English as a Third Language?

English as a lingua franca for refugees in Europe

Madison N. MacMath
Wheaton College Graduate School
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 2

Introduction

It does not take an expert in TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of other languages) to

recognize that English has become a global language. A flight to most airports in the world

proves that an internationally significant number of people have a basic knowledge of the

language, particularly in settings where they work with cross-cultural populations (such as at an

airport, in a major city, or in international business). Research shows that there are more non-

native speakers of English than there are natives ones (Seidlhofer, 2001 as cited in Weyns, 2012-

2013, p. 10).

To help explain the varying levels of this phenomena, Braj Kachru, a scholar of world

Englishes, developed a model of three concentric circles. The inner circle denotes countries that

use English as their native language (UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, United States, and New

Zealand). For non-native speakers in these countries, English is taught as a second language

(ESL). The outer circle marks the countries where English has grown to national importance,

thus becoming an additional or official language. In many cases this came as a result of 17th or

18th century colonialism (for example in India or South Africa). Independent varieties of English,

such as Nigerian English, sit in this circle. The final circle is expanding circle, appropriately

named for its continual growth, as English spreads to other countries as a foreign language (EFL)

and moves further from native varieties (typically American or British English) towards new,

communicative purposes. While these circles may have been and perhaps still are helpful in

differentiating the use of English around the world, there has been a significant shift in the past

few decades that necessitates something more nuanced than these three circles. International

changes have led to the development of English as a lingua franca (ELF), the use of English as a

bridge language between people who do not share the same native one. ELF has raised key
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 3

issues surrounding language identification, usage, and purpose, as well as some of the

insufficiencies of a monolithic view of English and its distribution. ELF demands something

more flexible than Kachrus concentric circles:

Kachrus circles might thus be replaced today, for the purposes of ELF teachers and learners,

with a model that places the fully competent speaker of English as a lingua franca in the center,

with graduating rather than clearly delineated outer rings of proficiency, less proficient and

limited speakers (Ur, 2010, p. 3).

Lingua franca researcher Barbara Seidlhofer highlights this same principle, describing the

changing landscape of English usage through the realities of Europe. In a continent where

English has primarily existed through EFL, the demand for unity and a cross-cultural

communicative tool has shifted its purpose: For all kinds of reasons, English has become the de

facto extraterritorial lingua franca throughout Europe (Seidlhofer, 2010, p. 355). With the

recent influx of refugees into many of European countries, this need and the unique nature of

ELF are both magnified. The lines between language for cultural identification and the need for

universal communicative tools are more contrastive than perhaps they have ever been (a

distinction by Juliane House, 2003).

According to the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE), ELF is an

additionally acquired language system which serves as a common means of communication for

speakers of different languages (cited in Weyns, 2012-2013, p. 8). While this is, admittedly, a

reductionistic definition and the reality of ELF is far more complex, it is helpful in identifying a

baseline for what ELF is. Because of its unique nature as an intermediary language, knowing the

nuances, practicalities, and methodology for English as a lingua franca are key in developing a

comprehensive strategy for the English language in mainland Europe.

ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 4

In this paper, I want to look at three key areas of ELF: its background, its practical value,

particularly for asylum seekers and refugees in Europe, and its best practices in the classroom.

This lends itself to four key research questions:

1. What is ELF, how does is differ from other approach to English, and what does current

research say about it?

2. Why would it be valuable to teach English as a lingua franca?

3. How has ELF typically been taught and how should it be taught?

4. What are the nuances of approaching ELF in Europe, specifically for third-language

learners (i.e. refugees)?

