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The discussion of the conceptualization of ELF as well as the reflection upon some of the most intriguing features of ELF communication leads me to the assumption that the concept of ELF calls some traditional claims of linguistic theory into question. For instance in the discussion of language spread and change, some interesting findings and controversial issues have been investigated, which bear crucial implications for linguistic research. This section will deal with those implications of ELF research which seem to be most interesting when regarding their impact on some traditional linguistic concepts in connection with the specific research focus of this study.

How crucial it is to critically reflect on traditional concepts can be displayed concisely by citing Seidlhofer’s (2009: 40) following argument: “Forcing findings into preconceived categories is always likely to obstruct an understanding of new phenomena.” Similarly, Mauranen (2009: 3) explicitly states the urgent need for ELF research to question traditional concepts when she argues: “Looking into new contexts calls for new ways of seeing context and situated language use.”

3.1. Standard Language Ideology

One of the most important issues of the conceptualization of ELF seems to be the notion of ELF users being active language users in their own right, who do not need to adhere to native speaker norms but change the virtual language to suit their specific communicative needs. These issues have severe implications for theories in, for example, ELT focusing on an approximation to native speaker norms and for scholars supporting what can be called ‘standard language ideology’. I perceive this issue as highly relevant when investigating ELF attitudes in Europe. Hence, my questionnaire survey also included statements designed to elicit whether European students perceive themselves as users or learners of English. My supposition is that a successful reflection on standard language ideology and ELF would enable ELF speakers to perceive themselves as independent users, not learners. For a discussion of the findings, a critical reflection seems necessary to facilitate a deeper understanding of this issue.

The role of the native speaker in the international spread of English has changed drastically, especially regarding ELF. Traditional concepts view standard language, which consists of native speaker norms and can be seen as “socially sanctioned for institutional use” (Widdowson 2003: 37), as the only means of successful communication. An essential point in the criticism of standard language ideology is the

dual character of every language or variety. Every single language is both a means of communication and at the same time a means of expressing membership of a community, social identity, conventions, values, and many more elements that make up a culture (cf. Widdowson 2003: 39). Moreover, the term ‘standard’ is also ambiguous since it has several semantic qualities and interpretations. Standard can, for example, be used to refer to a high ideal, referring to generally accepted norms, but also mean that something is regularly used and thus nothing special. These conflicting and ambiguous interpretations of ‘standard’ are also reflected in the different interpretations of Standard English. Regarding linguistic and functional features, there is no generally accepted definition of Standard English available in scholarly debate. Yet, traditional concepts of ELT generate a strong consensus among professionals about the usefulness of teaching Standard English to English language learners (cf. Gnutzmann 2005: 107-108). Standard language ideology could be hypothesized to lead to linguistic insecurity of non-native speakers. If there were no way to question this traditional concept, which is done by the conceptualization of ELF, Phillipson’s arguments about linguistic imperialism would clearly find support.

Most definitions of Standard English focus on grammatical features and, for instance, the modern British definition totally excludes implications of accent and pronunciation (cf. Gnutzmann 2005: 111). Standard English is essentially represented in its written form since it is mainly designed for institutional purposes. Thus, the spoken version is not that crucial, however, standardized spelling conventions seem to be an essential part of the notion of Standard English. Oddly enough, exactly those areas of the language which seem most redundant for successful communication, namely grammar and spelling, could be argued to bear high significance because they carry social identity with them (cf. Widdowson 2003: 37-39).

Widdowson (cf. 1997: 143-145) argues that there is no need for a strict observation of the standard language because the international use of English will remain internationally intelligible on its own, since its users employ it to communicate internationally. Thus, the very purpose of international English is successful communication, which, in turn, secures its mutual intelligibility. In like manner, Seidlhofer (cf. 2005: 164) points to the central role of mutual accommodation in ELF communication, which demonstrates that ELF users naturally co-operate and strive for international intelligibility. Obviously, expert communities will develop a highly specialized code, leading to a loss of mutual understanding. However, this fact should

not be used to promote strict adherence to the standard code, because every specialized use of a language, be it by native speakers, users of a common lingua franca, or speakers of English as a foreign language, requests specialized expertise. Widdowson argues that the reason why many people decide to learn English at school, at university, or in other language training courses is to communicate internationally with other members of their professional community. He claims that English language teaching should be orientated towards secondary international communities and their use of English, rather than exclusively linked to a native context.

In contrast, Gnutzmann (cf. 2005: 115-117) claims that detaching international ELT from Standard English and its associated cultures would be problematic for linguistic, pedagogical and political reasons. Furthermore, he advocates an orientation towards RP in Europe. Although his arguments seem rather persuasive, he does not give any reasons for his beliefs or explanations concerning the political and linguistic consequences that he claims to be problematic. Gnutzmann’s argumentation could be regarded as problematic since it does not appear to be transparent. Additionally, when following his argumentative framework, there seems to be a contradiction between the advocated approximation to RP or BBC English in Europe, and the economic and political power of the USA, which would make General American a more suitable goal for learners of English. However, Gnutzmann gives pedagogic explanations for reference to a model in ELT. Firstly, open norms would unsettle learners because they are in need of orientation. Secondly, the homogeneity of a model would make language acquisition easier. In spite of the plausibility of these claims, there seems to be no possible logical link between these pedagogic considerations and an adherence to particularly British native speaker norms. As leveling closing words, however, Gnutzmann argues that teaching models need to be tolerant of errors and yet, ELF does not account for any possible teaching goals from his point of view.

