Emerging patterns in non-native English speech, emerging identities of ELF users, emerging controversies over ELF practicalitites
Abstrakt
Non-native speakers of English have greatly outnumbered native speakers which affects the way the English language is used nowadays. While abroad the concept of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has been the subject of lively discussions and ongoing research for more than a decade, the new challenges and emerging issues concerning the ELF phenomenon remain relatively unnoticed by Czech ELT professionals.
This paper addresses some of the underlying principles of ELF and comments on their relevance in the Czech educational context. Particular attention is paid to Jennifer Jenkins's proposition of a segmental-oriented pronunciation programme known as Lingua Franca Core (LFC) whose mastery guarantees international intelligibility.
The ELF phenomenon is approached from two perspectives. Firstly, the paper will look at the current research findings in the area of ELF and secondly, both benefits and concerns related to the ways of implementing LFC in classroom practice will be scrutinized.