English as a Lingua Franca

Is teaching English as a lingua franca a form of linguistic imperialism (Robert Philipson,

1992) or a natural spreading, a result of globalization (Henry Widdowson, 2003)? Is ELF

pidginized and unidiomatic (Preisler, 2003 as cited in Weyns, 2012-13, p.16) or does it have a

dynamism of its own with specific characteristics and unwritten rules that are respected by

natives and non-natives alike (Nagy, 2016, p.160)? Is it right to label English as a killer

language (as cited in Decke-Cornill, 2002, p. 1) or does ELF help to stimulate members of

minority languages to insist on their own local language for emotional binding to their own

culture (House, 2006, p. 561)? These brief dichotomic statements on ELF highlight the

complexities of English as a lingua franca and the range of polarizing views on both its nature

and value.

Critics of ELF often cite many key issues surrounding its birth and orientation towards

linguistic imperialism, a notion popularized in 1992 by Robert Phillipson, a linguist who

ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 5

asserted that the spread of English could be tied to Western power, structural, cultural, and

economic inequality, as well as prejudicial instruction. English became a global language

because of colonialism, and, as opponents of ELF argue, this worldview of domination from 17th

and 18th century English speakers is inseparable from its proclivity today. Alastair Pennycook

agrees with Phillipson, asserting that the spread of English [. . .] cannot be seen as neutral,

natural or beneficial (1994, as cited in Weyns, 2012-2013, p.28). On the other side of

opposition, there is also pushback about ELF from native English speakers, who voice concerns

about losing the language that they feel a sense of ownership with. ELF is clearly different

than native or standard American or British English, which procures the belief, from

sociolinguists like Peter Trudgill, that the English language belongs to the native speakers,

because they were the first users (2005, as cited in Weyns, 2012-2013, p.16).

The reality of our world, as most linguists concede, is that English has, for better or

worse, become the primary language and tool of unifying communication. This means that the

conceptualization of English has had to shift towards English as a foreign or international

language, rather than simply an additional one. Most people are not learning English to

communicate with native speakers in one of Kachrus inner circle countries; they are speaking

English with other non-native speakers across cultural and national boundaries. As author,

teacher, and scholar Penny Ur writes:

It is my contention that most, if not all, of the students learning English in schools in non-

English speaking countries will need that language not in order to interact within a specific

English speech community, but rather to communicate with other English speakers (some native

but probably most non-native), both intra- and internationally. In other words, they need to learn

English as a lingua franca (ELF) (Ur, 2010, p.1).

ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 6

Ur goes on to argue that we should move away from the linguistic imperialism and native

speaker debate as the globalized world and shifting nature of English have changed its primary

linguistic identity. In a world of expanding English, there is no longer one standard,

appropriate form; that fact, however, does not deny a certain standard or baseline from

which all forms of English are diversifying.

It is monolithic and hegemonic to believe that only native speakers of a language can

possess it, whether that language is English or something else. As Dr. Helene Decke-Cornill,

professor at the university of Hamburg, explains: The question of ownership has been resolved:

it belongs to nobody, or rather to everybody who using and sharing it creates it (Decke-

Cornill, 2002, p.15). Questions about linguistic imperialism are magnified in academic and

political debates about ELF, yet, when it comes to individualized teaching, there seems to be less

of a concern over a students loss of cultural identity amidst foreign language learning. Juliane

Houses principle of the separation of language for identification and language for

communication holds in the classroom. Helene Decke-Cornill found, when interviewing

English language teachers in Germany, that the concern from teachers was not that students

would lose their German culture but a fear that students would not fully engage in diverse

thought if they did not have linguistic expansion:

[a]ll the teachers, without exception, emphasized their wish to open up the minds of their

students for the diversity of people and cultures and expressed their hope to instil interest in

different ways of living and thinking. Respect for heterogeneity featured prominently in their

professional self-concept (2002, p.4).

