Lingua Engla?

Oh dear, oh dear. It seems student teaching has really monopolized my time... well, that and a few other things. Therefore, I have unnecessarily ignored my blog for almost a week! Simply atrocious!

On the other hand, English is the new lingua franca, which is dimming my views of becoming a French teacher a bit; yet, French remains the second lingua franca, so there IS motivation to learn it! Also, there is a new foreign language on the market these days - literally on the market: Globish. Apparently it is a language that only non-native English speakers can master...

"Monsieur Nerriere is a retired French businessman who one day
in the course of his work made a fascinating observation.

In a meeting with colleagues from around the world, including
an Englishman, a Korean and a Brazilian, he noticed that he and the other
non-native English speakers were communicating in a form of English that was
completely comprehensible to them, but which left the Englishman nonplussed.

He, Jean-Paul Nerriere, could talk to the Korean and the
Brazilian in this neo-language, and they could understand each other perfectly.

But the Englishman was left out because his language was too
subtle, too full of meaning that could not be grasped by the others.

In other words, Monsieur Nerriere concluded, a new form of
English is developing around the world, used by people for whom it is their
second language." (BBC News 2009)

And now for my 'huh?' question: can it still be called the lingua franca if it is no longer French?