The advantages and the ways of incorporating english as a lingua franca into english language teaching

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY --- THE ADVANTAGES AND THE WAYS OF INCORPORATING ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA INTO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHIN

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Major: English Language Course code: 60220201

HO CHI MINH CITY, September 2019

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

-

THE ADVANTAGES AND THE WAYS OF

INCORPORATING ENGLISH

AS A LINGUA FRANCA INTO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Submitted to the Faculty of English Language

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English Language

STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY

I certify my authorship of the Master ‘s Thesis submitted today entitled:

THE ADVANTAGES AND THE WAYS OF INCORPORATING ENGLISH AS

A LINGUA FRANCA INTO ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master ‘s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English Language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

Ho Chi Minh, September 2019

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Ho Phi Yen, being a candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in

English Language, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master ‘s Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis

Ho Chi Minh, September 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my cordial gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Le Van Tuyen for his priceless guidance and feedback, continuous support, and patience throughout the preparation of my thesis

I would also like to thank all lecturers and staffs of HUTECH Institutes of Post- graduation and International Education, English Language Faculty and Professionals Training Center for their valuable support in my thesis preparation

I am also indebted to my colleagues at HUTECH Institute of International Education for their supports Without their participation and input, I would not have completed this thesis

My special thank for my family - who were willing to provide assistance

throughout my tough periods I want to thank my classmates for the time we have been together, and I would never forget them all

ABSTRACT

English has been incorporated as the global language which is being used by a majority of global citizens Most of them are nonnative English speakers and this percentage is over 90% (Crystal, 2003) English is used as a medium instruction in the academic context in non-native English speaking countries Besides, it has also been a Lingua Franca (ELF) in those countries In response to the need of a empirical study researching on the current advantages and ways of incorporating ELF in Vietnam, especially in tertiary level, this study aimed to investigate 50 EFL teachers teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) about their understanding of ELF concepts, the advantages and the ways of incorporating ELF into EFL classrooms The study involved 50 EFL teachers who are nonnative English speakers teaching English at HUTECH Both quantitative and qualitative data were obtained through two instruments, namely questionnaires and semi- structured interviews Descriptive statistics and content analysis were employed to analyze the collected data The results of the study revealed that most of the surveyed EFL teachers had acknowledged on ELF at basic level such as knowing its linguistic elements, vocabulary, its varieties, and its speakers More interestingly, the findings of the study also revealed that EFL teachers thought that incorporating ELF in EFL classrooms may have a lot of advantages They also agreed that there are a variety of ways of incorporating ELF

in EFL classrooms The study also made several suggestions amongst teachers, educators and students on how to have a full view of ELF and considerable, systematic ways of incorporating them in their tertiary classrooms This study is expected to shed light on the incorporation of ELF in typical tertiary level of education in Vietnam

Key words: English as a lingua franca, incorporation, academic context, tertiary

level

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY I

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III

ABSTRACT IV

LIST OF ABBREVIATION V LIST OF FIGURES VI

LIST OF TABLES VII

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 2

1.3 Aims and objectives of the study 3

1.4 Research questions 4

1.5 Scope of the study 4

1.6 Significance of the study 5

1.7 Definition of key terms 6

1.8 Organization of the thesis 7

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 The Role of English in Vietnam 8

2.3 Position of English in the World 9

2.4 English as a Lingua Franca 10

2.4.1 Defining English as a Lingua Franca 10

2.4.2 English as a Lingua Franca versus English as a EFL/ESL 12

2.4.3 English as a Lingua Franca versus English as a Native Language 12

2.5 Description of ELF 13

2.5.1 General Description 13

2.5.2 ELF in teaching four- skills English 14

2.5.3 Linguistic Description 15

2.5.3.1 Phonology 15

2.5.3.2 Lexical grammar 15

2.5.3.3 Pragmatics 16

2.5.3.4 Written and spoken Language 16

2.6 Reasons for English as a Lingua Franca 17

2.7 The embodiment of ELF in Vietnamese higher education 20

2.8 Teaching and Learning English as Lingua Franca 21

2.8.1 Advantages of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning of English 21

2.8.2 Ways of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning of English 22

2.9 Summary 25

2.10 Previous Studies 26

2.11 Conceptual Framework of the study 31

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research design 33

3.2 Research site 33

3.3 Sample and sampling procedures 34

3.4 Research Instruments 37

3.4.1 Closed-ended Questionnaire 37

3.4.2 Structured interviews 39

3.5 Data collection procedures 40

3.6 Data Analysis procedures 41

3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis 41

3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis 42

3.7 Validity and Reliability 43

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Introduction 45

4.2 Results of the Study 45

4.2.1 EFL teachers’ overall understanding of ELF 45

4.2.2 Advantages of incorporating ELF into English language teaching 49

4.2.3 Ways of incorporating ELF into English language teaching 53

4.3 Discussion 57

4.3.1 EFL teachers’ understanding of ELF 57

4.3.2 EFL teachers’ perceptions on advantages of incorporating ELF into English language teaching 59

4.3.3 EFL teachers’ perceptions on proposed ways of incorporating ELF into English language teaching 60

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 5.1 Introduction 62

5.2 Summary of the results 62

5.3 Implications and recommendations 63

5.4 Limitations of the Study 66

5.5 Recommendation for further research 65

LIST OF REFERENCES 65

APPENDICES Appendix A: TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE 71

Appendix B: SAMPLE INTERVIEW SHEET 75

Appendix C: TEACHERS’ INTERVIEW RESPONSES 76

Appendix D: INTERVIEW RESULTS 77

Appendix E: CRONBACH’S ALPHA 85 Appendix F: MEAN & ST.D 88 Appendix G: PLAGIARISM CHECK 90

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian nations EAP English for academic purposes

ENL English as a Native Language

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EGL English as a Global Language

