35.1662, Review: English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents: Beuter (2023)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1662. Thu Jun 06 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1662, Review: English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents: Beuter (2023)

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Date: 06-Jun-2024
From: Karoly Nagy [karoly.nagy201 at gmail.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Beuter (2023)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/34.2448

AUTHOR: Katharina Beuter
TITLE: English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents
SUBTITLE: Transcultural Pragmatics in a German-Tanzanian School
Setting
SERIES TITLE: Developments in English as a Lingua Franca
PUBLISHER: De Gruyter Mouton
YEAR: 2023

REVIEWER: Karoly Nagy

SUMMARY

“English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents” includes three parts,
namely: (1) Theoretical, empirical and methodological foundations, (2)
Communicative aims and interactional strategies, and (3) Discussion.
In Part I, the introduction and theoretical underpinnings of the book
are thoroughly described. The wide use of English and its global
nature are emphasised, thus the transition towards English as a Lingua
Franca is established. The author, Katharina Beuter, calls attention
to the lack of research regarding the African-European context, and,
even more precisely, the adolescent and teenager context. Even though
there had been previous research concerning the variety-based approach
regarding English in Africa, the book offers a relatively new approach
and expands the already existing pieces of research through the ELF
perspective. This research calls attention to the pressing need for
more qualitative and contextually grounded studies in the field of
ELF. The study not only focuses on the underexplored areas of ELF
research but specifically investigates the pragmatic aspects of
adolescents' English language use with regards to the framework of an
African-European student exchange program.

The research incorporates extensive fieldwork, which consists of 26
hours of recorded ELF face-to-face interactions involving 30 Tanzanian
and German secondary school students between the ages of 15-19. These
interactions have been transcribed and compiled into a corpus of
approximately 190,000 words (audio-recorded natural data, TeenELF
corpus – ‘Corpus of Teenagers’ Use of English as a Lingua Franca). In
addition, the study includes the use of fieldnotes (from the viewpoint
of salience), sociolinguistic participant information sheets, and
retrospective interviews (for representativeness) in order to provide
a thorough, in-depth, and comprehensive understanding of the
linguistic and paralinguistic resources (for reasons of innovative
potential) employed by the participants. Although the research adopts
an overall qualitative approach (namely conversation analysis (CA)),
it is also complemented by quantitative methods for the interpretation
of the findings. The guiding central research question of the
exploratory study is: "How do adolescents taking part in a
German-Tanzanian student exchange employ linguistic and paralinguistic
resources in English as a Lingua Franca to reach their communicative
aims?"

The research highlights several key aspects, including repetition and
repair mechanisms, the execution of the speech act of complimenting,
and the utilization of laughter within the context of English as a
Lingua Franca (ELF). The study places notable emphasis on the
significant role of translanguaging as a communicative tool within the
ELF framework, more precisely, on how individuals involved in the
German-Tanzanian student exchange employ the aforementioned linguistic
strategies, for the navigation and achievement of their communicative
goals.

The study also incorporates the formal and functional dimensions of
translanguaging within the context of adolescent ELF to investigate
its communicative effectiveness and to provide insights into how
translanguaging operates among adolescents in ELF. Additionally, the
study emphasizes the need for a nuanced understanding of the formal
and functional aspects of translanguaging in order to transcend
conventional intercultural frameworks. The study advocates that the
pragmatics of ELF be embedded in an interactional rather than
contrastive cultural paradigm, thus the investigation of interaction
in its natural surroundings becomes essential (Beuter, 2013). The
study combines content and structure analysis along with qualitative
data analysis software, supplemented by conversation and discourse
analysis as well as interactional sociolinguistics. As for the
quantitative analysis part, frequency and salience constitute an
important aspect for the analysis of micro-diachronic developments.

Through the analysis of examples from the TeenELF corpus (Part II),
the study investigates and explores translanguaging phenomena with
regards to formal transparency, code-switching, phonological transfer,
hybrid word formation, calquing, and linguacultural
conceptualizations. The study highlights the importance of
code-switching and its variation concerning group size, composition,
discourse topic, and setting. It suggests a link between formal
education in English, active English use in daily life, and the
frequency of code-switching. The study also encourages the further
exploration of code-switching with larger datasets and corpora. The
research sheds light on the various and diverse functions of
code-switching, both in terms of interactional and cognitive aspects.
The study also points out that translanguaging practices, such as
hybrid word formation and calquing, are important
transparency-enhancing devices for effective communication, because
they can be employed as effective tools when multilingual students
monitor the various aspects of interactional transparency.

