Section 1. Guidelines for reading texts on the use of international English in European business

Professor Jennifer Jenkins:Given that there are now more second language than first language speakers of English around the globe, dramatic developments in spoken English are likely to occur over the coming years. In Europe, we may be about to witness the emergence of a hybrid European accent, albeit with local variations, which will no longer look to Britain to dictate its norms.

Dr Jennifer Jenkins is co-ordinator of Teacher Education and Applied Linguistics in the English Language Centre, King's College London.

Professor Juliane House: The role of English as a worldwide lingua franca is irreversible. It is therefore more fruitful to accept this role than either bemoan it or follow the European Union's hypocritical language policy. A distinction between a "language for communication" and a "language for identification" is useful here. English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a language for communication, and as such the "property" of all European speakers whose native languages will continue to serve as languages for identification, i.e., means for speakers to identify with their linguistic community's cultural heritage.

The usefulness of this "division of labour" is reflected in three recent developments: a renewed concern with local, regional and national linguistic and cultural practices; attempts to give English as a school subject a curricular status markedly different from other foreign languages; results from empirical research into ELF interactions and the influence of ELF on discourse norms in other European languages.

Dr Juliane House is professor of Applied Linguistics and head of the English language programme at the University of Hamburg.

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Identify and correct errors involving misplaced modifiers	\|	Text 1-24. BRINGING EUROPE'S LINGUA FRANCA INTO THE CLASSROOM

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