By

Richard Nordquist
Updated on June 15, 2020

A lingua franca (pronounced LING-wa FRAN-ka) is a language or mixture of languages used

as a medium of communication by people whose native languages are different. It is from the
Italian, "language" + "Frankish" and also known as a trade language, contact language,
international language, and global language.

The term English as a lingua franca (ELF) refers to the teaching, learning, and use of
the English language as a common means of communication for speakers of different native
languages.

Definition of Lingua Franca

"Where a language is widely used over a relatively large geographical area as a language of
wider communication, it is known as a lingua franca—a common language but one which is
native only to some of its speakers. The term 'lingua franca' itself is an extension of the use of
the name of the original 'Lingua Franca,' a Medieval trading pidgin used in the Mediterranean
region."

M. Sebba, Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles. Palgrave, 1997

English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)

"The status of English is such that it has been adopted as the world's lingua franca for
communication in Olympic sport, international trade, and air-traffic control. Unlike any other
language, past or present, English has spread to all five continents and has become a truly
global language."

G. Nelson and B. Aarts, "Investigating English Around the World," The Workings of Language,
ed. by R. S. Wheeler. Greenwood, 1999

"Even though everybody around the world speaks English—sort of—in their dealings with
American media and business, politics, and culture, the English that is spoken is a lingua
franca, a Bodysnatched English to be carefully scrutinized as to its meanings when it is used by
a foreign culture."

Karin Dovring, English as Lingua Franca: Double Talk in Global Persuasion. Praeger, 1997

"But what do we mean by the term English as a lingua franca? The term lingua franca is
usually taken to mean 'any lingual medium of communication between people of
different mother tongues, for whom it is a second language' (Samarin, 1987, p. 371). In this
definition, then, a lingua franca has no native speakers, and this notion is carried over into
definitions of English as a lingua franca, such as in the following example: '[ELF] is a 'contact
language' between persons who share neither a common native tongue nor a common (national)
culture, and for whom English is the chosen foreign language of communication' (Firth, 1996,
p. 240). Clearly, the role of English as the chosen foreign language of communication in
Europe is an extremely important one, and one that is on the increase. ... It is important to note
that this means that both in Europe as well as in the world as a whole, English is now a
language that is mainly used by bi- and multilinguals, and that its (often monolingual) native
speakers are a minority."
Barbara Seidlhofer, "Common Property: English as a Lingua Franca in Europe." International
Handbook of English Language Teaching, ed. by Jim Cummins and Chris Davison. Springer,
2007

Globish as a Lingua Franca

"I want to draw a distinction between a language which is spread through nurture, a mother
tongue, and a language that is spread through recruitment, which is a lingua franca. A lingua
franca is a language that you consciously learn because you need to, because you want to. A
mother tongue is a language that you learn because you can't help it. The reason English is
spreading around the world at the moment is because of its utility as a lingua franca. Globish—
a simplified version of English that's used around the world--will be there as long as it is
needed, but since it's not being picked up as a mother tongue, it's not typically being spoken by
people to their children. It is not getting effectively to first base, the most crucial first base for
long-term survival of a language."

Nicholas Ostler quoted by Robert McCrum in "My Bright Idea: English Is On the Up but One
Day Will Die Out." The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, October 30, 2010

Cyberspace English

"Because the cyberspace community, at least at the moment, is overwhelmingly English-

speaking, it is appropriate to say that English is its unofficial language. ... The colonial past,
imperialistic stealth, and the emergence of other language blocs in cyberspace as it grows will
minimize in due time the preeminence of English as the de facto language of cyberspace. ...
[Jukka] Korpela foresees another alternative to cyberspace English and a constructed language.
He predicts the development of better language machine translation algorithms. Such
algorithms will result in efficient and sufficient quality language translators, and there will be
no need for a lingua franca."