Page 10 - Kukanja Gabrijelčič, Mojca, and Maruška Seničar Željeznov, eds. 2018. Teaching Gifted and Talented Children in A New Educational Era. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
P. 10
Knechtelsdorfer
the European Union partly communicate in English. Increasingly more peo-
ple worldwide study, work and live abroad thus creating international rela-
tionships and communicating in English. It is, therefore, crucial to acknowl-
edge the special role English as a foreign language plays and to take cer-
tain phenomena of this international use of English into consideration when
teaching English. Thus far traditional English language teaching in Austria,
and presumably in other countries as well, focuses on the standard variety
of English using the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) as
the basis for curricula and testing. It is not only ignoring the special position
of English globally but also does not account for the individual, multilingual
and multicultural potential of language learners.
Research into English as a Lingua Franca, ELF, suggests that it is ‘a means of
intercultural communication not tied to particular countries and ethnicities,
a linguistic resource that is not contained in, or constrained by, traditional
(and notoriously tendentious) ideas of what constitutes “a language”’ (Sei-
dlhofer, 2011, p. 81). The aim of this paper is to examine the ways in which a
focus on ELF in English language teaching can contribute to the promotion
of giftedness. A revised definition of communicative competence provides
the linguistic and didactic framework for ELF-informed language teaching.
To illustrate possible areas of change in English language classrooms, exam-
ples of ELF-informed language teaching are provided.
English as Lingua Franca
English is, according to the Eurobarometer (Commission of the European
Communities, 2012, p. 21), the most widely spoken foreign language in the
European Union and, in addition, it is also the number one foreign language
taught in schools. It is used internationally for different purposes by people
with diverse L1. As a result of this changed role of English, English as a Lingua
Franca (ELF) research started to create first interesting insights into this new
phenomenon. The accepted definition of ELF defines it as ‘any use of English
among speakers of different first languages for whom English is the commu-
nicative medium of choice, and often the only option’ (Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 7).
While critics claim ELF to be a wrong and degenerated variety of English,
ELF research suggests the opposite to be true. Firstly, ELF is not a fixed variety
and can, therefore, not be treated and analysed as one. It is rather a flexible
use of English, created ad hoc, depending on the sociocultural setting, the in-
terlocutors’ L1 and the communicative goal of the conversation (Seidlhofer,
2011, p. 80). It is, thus, not a variety that is less valid or correct than the stan-
dard language but is a use of the potential of English with all its conformist
8
the European Union partly communicate in English. Increasingly more peo-
ple worldwide study, work and live abroad thus creating international rela-
tionships and communicating in English. It is, therefore, crucial to acknowl-
edge the special role English as a foreign language plays and to take cer-
tain phenomena of this international use of English into consideration when
teaching English. Thus far traditional English language teaching in Austria,
and presumably in other countries as well, focuses on the standard variety
of English using the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) as
the basis for curricula and testing. It is not only ignoring the special position
of English globally but also does not account for the individual, multilingual
and multicultural potential of language learners.
Research into English as a Lingua Franca, ELF, suggests that it is ‘a means of
intercultural communication not tied to particular countries and ethnicities,
a linguistic resource that is not contained in, or constrained by, traditional
(and notoriously tendentious) ideas of what constitutes “a language”’ (Sei-
dlhofer, 2011, p. 81). The aim of this paper is to examine the ways in which a
focus on ELF in English language teaching can contribute to the promotion
of giftedness. A revised definition of communicative competence provides
the linguistic and didactic framework for ELF-informed language teaching.
To illustrate possible areas of change in English language classrooms, exam-
ples of ELF-informed language teaching are provided.
English as Lingua Franca
English is, according to the Eurobarometer (Commission of the European
Communities, 2012, p. 21), the most widely spoken foreign language in the
European Union and, in addition, it is also the number one foreign language
taught in schools. It is used internationally for different purposes by people
with diverse L1. As a result of this changed role of English, English as a Lingua
Franca (ELF) research started to create first interesting insights into this new
phenomenon. The accepted definition of ELF defines it as ‘any use of English
among speakers of different first languages for whom English is the commu-
nicative medium of choice, and often the only option’ (Seidlhofer, 2011, p. 7).
While critics claim ELF to be a wrong and degenerated variety of English,
ELF research suggests the opposite to be true. Firstly, ELF is not a fixed variety
and can, therefore, not be treated and analysed as one. It is rather a flexible
use of English, created ad hoc, depending on the sociocultural setting, the in-
terlocutors’ L1 and the communicative goal of the conversation (Seidlhofer,
2011, p. 80). It is, thus, not a variety that is less valid or correct than the stan-
dard language but is a use of the potential of English with all its conformist
8
