ELF and multilingualism

• Published in: The Routledge Handbook of English As a Lingua Franca pp. 357 - 368
• Main Author: Cogo, Alessia
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Routledge 2018; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Sociolinguistics; Translanguaging Perspective; Multilingual Language Policy; ELF User; English Language Teaching Publications; Critical Language Testing; EU Policy Document; Intercultural Communication Competence; Multilingual Resources; Specific Business Context; Elf Discourse; Elf Research; Elf Interaction; Plurilingual Repertoire; English Native Speaker Norms; Language Separation; Lingua Franca; Elf Communication; Elf Speaker; Cross-linguistic Similarities; Multilingual Repertoires; Diverse Linguacultural Backgrounds; Conversation Analytic Perspective; Multilingual Practices; Elf; Small Business Company
• ISBN: 9781138855328; 1138855324
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315717173-30

This chapter explores multilingual aspects of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) from a code-switching perspective, focusing on the role of multilingual resources for negotiating and enhancing understanding, and managing conversational moves. The translanguaging perspective implies a flexible and dynamic view of multilingual resources and, compared to code-switching, a less clearly marked change or switch into 'another language' and an emphasis on the permeability of languages. Originally, research in ELF oriented towards exploring what ELF is, that is, what it looks like in terms of lexico-grammar, pronunciation and pragmatics. Cogo explores the multilingual practices of a small business company from a super-diversity perspective, focusing on the phenomenon of translanguaging not in opposition to code-switching, but as interrelated phenomena in the specific business context. Studies involving business people involved in ELF communication show flexibility not only in terms of the linguistic resources used in communication, but also in relation to the attitudes and orientations towards them.