There is, amongst some, the misconception that ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) is one language: a sort of mythical form of English that global citizens strive to use when they don’t share another language, a common Klingon for jet-setters and frequent travellers. This is understandable – there is certainly confusion around what ELF is, and I have even had a colleague who works in the field ask, “just what IS English as a Lingua Franca?!?!” There have, after all, been a multitude of iterations around a similar concept: World Englishes, the Common Core, English as an International Language. No wonder there is some befuddlement around ELF itself, even before we begin talking about teaching or testing it.
It might be helpful to think about ELF as a gelato stand. Peering into the display, you can see an array of flavours: strawberry, chocolate-chip, pistachio, traditional vanilla and the more exotic mango all sit alongside each other, waiting to be chosen. Although they are all different, they are recognisable as one overarching thing: ice cream. You may be unfamiliar with that feijoa flavour and it might taste strange at first, but your taste buds recognise it as – ice cream! That durian flavoured sorbet in the corner, loved by some and hated by many? Still ice cream! You might even have a triple scoop of different flavours all in the same cup – all still ice cream!
ELF is, well, ice cream. And different varieties of English (ELVES?) – even ones that have only just started to form – are all flavours available in the ELF ice cream stand. Whichever one you select, it is still recognisable as ice cream – or English.
Underlying the concept of a lingua franca – a common language used between people where there is a language difference – is that it is a tool for real life communication. With other words, it is not necessarily one particular form of a language, or one regional variety, or spoken with a certain accent. It is whatever gets the message across in an effective way. ELF is many people from very many different language backgrounds using some form/s of English to make themselves understood by a wide range of different people. ELF is tolerant of variety, of difference, of inconsistency, as long as the communicative goal is achieved. ELF allows speakers to maintain their own identities – reflected in the words they choose, the pronunciation variations, the grammatical idiosyncrasies – while still getting their message across to others who have access to some form of the language.
It is precisely this variety and variation that poses a problem for standardised testing. Measurement – of anything, including language – presupposes a particular benchmark against which to measure that thing. In language assessment, it has typically been a standard form of the language. No surprises, then, to see phrases such as ‘native like accent’, ‘errors not unlike native speakers’, or ‘easily understood by a native speaker’ used in language test descriptors. ELF’s wide variety of flavours – all still ice cream – significantly complicates what we are evaluating when we assess English language ability. Unlike ice cream which is cold, soft, melts easily, and tastes good, ELF’s measurable characteristics are less objective: “is (easily) comprehensible to a wide range of listeners (not just the ‘native speakers’) in a particular context” is less obviously measurable and relies on more subjective judgement that may also be inconsistent.
Yet the existence of these varieties – not only the British / Australian / American Englishes and the Singaporean / Indian / Nigerian Englishes, but also the German English, Chinese English, Peruvian English and everything in between - and the fact that they are successfully used every minute of every day across every corner of the world to engage in meaningful communication and achieve real world outcomes means that language testers have an obligation to find a way to measure whether your ice cream flavour is as understandable as mine.
Interested in participating in the discussion about holistic language testing? Join us at New Directions, 27-29 October 2023.