Introducing English as a Lingua Franca: an Online Tutorial

Table of Contents

1. What is English as a Lingua Franca?
2. The tutorial: who it's for and what it aims to do
3. The tutorial: how it works
4. Analysing talk (the slightly theoretical bit)
5. Recording and transcribing: why record, why transcribe, what to transcribe
6. Notation
7. Three examples of classroom talk with accompanying transcripts
8. The activity - section one: form a group
9. The activity - section two: select your recording equipment
10. The activity - section three: record your discussion
11. The activity - section four: transcription and analysis
12. The activity - section five: discuss your transcript
13. Photos of the project team
14. References
15. Further reading
16. Acknowledgements
17. How to print and cite this resource
18. Creative Commons Licence

Analysing talk (the slightly theoretical bit)

Are you a good communicator? A quick Internet search using the search terms birth, sign and communicator suggests that people born in the Year of the Pig, Rat and Ox are good communicators. Geminis (born on and between May 21 and June 20) are mentioned too, but, wait a minute, so are Aquarians...and Taureans, but only when they're talking to people born under the sign of Virgo...

So, is good communication something that you have (or don't have), or something that only happens when you are talking to a certain kind of person (Taureans to Virgos, for example)? The approach we are taking in this tutorial is that good communication is neither of these. Rather than thinking that communicative competence (how successful you are at communicating) is something you (don't) have or something that depends on who you're talking to, we are interested in how communicative competence happens in specific situations as a result of the actions of the participants involved. In the case of classroom-based discussions, the actions are mainly the talk between the participants (though body language and eye gaze also play a part). So, while you may be an 'international' student or have English as your main (perhaps only) language or be a Gemini, only a careful analysis of your talk will reveal whether (and how) these aspects of your identity are being made relevant to the talk in any specific situation.

Similarly, judgements about 'good' (and 'bad') communication come about in particular circumstances between particular people. You might be able to communicate perfectly successfully by mumbling a few words to a close friend or by talking very indirectly when you are in a situation which prevents you from saying what you really think. In both situations the common advice to 'be clear' or 'be direct' would be wrong, even dangerous.

So, if communicative competence is not a taken-for-granted quality that you can be judged to have or not have, but something that is created in your talk, is there any point in trying to improve it? One advantage of studying classroom discussion, as opposed to everyday conversation, is that the former generally has a purpose that the participants can agree upon. Although that's not to say that classroom discussion will not have the same general aims as much of everyday talk - to keep the conversation going and create common ground between the participants. However, on the whole, the participants in a classroom discussion are fairly likely to pay attention to the aim of their discussion, as determined by the learning task. In judging the quality of their talk, therefore, the participants can use their understanding of the aims as a measure of their communicative 'success'.

Methods of analysing how identities, decisions and attitudes happen in interaction have been used by discourse analysts, interactional sociolinguists and conversation analysts working on data drawn from mundane conversation, courtroom dialogue, language classrooms, speech and language therapy sessions, medical consultations, political speeches and so on. If you are interested in reading more about the aims and methods of discourse approaches to understanding talk, relationships and institutions, try any of the following,

For a brief introduction to conversation analysis and discourse analysis:

Bloomer, A., Griffiths, P. and Merrison A. J. (2005) Introducing Language in Use: a Coursebook. Abingdon: Routledge.

For more on discourse analysis:

Gee, J. P. (2005) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. Abingdon: Routledge.

For more on conversation analysis:

Have, P. ten (2007) Doing Conversation Analysis: a Practical Guide. London: Sage.

For examples of conversation analysis, interactional sociolinguistics and discourse analysis applied in institutional contexts:

Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (eds.) (1992) Talk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gunnarsson, B., Linell. P. and Nordberg B. (eds.) (1997) The Construction of Professional Discourse. Harlow, Essex: Longman.

McHoul, A and Rapley, M. (Eds.) (2001) How to Analyse Talk in Institutional Settings: a Casebook of Methods. London: Continuum.

Roberts, C. and Atwell, C. (n. d.) Words in Action: Communication Skills for Doctors New to UK General Practice. DVD.

Roberts, C. and Atwell, C. (n. d.) Doing the Lambeth Walk: Real Life GP/Patient Encounters in the Multilingual City. DVD.

Richards, K. and Seedhouse, P. (2005) Applying Conversation Analysis. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sarangi, S. and Roberts, C. (1999) Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.