EIL English as an International Language

ELF English as a Lingual Franca

EMI English-medium instruction

ESL English as a Second Language

ESP English for specific purposes

HUTECH Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology HIIE HUTECH Institute of International Education ISP International Standard Program

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Demographics information of the participants 35

Table 3.2 Mean scores for analyzing the quantitative data 41

Table 3.3 Cronbach’s Alpha indexes of the questionnaire items in total 44

Table 4.1 Descriptive Statistics of EFL teachers’ understanding of ELF 45

Table 4.2 Descriptive Statistics of advantages of incorporating ELF into EFL classrooms 49

Table 4.3 Descriptive Statistics on ways of incorporating ELF 53

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) contrasted with EFL (English as

a Foreign Language) ……….12 Figure 2.2 The interaction between Kachru’s Circles and ELF……….13 Figure 2.3: Conceptual Framework of the Study ……… 32

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

In the worldwide picture, it is claimed that meanwhile the world is getting narrower thanks to technology and communication among people from different nationalities is more and more common, people somehow have to admit an indispensable need for a mutual language called a lingua franca, and English is a potential option (Tonkin, 2003) Shortly after that, a prediction was made on Tonkin’s claim by mentioning emergence of the term “English as a lingua franca” (ELF) as a common language among different first language speakers (Seidlhofer, 2005a) That claim from Seidhofer stated that there is a need to incorporate ELF in education especially in tertiary level to facilitate globalization

in many aspects Since then, there have been many studies on ELF in many linguistic aspects, especially for topics involving in education In the field of education, particularly in tertiary level (higher education) ELF is a tool of communication or even a medium instruction (EMI) between multinational lecturers and students in some countries (Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia etc.) What is more, it is estimated that nearly 80% of the contexts of English communication including academic settings that English work as a second language (ESL) does not involve in native speakers and English is called a Lingua Franca (Haberland, 2011) It is such a favorable condition to ELF development and also for ELF studies worldwide

Before ‘The National Foreign Languages Project 2020’ of Vietnam

Government in 2008, English was introduced and taught in Vietnam in high school and tertiary levels After that, the revolution on incentives of the government has impelled emergence of English language centers and international schools in metropolitan areas nationwide Right after the advent of project 2020, improving English in both high school and higher education levels had set a premise to propose many EMI programs and also made English the communicative tool in HE setting (Burns & Vu Thi Thanh Nha, 2014) The most

practical example was Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology’s (HUTECH) International Standards Programs (ISP) which is under the control of HUTECH Institute of International Education (HIIE), English language faculty, and professionals training center ISP program of HIIE was implemented in English and ELF communication contexts were easy to be found On the other hand, English language Faculty and Professionals training center’s teachers and students prefer using NS English, the variety of English which is used in communication in their courses was considered mixed with ELF because Vietnamese students are non- native speakers and teachers were sometime found non- native speakers apart from Vietnamese They sometimes found confused

on the unsystematic English used in their classroom communication caused by different English accents and usages This situation led to the initial need of researching ELF in higher education (HE) setting

1.2 Statement of the problem

Recently worldwide linguistic researchers had conducted studies on ELF

in academic contexts, especially with a great number on ELF in tertiary level of education In a study on ELF usage in international academic settings, Bjorkman (2011a) identified that teachers ought to precede comprehensibility in English language teaching (ELT) and help students to discover different varieties of English and with more modern view of language as ELF However, it seems that not many EFL teachers paid attention to this field because English is used in western countries between NSs and they prefer native standard rather than nonnative

In the national picture, Pham Hoa Hiep and Ton Nu Nhu Huong (2010) also suggested that the real interaction in ELF could enable students to recognize many local, regional, and global norms Furthermore, one important goal of English education is to develop students’ communicative competence rather than deep-seated concentrated on native speakers (NSs) convention (Crystal, 2002) Most of the teachers and curriculum only focus on a selected standard namely British English or American English, it is right to follow English native standard but not a wrong to concede that a language should be varied, developed and

changed depending on its users

There has been a growing interest in the term English as a lingua franca, for example accommodating ELF in international universities (Jenkins, 2011) and English as an Asian Lingua Franca and the Multilingual Model of ELT (Kirkpatrick, 2011) Though, most of the previous studies on this topic have focused on ELF as a variety of English as a global language and come up with the implications for out of academic context only Ngo Le Phuong Hoang and Ton

Nu Nhu Huong & Pham Hoa Hiep are three of a few researches on this field have been done and published in the Vietnamese context or by the Vietnamese researchers to investigate the application of ELF in HE This reality pushes the researcher into an action to dig into this field

The application of ELF in HE institutions in Vietnam as the mutual tool for communication and HUTECH is not an exception to the whole picture of ELF

in tertiary level of education in Vietnam Nonetheless, English as a native language (ENL) is still predominately adopted in EFL classrooms and there must

be a need model for ELF to be used as a standardized variety of English (Seidlhofer, 2004) At HUTECH, apart from HIIE, where English is used as EMI and as a tool of communication, English Language Faculty, and Professionals Training Center prefer using NES in their classroom though EFL could also happens because their lecturers and students are all NNSs in multilingual classrooms This thesis was implemented in order to bring educators, teachers and students to a more complete picture of how ELF is used in EFL even expectedly

or unexpectedly

1.3 Aims and objectives of the study

The main aim of this study was to investigate EFL teachers’ understanding

on incorporating ELF into their EFL teaching through its advantages and proposed ways of incorporating English has been raising its significant role in tertiary level because it is applied as a tool of communication or EMI inside classrooms of many institutions worldwide (Bjorkman, 2017) Nevertheless, as the researcher has mentioned in the introduction on the emergence of ELF that it hadn’t been researched intensively for tertiary level In responses to this reality,

there is a need to take a research in Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

as a typical context of Vietnam tertiary level education and figure out the situation of Vietnam in general and HUTECH in particular on ELF incorporation This study ended up with a boarder picture of ELF implications (advantages and ways of incorporating) in HE from lecturers’ perceptions More specifically, the study attempted:

+ To investigate HUTECH EFL teachers’ understanding on ELF in general;

+ To explore the advantages of incorporating ELF into English language teaching in EFL classrooms;

+ To discover how English teachers may incorporate ELF into their English language teaching in EFL classrooms

1.4 Research questions

Based on the aims and objectives, the study will attempt to address the following three research questions

1) How do EFL teachers understand about ELF in general?

2) What are the advantages of incorporating ELF into EFL teaching in tertiary level?

3) What are the ways of incorporating ELF into English language teaching

in tertiary level?

1.5 Scope of the study

Many of the previous studies investigated ELF as a mutual tool of communication in HE, for instance Lingua Franca interactions (Bjorkman, 2011b), accommodating to ELF in international universities (Jenkins, 2011), and on low

incidence of miscommunications in dialogic speech (Bjorkman, 2009) Hence, this current thesis oriented to the exploration of teachers’ perceptions on the advantages and the ways of incorporating ELF in EFL classrooms

Instead of conducting the study in different HE institutions, the researcher chose HUTECH as the research site for the convenience reason; and the setting of EFL classes was also a favorable condition to conduct this study

Methodologically, the study employed the mixed method with quantitative

at first and qualitative after that Quantitative data was collected by the questionnaire from 50 EFL teachers That means no students participated in this study

1.6 Significance of the study

The main aim of this study was to investigate the understanding of Vietnamese EFL teachers about the advantages and ways of incorporating ELF in the Vietnamese HE It is expected to be theoretically and practically significant

Theoretically, this study may enrich the literature of ELF by focusing on the perceptions about ELF of teachers and students in academic communication setting, specifically in an ELF environment Moreover, it will shed light on both EFL knowledge and research field, and explore benefits as well as dilemmas of the application of ELF in EFL and ESP classrooms

Practically, the findings of the study will be beneficial to educators in the field of teacher training in ELF context which may be oriented as a fundamental basis for ELF classrooms in the future This research might help to put it into practice efficiently as an orientation in employing ELF in international standard higher education For EFL teachers, it may help them to deal with unsystematic use of ELF which might cause misunderstanding in communication or to classify and arrange them in an approvable systematic use Besides, the resolution to deal with introducing different varieties of English to students in a time-restricted class as well as teachers’ convictions will also be proposed in a particular picture

of ELF in tertiary level education Also, in pedagogical perspective, the findings

of this thesis might indicate the necessity to make teachers aware of the ELF in order to hit the contemporary developments in ELT and be well- rounded teachers

The findings of this study is useful for students who desire to study abroad as well as exchange students in HUTECH to get along well with varieties of English and recognize them as an essential character of English and familiarize with ELF community and culture in HUTECH academic context This is to facilitate themselves with the orientations to study abroad

1.7 Definition of key terms

Advantage

A condition which gives ELF a greater chance to be incorporated in tertiary level EFL classrooms

English as a Lingua Franca

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is defined as a mutual language between

members of two or more different linguacultural backgrounds in English, for

none of whom English is the mother tongue (House, 1999)

Incorporation

The inclusion of ELF as part of a lesson which is introduced in EFL classrooms

Perception

In this study it means opinions and ideas that teachers and students have about

teaching and learning English as a Lingua Franca in a non-native context like

Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or

postsecondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary

education as including universities as well as trade schools and colleges (Cambridge English dictionary)

1.8 Organization of the thesis

This thesis includes 5 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1: Introduction- This chapter gives an initial overview for the thesis

which set the general context of the research Eight sections are concluded in this chapter, namely “Background to the study”, “Statement of the problem”, “Aims and objectives of the study”, “Research questions”, “Scope of the study”,

“Significance of the study”, “Definitions of the key terms”, and “Organization of the thesis”

Chapter 2: Literature review-This chapter presents the theoretical background

of some previous studies and it is composed of 10 sections “Introduction”, “The Role of English in Vietnam”, “Position of English in the World”, “English as a Lingua Franca”, “Description of ELF”, “Reasons for English as a Lingua

Franca”, “The embodiment of ELF in Vietnamese higher education”, “Teaching and Learning English as Lingua Franca”, “Summary”, “Previous Studies”, and

“Theoretical Framework of the study” The main aim of this part is supporting the researcher to back up the researcher ‘s thesis by employing and delving into previous studies in the field

Chapter 3: Research Methodology-This chapter presents the research methods

that were employed to conduct this study This chapter access into detailed and carefully designed methods of collecting, analyzing and illustrating the data to answer the three research questions The major research instruments: the

questionnaire, semi structured interview are identified This chapter includes sections Research design, Instruments, Data collection and analysis procedure

Chapter 4: Results and Discussions-This chapter presents the findings and

discussion of the findings of the study The findings are presented according to the order of the three research questions The findings of research question 1 are presented first, and then those of research questions 2 and 3 are presented After that, discussion of the findings is provided

Chapter 5: Conclusion-the last chapter is composed of a summary of research

findings, as well as an explanation about unavoidable limitations of the thesis and suggestions for further field-related studies Suggestions for further studies are put forward It also recommends some theoretical and pedagogical implications amongst students, teachers and educators

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

of ELF It also conveyed reasons for English as a Lingua Franca, the embodiment

of ELF in Vietnamese higher education, Teaching and Learning English as Lingua Franca, Advantages of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning

of English, Ways of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning of English, Previous Studies, and Theoretical Framework of the study

2.2 The Role of English in Vietnam

There has been “a heated demand for English” in Vietnam since 1986 (Kirkpatrick, 2012a) More importantly, Vietnam became a World Trade Organization (WTO) member in 2007, which has made the teaching and learning

of English more momentous The importance of English has been further bolstered by detailed measures of strategic scheme for foreign language education

at the national level In recent years, English has scrambled in both communication and correspondence in trading and services like tourism and hospitality and education (Walkinshaw, 2018) Relating to the field of tourism,

Vu Thi Hong Van (2015) remarked that competence of English is required for most professional employment in Vietnam English now is taught and learned in all levels of education in Vietnam from primary school to tertiary level At the university level, English has an even more important role All students are required to study English and approximately ninety percent choose to study English The role of English as a language of international communication has now been much more significant The Government’s resolution is to embark on opening up for foreign commerce has enhanced the status of English and its urgency for the development of the country’s economy

English has become the first and the most appealing foreign language used by Vietnamese people to communicate with foreigners including native speakers (NSs) and non-native speakers (NNSs) and is widely heard in the Vietnamese streets and in tertiary institutions (Ngo Phuong Le Hoang, 2015)

2.3 Position of English in the World

Kachru (1992) classified the varieties of English around the world into three categories: those in the “inner circle” (USA, Britain, Australia, etc.), the

“outer circle” (Venezuela, South Africa, Singapore, etc.), and the “expanding circle” (Vietnam, Thailand, China, etc.) It is estimated that both the inner and outer circles include 375 million users and the expanding circle has 750 million to one billion users in 1992 and it was estimated approximately 5 billion users over the world (Walkinshaw, 2018) People of the countries belonging to the inner circle use English as their mother tongue The people in outer circle countries use English partly or over the country, usually in academic or international contexts Whereas people in expanding circle countries learn how to use English long after learning mother tongue, English is only known as a foreign language According

to Kachru (1992), within these circles, different countries hold distinguished characteristics in the use of English For example, American English is used in a multiethnic nation with a majority of immigrants; then it became a mixture of varieties Canadian English, on the other hand is similar to North American English in both phonology and syntax due to dominance of American in 18thcentury (Crystal, 1997) Similarly, he asserted that English’s are used in the outer and expanding circles are varied and diversified by the influence of its historical background, also by economic and education policies on the use of English

English in terms of the future global language seems to be stable in its position as the world’s lingua franca It is imprecise to predict ELF future development by the shade of current status Crystal, Bjokman, Burn, House and Jenkins can foresee the escalation and establishment of World Englishes in parallelism Crystal (1997) stated that the future of English is actually decided by its non-native speakers, and that non-native speakers of English will be aware of their position while English is used as a global language (EGL) and there will be

much more varieties of English That English could combine as other countries start to use English their way and native speakers will not be the norm- providing anymore English is named as a global language because of its increasing value all over the world

Crystal (1997) asserted that while English takes its popularity worldwide,

we could see it whenever and wherever in any industries Even it somehow is missed in any public announcements or menus; we will soon find it in updated version Those are the initial evidence on English’s existence as a global language which is used globally and flexibly adapt its global users, too

Moreover, English holds another role as an International language (IEL) which is defined as the most commonly used over the world in varied contexts It can be asserted that EIL are the most favorable function of English which is preferred and highly appreciated in many fields including teaching and learning English in precise geographic and social context EIL is used as most mutually used tool of communication spreading and accomplishing transactional goals in a wide range of geographical areas (Kirkpatrick, 2011)

2.4 English as a Lingua Franca

2.4.1 Defining English as a Lingua Franca

English as a lingua franca (ELF) has been defined differently by many researchers (Seidlhofer, 2005a) However, the basic definition of English as a lingua franca provided by Firth (1996) is that “it is a contact language” between persons who share different mother tongues, and to whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication Besides, Seidlhofer (2005b) described ELF

as a way to communicate in English between speakers with different first languages Jenkin has extended this definition by weaving English as the preferred language by the people from different lingua cultural backgrounds (Jenkins, 2009) English is a lingua franca only between non- native speakers According to House (1999), ELF interactions are defined as interactions between members of two or more different lingua cultures in English, for none of whom English is the mother tongue ELF’s definition could be summarized as a language that belongs to all the people who use it (Kachru, 1992) Conceived this

point of view, ELF is part of “EIL”, and the term EIL is often used as an alternative to ELF

ELF was born in the expanding and outer circles The communication settings of ELF seemed too miscellaneous because of the highly diverse linguacultural backgrounds and different varieties of English used by its speakers (Bjorkman, 2013) It is demonstrated that ELF speakers are not geographically restricted and their existence is in various settings - between NSs-NNSs or NNSs – NNSs (Seidlhofer, 2004) Many NNSs achieved English proficiency which is even higher than the norm of tested native speakers and they could even be the norm creators who vary English by their local culture, language use and even accents and idioms In general, English speaking community tends to be divided

in accordance to three circles, the inner circle which has been proven at the international English standard is now gradually replaced by the non- native speakers who own English varieties and develop English on their norms called English as a Lingual Franca

ELF is a mixture in terms of its linguistic attributes – pronunciation, lexical, grammar and discourse treaties Thus, ELF cannot be recounted as a single genre or linguistic constitution; rather, it is characterized by different Englishes namely “a multiplicity of voices” It is protested that ELF does not aim

to establish a prototype to which all ELF interlocutors must obey as “it never achieves a stable or even standardized form” and proposes to “further develop a global variety of English that is not linked to a particular English-speaking country and that can be used anywhere” In addition, it is pointed out that an ELF setting causes language development of English as the fact that ELF speakers are incredibly much more crowded (Jenkins, 2006) Jenkins’s claim clarified the current status of ELF which hasn’t developed systematically to be recognized as

an official language but recognition needed to be known and studied for communication purposes in many areas including education