However valuable and logical arguments about the inherent mechanisms of mutual accommodation and co-operation in ELF may be, considerations of desirable learning goals have not entered school curricula so far, which could be attributed, according to Seidlhofer (cf. 2003: 19, 21), to the widespread influence of research conducted in ENL contexts and the absence of sufficient descriptive investigations into EIL. Language competence is still assessed exclusively with reference to native speaker norms. In other words, users of English are evaluated according to their success in orientating their language use towards native English norms and their competence in understanding

native speaker utterances in spoken and written form. As an example of this prevalence of native speaker orientation, one could name the self-assessment grid of the European Language Portfolio. ELF research should be seen as positively contributing to a reassessment of the role of the native speaker, but does not advocate new norms for EFL teaching. Rather, incorporating ELF research could lead to an increased communicative awareness and a better understanding of mechanisms that are important for intercultural exchange. A very frequent misunderstanding of ELF research is the claim that ELF patronizes learners of English in an ‘everything goes’-fashion because it allows for ‘incorrect’ forms. This point should not be disregarded, since it could be claimed that this criticism frequently derives from economic interests. Institutions like examining boards are highly interested in promoting native speaker norms and their prestige, simply out of their economic interests. However, ELF researchers do not wish to promote the teaching of ELF only, nor do they wish to prescribe which variety should be promoted as learners’ goals. Rather, learners of English should be able to decide for themselves which specific variety of English they want to concentrate on, be it a native English variety like US-American English or RP, or ELF. Hence, ELF increases the models available, rather than diminishing learner goals. If learners are aware of the many different uses of English worldwide and the different varieties available to them, they could make informed choices and concentrate on those specific models which suit their purposes, whatever these might be (cf. Jenkins 2007: 21-22).

In addition to the positive implications already mentioned, it should also be considered that standard language ideology and the imposition of native speaker models onto students of English can be psychologically demanding for non-native speakers of English (cf. Spichtinger 2000: 71). Non-native speakers will never, regardless of how high their level of competence might be, turn into native speakers. Thus, becoming part of the native speaker community can be difficult if one is not born into it, since ENL bears cultural and social features typical of its community of speakers. When providing models that focus on intelligibility and communicative success, one could achieve more desirable learning goals, namely supplying speakers with those language skills needed to find their own way of using a language in their own terms and for their own means. ELF could lead the way for non-native speakers to become aware of the communicative needs of intercultural conversations. Hence, users of ELF are more than just language learners repeating ready-to-use and prescribed items of a foreign language, as standard language ideology implies. In ELF, speakers become active users with their own means of expressing themselves. It needs to be stated that this line of thought is based on my

rather subjective assumptions concerning the conceptualization of ELF and the possibilities for its users. Since these arguments are personal suppositions, the empirical research of this study investigates how far European students actually perceive themselves as users of English. Presenting the empirical findings at this point would be an incoherent anticipation. All I wish to present in this context is that the participants’ statements hint at the fact that my personal assumptions are too optimistic for the current European situation, but, at the same time, do not seem entirely unrealistic. Although the considerable impact of language use on language change is widely recognized by scholars in linguistics, the general tenor still seems to be fairly negative when ELF norms and uses are concerned, both by native and non-native speakers. This seems rather peculiar, considering the vast amount of publications dealing with the international spread of English. Similarly, it seems to be commonly recognized that many non-native speakers nowadays use English on a nearly everyday basis, and that this use is at least as common as native speaker – native speaker interaction when looking at English used in an inter-connected modern world. Jenkins (cf. 2007: 7-8) addresses the issue that some scholars are still very skeptic about the notion of ELF. In particular, she criticizes Trudgill for ignoring accommodation and language contact, which is crucial for ELF interactions, and for claiming that native speakers have the sole right to shape the language, since historically, the language resides in them. As can be illustrated by the prevailing negative attitudes towards ELF, actively questioning standard language ideology seems to be vital for raising awareness and acceptance for the legitimacy of non-native speaker uses of English in an international setting. As a concluding remark, it should be noted that nativeness criteria seem highly redundant when discussing ELF. Their only functional role seems to be a socio-psychologically motivated one, creating a distinction between native speaker communities and non- native users of English, and thus marginalizing ELF users as outsiders. Communicatively, this distinction does not play any role for intelligibility (cf. Seidlhofer 2005: 166-167).

