English as a Lingua Franca: A Corpus-based Analysis

by Luke Prodromou

Overview

Using a corpus of data drawn from naturally-occurring second language conversations, this book explores the role of idiomaticity in English as a native language, and its comparative role in English as a lingua franca. Through examining how idiomaticity enables first language learners to achieve a greater degree of fluency, the book explores why idiomatic language poses such a challenge for users of English as a lingua franca. The book puts forward a new definition of competence and fluency within the context of English as a lingua franca, concluding with an analysis of practical implications for the lingua franca classroom.

This in-depth study of English language learning using corpus data will be of interest to researchers in applied linguistics and corpus linguistics and to teachers of English as an international lingua franca.


Using a corpus of data drawn from naturally-occurring second language conversations, this book explores the role of idiomaticity in English as a native language, and its comparative role in English as a lingua franca. Through examining how idiomaticity enables first language learners to achieve a greater degree of fluency, the book explores why idiomatic language poses such a challenge for users of English as a lingua franca. The book puts forward a new definition of competence and fluency within the context of English as a lingua franca, concluding with an analysis of practical implications for the lingua franca classroom.

This in-depth study of English language learning using corpus data will be of interest to researchers in applied linguistics and corpus linguistics and to teachers of English as an international lingua franca.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826497758
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/06/2008
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Dr Luke Prodromou is a Freelance ELT teacher, material writer and teacher trainer.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Idiomatic fluency
3. Mainstream and ELF-oriented approaches to spoken language
4. Analysis of conversational data
5. Corpus methodology
6. Concordance analysis in L1 and L2 spoken corpora
7. Small words in the case of L1 users
8. Small words in the case of L2 users
9. Minimal idiomatic units in an L1 corpus
10. Literal, metaphorical and pragmatic use in the SUE corpus
11. Creative idiomaticity
12. Conclusion - implications

Editorial Reviews

'Luke Prodromou's book is deeply felt and beautifully written account of what it can mean to speak a language. It is a fascinating read: probing, incisively argued and consistently raising questions and data that compel fundamental re-thinking. After reading the book terms common in the field of English language and applied linguistics such as 'native' 'idiom', 'first' and 'second' language, 'international English', 'lingua franca', 'fluency' are seen in an entirely new light. A major contribution.'
Professor Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham, UK--Sanford Lakoff

'This is an inspirational book. It will reward a careful reading with a human and warming response. One can feel the experience of the writer on every page. In many respects, it is a welcome breath of fresh air to counter much of the run of the mill work that approaches the subject of EIL or ELF from a 'merely' instrumental perspective on language learning. Prodromou's book constitutes a significant corrective to the scholarship and research on ELF (EIL). Maybe it takes a fluent bilingual in English and Greek, an individual who has spent their whole life straddling and living in two or more language-cultures to seriously grasp what it can mean to employ language(s) 'fluently' or at least communicatively successfully.An insight into the variable 'layers' of proficiency involved inELF and EIL interactions is one of themost instructive and informative features this reviewer came away from this book with. The book also contains a splendid list of references which researchers on idiomaticity, in particular, will be able to mine for some years to come. Finally, it is worth stressing just how 'readable' the book is: Prodromou is witty and humorous in his choice of data as well as his droll analytic comments. I warmly recommend that students and scholars of both English and sociolinguistics together with teachers of English ensure that they have this book sitting on their bookshelves, after having read it carefully.' - Journal of Sociolinguistics--Sanford Lakoff

'The book makes an invaluable contribution to the ELF debate and to what it means to be an accomplished L2-user. Doctoral theses turned into books are not an invariable success. This one undoubtedly is. It makes accessible complex data and ideas through the clarity and wit of the writing: literate authors are all too few these days. Above all, it evinces a passionate concern for the professional and ethical dimensions of this debate, without any concomitant evangelical zeal'
Alan Maley, Applied Linguistics

"With characteristic brio and insight, Prodromou enlists impressive scholarship to address the 'problem' of L2 idiomaticity and its relation to fluency. This book is a landmark contribution to what is fast becoming the hot topic in applied linguistics - the nature and role of English as a Lingua Franca."
- Scott Thornbury, The New School, New York, USA

Briefly reviewed in the Year's work in English Studies journal, vol 89, No. 1

'Prodromou provides an excellent survey of previous research and presents his data in a very readable way'

From the Publisher