If English belongs to everyone capable of creating the language, then non-standard forms, such

as ELF, hold as much value than native versions of the language. The goal of ELF is not to

impinge Western ideals or commit cultural (or linguistic) genocide on an unsuspecting world.
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 7

Rather, the demand for cross-cultural connectedness, a transfer of ideas, and an increasing global

unity demands a communicative tool; English, with its messy history and flawed past, has

become this. Contrary to assumptions surrounding the challenges of English, the language, in its

most basic form, makes it somewhat ideal as a lingua franca: Standard words are short and

relatively easy to pronounce; there is very little morphology and since syntax is not too

constraining, non-natives get by easily even with a low level of proficiency (Frath, 2010, p. 3).

It is in understanding the deep value of the lingua franca and the best teaching methodology to

implore a preservation of L1 culture can we begin repairing the hegemony of our past and move

towards a more communicative future.

The Value of English as a Lingua Franca

The Common European Framework Reference (CEFR) estimates that reaching a C2

(near-native fluency) level of second-language proficiency requires approximately 1,000-1,200

guided learning hours (2013, p.4). Other research puts this estimation much higher, with

numbers closer to 4,000 hours (US Department of State Foreign Service Institute). Regardless

the numerical approximation, the reality is that learning a language to fluency requires years of

study, even with immersion. Refugees in Europe (excluding the UK and Ireland) are deeply

engaged in this process with what is likely at least a second language (that is not English). For

refugees in France, its French. For refugees in Sweden, it Swedish. For refugees in Germany, its

German. They are studying those languages for the sake of language acquisition, near-native

fluency, and with the intention of communicating fully with native speakers, in the languages

country of origin. If these asylum seekers are already straining themselves to learn a second

language, the question then becomes: what is the benefit of trilingualism or multilingualism?
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 8

Why put them through this same rigorous process with yet another language, particularly one

whose native speakers they likely wont be interacting with on a regular basis? This is where we

start to see the value of English as a lingua franca.

English instruction in Europe, particularly among refugees, needs to be stressed as ELF,

not as a second or foreign language. Its not about necessitating additional years of language

study for proficiency in a language that isnt primary, but about offering a valuable, hard skill

that aids in communication across diverse countries in a diverse continent. Europe is a unique

continent for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are the varied cultures, smaller countries

and presence of the EU (European Union). The EU enables easy access across 28 European

countries, all with a common currency. The largest country by area in Europe (excluding the

Asian part of Russia), is Ukraine, which itself is smaller than the US state of Texas. In less than

forty-eight hours, you could travel from one side of Europe to the other, crossing through eight

or more countries. Europe has a diverse and well-connected landscape, all without an official

common language. English instruction, as a lingua franca, holds particularly value for the

refugees and asylum seekers who are looking to build a new life in a European context, as well

as the European citizens who are already using it as such.

As native speakers or EFL students since grade school, it is easy to forget the competitive

edge that comes with knowing English; Having English in Europe has thus become a bit like

having a driving license: nothing special, something that most people have, and without which

you do not get very far (Seidlhofer, 2010, p. 359). In a country where most students have grown

up with a basic knowledge of English through school-based EFL programs, it is a skill that only

sets people apart in its absence. Seidlhofer goes on to write:

Accordingly, proficiency in English is becoming something like a taken-for-granted cultural

technique like literacy or computer skills, with the consequence that, on a global scale, the
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 9

competitive advantage which English has historically provided its acquirers (personally,

organizationally, and nationally) will ebb away as English becomes a near-universal basic skill

(2010, p. 359)

For people who are already at linguistic and cultural disadvantages, fighting uphill battles of

adjustment, assimilation, and prejudice, coming in behind with communicative skills like English

puts those who are being resettled further back. It limits employment, shrinks the pool of

potential interactions, and makes movement throughout the continent more difficult.

More than a marketable skill, English also allows users access into the world of media,

culture, and academia (Seidlhofer, 2010). Platforms with majority percentages of English-based

content, such as the internet, make English an attractive personal skill. English for specific

purposes (ESP) is an entire field of research, learning, and instruction that highlights the global

necessities of English. English for medicine, English for business, English for hospitality,

English for Bible and theology, and English for technology are just the tip of the iceberg when it

comes to English-based content, specific to interests and professions that requires a basic

understanding of the language. Knowing English, even on a simplistic or content-specific level,

opens a myriad of new doors for its users.

