Universität Wien

122220 SE Linguistics Seminar / MA applied linguistics & TEFL (2013S)

Understanding English as a Lingua Franca

11.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 12 - Anglistik
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 18 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Friday 15.03. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 22.03. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 12.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 19.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 26.04. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 03.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 10.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 17.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 24.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 24.05. 14:00 - 20:00 Raum 2 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-09
    Raum 5 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O1-17
  • Friday 24.05. 16:00 - 20:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
  • Saturday 25.05. 09:00 - 15:00 Raum 3 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-13
    Raum 4 Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-EG-19
  • Friday 31.05. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 07.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 14.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 21.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07
  • Friday 28.06. 10:00 - 12:00 Besprechungsraum Anglistik UniCampus Hof 8 3E-O2-07

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Registered participants will be invited to attend a preliminary meeting (Vorbesprechung) on Friday March 8th, from 10:15 to about 11:30.

Please note: this seminar is basically a repeat, i.e. a 'second edition' of the seminar with the same title that was offered in the winter term 2012/13, as there was a long waiting list for this seminar then. This means that if you have already got credits for this seminar from last term and need credits for another one, you need to choose another seminar.

About the schedule: Some of the regular Friday sessions in the second half of the semester will not take place to give you time to write up your reports after the seminar conference on May 24th & 25th. (see below under 'Methods'.) NB: Please only register for this seminar if you can be sure to be present for the whole of the seminar conference!

In this seminar, we will investigate the phenomenon of English as a (global) lingua franca (ELF) from various perspectives and consider how ELF is different from the other language(s), including English(es), that participants are familiar with.

As both consequence and driving force of globalization, English at present functions as the predominant international lingua franca. This use of English as the first truly global means of communication has led to the realization that conventional attitudes to English and approaches to its study need to be critically examined. This state of affairs has resulted in a fast-growing field of research that is concerned both with the sociolinguistic significance of ELF as a naturally adaptive linguistic development and with its theoretical and applied linguistic implications, the latter particularly in the areas of language teaching and language policy.

Assessment and permitted materials

Students will be assessed on the basis of participation in discussions throughout the course, a short project outline, a bibliography, the oral presentation of their research project during the conference as well as a written seminar paper in which they report on their projects.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The objective of this course is, as the title indicates, to achieve an understanding of ELF by investigating the forms and functions of ELF, both conceptually and empirically. Participants will become (more) aware of the sociolinguistic reality of, and the theoretical background to, the study of English as it has developed as a global lingua franca. Students will also learn to analyze the forms that ELF takes when used for various purposes in intercultural communication, and to appreciate the functional motivation of these forms. We shall also devote some time to reflection on the practical implications (e.g. for language teaching) of research in this area.

Examination topics

In the first phase of the seminar, we shall engage in a shared reading of the book Understanding English as a Lingua Franca (Seidlhofer 2011), basically following its chapters: What is this thing called English? The assumption of native-speaker authority. Standard English ideology. Reconceptualizing 'English';. Variety and variation: state and process. Designing English as an international language. ELF and English Language Teaching.
In this process, participants will gradually develop their own research questions. Participants will be offered an introduction to VOICE Online, the Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (http://www.univie.ac.at/voice/) and to ways of conducting research with the help of this resource. Students will then be able to conduct their own investigations, and
will discuss their ideas and findings both during the weekly sessions as
well as at the seminar conference. This seminar conference will be held on
Friday, May 24th (afternoon), and on Saturday May 25th (morning to
mid-afternoon), concurrently with that of Prof. Reichl's seminar. In
exchange for time spent at the seminar conference a number of regular
seminar sessions, esp. towards the end of term, will not be held.

Reading list

Seidlhofer, Barbara (2011). Understanding Engish as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (also available at the Anglistik library and Lehrbuchsammlung) and literature referred to in this book.

Association in the course directory

Studium: Diplom 343, UF 344, BA 612, ME 812;
Code/Modul: Diplom 222, 226/228, 236/238, 721-723, 821, UF 4.2.3-222, BA 6.2, M05
Lehrinhalt: 12-0383

Last modified: Th 09.01.2025 00:16