Understanding English as an
international lingua franca
Multilingualism and English
as lingua franca
English imperialism (Phillipson, 1992)
English linguistic imperialism as “the dominance of English […]
asserted and maintained by the establishment and continuous
reconstitution of structural and cultural inequalities between
English and other languages.” (Phillipson, 1992, p.47)
You can also refer to the assigned reading (Kramch 2016)…
Do you think that using English as a shared lingua franca
lead to inequalities between English and other languages?
What should we reminded about in order for English and
multilingualism to co-exist harmoniously? (Or… could they
ever?)
Phillipson (1992) criticized some English fallacies …
• English is best taught monolingually ("the monolingual fallacy")
• the ideal teacher is always a native speaker ("the native-speaker fallacy")
• the earlier English is taught, the better the results ("the early-start fallacy”)
• if other languages are used much, standards of English will drop ("the
subtractive fallacy”)
What do you think about these mythes? Do you see these fallacies
around you?
Translingualism
According to Canagarajah (2018)…
What does “trans” as in “translingualism” emphasize?
How does it di erent when you say “everyday communication at
SILS is multilingual” and “everyday communication at SILS is
translingual”
ff
gesture
emoji
Code-switching? Or translanguaging?
Example 1
A Hong Kong student discusses how Korean-pop groups use English for their world-
wide promotion and how their fans take their English use:
S1: “er the audience his fan treated it as very cute huh a cute ... kawaii moment”
other students laugh
Recording of a presentation at Sociolinguistics class, SILS, 2016 discussed by Murata
et al., 2019, pp.160-161
Example 2
In an International Korean student’s presentation:
S12: "In 2003, became popular. It is pure romance. And boom
was popular in Japan. , which is prime time viewing, was quite high.
Recording of a presentation at 1st year seminar, SILS, 2016 discussed by Iino and
Murata 2016
What is “language”?
Hot ☕ is tastier in the cold🌊
#goodvibes # #shonan_time #
Self-perception towards own English
“my English is poor” (Kaki Wang, Chinese)
“My English is not perfect, so excuse my grammar and occasional
mistakes in text :)” (JV, Czech)
“Well, I’m sorry, my English is so shitty ugh because I’m french” (reddit,
French)
(Barton & Lee, 2017)
Relationships with friends, socially constructed idea of
using English as ikiri
multilingual or translingual?
When you re ect on your own language behavior and your relationship
with your language, do you feel more comfortable with the term
"multilingual" or "translingual"? Which one represents you better?
fl
What makes you a linguistic
speaker? Write and draw
What makes you a linguistic speaker? Better handwriting (Kanji)
What do my Japanese Spanish
friends think
my linguistic-
about me? English
researcher-
husband Parents taking
Female me to an English
conversational Tokyo,Nag
class oya,Osaka
Move hands Toyama, “That’s wrong”
Ishikawa (Eng/Jap)
dialects
Researcher Studying in the SNS user
US American
English is better
Final presentation / paper
Individual presentation (Final presentation) 7/4, 7/11, (7/18)
Please prepare a 10-minute individual presentation about yourself and English.
Choose any topic(s) and theme(s) covered in this class, conduct a little research on
the topic(s) (using sources such as newspaper, web articles, journal articles, books
etc) and present your findings while sharing your personal experiences/backgrounds
related to the topic. Your presentation should include: approximately 5 minutes of
your presentation covering topic(s)/theme(s), your research, your story and
approximately 5 minutes for Q&A (or discussion questions you bring)
Individual presentation (Final presentation) 7/4, 7/11, (7/18)
Some of the examples of topics, themes, keywords brought up in our previous
discussions:
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), World Englishes (The three concentric circles
English as a native language countries, English as a second language countries,
English as a foreign language countries), Englishes around the world (invited
speakers!), Communication strategies and multimodality, raciolinguistics
(English=caucasian?), Native speakerism, English as a emblematic role,
Multilingualism (invited speakers!), Translangualism, English and neoliberalism
(6/20)
Individual paper (Final paper) – Due 7/18
Please submit an individual paper discussing how you connected yourself to any
topic(s) and theme(s) covered in this class. Your paper should essentially be a written
version of your presentation, but with a greater focus on your own backgrounds and
experiences. While you may include findings from your research, take this opportunity
to introspect, reflect on your past and present, critically examine ideologies and
personal beliefs about English (or language), and discuss what has shaped you as a
English (or language) speaker and how you envision yourself acting as one in the
future (if any).
Details:
-This paper should be a well-organized essay (with in-text citations if necessary).
-It must be around 2 pages in length in single space (around 800–1000-words)
Assignment
Read: Questioning linguistic instrumentalism: English, neoliberalism, and language
tests in Japan (Kubota, 2011)
1) 1. Introduction, 2) 2. Neoliberal discourse, human capital, and skills, 3) Select one
section (case study) highlighted in green and read