Teaching Methodology for English as a Lingua Franca

In 1987, Werner Huellen, a German teacher and lexicographer highlighted the difference

between the budding nature of English as a lingua franca and teaching English for near-native

proficiency with one, short statement: Eine lingua franca mu als lingua franca gelehrt werden

[A lingua franca must be taught as lingua franca] (as cited in Decke-Cornill, 2002, p. 2).

Teaching English as a lingua franca is different than teaching English as a second language

(ESL) and it is different than teaching English as a foreign language (EFL). Different needs call
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 10

for different objectives; different objectives call for various teaching methodologies. There are a

variety of things specific to teaching ELF, such as an emphasis on learner-centered classrooms,

an increasing comfortability with risk, a low emphasis on error correction, a focus on practical

grammar and communicative tasks, and an explicit focus on strategic competence.

Teaching English as a lingua franca is inherently learner focused, because it gets at the

need for communication in practical, tangible situations with people of differing L1s. English

becomes inherently relevant to the students; relevance, in language learning, is a key factor in

motivation: The more people learn a language, the more useful it becomes, and the more useful

it is, the more people want to learn it (Myers-Scotton 2002, as cited in Seidlhofer, 2010, p. 365).

This leaner-centered relevance also has the potential to shift the instruction of ELF away from

hegemonic imperialism and can highlight an expansion and embrace of culture. You cannot have

ELF in a culture-specific classroom, as it would result in a general attitude of intercultural

sensitivity useful in lingua franca situations (Decke-Cornill, 2002, p.6). Classrooms should

draw on world Englishes and a variety of resources to construct a well-rounded, multi-purpose

conception of the language; a classroom pulling from such diverse literature and dialects is

bound to be a vibrant one. A teacher who is troubled by the gap between English textbook

topics and the world of his students (Decke-Cornill, 2002, p. 8) can find a high level of

relevance in teaching English as a lingua franca, through student-centered, student-generated

language and meaning.

This also makes ELF highly accessible for both students and teachers. It takes the

pressure off teachers to perfect the nuances of the language (for example, what a teacher might

feel in an intensive English program designed to help students pass the TOEFL); it takes the

pressure off the students to achieve near-native fluency, a process which takes thousands of
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 11

hours of intense study. One EFL teacher in Germany confessed that, the fact that she had not

offered her classes the full British and American cultural programme had always made her feel

guilty. ELF held the promise of more relevance and accessibility for her (Decke-Cornill, 2002,

p. 8). According to Steven Krashens affective filter hypotheses, the more anxious a student is in

any given classroom environment, the less input they are able to comprehend; their emotions

become a sort of screen or grid through which they filter all new input. By removing the

objective of linguistic perfection, the affective filter of the class can shift towards the goals of

increasing comfortability with linguistic and social risk.

An ELF classroom cannot be entirely anxiety-free because of the inherent relationship

between ELF and risk-taking. More than simply learning English as a foreign language, ELF

requires a willingness to make what native-speakers would see as mistakes. Teachers always

have a great responsibility to scaffold students into the confidence required to produce non-

native language, and lingua franca English can provide useful tools in doing that, if they are

wielded correctly. In her article on risk-taking in the ESL classroom, Irene Marn Cervantes

notes the specific challenges that risk-taking strategies can cause in a second language

acquisition setting:

low-risk takers tend to be more inhibited and use less complex structures so that their levels of

linguistic oral accuracy do not decrease considerably. The problem with inhibition . . . is that it

diminishes risk taking which is necessary for rapid progress in a L2 (2013, p. 426).

While language learners approach the process through vastly different personalities and internal

approaches to risk, ELFs overarching objective is comprehensibility, not lexical perfection.

