English as a Lingua Franca: Implications for Translator and Interpreter Education

The study of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) has grown considerably in the last decades, and a wide number of issues related to this field have been addressed through a variety of lenses. These range from the changes occurring in spoken English, to the much-debated notion of the native-speaker; from the threat that English represents for minority languages, to the metadiscourse(s) contributing to the myth of English as a language equally accessible to speakers of all nationalities.

Adopting different perspectives and positions, the articles in this special issue of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer all demonstrate that ELF poses many challenges to the teaching of translation and that, while there are no simple and ready-made solutions, such challenges need to be taken on board to fill the current gap between translation pedagogy and translation practice. The volume is intended as a starting point to encourage educators to rethink their approach to translation pedagogy by envisaging tools and practices that can contribute to preparing students to become professional translators of ELF and reflective practitioners who are aware of the centrality of translation in the digital age.