Lingua Franca English: The Role of Simplification and Transfer

Questions of how to access and analyze the use of English as a global language are central to the study of the continuing spread of English as a vehicle of cross-cultural communication. The present book explores the relationship between the functions and forms of English as a Lingua Franca, and introduces the concept of Lingua Franca English to deal with the systematic differences between national native varieties of English and the non-native varieties which have developed relatively recently. The investigation of the sociolinguistic and linguistic processes involved in the development of Lingua Franca English focuses on Switzerland, and is carried out by means of a detailed comparative linguistic analysis of a large amount of data obtained from written and spoken English produced by Swiss speakers. The result is a detailed and critical description of current issues affecting the study of English as an international language, and a thorough investigation of the ongoing processes resulting from the interaction of Swiss people with different language backgrounds in shaping the nature of the English spoken in Switzerland. By examining the characteristics of English as it is used in Switzerland, light is shed on the diachronic problem of the focusing mechanisms involved in the growth of non-native varieties of English and processes of second language acquisition generally.