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The Lingua Franca Core (LFC) is a selection of pronunciation features of the English language recommended as a basis in teaching of English as a lingua franca. It was proposed by linguist Jennifer Jenkins in her 2000 book The Phonology of English as an International Language.[1] Jenkins derived the LFC from features found to be crucial in non-native speakers' understanding of each other, and advocated that teachers focus on those features and regard deviations from other native features not as errors but as acceptable variations.[2][3] The proposal sparked a debate among linguists and pedagogists, while Jenkins contended that much of the criticism was based on misinterpretations of her proposal.[4]

Features

Jenkins summarised the Lingua Franca Core as follows:[2]

Jenkins also identified non-core features, which did not hinder intelligibility among non-native speakers and were therefore deemed non-essential in teaching:[2]

Jenkins stressed that the LFC should be taught in parallel with "accommodation skills" to facilitate communication with speakers with different language backgrounds.[5]

The features were based on 40 tokens of misunderstanding between speakers from Japan and Switzerland,[6] and were intended as subject to further empirical testing and fine-tuning.[7][8] The legitimacy of inclusion or exclusion of certain features has been challenged, such as /θ, ð/, rhoticity,[9] the NURSE vowel,[10] lexical stress,[11] and pitch movement.[12] Taking into account these perceived shortcomings of the LFC, recommendations similar to the LFC but intended for learners from specific linguistic or geographical backgrounds have been produced.[13][14]

Application

Walker (2010) is considered the first textbook for language teachers to incorporate the Lingua Franca Core.[15][8]

References

  1. ^ Jenkins (2000).
  2. ^ a b c Jenkins (2002), pp. 96–8.
  3. ^ Deterding (2011), p. 7.
  4. ^ Jenkins (2008).
  5. ^ Jenkins (2002), pp. 98–101.
  6. ^ Jenkins (2000), p. 85.
  7. ^ Jenkins (2000), p. 235.
  8. ^ a b Jenkins, Cogo & Dewey (2011), p. 288.
  9. ^ Osimk (2009).
  10. ^ Walker & Zoghbor (2015), p. 447.
  11. ^ McCrocklin (2012).
  12. ^ Pickering (2009).
  13. ^ Kirkpatrick (2010).
  14. ^ Zoghbor (2018).
  15. ^ Deterding (2011), p. 174.

Bibliography

  • Deterding, David (2011). Misunderstandings in English as a Lingua Franca: An Analysis of ELF Interactions in South-East Asia. Boston: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9783110288599. ISBN 978-3-11-028651-9.
  • Jenkins, Jennifer (2000). The Phonology of English as an International Language: New Models, New Norms, New Goals. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-442164-3.
  • Jenkins, Jennifer (2002). "A Sociolinguistically Based, Empirically Researched Pronunciation Syllabus for English as an International Language". Applied Linguistics. 23 (1): 83–103. doi:10.1093/applin/23.1.83.
  • Jenkins, Jennifer (2008). "Misinterpretation, Bias and Resistance to Change: The Case of the Lingua Franca Core". In Dziubalska-Kołaczyk, Katarzyna; Przedlacka, Joanna (eds.). English Pronunciation Models: A Changing Scene (2nd ed.). Bern: Peter Lang. pp. 199–210. ISBN 978-3-03-911682-9.
  • Jenkins, Jennifer; Cogo, Alessia; Dewey, Martin (2011). "Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca" (PDF). Language Teaching. 44 (3): 281–315. doi:10.1017/S0261444811000115. S2CID 7361419.
  • Kirkpatrick, Andy (2010). English as a Lingua Franca in ASEAN: A Multilingual Model. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-988-8028-79-5. JSTOR j.ctt1xcs49.
  • McCrocklin, Shannon (2012). "The role of word stress in English as a lingua franca" (PDF). In Levis, John; LeVelle, Kimberly (eds.). Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Pronunciation in Second Language Learning and Teaching Conference. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University. pp. 249–256.
  • Osimk, Ruth (2009). "Decoding sounds: an experimental approach to intelligibility in ELF" (PDF). Vienna English Working Papers. 18 (1): 64–89. ISSN 2074-9864.
  • Pickering, Lucy (2009). "Intonation as a pragmatic resource in ELF interaction". Intercultural Pragmatics. 6 (2): 235–255. doi:10.1515/IPRG.2009.013. S2CID 55627660.
  • Walker, Robin (2010). Teaching the Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca: A User-friendly Handbook Which Explores the Benefits of an English as a Lingua Franca Approach to Pronunciation. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-442200-0.
  • Walker, Robin; Zoghbor, Wafa (2015). "The Pronunciation of English as a Lingua Franca". In Reed, Marine; Levis, John M. (eds.). The Handbook of English Pronunciation. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 433–453. ISBN 978-1-118-31447-0.
  • Zoghbor, Wafa Shahada (2018). "Teaching English pronunciation to multi-dialect first language learners: The revival of the Lingua Franca Core (LFC)". System. 78: 1–14. doi:10.1016/j.system.2018.06.008. S2CID 69273729.
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