ELF Communication Research Articles

ELF Communication Strategies: A Pedagogical Intervention Pilot Study

AbstractThis study investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of ELF communication strategy instruction for university students’ communicative competence. Conceptual studies on ELF‐informed pedagogy stress the importance of teaching strategies, which promote mutual understanding and positive relationships, but few empirical pedagogical studies exist. This gap seriously hinders efforts to develop more inclusive English language and intercultural communication teaching practices that meet real‐world communication needs. In response, this pilot study developed and tested the effectiveness of instructional materials and assessment instruments for teaching ELF communication strategies. These materials were pilot tested with 26 L1 and LX English speaking participants. The two assessments resulted in statistically significant improvements from pre‐ to posttest with small effect sizes. Participant opinion survey responses were overwhelmingly positive. Based on these encouraging preliminary results, follow‐up pedagogical studies should expand on this pilot study to yield a more comprehensive understanding of ELF communication strategy instruction.

Think and You Know as Discourse Markers among Korean Speakers of English

The present study examines I think and you know as discourse markers among Korean English speakers, using data from sociolinguistic interviews. Previous research on I think and you know has suggested that they are highly frequent among native speakers but much less used by non-native speakers and that particularly you know among nonnative speakers is rather used for discourse-organizational purposes not for intersubjectivity. Since English is learned and used as an important foreign language in Korea, Korean society is a remarkable context for research on both world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. Especially in the context of English as a lingua franca. In ELF interaction, I think and you know as discourse markers have been demonstrated to be used for marking speaker-centered and subjectivity, though they are used differently by native English speakers. The data analysis reveals that the use of I think and you know among Korean speakers of English is similar to that in other ELF communication. Both are used as discourse-pragmatic markers to convey speakercentered attitude as fumbling device and express subjectivity in evaluating part of the discourse. This paper contributes to the growing body of discourse markers analyzed through a systematic and replicable methodology.

ODİ İletişimi: Pedagojik Katalizörden ODİ Oyun Değiştiriciye

Raising speaker-learners’ and their teachers’ awareness of the possibilities and challenges of authentic ELF communication is a powerful catalyst in the process of understanding what it means to be out in the wild. But where do they turn for orientation when it comes to their own spoken and written productions? From a social constructivist perspective, I argue that ELT’s standard native speaker orientation is not the problem. Rather, what counts is what speaker-learners are allowed and encouraged to do with it. Against this backdrop, I propose a pedagogical lingua franca approach that moves ELF communication from a position outside ELT to a game changer position inside ELT and helps learners develop their own voice as emancipated non-native speakers of English.

Thai elf Users’ Characteristics of Relative Clauses

Abstract To build up the empirical description of elf’s morphosyntactic system, this study examines Thai elf users’ characteristics of relative clauses and analyses the causes underlying their use of the construction. Data were taken from the writing of 116 advanced and upper-intermediate English majors at a university in Bangkok. The results indicated that Thai elf users’ relative clauses exhibit preferences for unmarked and explicit structures. Both linguistic and functional causes are responsible for their production of the construction: they form relative clauses full of basic and transparent structures in order to ensure simple and successful communication. The overall results reveal the nature of elf communication. Although Thai elf users’ relative clauses are associated with some specific patterns, their use of this grammatical construction is governed by general linguistic processes which have been found to operate in the interactions of many groups of elf speakers, especially at the phonological and pragmatic levels.

Let's say: Phraseological patterns of say in academic ELF communication

Formulaic sequences (e.g., on the other hand, for example, as can be seen) are prevalent in academic discourse. Apart from their various functions, research in the field has uncovered a range of contextual and individual factors associated with the use of formulaic sequences, including genre, discipline, and the user's L1 as well as expertise level. However, most previous studies focus on written discourse and employ a frequency-based approach (e.g., lexical bundles, n-grams). The inherent limitations of the approach are of particular relevance to ELF communication, which involves a high degree of flexibility adaptability. The present study aims to explore features of formulaicity in spoken ELF academic discourse. Through a close examination of the phraseological patterns of one verb say in a one-million-word corpus of spoken ELF communication in academic settings, the present study is able to overcome some of the limitations of the frequency approach, thereby shedding further light on formulaicity in language use characterising this particular community and its relationship with factors such as event type, discipline, and individual preference.

