Rethinking language precision in the context of English as a global lingua franca: Pedagogical perspectives

This study examines the use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) among non-native speakers, focusing on its role in enhancing communication and perceptions of non-standard lexical and grammatical features among tertiary-level preparatory school English teachers (N = 32) and students (N = 245). Using a mixed-methods approach involving questionnaires and interviews, students rated linguistic features such as "dropping third person 's'" (e.g., "he sits") and "non-standard use of articles" (e.g., "he is best player") on a five-point Likert scale to evaluate their acceptability. Quantitative findings indicate that students generally held neutral opinions on most items, with only one feature, "being overly explicit" (e.g., "black colour" instead of "black"), deemed acceptable. In contrast, teachers identified five features as unacceptable, including "confusing relative pronouns" (e.g., "the place who") and "non-standard question tags" (e.g., "he lives in the USA, isn’t it?"), while finding "being overly explicit" acceptable, and expressing neutrality on the rest. Qualitative data supported these results, with interview participants emphasizing the importance of mutual intelligibility over grammatical accuracy yet expressing concerns about the appropriateness of non-standard forms in formal contexts. While neither group fully endorsed non-standard English, they displayed a general acceptance of features that did not hinder comprehension, such as "non-standard use of prepositions" (e.g., "we are studying about..."). These findings emphasize the complex attitudes of ELF users toward non-standard English usage in educational contexts.