Negotiating Europe's Lingua Franca

Abstract

English has spread and is used around the world, often as a rational choice made by professional groups and bilingual speech communities. In Europe, it is used as a language of wider communication or a lingua franca. This study argues that although English can be the means of expression of local or national or European identities, and even though ‘Euro-English’ has some identifiable features, it is unlikely to develop into a distinct, stable, codifiable and teachable variety, wholly independent of native English norms.