비영어권 교환학생 사례를 통해 살펴본 ELF 소통의 실제

비영어권 교환학생 사례를 통해 살펴본 ELF 소통의 실제

The influence of context on language alternation practices in English as a lingua franca

Abstract This paper scrutinizes language alternation practices in different settings where English is predominantly used as the lingua franca (ELF). Data from different interactional contexts are examined: academic interactions from the ELFA corpus, doctoral defense discussions (also from the ELFA corpus), and informal family interactions. Corpus, discourse and conversation analytic methods and ethnographic information are used in analyzing these spoken data. I argue that translanguaging in lingua franca contexts is not only affected by speakers’ repertoire or the linguistic setting, but that there is a complex web of individual, interpersonal, group-related, and discourse environmental aspects which play their part in whether and to which extent speakers alternate languages in spoken ELF communication.

Communication and community. An ELF perspective on critical contexts

This paper examines current ways in which the concept of ‘community’ has been operationalized in sociolinguistics and how they relate to thinking about communication. It argues that in the age of globalization, well-established ideas about community need to be radically re-thought in order to ensure compatibility with contemporary life, characterized by de-territorialization, fluidity and virtuality. This is particularly crucial when it comes to high-stakes encounters in critical contexts, such as international conflict mediation, interpreting, asylum procedures and international publishing. These are very often carried out via (English as) a lingua franca, (E)LF for short. Describing and analyzing these encounters is not just a matter of carrying out sociolinguistic, ethnographic and anthropological research but is essentially an applied linguistic undertaking, in that the conditions of ELF communication are inextricably interwoven with significant socio-political, socio-economic and humanitarian issues of misunderstanding, inequity and disenfranchisement. It is therefore imperative to think clearly about the concepts that provide the basis for wide-reaching decisions in these critical contexts. The contribution of ELF research is thus that it not only helps us to understand how “communication communities” work; but also has an important part to play in the critical appraisal of well-entrenched but potentially unsuitable and anachronistic notions in sociolinguistics and in bringing our conceptual and methodological tools in line with the realities of globalization.

Miscommunication in Using English as a Lingua Franca

English is now widely used as a lingua franca in international communication. Communication is a collaboration of all its participants. Although mutual understanding is commonly assumed during interaction, miscommunication is inevitable. ELF communication, with its interactants from diversified lingua-cultural backgrounds, is assumed to be susceptible to communication breakdowns. To verify this assumption, some empirical studies on ELF miscommunication are reviewed. It is found that miscommunication is infrequent in ELF communication and ELF interactants proactively employ communication strategies to preempt and repair understanding problems to ensure mutual understanding.

EFL Teachers’ Attitude Towards Accent of Effective ELF Communication

Over the years, English is best intended to be taught by a native speaker. Ironically, both native speakers and non-native speakers need to enhance their efficiency. As a qualified instructor of English, the habit of using accent preferences may affect interaction. This methodological research, therefore, examines the extent to which the ELF reference is rendered in the EFL classroom. By categorizing the open-ended question as to the first survey and continue to gather in-depth interviews, the perspectives on ideological preferences on particular accents were identified. As a result, the findings suggest that accents are not significant, preferably the usage of language between interlocutors to communicate has been proposed further.

Backchannels as a Cooperative Strategy in ELF Communications

Backchannels as a Cooperative Strategy in ELF Communications

ELF/VLF Communication Experiment by Modulated Heating of Ionospheric Auroral Electrojet at EISCAT

Amplitude modulation high-frequency (HF) radio waves at extremely low frequencies (ELF, 0.3-3 kHz) or very low frequencies (VLF, 3-30 kHz), heating the ionosphere, can nonlinearly modulate the auroral electrojet to produce ELF/VLF waves for long-distance communication. This article presents the results of the first ELF/VLF communication experiments being conducted at Tromsø, where the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) HF facility is located. The ELF/VLF waves from the ionosphere are modulated by quaternary phase shift keying (QPSK) and used for communication. The ELF signals of 2017 Hz at 20 and 100 b/s, as well as VLF signals of 3517 Hz at 20, 100, and 400 b/s, received by a ground-based receiver (15 km away from the heater) were decoded, albeit with a high bit error rate (BER) for 3517 Hz at 20 b/s. With the decoding principle of QPSK, we attempted to find a solution to reduce the BER for future communication experiments. Based on the results of the ground experiment, the transmitted signals of 2017 Hz at 20 b/s were selected in the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) reception experiments. In a first, we demonstrate that ELF communication signals generated by the amplitude modulation heating of the ionosphere have been successfully received by the satellite and the ground-based receiver. These experimental results confirm that the ELF/VLF waves radiated by amplitude modulation heating of the auroral electrojet can be used for long-distance communication in future.

English as a lingua franca: From classroom to out-of-classroom communication

This case study explores the perceived contributions and impacts of out-of-class ELF-oriented practices on EFL learners’ perspectives for EFL communication. 22 Turkish EFL learners studying at a state university participated to the study and each of them were asked to engage in communication with a large number of international and exchange students from different culture and language contexts on campus. At the onset of the process, Turkish learners were informed about the written and spoken genres of the out-of-class communication (including business meetings, job interviews, academic reports, resumes etc.) incorporated into an oral communication skill course in 14 weeks. Immediately after each ELF communication, that is the out-of-class communication activity completed with the native speakers or non-native speakers of English, they kept their weekly records and wrote self-reflections. The collected data were analyzed by following the steps of coding method (Merriam, 1998). Findings suggest that ELF-oriented practices out-of-class communication raised EFL learners’ awareness and perceptions towards cultural and linguistic diversities. Also, EFL learners appeared to show new insights on intelligibility in communication and willingness to employ communication strategies such as negotiation for meaning, use of non-verbal communication, in order to enhance their intercultural communicative competence.

ELF Chirp Communication based on Modulated Heating Low Ionosphere

ELF can be generated by HF heating the low ionosphere for submarine communication. QPSK has been used on ELF carried generated via modulated ionosphere heating to transmit digital data. However, ELF band is disturbed frequently by the power frequency harmonic interference, and QPSK modulation can’t effectively suppress interference. In this paper, the Chirp-BOK(Binary Orthogonal keying) modulation method for ELF communication based on ionosphere heating is proposed. The up-chirp and the down-chirp modulation waveforms are designed to transmit the symbols “0” and “1” respectively. Simulation results show that the variation of electron temperature and conductivity in the ionosphere is basically consistent with the frequency modulation characteristics of power modulation when the ionosphere is heated by Chirp-BOK power modulation high frequency wave. The performance of Chirp-BOK and QPSK under harmonic interference is compared, and the simulation results show that Chirp-BOK has better anti-interference performance.

Enhancing Explicitness in BELF Interactions: Self-Initiated Communication Strategies in the Workplace

Differences in the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of participants to ELF communication, as well as in their linguistic abilities, may pose obstacles to the accomplishment of communicative goals in international encounters (Kaur 2011, Mauranen 2006). Achieving mutual understanding requires therefore the adoption of co-operative behavior by participants to ensure the success of the interaction. In the professional context, where communicative events may be heavily task-oriented, clarity emerged as an essential feature of communicative success (Louhiala-Salminen and Kankaanranta 2011, 255). Participants therefore make use of a number of Communication Strategies (Cogo 2009; Kaur 2009, 2011; Bjorkman 2011, 2014) to pre-empt and/or solve instances of misunderstanding and communication breakdown, including appeals and requests as well as other self-initiated strategies with the purpose of enhancing explicitness and therefore anticipating potential problems (Mauranen 2006, Kaur 2011). This paper will focus on a set of Communication Strategies aimed at increasing explicitness that have been attested in ELF communication, in order to identify which types occur in BELF interactions and their role in ensuring communicative success in such contexts. To this purpose, naturally-occurring BELF data drawn from business conversations and meetings in the Professional Business and Professional Organizational subsections in the VOICE corpus will be analyzed from a qualitative perspective. The outcome is expected to be in line with previous findings in different ELF context, with speakers displaying strategic competence and making use of Communication Strategies in order to get their points across while ensuring that intelligibility is maintained.

“How Dare You Have Another Relationship!”: An analysis of cross-cultural and interlanguage corrections

Abstract The present study aimed to examine the speech act of correction produced by Chinese, Americans, and Chinese EFL learners. A total of 120 participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire with two major parts: a Scaled Response Questionnaire (SRQ) and a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). Elicited data were analyzed in terms of three perspectives: perception of face-threat, overall correction strategy use, and the use of external modifications. The results showed some similarities and differences between Chinese and Americans’ corrections. As for the EFL learners, they exhibited their interlanguage development in the perception and overall strategy use. In addition, instances of L1 pragmatic transfer were found in the learners’ use of some individual strategies and external modifications. Learners’ interlanguage development and L1 socio-cultural transfer demonstrated the multi-competence of the learners. The present study suggests that further instruction should be implemented to enrich L2 learners’ pragmatic repertoire for successful ELF communication.

