Zingaretti, Mattia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5565-2538 (2016) Beyond native-speakerism: Teaching and learning criteria in ELF use. Other thesis, Sapienza University of Rome.

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates the implications of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in teaching and learning criteria. After providing an overall view on the historical development of world varieties of English, the analysis of the use of present-day English highlights that ELF has its own set of lexico-grammatical, phonological and phonetic features, which are mainly shaped by non-native speakers of the language in lingua-franca contexts of use. However, there seems to be a gap between the current use of English and the way English is taught and learned. On the one hand, even if World Englishes (WEs) and ELF-awareness raising are theoretically assessed, textbooks for teachers and learners still seem to frame the language within native-speaking-country sociocultural values, as the analysis of recent course- books shows; on the other hand, as a result, even though ELF use privileges intelligibility over native-likeness and promotes the maintenance of non- native speakers’ L1 identities, native-speaker norms imposed on the language still heavily influence ELF users and learners. These results are evident from different surveys on students’ experiences as English learners, such as the one carried out for the purposes of this dissertation. Lingua-franca English is not officially taught in the classroom, nor is it assessed by international examinations of English. Yet, it is being spoken, used, and modeled by non-native speakers, constrained by native-speaker English norms.

Item Type:	Thesis (Other)
Status:	Unpublished
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics P Language and Literature > PE English
School/Department:	School of Education, Language and Psychology
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/8986

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