English as a lingua franca and linguistic justice: insights from exchange students’ experiences

Abstract This paper focuses on English as a lingua franca, an area of research that has gone through several phases of reconceptualization over recent years. What has not changed despite the reframing is the insistence that ELF, with its focus on intelligibility rather than formal accuracy, is not to be judged on the basis of standard English norms. In response to these claims, researchers have argued from linguo-political and philosophical perspectives that re-labelling English ‘ELF’ does not remove native-speaker privileges and linguistic injustice. This paper addresses the topic by presenting some results of an investigation into students’ language choices and practises during study abroad. Drawing on data gained by means of a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, it will show that, despite their use of English in lingua franca situations, a considerable number of students adhere to standard English as an appropriate model and measure their own proficiency in English and progress in language learning against native-speaker norms.