Negotiating Meaning in Global Contexts: Strategic Use and Perceptions of English as a Lingua Franca

Résumé

As the global demographic of English speakers continues to shift — with non-native speakers substantially outnumbering their native counterparts — the traditional pedagogical fixation on native-speaker norms has been subjected to sustained and rigorous academic critique. This article investigates the paradigm of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), with specific focus on the relationship between the pragmatic strategies deployed by users in intercultural encounters and their underlying perceptions of linguistic identity and legitimacy. Drawing on corpus data, discourse analysis, and qualitative interview evidence, the study identifies and theorizes the communicative strategies — including proactive repair, paraphrasing, accommodation, code-switching, and the avoidance of culturally localized idiomaticity — through which ELF users negotiate meaning across linguistic and cultural boundaries. The findings demonstrate that successful ELF communication is governed less by adherence to a standardized variety and more by the interlocutors' capacity for strategic adaptation. The article further examines the psychological dimension of ELF use, revealing the phenomenon of schizoglossia: the persistent tension between communicative efficacy and the internalized pressure to approximate native-speaker norms. This ideological constraint, rooted in the enduring hegemony of native-speakerism, generates measurable linguistic insecurity even among highly proficient ELF users. The article concludes by arguing for a fundamental reorientation of English Language Teaching (ELT) — from an accuracy-centred model predicated on the imitation of native norms to a capability-centred pedagogy that equips learners with the strategic competence required for effective global communication.