Abstract As the use of English as a lingua franca increases in a range of contexts, one question that has received recent media attention is that of whether native or non-native speakers are more effective communicators in these contexts. The native/non-native question resists a straightforward answer, but taking account of the views of people in the business world is a necessary step towards understanding the underlying issues. This article investigates the nature and origin of these views by analysing online newspaper comments written in response to a column in the Financial Times. It first identifies several topics related to the native/non-native question, including perceived differences between and within the two categories. It then discusses these topics from a language-ideological perspective, aiming to identify the patterns of beliefs and assumptions that inform the comments. Although this perspective involves a critical evaluation of the binary “native/non-native” opposition, the article identifies several important effects of the native speaker concept, ranging from outright discrimination to feelings of frustration and inhibition. It portrays the comments as both reflecting and questioning the ideological premises of the native speaker concept, and it considers the implications of the approach for ELF research and for the wider study of international communication.

中文翻译：

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“大英帝国的晚期红利”：在线报纸评论中的语言意识形态和本土/非本土问题

摘要 随着英语作为通用语言在各种语境中使用的增加，最近媒体关注的一个问题是，在这些语境中，母语人士还是非母语人士是更有效的沟通者。母语/非母语问题无法直接回答，但考虑到商界人士的观点是了解潜在问题的必要步骤。本文通过分析在线报纸对《金融时报》专栏的回应来调查这些观点的性质和起源。它首先确定与母语/非母语问题相关的几个主题，包括两个类别之间和内部的感知差异。然后从语言意识形态的角度讨论这些主题，旨在确定影响评论的信念和假设模式。尽管这种观点涉及对“母语/非母语”二元对立的批判性评估，但本文确定了母语者概念的几个重要影响，从彻底歧视到沮丧和压抑感。它将评论描述为反映和质疑母语者概念的意识形态前提，并考虑了该方法对 ELF 研究和更广泛的国际传播研究的影响。从彻底的歧视到沮丧和压抑的感觉。它将评论描述为反映和质疑母语者概念的意识形态前提，并考虑了该方法对 ELF 研究和更广泛的国际传播研究的影响。从彻底的歧视到沮丧和压抑的感觉。它将评论描述为反映和质疑母语者概念的意识形态前提，并考虑了该方法对 ELF 研究和更广泛的国际传播研究的影响。