3.2. Traditional notions of speech community and bilingualism

In the light of ELF, Kachru’s (cf. 1992: 356) model displaying language spread in three concentric circles should be reconsidered because the centrality of the native speakers can be questioned. In Kachru’s model, the expanding circle, which encompasses all users of the English language for whom English is neither the first language, nor an

official language in their home country, is argued to be norm-dependent. This claim is clearly open for questions when investigating ELF uses, since its speakers commonly exploit the English language for their needs and shape it to express their very own reality (cf. Hülmbauer, Böhringer & Seidlhofer 2008: 27-28).

Widdowson (cf. 2003: 51-52) argues that language variety should be defined along two dimensions, namely the dimension of time and the dimension of space. In the dimension of time, language change is considered as happening across different periods, whereas the dimension of space perceives variation across different regions. Furthermore, he claims that dialects of English are commonly thought of as variations in forms of speaking that are closely linked to the standard core of the English language and dependent on a common development. However, when considering this argumentation in the line of the international spread of English, one should rather speak of different virtual languages as a result of language change through international language use, since a code that declares independence can no longer be regarded as a dialect. Additionally, the changes in the virtual language due to its global spread cannot be compared to the gradual development of different dialects through language use in different but related social communities. With these arguments, Widdowson likewise calls Kachru’s model into question when considering ELF communication. Global registers cannot exclusively be perceived as belonging to the Expanding Circle, since Outer Circle speakers also employ them as a matter of economic and sociopolitical exchange. As Widdowson (2003: 55) states:

It is in these uses of the language as a lingua franca that the dynamism of international spread is to be found, and as users of these varieties all speakers of English, whether as a first, second or foreign language are in the same Expanding Circle.

ELF users cannot be described within the conventional sociolinguistic framework of ‘speech community’ because they belong to diverse primary socio-cultural and linguistic communities. In addition, ELF should not be conceptualized as a stable and clearly separated object of study. Resulting from this conceptual shift, theories about ‘communities of practice’ by Eckert and McConnell-Ginet seem to be more relevant and applicable to ELF. The conventional definition of a speech community as consisting of members from the same lingua-cultural background cannot capture the interconnected reality of the modern world anymore (cf. Hülmbauer, Böhringer & Seidlhofer 2008: 28). Etienne Wenger (cf. 2008: 72-85) develops theories about communities of practice further and defines them as characterized by three dimensions,

namely mutual engagement, a joint enterprise and a shared repertoire. Hence, communities of practice are creating their language variety and the speech community is not, as in traditional theories, characterized by the language variety (cf. Hülmbauer, Böhringer & Seidlhofer 2008: 28). This point clearly supports the claim that nativeness criteria could be regarded as redundant in the light of ELF because speakers from diverse cultural backgrounds co-operatively create their own means of successful exchange.

Other traditional linguistic concepts which need to be reconsidered when investigating ELF are ‘bilingualism’ and ‘diglossia’. In short, linguists investigate which language in the case of bilingualism, or which varieties of the same language in the case of diglossia, are usually used to fulfill high or low functions, as, for example, school instruction and family interaction. When regarding English in Europe, it becomes clear that the language can fulfill both high and low functions. In this context, James (cf. 2000: 28-29) argues that if one considers English on the micro-level as individual bilingualism, ELF – as code and as function – would go beyond the traditional concepts and qualify for a (multi)lingual and (poly)glossic status.

ELF also combines aspects of societal and individual bilingualism and blurs boundaries between “achieved” bilingualism, which refers to institutionally learned language competence, and “ascribed” bilingualism (James 2000: 31), which defines naturally acquired knowledge, for example through migration. Since virtually all European ELF speakers were instructed in EFL in school, one should certainly keep in mind that their use of English is built onto formally acquired knowledge of the language. However, ascribed bilingualism can be observed whenever Europeans of different linguistic backgrounds successfully solve the communicative demands of inter-cultural exchange. Hence, naturally occurring ELF interactions combine linguistic abilities of both, achieved and ascribed, dimensions of bilingualism (cf. James 2000: 31-32). At this point, reference should be made to Berns’, de Bot’s and Hasebrink’s (cf. 2007: 10) argumentation about the role of formal English language instruction for ELF speakers in Europe. They argue that formal aspects are not relevant for the concept of ELF use anymore because speakers adhere to their own standards, which are functionally oriented. However, I wish to raise concern in this context, since formal instruction and traditional ELT models still play an essential role in Europe and most users of ELF have been instructed in EFL in school. Surely, this claim holds true for the participants of this paper’s empirical investigation. James’ arguments could now be seen as closing a

theoretical gap between Berns’ et al.’s arguments and my concerns via connecting the two concepts of achieved and ascribed bilingualism, which have traditionally been placed in opposition to each other.

My research question “How do European students perceive their use of English and English used by others particularly concerning their attitudes towards native speaker models?” is closely connected to this theoretical reflection. It can be argued that it is indeed essential to reflect upon how one perceives the theoretical context of one’s research. Thus, questioning the discussed concepts forms the basis for my theoretical considerations. In turn, this has a strong impact on how the empirical findings are then interpreted and connected to linguistic theory. With making these considerations explicit, I wish to enable readers to reflect upon my discussions and interpretations.