English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity

That the English language is spreading across the world like wildfire is obvious to everyone. But what exactly does it mean to say that it is today an international language, a world language, or a lingua franca? To some experts it simply means Standard English as used outside its traditional, native settings. ‘My own view’, writes Davies (2003: 214–15), ‘is that International English usually means using one or the other Standard English in international settings’. By Standard English, Davies means basically either G.A. (General American) or R.P. (Received Pronunciation). Davies is thus voicing what is referred to as the standard language ideology point of view according to which all those new varieties of English burgeoning in different parts of the world—such as South African English, Indian English, Singaporean English, Nigerian English, and so on—are at best deviations from the norm, to be put up with rather than recognized and legitimized for what they are.