ELF Interaction

Multilingualism frameworks have become central in recent conceptualizations of English as a lingua franca (ELF; Cogo, 2012; Jenkins 2015, 2017) as dynamic pluralistic manifestations of linguistic resources have become more prevalent. 

The number of foreign students in Korean universities has increased from 84,800 to 142,000 in the past 4 years, a ratio that exceeds that of neighboring Japan and China (Nahm, 2018). 

Although much research has been conducted on ELF speakers’ identities in Asia (Jenkins, 2009; Evans and Imai, 2011; Matsuda, 2003; McKenzie, 2008), most of these studies have relied on survey responses or interview data taken from English learners situated in Japan and China (Evans, 2010; Evans and Imai, 2011; Jenkins, 2007). 

However, surveys or interviews may not truly represent the reality of the manner in which attitudes and identity work performed (Garrett, 2007). 

** Utilizing conversation analysis (CA), I examine features (identity, interactional resources) portrayed in ELF interactions in order to illuminate how they orient themselves to different varieties of English in real time. Several of my publications and ongoing work focuses on ELF interaction in the Korean context (Park, 2022, 2023, 2025).

Here's an extract from one of my data sets (published in Park, 2022)

Excerpt 1. 2017_group 4

27 E:   Age? A lot more than you guys hh[hahh

28                [hhahhah

29 W: oh no(h[hhh]

30 E:                    [Ok(hhh)ay.

31 S:    Education is the:n (.) you become to: teacher? >English tea[cher?

32 E:                                                                           [Oh no::=

33    =actually I don’t wanna become a teacher, >I’m just trying to< get my degree?

34 S/W: O:hh[hh

35 E:           [The master’s degree? That’s why I’m studying.

36??   .hhhh wow.

37 E: hhehh yeah.

38    (1.0) /((additional laughter and a sighing sound from E))

39 E:   okay I can tell you my age but. (.) Not in h(hh)ere.

40 S:   hhahhhahha the recorder is on.

41 W: ->   mmm wow. I envy you. [Your pronuncia-=

42          [hhahhh ahhh hhahh

43 W: ->   =your pronunciation is really good.

44 E:   Thank [you. hhahha

45 S/W:           [hhehhe

46 M: Okay. hhhehh

47 E:  So.

48            (0.2)

49 W: So. (.) What are you guys going to do today

50 M: Umm today. I’m going to (.) meet my high school friends. (.)

51    And have dinner?

52 S:    M[mm

53 E:   [Where are you gonna eat?

54 M: Umm I am going to my friends school[?

55 E: [mhm?=

56 M: =And eat ss- {[sselmo::n]}?

57    (0.8)

58 E: {[sæmən]}?

59 M:        a::hhh hhaha {[ssæmən]},

60 M: Yes.

61 E:   Ahhh

62 S:    N[ice

63 M:  [hhhhh

64 W: Ahhh rich.

65??    hhahheh[hehh ((simultaneous laughter))

The evaluative remark, “Your pronunciation is really good,” (line 43) which is preceded by W’s expression of jealousy (“I envy you”) explicitly orients to the ideological hierarchy of English in terms of the speakers’ phonology. Participants frame their understandings of linguistic varieties and map those understandings onto people and activities that are significant to them; here, we can see such ideologies being put to work in turn-by-turn talk as one participant linguistically categorizes another’s speech as being of better quality (“Your pronunciation is really good”).