The Lingua Franca Core (LFC) is a selection of pronunciation features of the English language recommended as a basis in teaching of English as a lingua franca. It was proposed by linguist Jennifer Jenkins in her 2000 book The Phonology of English as an International Language. [1] Jenkins derived the LFC from features found to be crucial in non-native speakers' understanding of each other, and advocated that teachers focus on those features and regard deviations from other native features not as errors but as acceptable variations. [2] [3] The proposal sparked a debate among linguists and pedagogists, while Jenkins contended that much of the criticism was based on misinterpretations of her proposal. [4]
Jenkins summarised the Lingua Franca Core as follows: [2]
Jenkins also identified non-core features, which did not hinder intelligibility among non-native speakers and were therefore deemed non-essential in teaching: [2]
Jenkins stressed that the LFC should be taught in parallel with "accommodation skills" to facilitate communication with speakers with different language backgrounds. [5]
The features were based on 40 tokens of misunderstanding between speakers from Japan and Switzerland, [6] and were intended as subject to further empirical testing and fine-tuning. [7] [8] The legitimacy of inclusion or exclusion of certain features has been challenged, such as /θ, ð/, rhoticity, [9] the NURSE vowel, [10] lexical stress, [11] and pitch movement. [12] Taking into account these perceived shortcomings of the LFC, recommendations similar to the LFC but intended for learners from specific linguistic or geographical backgrounds have been produced. [13] [14]
Walker (2010) is considered the first textbook for language teachers to incorporate the Lingua Franca Core. [15] [8]
The Lingua Franca Core (LFC) is a selection of pronunciation features of the English language recommended as a basis in teaching of English as a lingua franca. It was proposed by linguist Jennifer Jenkins in her 2000 book The Phonology of English as an International Language. [1] Jenkins derived the LFC from features found to be crucial in non-native speakers' understanding of each other, and advocated that teachers focus on those features and regard deviations from other native features not as errors but as acceptable variations. [2] [3] The proposal sparked a debate among linguists and pedagogists, while Jenkins contended that much of the criticism was based on misinterpretations of her proposal. [4]
Jenkins summarised the Lingua Franca Core as follows: [2]
Jenkins also identified non-core features, which did not hinder intelligibility among non-native speakers and were therefore deemed non-essential in teaching: [2]
Jenkins stressed that the LFC should be taught in parallel with "accommodation skills" to facilitate communication with speakers with different language backgrounds. [5]
The features were based on 40 tokens of misunderstanding between speakers from Japan and Switzerland, [6] and were intended as subject to further empirical testing and fine-tuning. [7] [8] The legitimacy of inclusion or exclusion of certain features has been challenged, such as /θ, ð/, rhoticity, [9] the NURSE vowel, [10] lexical stress, [11] and pitch movement. [12] Taking into account these perceived shortcomings of the LFC, recommendations similar to the LFC but intended for learners from specific linguistic or geographical backgrounds have been produced. [13] [14]
Walker (2010) is considered the first textbook for language teachers to incorporate the Lingua Franca Core. [15] [8]