2.4.2 English as a Lingua Franca versus English as a Foreign Language / Second Language

We are able to distinguish ELF from EFL or ESL from their target contexts, interlocutors and goals despite it’s problematic nature for several Second Language Acquisition (SLA) researchers (Jenkins, 2006)

Source (Jenkin, 2006)

Figure 2.1 ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) contrasted with EFL (English as a

Foreign Language)

In figure 2.1, the interaction between ELF and EFL is significantly pressed

in their interlocutors As ELF facilitate communication between both NSs and NNSs, EFL prefer native- like competence and NSs communication This is the most basic difference; while ELF’s first criterion is to boost its communicative function by flexibly creating favorable conditions to multilingual interlocutors EFL on its way is a standard that English language users have to learn by heart and follow strictly to be understood

2.4.3 English as a Lingua Franca versus English as a Native Language

ELF’s communicative function forms its flexibility to multilingual interlocutors while native English on the other hand is the standard language (norm providing) ideology that interlocutors have to follow For more details, the

figure below gives an overview on the relation of English varieties basing on Kachru’s Circles

Source: Jenkin (2006)

Figure 2.2 The interaction between Kachru’s Circles and ELF

In figure 2.2, English as a Native Language (ENL) and English as a lingua franca (ELF) are under the first (inner) and third (expanding) circle which represents ELF contexts such as Asia countries while ENL refers to the contexts

of U.S., Australia, and United Kingdom ELF does not need to be geographically located, it can be virtual and temporary in terms of the context in which it is actively used (Jenkins, 2009)

2.5 Description of ELF

2.5.1 General Description

As mentioned in the introduction of this thesis, (Firth, 1996) defines ELF

as ‘a “contact language” between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national) culture and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication’ According to this perspective, native English Speakers (NESs) are indeed excluded from ELF communication and ELF

is part of the Global English norm, according to which most speakers of English are non-native speakers, and all English varieties, native or non-native, are accepted in their own right rather than evaluated against an NES benchmark For ELF’s continuous development and wide range of interlocutors, it’s necessary to dig into the linguistic description of ELF to have a more detailed insight into how different it is between ELF and ENL

2.5.2 Teaching the four skills of ELF

For lecturers, learning and teaching through English becomes an attractive option Many institutions worldwide are teaching ESP and EAP and EFL courses using English as the medium of instruction especially, teaching the four skills of ELF This makes ELF a favorable condition to develop and it is now an effective tool in teaching in the integrative setting because its role is increasing so dramatically that some institutes have been reportedly to make changes to their curriculum to fit with demand on ELF in their Interlingua classes In English four- skills lessons with multilingual students and lecturers, ELF is unconsciously used in both students- students and lecturers- students’ communication

Thereupon, ELF uses which are out of English native standard would be produced in multilingual classrooms This much or less affects content of the lesson and the ability to convey lessons for listening, speaking, reading, and writing from lecturers to students (Bjorkman, 2017)

According to a recent study of Ngo Phuong Le Hoang (2015), a considerable amount of contradictions and ambiguities in perceptions that ELF’s influence in four- skills teaching English class is still a controversial topic in the field of ELT Because ELF gives different constraints in academic environments due to its lack of systematic descriptions and accepted norms; it requires much time and effort to research collect and gather ELF’s contributors

as a completed English variety The non- standard features of ELF might ruin the whole curriculum if it is applied widely without systematic organization

Rajagopalan (2004) claimed that if World English was conceived as a new linguistic phenomenon, we could design teaching and learning outlines that are more applicable than native-like proficiency orientation For Rajagopalan, teachers’ role is helping students to develop skills which allow them to interact with people over the world and not just NSs

Regarding the relationship between language and culture in teaching four- skills English, we considered that ELF is not a particular variety of English and the development of intercultural competence is more important

than teaching the culture of a country Interlocutors who faced with potential cultural misunderstandings need to have skills to deal with their different ways

to construct meaning in speaking and listening

Additionally, McKay (2002) pointed out that learners want to acquire English to share with others information from their countries and not only learn about others’ countries Baynham (2006) also believes that it is necessary to distract the teaching of English from inner circle countries because learning English does not mean using it like native speakers In intercultural communication context, people do not need to know “facts” and NSs’ norms in order to be able to interact It would be more relevant to develop intercultural awareness in teaching four- skills English in this path to prepare learners on how to adapt English systematically in their culture and others’ cultures, too

2.5.3 Linguistic Description

2.5.3.1 Phonology

Recent research has provided to the phonology features in ELF which differ from native English in terms of phonology/phonetics For example, ELF speakers from different mother tongues regularly swap voiceless and voiced ‘th’ with either /t/ and /d/ Also, ELF speakers also tend to place word stress on different syllables from native English speakers (eg Non-native speakers tend to stress on the longest syllable in a word like ‘-ise’ in ‘organise’) ELF speakers also tend to avoid weak forms; using the full vowel sound rather than schwa It is pointed out that the international word stress and phonology on native standard English rule may be emerging (Bjorkman, 2009)

2.5.3.2 Lexical grammar

Bjorkman asserted that the lexicon grammatical features of ELF are partly different from that of the English native standard For example, they often invent new words and collocations like ‘space time’ instead of ‘spare time’ ENL

Moreover, ELF speakers often change uncountable nouns into countable, and use

a question or zero marking of third person singular –s (Bjorkman, 2009) Juliane

House yields evidence that even a native English speaker who joins a non-native ELF community will later adapt ELF using by signs as replacing the ‘missing’ ‘-

s’ although they aware of the fact that it is considered an ‘error’ by ENL (House, 1999) In short, flexibility of ELF lexical grammar as a mutual language of

multilingual interlocutors is the affection from NNSs’ norms

Users of English no longer include just NSs, but increasingly more NNSs, for whom English is a second or foreign language, and who unavoidably five English many cultural influences This current status changes English language users to contributors to the rise of different varieties of English, distinguished in terms of lexical Graddol (2006) argued that “[English is no longer] English as

we have known it, and have taught it in the past as a foreign language” but “a new phenomenon” known as English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

