This book under review directly addresses the issue of language regulation from the perspective of practical use of English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF). It has at least three aims: (a) to detect the intricate language regulatory practices in ELF interactions; (b) to reveal how acceptable and correct English language use are perceived in the super-diverse ELF discourse; (c) to illuminate the complexities of language regulation in international university contexts.

The book consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1, the opening chapter, clarifies the notions of basic but important terms used in this study, such as the definition of language regulation and ELF. Chapter 2 provides the theoretical basis for the study. Chapter 3 is a synthesis of previous research on ELF and L2 use of English. Chapter 4 situates the academic ELF setting at the tertiary level in Finland. Chapters 5-7 are the analyses of this study. Chapter 5 focuses on language regulatory practices from the interactional dimension. In contrast, Chapter 6 examines language regulation from the ideological dimension by analyzing people's perceptions of language regulation via interview data. Chapter 7 compares and brings together the interactional and ideological findings of language regulation in Chapters 5 and 6 to construct a theoretical framework for norm formation in ELF discourse. Chapter 8, the concluding chapter, comments on the key findings and discusses the implications of the findings from theoretical, methodological, and practical perspectives.

The book under review achieves its aims through the eight chapters. In particular, the findings of the book address the issue of language regulation from both interactional and ideological dimensions in ELF academic contexts. Thus, the book definitely makes an important contribution to the descriptive research on developments in ELF. It stands out from at least three perspectives.

First and foremost, language regulation in ELF contexts is addressed directly in the study. Although language expertise and derivations of linguistic forms from standard English have been described in previous studies (Mauranen, Reference Mauranen2012; Smit, Reference Smit2010), scant attention has been paid to the explicit link between language practices and language regulation in ELF interactions. The book has obviously filled this gap by examining the language regulatory practices and participants’ perceptions of English and its regulation. In particular, the explicit description of language regulation in the book has addressed several intractable issues in ELF research. For example, the ownership of the English language is central in ELF research but has only been investigated at the conceptual level (Seidlhofer, Reference Seidlhofer2011). The empirical study of the book proves that the ownership of English is not assigned exclusively only to native speakers. Rather, users of ELF are taking on the role of language experts as well. In other words, L2 users of English also play a pivotal role in prescribing the use of English in ELF contexts. Another example is the scope of acceptability of non-standard usage of English in ELF interactions. That is, although lack of explicit norms in ELF interactions have freed language users from constraints, they may be confronted with various linguistic and communicative problems. To this end, an investigation of what is regulated in ELF interaction would help identify to what extent the non-standard form of English is acceptable in ELF contexts.

Second, the dual approaches adopted in this research are methodologically constructive for language regulation related research. Chapter 5 approaches language regulation from the interactional dimension while Chapter 6 does so from the ideological dimension. These two dimensions offer complementary viewpoints on language regulation at micro levels. The analysis of interviews in Chapter 6 highlights the different ideologies of language and language usage from different participants in the interaction, which cannot be accessed via analysis of practices in interactions in Chapter 5. In addition, the dual approach makes a clear comparison of ideological and interactional dimensions of language regulation, which consequently reveals that ELF users may not practise English language in accordance with their perceptions of top-down language policies.

Last but not least, in order to preempt unnecessary misunderstanding, this study addresses controversial issues at the outset. For instance, whether native English speakers should be included when ELF is defined is a thorny issue. Firth (Reference Firth1996) clearly points out that native English speakers should be excluded because ELF is used between interlocutors who choose English as a foreign language for communication. In this study, however, the author considers ‘native English speakers as a natural part of ELF communication’ (p. 22). This clarification is helpful because it is beneficial for analyzing the ownership of the English language with the presence of native English speakers.

However, the book has its limitations. First, the data used in this study may not sufficiently represent the academic spoken discourse. The research data only cover interactive communications in the higher education context while data from professional and monologic academic contexts (e.g. conference presentations) are neglected. Second, this book contributes little to the practices and perceptions of language regulation in academic written discourse. Although this study focuses on academic spoken discourse, analysis in Chapter 5 reveals that the language regulation in interactions often deals with written English. Additionally, interviews in Chapter 6 also show that ELF users hold that language regulation is more important in written than in spoken language. Third, the structure of the book could be more coherently organized. For instance, as the theoretical basis for this study, Chapter 2 touches less upon ELF while introducing language regulation in a perhaps verbose manner.

To sum up, the book offers genuine insight into real language regulatory practices and ideological perceptions of language regulation by ELF users. It will be useful not only for language regulation studies in a global context, but also for those who are interested in ELF studies.