ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the questions about the connection between English as a lingua franca (ELF) speakers in parallel engagements as opposed to mutual engagements, with a focus on Chinese users of ELF from China. It proceeds from the discussion of different approaches to English in relation to China so as to contextualise the grouping of Chinese speakers on the basis of their contact with English. The chapter considers the grouping of Chinese ELF users by comparing different concepts of communities and presents empirical data as to how Chinese ELF users engage with the connection among themselves. It concludes with the argument that Chinese speakers' own English as a lingua franca is not defined in linguistic terms but in ideological terms, with the notion of China having implications for an imagined community of Chinese ELF speakers. The chapter sheds lights on the grouping of ELF users in terms of their first languages (L1s).
