Concept of English language as a lingua franca and its perception in the academic comunity of Serbia

Abstract

The aim of this doctoral thesis is to analyze and determine the perception and attitudes of the academic community in Serbia towards a variety of the English language, English as a lingua franca (ELF). ELF is a variety of English which deviates from the standard variant of British or American English and is used and taught in an international context with non-native speakers as the main agents of change. It is supposed to assume the role of an auxiliary, neutral language used in international communication between the non-native speakers with different native languages. Moreover, ELF is considered to be a special variety of English which has its specificities on both a lexico-grammatical and pragmatic level. The sociolinguistic aspect of the thesis refers to the analysis of the attitudes of the Serbian academic community towards ELF, as ELF speakers have substantial influence on its development. The glottodidactic aspect of the thesis assumes establishing the basis not only for further research in the field of ELF in Serbia, but also for the creation of locally adjusted pedagogies and methodologies for learning English. In a broad sense, the research can initiate further thinking and academic debate on the future course of language education policies, whether they should be coordinated with the attitudes and needs of the local academic community or with...

Cilj ove doktorske disertacije je da ispita i utvrdi stavove akademske zajednice u Srbiji prema varijetetu engleskog jezika, engleskom kao lingua franca (ELF). ELF je varijetet engleskog jezika koji odstupa od standardne varijante britanskog ili američkog engleskog jezika i koristi se i podučava u internacionalnom kontekstu pri čemu su akteri promena sami govornici kojima on nije maternji jezik. Pripisuje mu se funkcija pomoćnog, neutralnog jezika kojim se u međusobnoj komunikaciji služe govornici različitog porekla. Osim toga, posmatra se i kao nezavisni varijetet engleskog jezika koji ima svoje osobenosti na nivou leksike, gramatike i pragmatike u odnosu na standardne varijante engleskog jezika. Sociolingvistički aspekt ovog rada podrazumeva ispitivanje stavova akademske zajednice u Srbiji, studenata i nastavnika engleskog jezika sa filoloških i drugih fakulteta prema ELF-u, imajući u vidu da govornici ELF-a imaju značajan uticaj na njegov razvoj. Glotodidaktički aspekt rada podrazumeva postavljanje osnove za dalja istraživanja u oblasti ELF-a u Srbiji, kao i za kreiranje pedagogija prilagođenih sredini i metodologija za učenje engleskog jezika. U širem smislu, istraživanje može da podstakne akademsku debatu u kom pravcu treba kreirati jezičku obrazovnu...