In addition, the study reveals that adolescents and teenagers
participating in a German-Tanzanian student exchange employ various
interactional means to negotiate meaning, rapport, and identity. The
analysis uncovers strategies such as repetition, repair,
complimenting, humor, and laughter as essential interactional devices
(Part III). Self-initiated self-repair and other-involvement are also
crucial elements in repair, which are further influenced by learner
identities and interpersonal peer factors, according to the results of
the study. In terms of the pragmatic analysis, the most commonly used
speech act is complimenting, which also shows distinctive features
about objects and forms, since complimenting in TeenELF addresses
non-material targets such as behaviour, ways of living, abilities, or
achievements. The most common identity markers are lexical preferences
such as ‘cool’ and ‘wow’. Laughter and humour are also applied by
students for their strategies of managing rapport, and also as markers
of identity. The method design of the study has made both quantitative
and qualitative changes in the students’ use of laughter observable.
The transparency model proposed in the study categorizes
translanguaging phenomena based on their formal transparency,
promoting a deeper understanding of their relationship with
communicative effectiveness. The model underscores the pedagogical
potential of maximizing transparency as a significant learning
objective in language teaching.

EVALUATION

The title of the book, “English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents:
Transcultural Pragmatics in a German-Tanzanian School Setting”,
adequately describes the research focus of the study. However, there
could also be a referral to the paralinguistic elements it
investigates or to the methods it applies. The table of contents,
sections, list of tables, figures, and abbreviations are included
before delving into the study, which provide a high level of
transparency for the readers. The division and flow among the
sections, sub-sections, chapters, sub-chapters, and parts are clearly
established.

Part I (theoretical, empirical and methodological foundations)
includes various sections and sub-sections, where the introductory
part is also embedded. The introduction clearly defines key terms,
elaborating on the motivation and rationale behind the research. The
proportions of the introduction are balanced, summarizing the topic,
the aim, the research method, the niche, and the research gap; the
guiding research question of the study is also included. Thus, the
main focus of the book and the means of analysis as well as the
setting, context, and participants are adequately described for the
reader, which also boosts the book’s level of transparency and flow of
readability. The expected chapters and sections as well as their
contents are also pointed out and introduced in the introductory
section of the book. The figures and tables provide a huge amount of
visual help for the reader, especially in the understanding of such a
complex topic as ELF. However, in various places, the figures are
included in the middle of sentences, which breaks the semantic flow
and detracts from the reader’s attention. It might have been
preferable if the figures and tables were included after full
sentences and concepts. The extensive inclusion of background
literature for the study contributes to and extends the current
knowledge base, practice, and methodology in the fields of ELF and
pragmatics.

Although the participants of the study and the choice behind the
interviewees are thoroughly described, there could have been a
slightly more detailed distinction among the terms youth, young
people, teenagers, and adolescents provided along with the extension
of young adults. However, the issues and complexities of identity and
language with regards to young people are described in great length
and detail, which establishes the necessary link between the key terms
and terminology of the study. The connection of pragmatics and ELF is
explicitly, thoroughly, and well-expressed by the established links
between previous terms and ideas.
The sections ‘Conceptualizations of ELF’, ‘Language and culture in ELF
research’, ‘Conceptualizations of language and culture’, ‘The
interplay between language and culture, ‘Cross-, inter- and
transcultural perspectives on ELF communication’, ‘Translanguaging’,
‘ELF pragmatics and interactional linguistics’, ‘Interactional
premises’, ‘Interpersonal pragmatics’, ‘Interaction and identity’,
‘Interactions between adolescents’, and ‘ELF pragmatics in an inter-
and transcultural framework’ are well-supported with relevant previous
and currents pieces and references of research. The summaries provided
at the end of each section also help readers to deepen their
understanding of key terms and elements.

The approaches are detailed and accurate, especially Table 5 on page
44. This provides an invaluable summary of the ‘Previous findings,
desiderata and objectives’ and ‘Consequences for research design’,
which further support the need for the complexity of the results
design of the study. The qualitative nature of the analysis is
well-established through the seeking of in-depth information through
natural setting. In addition, the inclusion of example questions for
the elicitation of natural speech that the students could use if they
found their conversation needing new input proves to be useful in the
minimization of observer’s paradox. The inductive approach, the focus
on specific situations, and the conceptual context further support the
explanatory nature of the study (Given, 2008). The mixed-method
approach not only helps in the establishment of validity and
replicability of the study but in the triangulation of data. A wide
variety of data resulted from the research. Also, the inclusion of the
different perspectives of ELF, language, culture, and pragmatics also
indicates an attempt of triangulation, which enhances credibility and
reduces bias (Jick, 1979). The combination of methods provides
versatility in the research and expands the scope of the study
(Dörnyei, 2007). However, the study could have provided information
regarding the way in which the mixed method analysis was conducted
(explanatory sequential, Exploratory sequential, Parallel, Nested).

