English as a Lingua Franca in Wider Networking (eBook)

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Paola Vettorel, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Acknowledgements 7
List of illustrations 15
List of tables 17
Introduction 21
Chapter 1. Internet worlds, languages, users 31
1.2. English and the multilingual Internet 37
1.3. Languages in blogs 44
1.4. Wider network-ing and ELF 48
1.5. Linguistic resources and English: global and local practices 51
1.6. Virtual communities, communities of practice, networks of ELF users 56
Chapter 2. Blogging worlds 63
2.1. Web 2.0-based practices 63
2.2. Blogs 65
2.2.1. Characteristic blog features 67
2.2.2. Motivations for blogging 71
2.2.3. Spread of blogs 74
2.2.4. Types of blogs 85
2.2.5. Personal journals 90
2.3. Blogs as communicatively interactive spaces 92
2.4. Blogs as constellations of interconnected practices 96
2.5. Conclusions 102
Chapter 3. Language and Computer-Mediated Communication 105
3.1. Language and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) 105
3.1.1. “e-grammar” 108
3.2. Approaches to Computer-Mediated Discourse (CMD) Analysis 111
3.3. Language in blogs 114
3.4. Conclusions 119
Chapter 4. Bloggers as ELF users 121
4.1. LiveJournal.com 121
4.1.1. LJ Journals 122
4.1.2. Interactivity and community practices on LJ 125
4.1.3. LJ users 126
4.1.4. Languages on LJ 129
4.2. The Corpus - Methodology of selection 134
4.2.1. Some methodological considerations 136
4.2.2. The corpus: blogs characteristics 138
4.2.3. The questionnaire survey: bloggers’ characteristics 143
4.3. English as a Lingua Franca: theoretical framework and paradigm of research 148
4.4. Research aims and methodology 154
4.5. Summary and conclusions 157
Chapter 5. Using ELF in wider networking: exploiting linguistic resources 159
5.1. Processes of regularization, economy of expression and redundancy reduction 162
5.1.1. Zero third person singular marking in present tense verbs (3sg Ø) 162
5.1.2. This is/there is + plural 169
5.1.3. Pluralization of uncountable nouns 170
5.1.4. Regularization by analogy 171
5.1.5. Non-marking of –s plural in nouns 172
5.1.6. Interchangeable use of who/which 174
5.1.7. Invariable tags 174
5.1.8. Zero derivation 176
5.1.9. Extension in use of verbs with high general meaning 178
5.2. Increased explicitness 179
5.2.1. Adding prepositions 179
5.3. Several strategies at work: shift in use of definite and indefinite articles 182
5.3.1. The definite article 183
5.3.2. Indefinite articles 187
5.4. Lexical creativity in ELF: exploiting the virtual language 189
5.4.1. Lexical innovations – morphological (over)productivity and ELF 190
5.4.2. Lexical innovations in the corpus data 195
5.4.2.1. Prefixation 196
5.4.2.2. Suffixation 201
5.4.3. Blends 208
5.4.4. Reanalysis 209
5.4.5. Addition and reduction 210
5.5. Discussion of findings 210
Chapter 6. Exploiting and integrating plurilingual resources 215
6.1. Multicompetence and ELF users 218
6.1.1. Borrowings 220
6.1.2. ELF and ‘expressing culture(s)’ 223
6.2. Appropriating and adapting idiomatic and fixed expressions 227
6.3. Code-switching 235
6.3.1. Code-switching in ELF 238
6.3.2. Code-switching and web practices 242
6.4. Code-switching in blogging practices 248
6.4.1. Appealing for assistance 250
6.4.2. Specifying an addressee 250
6.4.3. Introducing another idea 255
6.4.4. Signalling and sharing (lingua)cultural affiliations 257
6.5. Discussion of findings 267
Chapter 7. Learning, using and appropriating the language 271
7.1. English “from above”, English “from below” 271
7.2. English and ELF users 282
7.2.1. Language learner, language user, language learner-user 283
7.3. L2 learners, L2/ELF users and self-perceptions of proficiency and competence in English 285
7.4. Language-aware ELF users 293
7.5. Implications for ELT pedagogical practices 300
7.6. Concluding remarks 310
Conclusions 317
Appendix A – Questionnaire 331
References 335
Index 373

lt;P>PaolaVettorel's volume English as a Lingua Franca in Wider Networking presents detailed and comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of English as a lingua franca with reference to the 'blogging practices'. With its empirical investigation, the author shows how bloggers utilize a remarkable range of communication resources to express themselves in the context of the interactive blog. Appreciable analytical rigor against the developments of Computer-Mediated Communication and breadth of references will certainly be valuable to scholars of the field of CMC.
Therefore, for the original and well-balanced approach to a rapidly changing phenomenon, the volume has been judged worthy of honorable mention.

--AIA (Associazione Italiana di Anglistica) Bookprize for English Studies 2016 - Language and Linguistics