2.5.3.3 Pragmatics

Jenkins (2000) demonstrated that ELF speakers created systematic use of certain forms that are nonnative English; and that its speakers also delivered flexible use of pragmatic features Some of the researches from Jenkins and Seidlhofer in cross-cultural pragmatics used in ELF have studied on understanding L2 in conversation They concluded that many languages differ in their use of key features in conversation like pacing and pausing in speaking turns

or intonation Therefore, the English knowledge of different speakers on native standard and the unsystematic use to ELF could also influences communication Also, the SLA ability that affects pedagogy was the unity of input and output of grammatical, lexical and pragmatic features in both communicating and teaching ELF is sometimes used unconsciously without systematic use which causes many difficulties in understanding between intercultural interlocutors (Ostler, 2005)

2.5.3.4 Written and spoken Language

Written ELF is a special issue on its application; as native English is considered a standard in linguistic correctness or comprehensibility It is asserted that ELF will gradually affect written English within the Interlingua context of ELF The expectation of NS academic writers to notion of NNS is not ELF-oriented approach in academic English writing According to NS written standard, the various disciplines on written English might not be changed by ELF

because it identifies the acceptable items in terms of written academic English as

a unified standard for English books and materials worldwide In this way, it is impossible to accept writing according to non- standard forms of ELF (Trudgill, 1995)

Spoken language on the other hands is accepted with non- standard forms for communicative purposes Particularly, according to Smit (2010) Interlingua communication through English does not always lead to significant difficulties in understanding between its interlocutors However, speaking is mainly about pronunciation so it could easily lead to the confusion of speaking as a skill and a tool of medium instruction in academic context It was proven that speaking has increasingly emerged as a special area in language pedagogy, and then it requires both fluency and accuracy which is the initial cause of difficulties in understanding

2.6 Reasons for English as a Lingua Franca

So far English has been considered as a lingua franca because it is used in different fields of life Firstly, it is used in international organizations For example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has more than

1000 languages being spoken; however, its first juridical document, the ASEAN Charter in 2009 stated that ‘the working language of ASEAN shall be English’ (Jenkins, 2011) It could be understood that English is a tool for ASEAN to connect to other international organizations Consequently, it becomes the formal language over the community On the other hand, the EU is the only international organization adopting a respect language policy of its member states Crystal (1997) figure out that English is accepted as a tool of international communication in EU, too Also, education in EU is to learn English both as ELF and EFL and it is also granted in language policy after its emerging

Secondly, English is used in international trade; it also plays an indispensable role to the international trading According to the Business Forum,

it is the period for us to evaluate English as a fundamental skill and look at other lingual as acquiring a competence (Bjorkman, 2017) International trade is prestigious field where English as a lingua franca performs its significant role

Thanks to today’s integrative world and the market economy which create endless opportunities to be able to get deal, negotiate on new partnership with companies worldwide, English’s role of a lingua franca in international trade is highly required

Thirdly, English is used in the scientific world English in scientific world

in general and ELF in particular has rapidly increased around the world and brought up a bunch of arguments and researches on the issue of learning English

as a Lingua Franca Kuhn claimed that ELF should be taught instead of ENL for international diplomatic and trading purposes over the world (Kuhn, 2011) Recently, much more researches on ELF has been conducted to prove its function and influence to international trade and it has been viewed as a tool of diplomatic and international trade (Crystal, 2003)

Fourthly, English is used in the Media In the media field, due to the information technology era, English has opened its potential to operate as a lingua franca of the Internet According to Crystal, such position of English began to be represented for the very first time in the media in 1996 with an article in the famous newspaper “The New York Times” (Crystal, 2003) What is more, the reasons why people choose to use English as their mutual foreign language is the influence of English in media, cinematography, technology, and science

Fifthly, English is used in the tourists’ world English exists in most of tourist attraction landmarks of the world; it is also used in restaurant menus, instruction, signs which are facilitated for tourists (Crystal, 1997) English has become the most mutual universal communication tool for people and the tourist industry all over the world All the tourists who use tourism services need a common language and English is the most useful one which has been recognized

as an international language and then a Lingual Franca Moreover, all the instructions of hospitality sector are now increasingly provided in English alongside local languages These evidences significantly proved that the role of English as a common language to be understood in tourist industry is undeniable

Sixthly, English is used in the Air and on the Seas and Oceans The reason

is pretty clear that there is always an essential condition for a common language which is used a means of communication all around the world For example,

“Seaspeak” English which has been recognized as the international language of the sea for a long time until 1980 because “Essential English for International Maritime Use” that is quite restricted in comparison to everyday English but still has considerable expressive power (Crystal, 2003)

Seventhly, English is used in the computer world In recent years, English has played its role as a “passport” or a “driving license” to computer using and computer major much more than any other foreign languages which are used by foreign nations of non- native speakers Its recognition can be found as a tool of communication in IT application field while almost multinational IT- human resources in international corporations’ team work in English and even code and modify their website in English as a mutual language to be easily understood It is possible that in the future application and software, the variety of English which

is out of the native standard would be much more designed for ELF users thanks

to its natural spreading as a common language (Kirkpatrick, 2012b)

One of the key features of ELF in classrooms is that learners can realize that English does not belong to native speakers Proficient users have the right to appropriate the language for their communicative purposes to communicate with NNSs Graddol (2006) pointed out that the main objective of EFL is the communication with NSs, teaching ELF aims at communicating not only NSs but NNSs This change in focus brings the need to overhaul the predominant thinking

as to what, how and to whom to teach this language

Finally, English is used in the education field The influence of English in the education field was reported by (Crystal, 2003) as follows: since 1960s, English has been a common medium of instruction tool in higher education in many countries Shortly after that, English was increasingly used in several English non- native countries; much more courses of EAP and ESP were widely taught in English Consequently, the English language teaching (ELT) major has grown rapidly around the world Besides, it also contributed to the growth of ELF by raising the demand on translated books into other languages to serve English language learning, one of the pioneer in this field is British Council

