Contrastive rhetoric

Latest Trends in ELF 
Research.
(pp. 299-311)Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. 
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Lillis, T., & Curry, M. (2006). Professional Academic Writing by Multilingual Scholars. 
Written Communication,
23(1), 3-35. 

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41 
papers. These restrictions represent a loss of linguistic diversity and creativity as 
well as the imposition of the communicative practices of one group on many others 
with the subsequent issues of unequal power relations that this entails also 
suggests that such editorial policies in academic publications mean the loss of 
other forms of knowledge and more localised expertise. 
ELF offers an alternative approach to writing practices. At the conceptual 
level Bjorkman
69
and Jenkins both argue that given the international orientation of 
universities and many academic publishing houses, it is crucial for universities to 
adopt 
a 
multilingual 
approach 
to 
communication, 
including 
written 
communication. This entails a move away from monolingual NES orientations 
toward recognition of a diversity of Englishes and rhetorical conventions combined 
with the knowledge, skills and abilities of multilinguals to negotiate this variety. 
Jenkins goes on to suggest that given the globalised nature of academia today the 
skills of multilingual communicators are crucial and that if such approaches are not 
adopted by native English speakers, they "are at risk of becoming disadvantaged 
when communicating in international settings". A similar argument is made by 
Horner. From an ideological position he stresses that it is crucial for ELF studies to 
challenge the 'English-only' orientation of U.S. composition classes given the role 
composition classes play in introducing many future academic scholars to 
acceptable writing practices. ELF researchers need to contest "a belief among those 
selfidentified as native English speakers in the status of SWE [standard written 
English] as a stable and ideal code for communication nationally and globally", a 
point that will be explored in more detail in relation to pedagogy. 
Empirical studies of writing from ELF perspectives are still scarce but those 
that exist offer a complex picture of writing practices. Ehrenreich suggests
70
that in 
her study of a European business setting native-like English was not considered 
necessary for spoken communication, nor to a large extent for written 
69
Bjorkman, B. (2011). The pragmatics of English as a lingua franca in the international university: Introduction. 
Journal of Pragmatics,
43(4), 923-925. 
70
Ehrenreich, S. (2009). English as a lingua franca in multinational corporations: exploring business communities of 
practice. In A. Mauranen & E. Ranta (Eds.), 
English as a lingua franca: studies and findings
(pp. 126-151). 
Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars. 

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42 
communication. Rather text production was generally judged by endonormative 
standards and even when the 'linguistic quality' of the text was considered 
important editing and proofreading was conducted by other more proficient 'non-
native' users rather than with reference to exonormative standards. Solin 
examined
71
texts produced as part of academic portfolios used to apply for 
teaching positions in Finnish universities. The academic portfolio is a genre which, 
she believes, is American in origin and not a traditional part of the Finnish job 
application process. A key finding was that the participants in her study displayed 
a degree of heterogeneity in their approach to this genre, adopting features more 
commonly associated with academic writing, such as support for claims, hedging 
and in some cases offering both positive and negative evaluations. This was also 
combined with the more neutral evaluations of achievements typical of the more 
traditional CV mode of application in Finland. These features, Solin suggests, are 
in contrast to the more direct self-promotion that are associated with the genre in 
the US; however, she also points out that academic portfolios are a relatively new 
genre with fairly fluid boundaries and conventions. Solin's study suggests that in 
written communication through ELF, participants in her study were prepared to 
engage in negotiation and adaptation of the rhetorical conventions to suit personal 
preferences and local conventions . These studies have produced the sorts of 
findings that are similar to the much larger studies of spoken communication in 
illustrating ambiguous attitudes to ELF, with a mixture of acceptance at times, but 
deference to NES norms at others, and also a large degree of variety and 
heterogeneity, with the need to adapt and negotiate language, context and 
communicative practices. However, clearly much more research is needed to see if 
such findings are repeated in other settings. 
With regard to academic publishing, there are signs that some scholars and 
editors are taking deliberate steps to encourage a diversity of Englishes, and a 
move away from the domination of Anglo-American norms. Perhaps not 
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Solin, A. (2010). New genre resources in academia: self-evaluation in academic portfolios.