LAUSR

Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca, written by Will Baker, was initiated by the author’s concern over the central role of language in intercultural communication (IC), especially the actual language through which IC takes place. Adopting an ELF (English as a lingua franca) perspective, Baker reevaluates the relationship between communication, language, identity and culture and proposes a less essentialist approach to ELT and IC pedagogy. There are eight chapters in the book, which can be roughly divided into two parts: theoretical research and pedagogical application. In the theoretical part, Baker endeavors to illuminate the convergence and divergence of ELF and IC and tries to elaborate the interaction between culture and language with complexity theory and emergentism based on studies on ELF. Then, with data from empirical ELF studies, Baker explores how cultural identity, along with tension between local, national and global identifications, is constructed and negotiated in relation to notions of complexity, fluidity and emergence, in which language and discourse play a central role. Chapter 5 is a transition between the theoretical part and the application part, in which Baker introduces the concept of intercultural awareness (ICA) as an alternative to, or development of intercultural communication competence; he holds the view that both communication competence and intercultural communication competence are too narrowly conceptualized for L2 use and IC, particularly in ELF research. In the application part, Baker first argues for an alternative approach in ELT, which embraces intercultural, global English and ELF perspective to underscore the importance of locally relevant, adaptable and post-methods approaches to teaching. He then appeals for the incorporation of ICA in classroom practice with insights from intercultural education and ELF research. Finally, Baker presents a case study of a course in IC based on his teaching experience in a Thai university, which investigates how ICA could be incorporated into a course from a global perspective and how learners and teachers evaluate such a course. As is well known, there is currently no shortage of books addressing IC, culture and identity; still, this book has stimulated some creative inspiration for this well-established research. Firstly, the book is an attempt to synergize findings from IC and ELF research. It is not unusual for people to perceive that the inexorable link between language and culture, especially at national level, appears simplistic and naïve, and yet seldom do people give much concern to the identity in IC as there is an essentialist correlation between self, identity and cultures. Adopting an ELF perspective, Baker tries to prove with empirical studies on IC through ELF, which is multilingual and multicultural, that culture identity in ELF communication is constructed with participants as multilingual communicator and mediator. Thus, culture identity is multiple, complex, fluid and always in process, and when it is performed, language and discourse play a core role. The emphasis on identity invites people to think about Who, Whose language and Whose culture are involved in IC, and to fathom the complexity of interaction between language, culture and identity in ELF communication. This provides a valuable insight to a multiple approach to view their correlation in a holistic and situated manner for a better understanding of IC through ELF. Secondly, the book proves to be a combination of theory, research and practice. There are numerous works and researches on communication competence