This ethnographic study examines English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) interaction and multilingual practices in the context of a contemporary dance group rehearsing for a performance during 2017 in Joensuu, Finland. Able Art Group consists of disabled and able-bodied amateur artists from Finland, Spain, France and Serbia, with widely different proficiencies in English and Finnish. ELF is the primary shared language of the rehearsals, but code-switching, interpreting and cross-linguistic influence are common (see Jenkins 2015). The diversity of the participants enhances understanding and empathy, and the artistic space where improvisation and playfulness are encouraged is found to be empowering. The study thus contributes to the growing body of literature on multilingualism and the arts (Gardner-Chloros 2014).
The method of research is participant observation; I am both a researcher and a member of the dance group. The research material for the present study comprises audiovisual, transcribed recordings of the rehearsals, and the main focus is on the interrelationship of the playfulness integral to the rehearsals (see Lipiäinen 2015) and playfulness and creativity in the observed multilingual interaction (e.g. Pitzl 2016). More specifically, I will be looking at types of lexical (e.g. beautiness, mattress 'carpet', to be fast-speaking) and metaphorical creativity (e.g. outside like a snowman) in the ELF interaction and how the members acknowledge this: whether through flagging, regulating, humour, or 'let-it-pass'. The study thus traces the limits of what is considered non-normative or culturally distinctive English language use in a context that in other respects incites creativity and intercultural acceptance.
References
Gardner-Chloros, P. 2014. Multilingualism and the arts: Introduction. International Journal of Bilingualism 18:2, 95–98.
Jenkins, J. 2015. Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a Lingua Franca. Englishes in Practice 2(3): 49-85.
Lipiäinen, T. 2015. Cultural creolisation and playfulness: An example of capoeira angola in Russia. Journal of Intercultural Studies 36:6, 676-692.
Pitzl, M-L. 2016. World Englishes and creative idioms in English as a lingua franca. World Englishes 35(2), 293-309.
