Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca

Description

The use of English as a global lingua franca has given rise to new challenges and approaches in our understanding of language and communication. One area where ELF (English as a lingua franca) studies, both from an empirical and theoretical orientation, have the potential for significant developments is in our understanding of the relationships between language, culture and identity. ELF challenges traditional assumptions concerning the purposed 'inexorable' link between a language and a culture. Due to the multitude of users and contexts of ELF communication the supposed language, culture and identity correlation, often conceived at the national level, appears simplistic and naïve. However, it is equally naïve to assume that ELF is a culturally and identity neutral form of communication. All communication involves participants, purposes, contexts and histories, none of which are 'neutral'. Thus, we need new approaches to understanding the relationship between language, culture and identity which are able to account for the multifarious and dynamic nature of ELF communication. Acknowledgements Table of contents Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 English as a lingua franca (ELF) 1.2 Overview of the book Chapter 2. Intercultural communication and ELF 2.1 Characterising intercultural communication 2.2 Critical approaches to intercultural communication 2.2.1 Cross-cultural versus intercultural communication 2.2.2 Critiques of terminology in intercultural communication 2.2.3 Critiques of approaches in intercultural communication 2.2.4 Alternative approaches to intercultural communication 2.3 Points of convergence and conflict between intercultural communication and ELF research 2.3.1 Points of misunderstanding and divergence between intercultural communication and ELF research 2.3.2 Points of convergence between intercultural communication and ELF research 2.4 Conclusion Chapter 3. Understanding culture through ELF 3.1 Conceptions of culture 3.1.1 The development of the idea of culture 3.1.2 Culture as product 3.1.3 Culture as discourse 3.1.4 Culture as practice 3.1.5 Culture as ideology 3.2 Culture, nation and globalisation 3.2.1 Characterisations of nation 3.2.2 Characterisations of globalisation 3.2.3 Global flows 3.3 Culture and complexity 3.3.1 Culture and complexity in the social sciences and applied linguistics 3.4 Culture and language 3.4.1 Linguistic relativity 3.4.2 Linguaculture and the language-culture nexus 3.4.3 Language and culture as emergent complex systems 3.5 Culture in ELF research 3.6 Language and culture through ELF 3.7 Conclusion Chapter 4. Culture and identity through English as a lingua franca 4.1 Characterising identity 4.1.1 Subjectivity and identity 4.1.2 The relevance of identity 4.1.3 Identity and language 4.1.4 Identity, difference and others 4.2 Cultural identity 4.2.1 Cultural identity, ethnicity and race 4.2.2 Cultural identity and nationality 4.2.3 Cultural identity and globalisation 4.2.4 Cultural identity and interculturality 4.3 Identity in ELF research 4.4 Conclusion Chapter 5. Re-examining intercultural communicative competence: intercultural awareness 5.1 Communicative competence 5.1.1 The foundations of communicative competence 5.1.2 Rethinking communicative competence 5.2 Intercultural competence 5.3 Intercultural communicative competence 5.4 Alternatives to intercultural communicative competence 5.5 Intercultural awareness (ICA) 5.6 Conclusion Chapter 6. ELF and intercultural awareness: implications for English language teaching 6.1 Culture, the intercultural and ELF in ELT: critiquing current approaches 6.2 Alternative approaches to culture, the intercultural and ELF in ELT 6.2.1 Intercultural education and ELT 6.2.2 Global Englishes, ELF and interculturality in ELT 6.3 Intercultural awareness in the classroom 6.4 Conclusion Chapter 7. Putting it into practice: a study of a course in ELF and ICA for language learners in Thailand 7.1 Background and rationale: English in ASEAN and Thailand 7.2 Research methodology 7.2.1 Participants and setting 7.2.2 Research approach and instruments 7.2.3 Reliability and validity 7.3 A course in Global Englishes, intercultural communication and intercultural awareness 7.3.1 Course evaluation 7.3.2 Development of ICA and an understanding of Global Englishes 7.4 Conclusion Chapter 8. Conclusion 8.1 What are points of convergence and divergence between ELF and intercultural communication research? 8.2 What influence (if anything) do studies of intercultural communication through ELF have on our understanding of the relationship between culture, identity and language? 8.3 What are the implications of ELF research for conceptualising intercultural communicative competence? 8.4 What are the consequences (if any) of ELF and intercultural awareness (ICA) research for teaching English (ELT)? Appendices Appendix 1 Transcription conventions Appendix 2 Intercultural communication and intercultural awareness: Course overview and outline Appendix 3 Screen shots from learning objects (LO) in course Appendix 4 Intercultural communication questionnaire additional responses References Index