The setting and the goal of the program, in which international
students participate, as well as the participants and their profiles
are explicit. The comparison between German and Tanzanian schools on
page 50 provides a clear contrast between the educational differences
and settings of the two countries. The linguistic background of the
participants is also included. The thick description of the context
manages to achieve transparency. Limitations are included on page 52
that help the reader understand the research boundaries. Ethical
considerations and guidelines are also presented on page 53, which
raises the level of credibility and reliability of the study. Special
attention is paid to the social and cultural impacts through the
positive contribution to societal understanding without causing undue
harm.

In Part II, where the Communicative aims and interactional strategies
are described, the first inclusion of the word ‘error’ appears on page
101. Since the study deals with ELF, the use of the word ‘error’
becomes questionable (which can also be referred to as ELF variant
(Jenkins, 2006)), thus the word ‘error’ and its use in the study would
have deserved more elaboration. The Extracts from the transcription
are adequate and perfectly illustrate the focal points of the
research, namely translanguaging, paralinguistic features, repetition,
and rephrasing, as well as the distinctive features of ELF. The first
excerpt is introduced on page 50. However, there is no preceding or
succeeding coding-schedule available, the inclusion of which could
have made the coding choices and analysis more explicit and
transparent. The excerpts included are thoroughly and accurately
supported by references to previous research. Additional cross-corpus
comparisons of the study provide pieces of information on questions
concerning potential influences of age, first language, and the lingua
franca context on linguistic elements, patterns, and phenomenon. The
importance of complimenting and laughter is highlighted in detail in
the section of content-oriented functions. However, in order to deepen
the understanding of zero complimenting, a bit more elaboration on the
topic would have been of assistance to the reader.

The concluding remarks and implications in Part III also summarise how
well this study can serve as a contribution to metalinguistic
awareness in ELF settings and pragmatic features, such as speech acts.
The book extends the analysis of complimenting by implementing and
proposing the zero response category. It also extends the analysis of
paralinguistic features through the identification of laughter as a
strategy to create a friendly atmosphere and to express solidarity.
The study proves to be invaluable in the analysis of ELF among
adolescents in the German-Tanzanian context. The study sheds light on
the importance of the relationship between language and culture
through the focus of translanguaging. The need for further studies and
research on the topic of ELF among adolescents is well-emphasized. I
agree with the author’s claim that the research design meets the
various factors and demands that are introduced in Part I. The
implications are beneficial for future teacher-education because they
can change or be of effect on teachers’ values, beliefs, and goals
regarding linguacultural awareness-raising. The study further
emphasized the strengthening of transcultural pragmatic awareness
(TPA), which can benefit both teachers and students.


REFERENCES

Beuter, K. (2023). English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents. In
English as a Lingua Franca among Adolescents. De Gruyter Mouton.
Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Frey, L. R., Botan, C. H., & Kreps, G. L. (2000). Investigating
communication: an introduction to research methods. Allyn and Bacon.
Given, L. M. (2008). The sage encyclopedia of qualitative research
methods. SAGE Publications.
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current Perspectives on Teaching World Englishes
and English as a Lingua Franca. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 157-181.
doi:10.2307/40264515
Jick, T. D. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods:
Triangulation in action. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24,
602-611.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Károly Nagy is a Hungarian linguist, English teacher, and PhD
candidate of Eotvos Lorand University Language Pedagogy and English
Applied Linguistics PhD Programme. His research interests include
Discourse, Critical Discourse, Political Discourse Analysis,
Pragmatics, and ELF. He has conducted research regarding ELF
interactions among Turkish speakers of English by analyzing their
discourse and also on the use of ideologies, especially nationalism
and power, in the speeches of Turkish presidents. He has applied
analytical methods that are associated with Critical Discourse
Analysis, namely Qualitative Content Analysis, Discourse-Historic
Approach, Ideological Square Model, and Topical Structure Analysis.



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