. We are all different and no one should tell us what kind of English we need to speak. As long as communication is not compromised, this should be an individual choice.

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Now use the comment section to tell me about your experience with English as a lingua franca. Have you ever felt misunderstood in English?

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