Chapter 8. Positioning the self and other in English lingua franca interactions

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamics of identification in a German–​Tanzanian school exchange, in which participants use English as a lingua franca (ELF). It investigates which particular reference systems adolescents activate for positioning themselves and their interlocutors in this context, and how orientations change in the course of their encounter. In a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative corpus investigations with content analyses, the contribution focuses on the contextual use of pronouns and the discursive construction of categories of belonging in authentic ELF interactions, but also draws on information from background questionnaires and interview data collected in the framework of the student exchange. The study thus contributes a speaker-informed picture of reference systems at play in the co-construction of identities through intercultural interactions in ELF.