Turkish EFL Students' Perceptions of ELF and its Pedagogical Implications

Abstract

English has established itself as a lingua franca for people from a variety of linguistic and cultural origins in today's more globalized world. As a result, English's current position is likely to have an effect on both EFL students' perceptions of the language and its pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to elicit students' perspectives of English as a lingua franca (ELF) - defined as a common medium of communication for persons with varied linguistic and cultural origins - and its instructional implications. To do this, data were gathered through the use of a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire devised by the researcher. The survey sampled 570 Turkish EFL students enrolled in a foundation university's English preparatory program in the Istanbul province. The findings indicated that EFL students were unsure not just about English's standing as a lingua franca, but also about its instructional consequences. In other words, they were cautious to endorse such a novel concept. In light of these significant findings, implications for language teaching/learning scenarios were discussed, as well as ideas for additional research.