Students who tend to be low input generators (Seliger, 1983), if rightly presented with and taught

the reality of ELF, can begin to feel less anxiety in regards to speech production. The initial risks
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 12

of appearing less competent than native speakers can be overshadowed or at least reduced by

the confidence generated by mutual comprehensibility and meaningful speech.

Teaching English as a lingua franca also requires a different framework for error

correction. In the world of ESL and EFL, grammatical and pronunciation errors, more often than

not, necessitate a form of error correction. Whether its explicit or implicit, teacher or student

generated, the reality of error correction is present in nearly every second or foreign language

classroom. With high goals of both fluency and accuracy, that is how it should be. With ELF, the

goal is communication: Overall, it can be said that ELF speakers do not seem to worry much

about grammatical correctness as long as they mutually understand each other (Nagy, 2016,

p.159). Teaching ELF does not mean that a teacher should explicitly teach incorrect grammar or

pronunciation (which in and of itself can be hard to define in the context of world Englishes), but

rather that if students make an error, even a blatant one, provided that it does not hinder

understanding, it should not be corrected. Ur describes this using the example of she go. As a

third person, present indicative, she go is an incorrect conjugation. No standard English

textbook would label she go as correct, however, in context, it would not hinder the

communication of the meaning of she goes, the intended, correct grammatical form (2010, p.

4). Therefore, an ELF teacher would be free to let the error slide and replace the instruction

with other, more meaning-contingent comprehensible input.

Native English speakers or fluent L2 speakers might find it challenging to differentiate

between the essential and non-essential parts of the language. Grammar and pronunciation, two

general areas of language learning that are incredibly nuanced and complex, need to be evaluated

and reduced for comprehensible ELF instruction. For example, with grammar, 3rd person s,

tags, phrasal verbs and idioms . . . turn out to be non-essential for mutual understanding
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 13

(Seidlhofer, 2001, p. 149). In term of pronunciation, mastery of the sounds often perceived as

particularly English, i.e. /0/ and //, is not crucial for ELF communication (Seidlhofer, 2001,

p. 149). Other areas that do not seem to necessitate error correction or explicit instruction, since

they dont hinder intelligibility, would be word stress, stress-timing, vowel quality, vowel

reduction, and tone (Davies, 2013). There is a divergence from native-speaker norms because the

goal is not native speaker proficiency; certain grammatical rules, pronunciation errors, or

vocabulary are necessary to prevent communication breakdowns, while others are not. This is

why ELF-specific curriculum is necessary and different than other ESL, EFL, or ESP materials.

While books like Robin Walkers Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca

(2010) and curriculum that focuses on World Englishes are helpful, the fact is that there are not a

lot of classroom-specific materials pertaining to ELF. The past decade has yielded a wealth of

good research, but the field of lingua franca English seems to still be coming up short when it

comes to its curricular implementation.

Strategic competence, or strategies that a language learner employs in navigating

understanding and avoiding communicative breakdowns, are also a key part of ELF instruction.

These strategies, present in all speech interactions, involve things like concept checking,

hesitation, back channeling, and nonverbal compensations for gaps in the language or

comprehension. To develop competent and confident ELF users, convergence and

accommodation strategies, like repetition, paraphrasing, and code-switching, need to be taught:

To overcome possible misunderstanding, ELF users engage in accommodation strategies. They

have to come up with other ways to express themselves if they cannot find the right words, or

adjust their overall language use (Weyns, 2003, p. 34). Every speaker does this naturally,

whether in their native language or an additional one; its the subconscious process by which we
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 14

create a communication goal and implement strategies to achieve it, often made conscious when

there is some type of communicative breakdown. For ELF users, strategic competence is of

paramount importance because it forms an imperative part of their comprehensibility and

comprehension; because their understanding of English is not native-level fluency, and it is

likely that neither is their conversation partners, there will be language gaps that need to be

compensated for. In a dated article on strategic competence, Luciano Mariani offers a rather

comprehensive analysis of these strategies and their implementation, advocating for the

following method of instruction:

Students could start from a receptive stage: they could be exposed to actual examples of

language use in which communication strategies play a clear and significant role. Then they could

be led to become aware of the use of strategies through a stage of exploration and discussion.