Disagreement practices in ELF academic group discussion: verbal, nonverbal and interactional strategies

AbstractAcademic group work can involve challenging pragmatic acts, and chief among these is, arguably, disagreement. There is little known, however, about how disagreement is realised in ELF academic group discussion tasks, where the tendency towards greater cooperation and mutual support in ELF communication may be at odds with the need to achieve task goals through the expression of an oppositional stance. In addressing this issue, the current study sought to answer the research question: how do postgraduate students in a UK university setting express their disagreement in ELF academic group discussion? Twelve participants from ten different linguacultural backgrounds completed two different simulated discussion tasks: one targeting opinions, and the other consensus decision-making. The same participants also took part in retrospective stimulated-recall interviews using the video-recording of their discussions as a stimulus. Discourse analysis of the transcribed interactions revealed that the ELF participants used a wide range of verbal, nonverbal and interactional strategies in their disagreeing practices. Three salient strategies are presented in detail: focus shifts, complex turn-management (other-initiated disagreement turn dependence and turn-throwing/passing), and the use of gaze. Through these examples, we show that while the discourse produced in group discussion tasks was rich in disagreement, ELF participants used complex linguistic and interactional strategies to avoid explicit displays of their oppositional stance. Results are discussed with a view to developing theory around disagreement in ELF academic contexts.

Formulaic sequences signalling discourse organisation in ELF academic lectures: a disciplinary perspective

AbstractFormulaic sequences (e.g.on the other hand, for example, at the same time) are pervasive in natural language use and play an important role in differentiating socially situated practices. This paper examines formulaic sequences signalling discourse organisation in academic ELF lectures from a disciplinary perspective. Most previous studies of this kind employ a frequency-based approach; however, the inherent limitations of the methodology (e.g. arbitrary operational criteria, difficulty in handling discontinuous units) mean that a great deal may have been overlooked. This may be particularly relevant to ELF communication, which involves a high degree of flexibility and adaptability. The present study aims to address this gap by taking a manual approach in the identification of formulaic sequences, continuous or discontinuous, in context. The results provide further evidence for disciplinary differences and variability in the use of formulaic language to signal discourse organisation by lecturers in academic ELF settings.

New insights about interference suppression algorithm based on analog circuits and linear filtering method in ELF communication

In order to improve the communication quality in the extremely-low-frequency communication effectively, a kind of new insight based on analog circuits and linear filtering method for interference suppression is proposed, the latter mainly achieves by the joint diagonalization of the correlation matrices. The proposed algorithm takes place the filter coefficients by a linear combination of eigenvectors, the problem of interference suppression is converted into the solution of constructed coordinates. Besides, three kinds of filters are designed based on the mean square error criterion, the derivation process is given in detail, and several performance evaluation indices are also provided. And the derivation results show that the proposed algorithm can become common filters in speech enhancement when the number of chosen eigenvectors is a certain value. Finally, some experiments are performed in a laboratory environment. And the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can suppress the interference effectively, and the compromise between the number of interference suppression and the degree of signal distortion can be controlled by changing the number of chosen eigenvectors, the proposed algorithm has potential performance gain.

Multilingualism in legal space: the issue of mutual understanding in ELF communication between defendants and interpreters

ABSTRACTOwing to its economic growth and social changes in the past two decades, China has become a popular destination for tourists, investors, and diverse communities of migrants. When foreign-language-speaking migrants interact with Chinese criminal justice system, they rely on interpreters to participate in the proceedings. Based on four-month trial observations in a Chinese city that is reported to have the highest concentration of foreign migrants in the country, this paper attempts to empirically explore the communicative complexity between foreign defendants and interpreters when they use English as a lingua franca. Drawing upon discourse analysis of recordings of seven criminal hearings that involve defendants from African countries, this paper shows how intercultural communication in the legal setting becomes challenging when primary participants in the interaction have divergent linguistic repertoires and speak different varieties of English. Variations in pronunciation become barriers to intelligibility; different legal culture and legal systems further complicate mutual understanding. This paper highlights how linguistic differences in interpreter-defendant communication disadvantage defendants in participating in judicial proceedings, which may undermine their legal rights and result in inequality and injustice.