The Pros And Cons Of ELF Communication

Through the centuries, the English language has grown to become a language spoken across the globe, causing an increase of non-native speakers of English. According to Baker (2009), a ‘straightforward association between the English language and the traditional inner circle English-speaking countries is not sustainable, particularly the United Kingdom and the United States.’ Baker claims that this is due to the ‘multifarious uses of English globally.’ This means that the language differences between speakers from the inner and outer circles and speakers from the expanding circle (Kachru, 1982) might cause problems in ELF communication. Surprisingly, it is not the non-native speakers who struggle the most, but the native speakers, who experience difficulties while communicating in an ELF environment. This literature review will look at different stances on native speaker problems in international business and education environments. Native speakers seem to be at a natural disadvantage in ELF contexts, considering the definition of the term itself. In Sifakis & Bayyurt’s article “Insights from ELF and WE in teacher training in Greece and Turkey” (Sifakis & Bayyurt, 2015), the term ELF is described as “the communication between non-native speakers whose first language and cultural backgrounds are diverse.” Seidlhofer (2005) defines ELF as “a way of referring to communication in English between speakers of different first languages.” She adds that since roughly 25% of users