English as a lingua franca 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 typical ELF
Participatory development communication essentially "listening" to what potential users of information need. They are the ones whom the communication program intends to reach. Users of information are also referred to as stakeholders of a communication program. Collecting baseline information about these stakeholders is an essential preliminary step towards developing a communication strategy. Segmentation, or dividing large groups of stakeholders into smaller groups, helps achieve focus in communication strategy development. Segmentation is usually done in two ways: What are the factors which cause a gap between the existing and desired behavior of stakeholders? Is the problem due to the stakeholders' lack of awareness or