2.7 The Embodiment of ELF in Vietnamese Higher Education

English contributes to Vietnam’s education development within the region There is a high demand for the competent use of English as it is considered as a tool for research and development in all areas of scientific, educational, technological and commercial fields Tertiary level or higher education (HE) is the most influenced educational sector by globalization pressures That is why the National Foreign Languages Project 2020 was initiated by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) in 2008 It aims at improving English teaching and learning quality at all levels (Phan Le Ha & Vu Hai Ha & Bao Dat, 2014)

Recently, the term ‘English as a Lingua Franca’ has emerged in Vietnam

HE in particular as the demand to use it as a mutual tool to gain innovative curriculum from other countries This also raises the demand on researching on ELF because non-native speakers’ accents might not be considered as desirable goals, EFL learners and teachers consider ELF has no uniform standard to rely

on Though, not too much research has been done in this brand new field However, it is claimed that non-native speakers’ accent does not affect communication as long as the message is understandable (Ngo Phuong Le Hoang, 2015) She also asserted that English is now a tool to the country’s education rather than a module to teach Particularly, English has been using as a “vehicle”

to teach ESP classes and this trend is predicted to develop continuously What is more, much higher education institutes in the country are encouraging student- exchange program, consequently, the number of multilingual communication in higher education classrooms are steadily increasing This is also a significant condition to ELF’s development in Vietnamese higher education’s embodiment

2.8 Teaching and Learning English as Lingua Franca

2.8.1 Advantages of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning of English

According to A Longitudinal Study of Classroom Discourse by Smit (2010), ELF in EFL classrooms could function as a medium instruction or communication tool It brought different advantages for both teachers and students on knowledge updating, communicative competence gaining, accuracy and fluency balancing on their language competence By incorporating students about different varieties of English along with content of the lesson, lecturers could make sure that students are equipped with knowledge to judge and choose the useful English varieties for them in English learning and communication

Noticeably, when information of ELF is sparsely available in pedagogical training as Seidlhofer (2005b) stated, teachers will need a more comprehensive education which enables them for their own teaching contexts and to adapt their teaching to the particular requirements of their learners Although teachers cannot teach all varieties of English in classrooms, they should encourage their students

to explore different English varieties of English through out-of-class activities (Ehrenreich, 2018, pp 37- 48)

In a comprehensive analysis on the advantages and disadvantages of both native and non-native teachers, Almeida (1994) on the other hand believed that NNs teachers actually have a larger advantage when compared to NS teachers regarding the cultural knowledge shared with their students and common difficulties when learning English like syntax or vocabulary ELF brings a significant challenge to the abiding culture of language and communication in practice The conceptual and cultural shift need to be required if ELF is fully incorporated in teacher education, refocusing the concerns of teachers by exploring the advantages of moving beyond a traditional norm-focused orientation on NSs’ norms must be investigated One of the advantages of de-centering the native speaker and incorporating ELF in EFL class at tertiary level

is moving away from objectives that are more directly connected with individual, instrumental needs, and more towards creating the sense of a planetary citizenship Seeing English as a mutual language of many countries may enable

its users to engage with issues of a global nature This reflects that English is not

a language like any other; rather it enables its users to connect to people around the world, amplifying the possibilities for participation in global society One of the advantages of incorporating ELF in EFL classes is

to expand the learners’ understanding that using the language is more than just talking about knowledge delivered from NSs’ countries Over 80% of meaningful conversations around global issues and critical awareness can be better explored in ELF approach rather than an EFL which is predominant in course books that tend to focus on trivial matters (Arkian 2008; Siqueira 2012).

In the past, when teachers have little access to a wide range of English language varieties because they rely mostly in course books, it seems logical that those proposals have to find way into the classroom via published textbooks However, currently the internet is a valuable source and is encouraged to be resort for relevant language samples on ELF

2.8.2 Ways of Incorporating ELF into the teaching and learning of English

According to classroom discourse of Ute Smit (2010), ELF was proposed

to be introduced in some significant ways such as by using materials, sharing experience, by learning activities, using Audio or visual means, and by Self- learning, Seminars ELF in higher education has significantly influent the ongoing development of the Vietnam education for its linguistic, for example, the mandating of compulsory English language learning in schools Hence, the application of ELF has become imperative in higher education institutions as the tool for medium instruction because it facilitates academic communication within and between educational institutions both in and out of the country ELF is now a promising model to be taught in intercultural setting (Phan Le Ha et al., 2014)

Although ELF was recognized both as a tool and a part of English learning curriculum in Vietnam, its unsystematic development could cause many difficulties in teaching and learning with a single unified curriculum (Kuhn, 2011)

Many non-native speakers in the ELT have held the opinion that desirable English is that variety used by native speakers of the language This belief is now related to both non-native teachers and students may, on the one hand, feel intimidated by native speakers and also wish to approximate to the norms (Kramsch, 1993) This is an essential issue that should be touched upon in teacher training programs, especially since pronunciation continues to be regarded “as the area of greatest prejudice and preconception, and the one most resistant to change

on all sides” (Jenkins, 2000)

Jenkins, Cogo and Dewey (2011) concluded that most of the units in EFL classes had the following basic structure: pre-viewing activity, a short video presentation and then a discussion of “fill in the blanks” exercises and finish with listening activities The format of the exercises did not vary and there was a preference for oral comprehension due to comprehension and reliability of the unit Though ELF literature had contact more extensively with oral interactions rather than written and thus induced the understanding that it was easier to think

of ELF as strongly connected to oral interactions That’s the reason why classroom activities like group work, presentation and pair working are a must for ELF incorporation