This would be followed by a stage of practice and performance, where students could try out the

strategies for themselves. And finally, they could discuss their own performance, evaluate their

strategic use, and possibly compare it with a native speakers (1994).

While not all strategic competence skills should, or even could, be taught explicitly, the reality

for ELF students is such that they need to be included in a more significant way than other ESL

or EFL classrooms might implement.

None of this is to say that teaching English as a lingua franca is antithetical to teaching

standard English, either as a second or foreign language. Part of what aids in mutual

understanding are the common standards of the language by which all speakers and authors

abide. It does necessitate, however, a shift from hyper-standard English, where the focus is on a

native-like accuracy and fluency of American or British English, including the pronunciation,

spelling, grammar, and vocabulary rules that accompany them. ELF can draw from the best of

communicative language teaching (CLT), community language learning (CLL), and the natural
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 15

approach to build comprehensive programs that create communicative bridges between people,

countries, languages, and cultures. Teaching lingua franca English necessitates some

methodological differences, which should be reflected in its curricula and instruction.

Implications of ELF for Refugees in Europe

The European Union has 24 official languages and emphasizes linguistic diversity to the

extent possible (EU). However, their commitment to multilingualism and linguistic neutrality

does not negate the need for cross-lingual communication. While the EU only recognizes two-

dozen languages, Europe as a while contains 50 countries, with nearly each one hailing a

different national language. To preserve cultural differences and avoid imperialistic tension,

Europe has been hesitant in implementing policies that would identify and champion a common

means of communication; it is the challenge of a continent with a national lingua-cultural

identity (Seidlhofer, 2010, p. 356). The need for a communicative bridge proves itself time and

again in European contexts, not the least of which has been the assimilation of refugees and

asylum seekers across foreign borders. This is where English as a lingua franca has something to

offer.

Part of the attraction of ELF in Europe is that it already holds current status. Despite

warring emotions regarding the spread of English, the reality is that English is already necessary:

English impinges on the lives of all European citizens, in many different ways: academics,

business executives and hip-hoppers use English in their everyday activities; people listen to

English pop lyrics, encounter advertising slogans such as Im lovin it, Just do it; watching

CNN and MTV; and so on (Seidlhofer, 2010, 357).

Though not formally recognized, English is the primary means of communication between

countries with different national languages; English is already the lingua franca of Europe. Most
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 16

European citizens learn English from grade school, yielding at least a rudimentary proficiency.

This is what puts resettling refugees at an automatic disadvantage: adults or children without

formal schooling, without formal English training, or who had their education stunted by the

dissention in their country are assimilating into places where English is already the lingua franca.

If the fear is that English as a lingua franca poses some threat to the other languages of

Europe or is on a cultural domination quest, it need not be. As House writes:

More money and time could then be allotted for teaching and otherwise supporting other

European languages (especially minority languages) in a flexible fashion, tailor-made to

regionally and locally differing needs. If one makes the distinction between languages for

communication, such as English today, and languages for identification mother tongues,

regional, local, intimate varieties of language ELF need not be a threat (2003, p. 7).

Seidlhofer corroborates this idea, writing: As a lingua franca, English is necessarily

complementary to other languages in Europe and not in competition with them. And [. . .] it

would seem to make sense to make provision for this in the way it is taught (Seidlhofer, 2010,

p. 365). The multilingualism initiatives in Europe should be championed for identification and

culture preservation, not as fearful responses to the global need for universal communication and

Englishs de facto place in that. This is as true for the preservation of Europeans minority

languages as it is for the languages and cultures of the new refugees.

