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Education Permanente 2011-1  Weiterbildung international La formation continue : perspectives internationales 

This is one of the few occasions you will find an Education permanente article in English. It is

intended to be a subject of reflection, as English is increasingly present in many educational

settings, as the new common language. In particular in higher education and adult education,

there are more and more programs being offered in English. International adult education has

a voice: and this voice speaks in English. But what is the impact of language on teaching and

learning situations, when English becomes a lingua franca?

English as a lingua franca (ELF) can be defined as

a contact language used between speakers who

do not share the same mother tongue(s) or cul-

tural backgrounds. It is a global phenomenon,

with a much wider range of people using Eng-

lish now as an additional language than native

speakers. Indeed, over 80% of interactions in

English worldwide are now estimated to be be-

tween non-native speakers (see Graddol 2006).

In this respect, native speaker competence may

no longer be relevant as a model to imitate or a

«golden standard» to reach (see Seidlhofer 2004).

Indeed, when ELF is used for education, the focus

tends to be on effective communication rather

than «correctness» (see Mauranen et al 2010).This is particularly evident in speech which is

processed «on-line», giving little time for reflec-

tion on form.

Focus on teaching staff and adult educators

Teaching staff and adult educators may benefit

from reflection on the issues involved in teaching

in English, and practical support in dealing with

new challenges effectively. Three overlappingfields can be identified in relation to teaching in

English in non-English speaking contexts (seeHoekje and Williams 1992). These are the role

of English as a common language, the learning

and teaching situation, and an intercultural per-

spective. The interplay between these three areas

needs to be taken into consideration in course

planning and delivery. Teaching in English in a

non-English speaking context requires conscious

awareness of the new situation on the part of

the teacher. This is particularly so in relation

to language and culture and is also linked to

awareness raising amongst the students on is-

sues involved.

Alongside course planning, teaching staff need to

consider broader issues, notably sources of possi-

 ble problems amongst the learners that may need

to be specifically addressed, for example insuf-

ficient language levels or feeling ill at ease with

different teaching styles. The learners themselves

need not only to understand course content in

English, but also accept approaches to teaching

and learning that may differ culturally from those

they are used to. Thus, alongside linguistic and

pedagogical issues, it is important to adequately

address different cultural perspectives that are

often present amongst course participants who do

not share the same linguacultural backgrounds.

Linguistic perspective

In our context, effective communication in Eng-

lish means promoting learning, but not neces-

sarily through adherence to standard models of

English. Today, diversity is a feature of global use

amongst both native and non-native speakers of

the language. It is also typical in contexts where

ELF is used that other languages are present.

These may fulfill a range of functions such as aid-

ing comprehension or building social relations. In

the learning context, it is particularly important

to remain open not only to different Englishes,

 but also to the presence of other languages. Mul-

tilingualism can represent added value, for ex-

ample in allowing course participants to explore

different views or understandings of concepts.

MARKUS WEIL

Dr. phil., D ipl.-Päd., Associate

at the Center for University

Teaching and Learning at the

University of Zurich

www.hochschuldidaktik.uzh.ch/

index_en.html

Contact: markus.weil@

hochschuldidaktik.uzh.ch

PATRICIA PULLIN 

PhD., Head of English

University of Zurich and ETH

Language Center

www.sprachenzentrum.uzh.ch

Contact:

patricia.pullin@sprachen.uzh.ch

English as a lingua franca in education –

Internationalisation speaks English

 

29dossier dossier 

Education Permanente 2011-1  Weiterbildung international La formation continue : perspectives internationales 

«Over 80% of interactions in English worldwide are nowestimated to be between non-native speakers. In thisrespect, native speaker competence may no longer berelevant as a model to imitate or a ‹golden standard› toreach.»

Bi- and multilingual speakers can draw and build

on a broader linguistic and cultural repertoire

than monolinguals. Meanings need to be explored

and negotiated to produce mutual understanding.

In international learning contexts, given topics

and concepts can be questioned and critically

examined from different perspectives, perhaps

leading to broader or deeper understandings (see

House 2003).

Attitudes to English are also changing through its

use and spread as a lingua franca. For example,

American or British pronunciation may not be

appropriate or deemed necessary. In teaching,

pronunciation must be clear, to ensure effective

learning. Both students and teachers also tend

to get used to and adapt to different accents and

uses of English with exposure to them. Similarly,

attention to «correct» forms is of less importance

than effective teaching and learning, for example

through the ability to create interaction in lessons

(see Suviniitty 2008). Also of key importance in

teaching in another language is visual support

for learning content. This should be straightfor-

ward and easily understandable. Such support

is essential for learners whose level of English

is weak.

Pedagogical perspective

In some fields, it may be necessary to rethink

the structure of teaching content, i.e. the wayit is organised and presented. The new use of

English and resulting changes may lead to a need

to modify particular traditions, models and con-

tent. For instance, examples provided to support

learning, need to be comprehensible to «outsid-

ers» from a range of contexts and backgrounds.

However, there are limits to such adaptations,

not everything can be illustrated through global

parameters. It is up to the teaching staff to decide

when the modifications are worthwhile and these

should always be made in order to improve the

learning process and should never distract from

the main learning aims.

In an ELF context it is also worthwhile to consider

 building on the range of perspectives presentamongst course participants and to choose learn-

ing formats in such a way that participants can

learn from each others’ experiences and also com-

pare different expectations. This approach can be

very time consuming, but it is clear that groups

concerned can benefit in terms of awareness rais-

ing regarding intercultural aspects of learning and

teaching. Indeed, the ELF context lends itself to

the integration of intercultural content per se in

the classroom, for example through group work

 based on the comparison of different cultural

approaches to learning and teaching or the de-

velopment of glossaries and wikis.

Summing-up

It is important to encourage interaction and cre-

ate a learning context that is comfortable for the

learners, allowing them to ask questions and clar-

ify difficult points. This is not always easy as par-

ticipants may have different levels of knowledge

and expectations, particularly in an intercultural

context. Different expectations should be explic-

itly raised to reach an understanding on possible

different assumptions. A challenge for teaching

staff lies in the recognition of their own use of

language and practice in adult education as a pos-

sible source of problems or misunderstandings.

This may be linked to weak English language

skills or lack of awareness of how embedded

course content is in local culture.

In an international context one needs to go be-

yond the idea of simply translating course mate-

rials so that intercultural and linguistic aspects

of teaching and learning can be linked to course

planning and delivery. This offers teaching staff

and adult educators the opportunity to be pro-

active in encompassing the complexities of the

situation in an appropriate and enriching man-

ner. n

Sources:

Graddol, D. (2006) English Next. London: British Council.

Hoekje, B. and Williams, J. (1992) Communicative Competence

and the Dilemma of International Teaching Assistant Education.

TESOL QUARTERLY, 26, 2. 243-269.

House, J. (2003) English as a lingua franca: A threat to multilin-

gualism? Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7, 4, p. 556-578.

Mauranen, A.; Hynninen, N.; Ranta, E. (2010) English as an ac-

ademic lingua franca: The ELFA project. English for Specific

Purposes.

Seidlhofer, B. (2004) Research Perspectives on Teaching English

as a Lingua Franca. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Cam-

bridge University Press: 24, p. 209-239.

Suviniitty, J. (2008) Good, poor, or excellent – Students’ percep-

tions of lecturers’ English and comprehension of lectures. In F.

Welsch, F. Malpica, A. Tremante, J. Vincente Carrasquero, & A.