English as a lingua franca the fore. English as a lingua franca English as a lingua franca (ELF) is the use of the English language as "a common means of communication for speakers of different first languages". ELF is also "defined functionally by its use in intercultural communication rather than formally by its reference to native-speaker norms" whereas English as a foreign language aims at meeting native speaker norms and gives prominence to native speaker cultural aspects. While lingua francas have been used for centuries, what makes ELF a novel phenomenon is the extent to which it is used – both functionally and geographically. A
Study of global communication used in transferring values, opinions, knowledge, culture across boundaries. With the end of the twentieth century and the turn of a new millennium, the global arena and the field of international communication were undergoing significant changes. Some authors started to use the term global communication because it goes beyond the bounds of individual states and emphasizes communication between and among peoples across borders and, importantly, the rise of transnational media corporations. International communication traditionally refers to communication between and among nation-states and connotes issues of national sovereignty, control of national information resources, and the supremacy of national governments. Nevertheless, earlier