This is not to say that ELF is without its downsides, particularly in regards to its

appropriate use among asylum seekers in Europe. The linguistic imperialism critique aside,

English as a lingua franca faces challenges when it comes to mutual understanding. If the goal of

ELF is to avoid communication breakdowns, particularly between non-native speakers, then its

failure comes when there is significant misunderstanding. If participants misunderstand meaning

or misrepresent ideas, it causes ripple effect issues for the communication; while it would be
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 17

easiest to blame this on a few, isolated instances of communication breakdowns, the reality is

that the diverse and varied nature of English means that it poses significant challenges for ELF.

Mathieu Demulder, in his study on The Use of English as a Lingua Franca in the Belgian

Asylum Procedure, found that, although both the AS [asylum seeker] and the PO [protection

officer] are able to express themselves relatively well, they experience a lot of difficulty when

trying to decode each others meanings (2011-2012, p. 61). He ultimately concludes that ELF

is not capable of closing the linguistic and socio-cultural gap between its interlocutors (p. 62).

ELF has a place in Europe and has inherent value but we must be careful in both our approach to

teaching it and our places of implementation. A setting where governmental officials are looking

for detailed, accurate information from asylum seekers, the use of a lingua franca is likely to (and

as Demulder observes, does), cause more communicative problems than it solves.

Lingua franca English has become internationally prevalent and essential communication

across the continent of Europe. Despite its popular spread and recent advances in research, the

technical implementation, both on a classroom and policy level, has room to grow. Failures of

ELF, like the aforementioned study between the Belgian protection officer and an asylum seeker

highlight the growing need for an increasing emphasis on ELF. While it works at the grassroots

level in Europe, for ELF to grow into something holistically and continentally beneficial, it needs

macro-level recognition; [t]he predominance of English as a language for learning also has

come to be acknowledged by European institutions themselves (Seidlhofer, 2010, p. 358). It is a

double standard for the continent of Europe to question or reject English as a lingua franca, in the

name of multilingualism, while simultaneously hailing the use of national languages, as the

reduction and extinction of local, migrant ones (Decke-Cornill, 2002, House, 2003).
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 18

If Europe devoted resources to the structural implementation of English as a lingua

franca, for both citizens who never learned it and recently resettled refugees, it could pioneer the

spread of ELF and increasing global connections. The reality is that teaching English as a lingua

franca is different and necessitates a different approach:

Most teachers worldwide are teaching not more than four 45-minutes periods a week, many

fewer. That time needs to be used to maximum advantage to help their students master the forms

and meaning of the language that will be most useful to them in future ELF interactions (Ur,

2010, p. 5).

Conclusion

Students need should learn a language as it relevant for their communicative needs. For

people moving to English-speaking countries, English as a second language remains a vital part

of transition and assimilation into the culture. In academic settings, English can be taught as a

foreign language, which not only gives students a vital skill in global communication but also

equips them with the lexical and linguistic tools to succeed in a variety of English settings (if, for

example, they wanted to pursue higher education in an English-speaking context). This is why

doctors or business professionals learn English for specific purposes (ESP), why immigrants to

English-speaking countries learn English as a second-language (ESL), or why middle-school

students in mainland China learn English as a foreign language (EFL). Teaching English as a

lingua franca is not a one-size-fits-all method of English instruction. Nor is it intended to

diminish or ignore the ways that, historically, the language was used to promote a hegemonic,

cultural genocide agenda. However, the reality of our shrinking, global world is such that a

communicative bridge is necessary and English, for better or worse, has inadvertently become

that. English as a lingua franca has a messy and complex history, but that does not negate its
ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 19

presence or its value, both around the world and in mainland Europe. It is a branch of English

language study that requires more resources, study, and curriculum, as our growing world seeks

to build bridges of culture and sharing, through a common, communicative medium.

ENGLISH AS A THIRD LANGUAGE MacMath 20

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