Variation in the English Lexicon in Educational Contexts: Investigating Conversational Dimensions in Computer-Mediated ELF Interactions

Abstract

 In the last two decades, a considerable interest in the processes of variation of the English lexicon by ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) users has grown in different scientific fields, from language teaching and learning to intercultural communication and migration contexts (e.g. Cogo 2009; Guido 2008, 2018; Pitzl 2012, 2016; Seidlhofer 2011; Sperti 2017, 2023; Widdowson 1979, 2003). ELF speakers naturally tend to appropriate the English language according to specific pragma-linguistic goals and structural features conforming not only to native speaker norms, but also to those of their own L1. The study aims to investigate how participants in the Professional Development Course “ENRICH” interact online in a plurilingual and pluricultural context, activating ELF accommodation processes and mediation strategies to achieve mutual understanding or acting as intermediaries. The research focus is on the process of lexical variation applied by ELF speakers with special attention to conversational exchanges and communicative processes, stimulated by shared activities and peer exchanges where ELF instantiations emerged. Data from computer-mediated interactions will be presented and analysed, focusing in particular on how lexical variation and change occur among ELF users when concepts and communication are negotiated to fulfil specific linguistic and communicative needs.