2008/05/01 by Robert Phillipson · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Second Language Learning and Teaching #Multilingual Education and Policy #EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1467-971x.2008.00555.x
openalex publication_date 2008/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
ABSTRACT: The paper explores how we think of English and ‘English Studies’ in present‐day Europe. It questions the apparent neutrality of the term lingua franca by suggesting a more differentiated set of terms. It relates the current consolidation and expansion of English to processes of global Americanisation and Europeanisation. The European Union (EU) member states are increasingly integrating their economies and cultures in a US‐dominated world. The history and many divergent uses of the term lingua franca are explored, and related to discourses and policies that tend to reinforce English linguistic hegemony uncritically. The paper explores the policies of the EU for maintaining multilingualism, and contemporary constraints and pressures in European academia. It analyses the promotion of ‘global’ English in terms of the project, the product, and the processes, and considers criteria for assessing whether its advance is as a lingua franca or rather as a lingua frankensteinia .