This paper focuses on accommodation in English as a lingua franca with a special emphasis on convergence. Based on the VOICE corpus, it is demonstrated that even forms which diverge from native-speaker standards can represent a basis for convergence and contribute to successful ELF communication.
The use of English in lingua franca contexts is usually characterized by a significant degree of flexibility, which can be reflected in the occurrence of forms that diverge from standard English usage. These include examples which illustrate the users' creative exploitation of the potential of what Widdowson (1997) calls the virtual language, including morphological innovations such as bigness (Seidlhofer 2011: 103) and creative modification of idioms such as in the right track (Pitzl 2012: 42). Following Hülmbauer (2009) and similar studies, in this paper I demonstrate that such forms are not only tolerated in ELF conversations, but also employed as an effective means of accommodation and, particularly, of convergence. I discuss extracts from the VOICE corpus and show how the innovative forms in ELF are agreed upon through convergence as the conversations unfold. The analysis is approached from the perspective of Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT), whereby the potential of convergence to act as a language regulation mechanism in ELF communication on a micro-level is investigated. References Hülmbauer, Cornelia. 2009. "'We don't take the right way. We just take the way that we think you will understand' – The shifting relationship of correctness and effectiveness in ELF communication". In Mauranen, Anna; Ranta, Elina (eds.). English as a lingua franca: studies and findings. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 323–347. Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2012. "Creativity meets convention: idiom variation and remetaphorization in ELF". Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 1(1), 27-55. Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2011. Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Widdowson, Henry George. 1997. "EIL, ESL, EFL: Global issues and local interests". World Englishes 16(1), 135–146.
