Beyond language change: ELF and the study of sociolinguistic change

In this chapter, I argue that the study of English as a lingua franca (ELF) can be fruitfully framed as the study of sociolinguistic change. In adopting a sociolinguistic change perspective, researchers who take an interest in ELF and change are invited to move beyond a focus on language change and to pursue a more comprehensive and holistic interest in the processes of social and linguistic change that arise from – and give rise to – the contemporary widespread use of English as a lingua franca. I illustrate the argument by providing examples from research into the internationalization of Danish universities since the late 1990s, showing how the introduction of ELF as a language of teaching and learning involves change in multiple dimensions, including language ideology, discursive practices and social norms.