Explicitness of Thai ELF Users in Tourism Writing
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Abstract
Previous research in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has revealed that deviations in lexicogrammar are not always random, but a result of underlying communicative processes (Cogo & Dewey, 2012; Guziurová, 2020; Jafari, 2021; Ranta, 2013, 2022). Most previous studies relied upon spoken interactions, particularly in business and academic contexts; however, little attention has been paid to written communication in tourism contexts where the use of ELF has constantly increased. In order to understand how a communicative process motivates innovative forms in the lesser studied area of written communication, this study examines the kinds of lexicogrammatical features associated with the process of explicitness that underlies Thai ELF tourism writing. Data were based on a corpus of listing descriptions of 200 Thai hosts, compiled from the Airbnb website. The findings indicate that Thai hosts made use of 14 non-standard lexicogrammatical features which were motivated by explicitness in order to improve the clarity of their messages and promote intelligibility. The three most frequently found non-standard lexicogrammatical features in the data included the addition of a preposition after a transitive verb, the extended use of the progressive aspect, and marking of the plural -s on an uncountable noun. The findings of this study render further support to the claim that communicative processes, namely explicitness, play a significant role in the use of deviant features and in achieving mutual understanding in lingua franca communication. Pedagogically, teachers are recommended to introduce the concept of ELF and language variations to their students in order to prepare them for actual interactions in today’s multilingual society.
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References
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