Seidlhofer (2001) claimed that the understandings and communicative purpose represent a small step towards designing an ELF curriculum, but much more needs to be done to propose a full-fledged syllabus with materials Certainly, it goes beyond the scope of this thesis to discuss the characteristics of different ELT methods, coursebooks, and either structuralist or communicative purposes for ELF in particular It is noticed that elements such as cultural references have always resorted to the practice of mirroring ELF communication Introducing NNSs who are ELF experts in researching or teaching to seminars or classes is a teaching strategy to incorporate ELF in EFL classes

The existing journals focus on beliefs about ELF and the teachers’ lack of confidence in dealing with ELF related issues in the classroom, even when they recognize that the Inner Circle varieties should no longer be the only privileged ones Despite the paucity of research in teacher education programs, if ELF is to have an impact in classrooms, undoubtedly this is one of

the most important areas to be addressed, along with the production of teaching materials, which have played a major role in educational innovation (Tomlinson, 2011)

Considering that many language teaching resources today are course books produced in NES countries are designed by English native speakers, an ELF perspective demands access to learning resources that include examples of many different types of interaction between non-native speakers, respect local varieties

of English This overcomes the predominant thinking in English language teaching (ELT) that favors an NS variety and ignores language diversity

Seidlhofer (2011) concluded that while the global role of English is now increasingly being referred to in teacher education curricula, in ELT conferences, although not making specific reference to the specific nonnative country context, the need to acknowledge the diversity of language in teaching materials should be well organized to be introduced in classroom activities (Jenkins, 2007) The current issue is not only the lack of non-NS-oriented materials, but also “the fact that ENL [English as a Native Language] is almost always presented as the only

‘real’ English, and its speakers as the only ‘experts’” (Jenkins, et.al) Additionally, Matsuda (2003) also pointed out that publishers need to find ways

of promoting an ELF perspective in teaching materials, including course books

In the same vein, Matsuda and Friedrich (2011) argue for the need to provide practical examples of how to incorporate the view that English is the language for international communication within EFL classrooms Some pedagogical examples may be provided within the context of theoretical discussions in EFL classes in order to clarify the concepts which are enough to be

2.9 Summary

The intercultural backgrounds of English-speaking communities produced ELF with contributions in many aspects such as the language policies of international organization or the world trading Moreover, it also dominates the world of tourist, mass media, and information technology and especially in education worldwide The mutual in its influences to the above mentioned aspects

is its functions as an intercultural and international communication tools which makes connection between people of different cultures or we can call it as ELF communicative functions between multiple linguistic identities

Also, there have been many researches on English as a Lingual Franca which has much contribution to the researcher’s point of view on language practices study ELF researches which were referenced in this chapter show the remarkable situation that a majority of English language user does not involve in native speakers of English In academic setting and particularly in Higher Education, it is essential to systematically research on the nature of ELF to identify its implications for incorporating English i language teaching In Higher education, the use of English especially ELF as a mean of communication between Interlingua classroom has now been increasing researched in the aspects

of linguistic influences Leaning on the previous studies on ELF in the field of

HE, the researcher is going to conduct a research on EFL teachers’ perspective on incorporating ELF in English Language classroom

Another review article was conducted by Hulmbauer , Bohringer and Seidlhofer (2008) in order to explore a world view on introducing ELF as intercultural communication tool, the researchers provided an overview of previous empirical studies on ELF in aspect of intercultural communication through English The study has shown that effective intercultural interactions do not depend on native-speaker norms and they are negotiations of meaning between the speakers Consequently, ELF cannot be considered useless English because its users can adapt its forms and functions in context of cross-linguistic communication ELF is not a fixed but flexible communicative means This study provided the researcher with a more insight and extensive view on the whole function of ELF in communication Though, academic context of ELF has not been mentioned in the study

In other view, Snow, Stein and Brinton (2006) have brought an insight to teacher training issue for ELF teaching The study was conducted by a review surveys on nonnative English-speaking teachers related to pre- service teacher preparation, including preparation on pedagogy and language varieties Two cases of teacher preparation experiences in Egypt and Uzbekistan were studied

The Egypt case including issues of pedagogy and language varieties described road map for professional preparation to improve English language skills The Uzbek case provides ways in which both the trainers and the local teachers contribute to This review study set goals for teacher preparation as assisting pre- service teachers in view of intercultural speakers’ lingua franca settings This study provides the researcher with a more thoughtful insight on the teacher training preparation for ELF teaching which could facilitate ELF application development in the future

Regarding ELF in HE context, the researcher has referenced another article from Ur (2010) on English as a Lingua Franca from Teacher’s perspective

In the article, Penny pressed that both teachers and students need to learn ELF and the major goal is to prepare for intercultural communicating situations both inside and outside classroom context The article also provided with researches on immigrant students in American university or even teachers of ESL in Australian schools with Interlingua interlocutors Finally, the article provided the researcher with some interpretations and discussion of the ELF research literature from teachers; view This article helps the researcher to have a wider view on international perspective of teachers on implementing ELF which support to the national teachers’ perceptions in previous referenced studies

Ton Nu Nhu Huong & Pham Hoa Hiep (2010) has also conducted a study researching on Vietnamese Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Global English The study researched on Vietnamese students’ and teachers’ views on the kind of English they prefer to learn and teach This paper reported some findings from Vietnamese students’ and teachers’ views about NS norms The findings show that use English more with non-native speakers (NNS) than with native speakers (NS) in real life situation However, British and American English is still the preferred models in the classroom Participants were not aware

of suitable and useful English for Vietnam in the future; they focus on British and American learning encouragement only This study identified that ELF should be boosted as the future English language education in Vietnam The study gave the researcher a broader view on ELF role and the current conservative situation on native standards of English