Culture and Identity through English as a Lingua Franca, written by Will Baker, was initiated by the author's concern over the central role of language in intercultural communication (IC), especially the actual language through which IC takes place. Adopting an ELF (English as a lingua franca) perspective, Baker reevaluates the relationship between communication, language, identity and culture and proposes a less essentialist approach to ELT and IC pedagogy.

There are eight chapters in the book, which can be roughly divided into two parts: theoretical research and pedagogical application. In the theoretical part, Baker endeavors to illuminate the convergence and divergence of ELF and IC and tries to elaborate the interaction between culture and language with complexity theory and emergentism based on studies on ELF. Then, with data from empirical ELF studies, Baker explores how cultural identity, along with tension between local, national and global identifications, is constructed and negotiated in relation to notions of complexity, fluidity and emergence, in which language and discourse play a central role. Chapter 5 is a transition between the theoretical part and the application part, in which Baker introduces the concept of intercultural awareness (ICA) as an alternative to, or development of intercultural communication competence; he holds the view that both communication competence and intercultural communication competence are too narrowly conceptualized for L2 use and IC, particularly in ELF research. In the application part, Baker first argues for an alternative approach in ELT, which embraces intercultural, global English and ELF perspective to underscore the importance of locally relevant, adaptable and post-methods approaches to teaching. He then appeals for the incorporation of ICA in classroom practice with insights from intercultural education and ELF research. Finally, Baker presents a case study of a course in IC based on his teaching experience in a Thai university, which investigates how ICA could be incorporated into a course from a global perspective and how learners and teachers evaluate such a course.

As is well known, there is currently no shortage of books addressing IC, culture and identity; still, this book has stimulated some creative inspiration for this well-established research. Firstly, the book is an attempt to synergize findings from IC and ELF research. It is not unusual for people to perceive that the inexorable link between language and culture, especially at national level, appears simplistic and naïve, and yet seldom do people give much concern to the identity in IC as there is an essentialist correlation between self, identity and cultures. Adopting an ELF perspective, Baker tries to prove with empirical studies on IC through ELF, which is multilingual and multicultural, that culture identity in ELF communication is constructed with participants as multilingual communicator and mediator. Thus, culture identity is multiple, complex, fluid and always in process, and when it is performed, language and discourse play a core role. The emphasis on identity invites people to think about Who, Whose language and Whose culture are involved in IC, and to fathom the complexity of interaction between language, culture and identity in ELF communication. This provides a valuable insight to a multiple approach to view their correlation in a holistic and situated manner for a better understanding of IC through ELF.

Secondly, the book proves to be a combination of theory, research and practice. There are numerous works and researches on communication competence (Hymes, Reference Hymes, Pride and Holmes1972) and intercultural communication competence (Byram, Reference Byram1997), and a growing interest has been found on ELF research, yet not many of these have practical significance, although they may carry some implications for ELT. As his greatest contribution to IC and ELF research, Baker proposes ICA as an adapted version to intercultural communication competence. In this framework, Baker includes 12 components under three levels: the lowest level mainly involves the awareness of both one's own and others’ culturally induced behaviors, values, and beliefs and the ability to compare them. The middle level involves the awareness of the relative nature of cultural norms, of the provisional status of cultural beliefs and understandings, and of the multiple voices and perspectives within any cultural grouping. Finally, the highest level not only incorporates the awareness of the specific, emergent, and hybrid nature of IC, but also stresses the ability to go beyond cultural stereotypes and generalizations to negotiate and mediate between different socio-culturally grounded communications. It is clear that as a teacher and researcher, Baker not only proposes ICA as a model and a set of pedagogical goals for the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for IC through ELF, but also demonstrates with a case study how these can be implemented in an IC class. What's more, course overview and outline are given with course aims, structure and timetable, and even topics and discussion tasks are presented in the appendix. These first-hand materials may offer valuable guidance to teachers, especially those who are willing to accept the notion of ELF yet are unsure as to how to implement it in their teaching practice.

Nevertheless, it might be too optimistic to expect that ICA can be widely applied in ELT classrooms as there is currently little recognition of the role of English as a lingua franca in applied linguistics. The case study in this book shows that teachers and students hold optimistic attitudes towards ELF-oriented courses, yet much research shows a different picture: most English teachers are actually reluctant to incorporate ELF in their practice, partly because many English teachers consider themselves as gatekeepers of standard English (He & Li, Reference He and Li2009), and partly because ELF is not embedded in ELT teaching materials, let alone assessment which regulates the teaching practice to an even greater extent. And this is exactly the hard evidence to justify the value of this book.