This book is the result of a doctoral research that investigated the views and attitudes towards English, English as a lingua franca (ELF) and the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) of a population of undergraduate students at an Italian University. The research developed out of an interest in the Italian students’ views of what English is and does, and their own perceived needs as learners of a language whose status appears to be undergoing a shift from that of a foreign language towards that of a seemingly de-nativized, de-territorialized and culturally neutral transactional currency for lingua franca communication.

Students’ Views and Attitudes towards English and ELF in an Italian University is situated in the context of the global expansion of English and its unprecedented advance in key societal domains of the non- native English-speaking countries of the Western world. The book provides a fresh perspective on the contemporary realities of English and contributes to the task of assessing the prevailing pedagogical models of English as a foreign language (EFL) that inform English language teaching in the Italian education system.

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