Jenkins, J. (2014). English as a lingua franca in the international university: The politics of academic English language policy. Abingdon, England: Routledge.

It is not news that English is the primary language of international communication worldwide. Within the European Union, it is viewed as a common procedural language and used as a medium for electronic and telephone communications. English is the practicing language of most governing bodies within the United Nations. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations + 3 uses English as the official working language among its member nations. In a greater push to “internationalize,” universities worldwide have implemented English content courses and strong marketing and recruitment strategies to lure in students, most of whom are nonnative English speakers (NNES).With the increasing use of English across the globe, today the language is spoken by more NNESs than by native English speakers (NES), making English the primary lingua franca of globalization. It is at this particular juncture that Jenkins enters the conversation.

Looking specifically at the use of English in Anglophone universities that have positioned themselves as “international” institutions, Jenkins offers a critical look at two areas of importance when examining these institutions: the ways in which English is used by NNESs and assessed by NESs, and the international student experience based on this assessment. Her central argument throughout is that universities that dub themselves as “international institutions,” and do in fact have increasingly diversified student bodies, do not consider the linguistic implications when projecting their language attitudes, ideologies, and policies onto linguistically diverse populations. Her theme continually maps back to two central points. First, if internationalization is about interconnectedness and acquiring the knowledge, attitudes, skills, sensitivity, and competence for intercultural communication, then policies that ignore linguistic diversity are not internationalized but rather homogenized. Second, what are the implications of these policies on both higher education institutions and the students that attend them?

Composed of seven chapters, the book begins with Jenkins positioning herself within the context of English as the Lingua Franca (ELF) within universities where English is the medium of instruction. Chapter two focuses on the history of ELF, with a discussion on how ELF is defined within the discipline of sociolinguistics, and it highlights the hybrid and innovative nature of ELF in the area of pronunciation, morphology, pragmatics (such as code-switching), and the replacement of lexical and idiomatic features. Jenkins argues that NNESs are flexible, skillful, and more linguistically advanced than monolingual NESs in that they possess more tools to communicate effectively in intercultural situations.

In chapter three, Jenkins unpacks the uneasiness that NESs in academic settings have with the deviation of “standard” English by NNESs. Citing Hyland (2009), Jenkins stresses that academic discourse is seen as the carrier of what constitutes “legitimate knowledge” (p. 43), and academic literacy is a set of discrete and technical skills. ELF, with all its unconstrained variability, is viewed by the NES as a threat to the overall aims of higher education emphasizing formality, uniformity, technicality, and limited accessibility to the mainstream. However, upon her careful and detailed review of the current literature and theoretical approaches to English in the academy, Jenkins discovers that in reality, academic discourse is so varied between disciplines and genres that it is nearly impossible to treat academic discourse in one “monolithic” (p. 47) system that can be taught and transferred to any context, causing great problems for the NNES. This significant chapter is invaluable reading for anyone getting his or her mind around English as a global lingua franca for the first time, as well as for more advanced scholars looking for a current evaluation with references to key players.

Chapters four through six are research-based chapters that look at universities, staff, and student perceptions across the globe, institutions that dub themselves as “international” or “global,” what it means to these institutions to call themselves as such, and what they are doing in English language use and assessment to support this “international” claim. Using qualitative methods, Jenkins provides an overview of international universities’ English language policies, how these policies impact NNES populations, and the disparities between policy and real-life practices. Jenkins’ data samples are quite vast: She looks at marketing campaigns from 60 universities across four macro regions, solicits questionnaires from 166 respondents across 24 countries, and interviews 34 NNESs studying at the graduate level in the United Kingdom. Chapter seven, in particular, provides excellent anecdotal information and analysis from the NNES point of view, giving significant weight to her argument that “the incorporation of a genuine international perspective” (p. 202) in higher education is much needed, to include “abandoning the notion that international students should fit in with existing (i.e. national) ways of doing English” (p. 202).

Jenkins’ conclusion suggests that her overall aim was that of raising consciousness within higher education to begin to evaluate the disconnect between the “international, diverse” environments that many universities tout in their marketing literature, and the intolerance of diversity within the use of the English language within these universities. She has made a crack in the NES ideology foundation, and has reminded us that as all languages change, we must side with change. This puts some of the onus on the NES population, as we too must be in the seat of the language learner. As she cites Horner (2011), “both we and our students are always rewriting English” (p. 67).

English as a Lingua Franca is a comprehensive look at an issue within higher education that will only continue to grow with urgency, and serves as an essential read for anyone teaching or studying applied linguistics, world Englishes, ELF, TESOL, or English language policy.