This volume is not only the first book-length investigation into adolescents´ use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), it also explores ELF in an African-European context, which has received little attention in ELF research so far.
The book examines the interplay between language, culture and identity in adolescents´ ELF interactions. It combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to explore strategies secondary school students employ in a German-Tanzanian student exchange in order to reach their communicative goals. Introducing and drawing on the TeenELF corpus, the book investigates the speaker- and situation-specific potential of repetition and repair, complimenting, laughter and humour as well as various practices of translanguaging. The study reveals ELF as a transcultural space, in which different linguacultural influences meet and merge, while meaning, rapport and identity are interactionally negotiated.
In the face of an increasing interest in ELF-informed pedagogy, the present approach investigates the communicative needs and competences of school students and derives both theoretical as well as classroom implications from its linguistic findings.
