Speakers of Englishes

Speakers of Englishes are conventionally divided into 3 categories:

1. a native language (ENL)
2. a second language (ESL)
3. a foreign language (EFL)

But there is a fourth group of users, who speak English as:

4. a lingua franca (ELF)

"English as a lingua franca" is an idea in which people of different first languages use English as a tool for "intercultural" communication. This means the communication is achieved without dependence on native-speaker norms.

Born and bred in Japan, it seems that most Japanese people belong to 3, who learn English based on a certain model.

Jenkins explains:

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English as a Foreign Language is the English of those whose countries were never colonised by the British, and for whom English serves little or no purpose within their borders. Historically, they typically learned the language in order to use it with its native speakers in the US and UK, though this is no longer necessarily the case. (11)
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Acquisition of English for the communication with native speakers is "no longer necessarily the case," because the aim of it and the situation differ from person to person. This means that the nature of English learning has been becoming increasingly flexible as well as complicated, making the border between EFL and ELF much blurred.

Still, it appears that most Japanese English learners are not accustomed to the change in thought surrounding World Englishes, or Global Englishes.


Works Cited:
Jenkins, Jennifer. Global Englishes: a Resource Book for Students. 3rd ed. Abingdon: Routledge,2015. Print.