"We will abstain from eating any kind of food at the hotel": On Analyzing and Teaching Pragmatic and Other Aspects of English as a Global Language

Joachim Grzega

doi:10.13092/lo.70.1744

Abstract

The article deals with aspects of analyzing and teaching English as a global language. Apart from a few remarks on phonetics, lexis and morphosyntax, its specific focus are pragmalinguistic issues. After a brief state-of-the-art, analyses of both natural and experimentally elicited language data from oral and written contexts are presented. The analyses rest on both qualitative approaches (VOICE and You Tube clips) and quantitative approaches (one type of DPTs, two types of MJTs and one type of semantic differential). The studies show that quantitative analyses with experimental methods often falsify hypotheses that have suggested themselves from prior qualitative research ("let-it pass principle" among natives and non-natives) and from normative language guides ("learner-book illusion", "complex-is-polite principle", "middle slots relevance"). The article then shows how the linguistic findings from such experimental designs can and should be rendered into principles and components for Teaching English as a Global Language, which would require constant work-in-progress models. Concrete examples are given from Basic Global English (BGE), which aims to prepare for global citizenship by incorporating transculturally effective strategies at the elementary level.

Highlights

Research on English as a lingua franca (ELF), or, more generally, English as a global language (EGL), has been gaining more and more attraction over the past years
In my view, analysing and teaching English as a global language does not make sense if it excludes the native speakers of the globe
This article predominantly aims at showing that in order to teach the pragmatics of English as a global language a variety of methods is fruitful

Summary

Introduction

Research on English as a lingua franca (ELF), or, more generally, English as a global language (EGL), has been gaining more and more attraction over the past years. The terms are not used unanimously in the literature (cf., e.g., Mortensen 2013 on this issue). I very consciously include native speakers in my use of ELF (as a function) and EGL (as a system). In my view, analysing and teaching English as a global language does not make sense if it excludes the native speakers of the globe. Whatever the precise definition in the literature, they always somehow include the use of English by nonnative speakers.

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