Having emerged as the most widespread global language, English now has substantially more second and foreign-language speakers than native speakers. Long associated with an 'educated elite', including academics, politicians and business professionals, English is now increasingly spreading at the grassroots of societies, among speakers with limited access to formal education a process which is becoming increasingly visible and influential.Bringing together an international roster of contributors, this book explores uses of English in a variety of grassroots multilingual contexts; drawing on a diverse range of experiences, such as motorcycle taxi drivers, market vendors, cleaners, hotel staff, tour guides, migrant domestic workers, refugees and asylum seekers. Divided into three parts, the book explores the spread of English in former areas of British domination including Africa and the East, in trade and work migration, and in forced migration by refugees. The chapters present cutting edge case studies which draw on spoken data from Bahrainis, South Africans, Tanzanians, Ugandans, Bangladeshis in the Middle East, Italians in the UK, Indians in the US, and Nigerians and Syrians in Germany. This important and innovative volume presents a first documentation of world Englishes at the grassroots of societies and an empirical basis for their further study and for the theorising of world Englishes by integrating Englishes at the grassroots into existing models of English.

English as a second and foreign language is increasingly used at the grassroots level, by individuals coming from disadvantaged backgrounds with often little or no access to formal education, in business and in contexts outside of international organisations, education and academia. Bringing together an international range of contributors, this book explores face-to-face uses of English in a range of grassroots multilingual contexts. Divided into three parts, the book explores the spread of English in former areas of British domination including Africa and the East, in trade and work migration, and in forced migration by refugees. The chapters present cutting edge case studies which draw on spoken data from Uganda, South Africa, Bahrain, China, Bangladesh, Germany, Italy and the UK. In doing so the book presents an empirical basis for the further study and modelling of world Englishes. It examines the scope for integrating Englishes at the grassroots into existing models of English and explores relations between notions of hybrid languages, translanguaging, polylanguaging and world Englishes.

English is a language at the centre of research into language contact, because its global spread has resulted in contact with an enormous variety of different languages worldwide, leading to the creation of many new varieties of English, including second language varieties, and also pidgins and creoles. This book takes an original look at what happens when speakers of these different varieties interact with one another. Using her own rich fieldwork data from diverse international and South African contexts, Meierkord proposes an innovative approach to how Englishes merge and blend in such interactions, creating further new forms of English and further changes to the language. Through skilful analyses and descriptions, the book provides fascinating insights into where and who the users of English as a lingua franca are and what English then looks like at the levels of phonetics, morphosyntax, the lexicon and discourse.

Lingua francas are languages used for communication between individuals for whom they are not the first language. Based on empirical work throughout, the individual contributions to this volume address lingua franca communication from sociolinguistic as well as from conversation analytic perspectives, or place this form of communication within the wider context of foreign language teaching. The volume as a whole attempts to broaden the traditional view of lingua francas as languages employed by non-native speakers to serve specific, restricted communicative purposes only. Instead, it is demonstrated that lingua francas have gained a number of varied functions, and that they are employed by a heterogeneous group of speakers for whom they do not always have the same status of a second or foreign language. The papers reveal intriguing similarities in form across different lingua francas, but also point at significant differences. As a result, it is proposed that approaches to teach lingua francas as such need to be developed on the basis of empirical evidence. Contents: C. Meierkord/K. Knapp: Approaching lingua franca communication - M. Meeuwis: The sociolinguistics of Lingala as a diaspora lingua franca: Historical and language ideological aspects - S. Fiedler: On the main characteristics of Esperanto-communication - M. Vollstedt: English as a language for internal company communications - C. Meierkord: 'Language stripped bare' or 'linguistic masala'?- Culture in lingua franca communication - P. Haegeman: Foreigner talk in lingua franca business telephone calls - A. Lesznyak: From chaos to smallest common denominator. Topic management in English lingua franca communication - J. Hee Bae:Discourse strategies solving trouble in German lingua franca communication - K. Knapp: The fading out of the non-native speaker. Native speaker dominance in lingua-franca-situations - J. House: Developing pragmatic competence in English as a lingua franca - B. Seidlhofer: The shape of things to come? Some basic question about English as a lingua franca.

English is a language at the centre of research into language contact, because its global spread has resulted in contact with an enormous variety of different languages worldwide, leading to the creation of many new varieties of English, including second language varieties, and also pidgins and creoles. This book takes an original look at what happens when speakers of these different varieties interact with one another. Using her own rich fieldwork data from diverse international and South African contexts, Meierkord proposes an innovative approach to how Englishes merge and blend in such interactions, creating further new forms of English and further changes to the language. Through skilful analyses and descriptions, the book provides fascinating insights into where and who the users of English as a lingua franca are and what English then looks like at the levels of phonetics, morphosyntax, the lexicon and discourse.