From deficiency to integration: English as a Lingua Franca, translanguaging, and linguistic theory reimagined
Outline
English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and translanguaging research have fundamentally transformed the ways in
which linguistic theory conceives of multilingual communication and language architecture. This keynote
examines the conceptual contributions these complementary frameworks make to theoretical linguistics. While
ELF interrogates how speakers utilize English across multilingual environments, translanguaging demonstrates
the integrated and fluid mobilization of the entirety of speakers’ linguistic resources: a unified repertoire rather
than discrete linguistic codes. Together, these perspectives challenge the native-speaker paradigm and reveal
the inherent creativity and systematicity that underpin multilingual communication outside of monolingual
norms. Empirical data from ELF and translanguaging elucidate patterns such as phonological reduction,
morphosyntactic flexibility, pragmatic negotiation strategies, and code-meshing phenomena that should be
understood as signs of linguistic innovation, not deviation. These insights urge a re-evaluation of foundational
constructs within linguistic theory, including the competence-performance distinction, the universal grammar
hypothesis, and modularist models of bilingual cognition. By foregrounding authentic multilingual practices
over idealized monolingual grammars, ELF and translanguaging approaches bridge the divide between core
theoretical linguistics and applied concerns, providing methodological advancements for investigating language
change, cognitive processing, and the real-time evolution of linguistic norms. This integrated paradigm calls for
theoretical models capable of accounting for how vast populations creatively deploy their full linguistic
repertoires.
