This paper identifies several key issues that have emerged through the debate over English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), and suggests a practice-based perspective--which treats language not as a fixed system but as an emergent product of speakers' practices--as a guide for reconsidering some fundamental assumptions of the ELF research project. In particular, this paper suggests viewing ELF not as a variety, but as an activity type, where the goal of interaction involves the need to communicate in a situation where the participants do not share the same first language. It claims that such a reconceptualization can help us explore the accommodative practices of ELF speakers with greater sensitivity to issues of power, enrich our understanding of intelligibility and how it is mediated by language ideologies, and develop a pedagogy that emphasizes greater cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity.