Communities of Practice and English as a Lingua Franca: A Study of Students in a Central European Context (Developments in English as a Lingua Franca [DELF] Book 4)

This is a timely book on one of the most widely debated issues in applied linguistics: what is the social and cultural significance of English as a lingua franca for the internationally mobile students of the 21st century in Central Europe? Through an in-depth analysis of social practices, the book develops an exciting, innovative multilingual approach to out-of-class language use and language learning that engages students in the co-construction of identities. Apart from scholars, the book will appeal to policy makers and educators who are concerned with the internationalization of universities in Central Europe. * The present study is innovative in that it applies the community of practice approach to a group using English as a lingua franca, and that it combines the Conversation Analytic method with the community of practice approach * The book gives fresh insights into how languages in general, and English as a lingua franca in particular, can be conceived of by bringing the social into the linguistic * The practical implications of the book include considerations of how to better prepare the students for the challenges of their future academic and professional lives, which they increasingly see as shaped by the forces of internationalization 1 Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Research questions 2 Theoretical framework 2.1 The community of practice model 2.1.1 Previous approaches to the community of practice model 2.2 The sociolinguistic realities of the spread of English 2.3 The methodological and ontological positioning of English as a lingua franca 2.4 English as a lingua franca delineated and described 2.4.1 ELF speakers 2.4.2 Linguacultures in ELF settings 2.4.3 Communicative purpose 2.5 Details of findings: CA and ELF perspectives 2.5.1 Negotiation of non-understandings 2.5.2 Preempting moves 2.5.3 Repetition 2.5.4 Interactional strategies 2.5.5 Code-switching 2.5.6 The use of humor 2.6 Summary 3 Methodology 3.1 Epistemological assumptions 3.2 Research site and context 3.2.1 Data sampling 3.2.2 The researcher and the researched: Joint participants 3.2.3 Ethical questions 3.3 Data collection: An ethnographic approach 3.3.1 Interviews and casual conversations with the students 3.3.2 Interviews with the student coordinator 3.3.3 Observations 3.3.4 Online journals (Prompted e-mails) 3.3.5 Mailing lists and online posts 3.4 Data analysis procedure 3.5 Summary 4 An ethnographic account of the Szeged Erasmus community 4.1 The joint enterprise 4.1.1 “I want to get a friendship in another language” – Goals at the start 4.1.2 “Without kidding, I have to concentrate on work by now!!” – Change in goals and priorities 4.1.3 Participants’ views on building a community with a shared goal 4.2 Mutual engagement 4.2.1 The shared activities of the “Erasmus sharks” 4.2.2 The nature of relationships 4.3 The shared repertoire of resources 4.3.1 The “schema” or “frame” for partying and travelling 4.4 Discussion 5 Building an Erasmus Family through ELF 5.1 English as a shared practice 5.1.1 English as the “first language in Hungary” – Arrangements for the group 5.1.2 “Stop! English!” – Socializing practices 5.1.3 “[D]on’t you mind when we talk in French?” – Individual arrangements 5.2 The shared negotiable resources 5.2.1 Greeting 5.2.2 Teasing 5.2.3 Addressing 5.2.4 Swearing 5.2.5 Other small rituals 5.2.6 “Party conversations” 5.2.7 “Real conversations” 5.3 Discussion 6 Creating humour in and through ELF 6.1 Participants’ views on the strategic use of humour 6.2 Humour in content 6.2.1 Narratives 6.2.2 Teasing 6.2.3 “Naughty conversations” 6.2.4 Irony 6.3 Humour aimed at style 6.3.1 Code-switching 6.3.2 Paralinguistics 6.3.3 Word play 6.4 Discussion 7 Improving on communicational understanding and gaining self-confidence in ELF 7.1 Participants’ views on developing self-confidence in English 7.2 Collaborative utterance building at moments of word search 7.2.1 Explicit word search 7.2.2 Implicit word search 7.2.3 The co-construction of local meanings 7.3 Non-understandings 7.3.1 Repetition and paraphrase 7.3.2 Repetitions with clarification 7.3.3 The use of multilingual resources 7.4 Discussion 8 Conclusions and implications 8.1 Summary of major findings 8.1.1 What tools and resources do the Szeged Erasmus students bring to bear to engage in their jointly negotiated practices reflecting a shared goal? 8.1.2 What does a closer examination of linguistic practices in the community tell us about ELF? 8.1.3 What effects do the different linguistic resources that the students bring to the community have on the overall practices of the group? 8.2 Methodological implications 8.3 Implications for ELF research 8.4 Implications for language policy and planning 8.5 Pedagogical implications 8.6 Closing remarks References Appendices Appendix 1: Letter of invitation Appendix 2: Guiding questions for interviews with students Appendix 3: Guiding questions for interviews with student coordinators Appendix 4: Sample prompt e-mail Appendix 5: Transcription conventions for naturally occurring conversations Appendix 6: Transcription conventions for interview data Appendix 7: Coding schemes Coding scheme 1: Social practices Coding scheme 2: Views on social practices Coding scheme 3: Interactional patterns Coding scheme 4: Language use Coding scheme 5: Views on linguistic practices Index

This series welcomes book proposals detailing innovative and cutting edge research and theorisation in the field of English as a lingua franca (ELF), in essence, English as the chosen medium of communication among people from different first languages. The unprecedented use of English as an international lingua franca, largely because of its relationship with the processes of globalisation, has led to the realization that conventional attitudes to English and approaches to its study need to be critically examined. This has resulted in a very considerable and fast-growing field of research that is concerned both with the sociolinguistic significance of English as lingua franca as a naturally adaptive linguistic development and with its theoretical as well as applied linguistic implications. ELF, as phenomenon and as study, is not only diverse and emergent, it is also controversial and rapidly gaining in importance.

The purpose of the series is to offer a wide forum for work on ELF, including aspects such as descriptions and analyses of ELF; ELF use in a range of domains including education (primary, secondary and tertiary), business, tourism; conceptual works challenging current assumptions about English use and usage; works exploring the implications of ELF for English language policy, pedagogy, and practice; and ELF in relation to global multilingualism.

Finally, in line with the subject matter of the series, authors are not required to use native English, but to write in a way that is intelligible to a wide international readership. To our knowledge, Developments in English as a Lingua Franca is the first book series to build this approach into its official policy.

To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Natalie Fecher.

Main description: This is a timely book on one of the most widely debated issues in applied linguistics: what is the social and cultural significance of English as a lingua franca for the internationally mobile students of the 21st century in Central Europe? Through an in-depth analysis of social practices, the book develops an exciting, innovative multilingual approach to out-of-class language use and language learning that engages students in the co-construction of identities. Apart from scholars, the book will appeal to policy makers and educators who are concerned with the internationalization of universities in Central Europe Biographical note: Karolina Kalocsai, Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary