English As A Lingua Franca: A Debate On English Variety

There were once several lingua francas used in different regions of the world, for example Greek, French and Chinese. But the English language, now functions as the world lingua franca, is greater than ever in terms of using area, fields, number of users, and popularity. There are at least two reasons. For one thing, English is brought to the world by native-English-speaking countries in the process of colonization. For another thing, native-English-speaking countries, for example Britain and America, are advanced in the fields like science and technology, economy and military, and have a great influence on the whole world. While in the process of globalization, English is also localized and gives birth to a lot of new varieties. These varieties are called World Englishes (WEs), which becomes a heated topic in linguistic research.The study of ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) is regarded as an important part of WEs researches, which greatly influences ELT all around the world and international intelligibility. Some scholars have taken ELF as a variety of English like American English and have made a series of linguistic descriptions at the levels of phonology, lexicogrammar, and some others. Based on WEs theories in classifying English varieties, especially Kachru's "three concentric circles" theory, this thesis discusses whether ELF is a certain variety of English or not. In fact, it is not a certain variety of English. Firstly, it is because that language is a tool for its users to express their identity, and since they can be indentified when speaking nativized variety of English rather than native English in international communications, the nativized form will be adopted. Secondly, it is because of ELF users'attitudes. ELF users in the Outer Circle do not like native English. They may even hate it because it may remind them of a history of blood and humiliation, that is, colonization. Those in the Expanding Circle may feel more connected with nativized variety of English than with native English because the nativized variety could not only represent their cultural identities, but also spread their local cultures to other places of the world. Then the author tries to explore the nature of ELF and finds that ELF is not a new variety of English either. It can be regarded as a mixture of register and a bundle of varieties. This study is also helpful for English teaching in China. For a long period of time, English teaching in China mainly focuses on imitating either British English or American English and holds a negative attitude toward China English which has characteristics of our own. However, native variety of English is rather a model of English teaching than the only standard in ELF situations. China English should be advocated and would play an active role in English teaching and learning as well. The focus should also be turned to the cultivation of English learners' communicative strategies.This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One is the introduction. The author briefly introduces the alternation of several lingua francas in the history and how English has developed into a world Lingua franca, as well as the purpose and the structure of the thesis. Chapter Two presents a terms classification and a literature review of the previous study on both WEs and ELF. Chapter Three is designed to discuss ELF and proves that it is not a certain variety of English, followed by a brief analysis of the nature of ELF. Chapter Four generalizes the implications for ELT in China. Chapter Five is the conclusion part of the whole study.