An analysis of business English coursebooks from an ELF perspective

• Jinghui Si ^[1]
  1. [1] Griffith University

     Griffith University

     Australia

     
• Localización: ELT journal: An international journal for teachers of English to speakers of other languages, ISSN 0951-0893, Vol. 74, Nº 2, 2020, págs. 156-165
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • This study analysed a series of business English coursebooks published and used in the Chinese context from an English as a lingua franca (ELF) perspective. The analysis was conducted from four aspects: language ownership, language exposure, language activities, and cultural representations. These address four key issues in the debate over the practicality of ELF-informed materials. The findings show an orientation towards native English speakers as representatives of English users, a dominance of native-speaker Standard English in language exposure, a lack of ELF-informed activities, and a limited representation of Chinese culture. This article concludes that the coursebooks merely introduce ELF as a cultural and linguistic phenomenon. Despite some attempts to present the role of ELF in the global business community, there is a paucity of ELF exposure and ELF-informed activities. The implications of these findings for the selection and evaluation of ELF-informed materials are discussed.