Lingua franca and other scholars of different nationalities. The term is taken from the medieval Mediterranean Lingua Franca, a Romance-based pidgin language used by European merchants and sailors during the 2nd millennium. A world language – a language spoken internationally and learned and spoken by a large number of people – is a language that may function as a global lingua franca. Lingua Franca refers to any language used for communication between people who do not share a native language. It can refer to hybrid languages such as pidgins and creoles used for communication between language groups. It can also refer to
Teaching English as a second or foreign language Teaching English as a second or foreign language Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) refers to teaching the English language to students with different first languages. TEFL can occur either within the state school system or more privately, at a language school or with a tutor. TEFL can also take place in an English-speaking country for people who have immigrated there (either temporarily for school or work, or permanently). TEFL teachers may be native or non-native speakers of English. Other acronyms for TEFL are TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages),