Building contact linguistic competence related to English as the nativized foreign language

Abstract

This paper deals with contact linguistic competence, a type of linguistic knowledge, for the first time identified and described here, which focuses on the standardized and consistent use of words and names from English as the nativized foreign language (ENFL) in a non-English language that regularly comes into contact with it. In the first part, the defining properties and major glocal implications of ENFL will be reviewed; in the second part, the concept of contact linguistic competence will be explained and then elaborated from three interrelated angles: (1) practical aspects, covering the reasons for introducing and building contact linguistic competence in special language users and, particularly, university students of English language and linguistics, (2) theoretical aspects, covering the foundations of contact linguistic competence and a proposed checklist of the elements to be mastered, and (3) pedagogical aspects, covering the methods for efficiently imparting and acquiring contact linguistic competence within the educational system and, specifically, EFL classes; and in the third part of the paper, prerequisites seen as indispensable for bringing this process to its full fruition will be touched on. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.