4.01 English: World English Flashcards
Often referred to as the ‘international language of business’
• English is essential in some careers (such as travel)
Over 1.4 billion English speakers
It’s supremacy can be attributed to invasions in history (EG: Vikings, anglo-saxons) as well as its spread through dictionaries
World English
English as a native language
EG: UK, USA, Australia
ENL
English as a second language
EG: Japan, Spain
ESL
English as a foreign language
EG: Learning and using English as an additional language in a non-English speaking country
EFL
English as a lingua franca
EG: Used between two or more people who don’t have the same first language
ELF
English as a global language: each country adapts it to suit their circumstances
English reflects local history for different countries
It only takes a few weeks for a new variant of English to grow
Power always drives English
English will stay a global language as long as the powerful nations retain English and other nations look up to them
Accommodation when travelling to different countries
American English: Americans wanted to identify themselves as American and not British
Language becomes a global language because of the power of the people who speak it
David Crystal on World English
Originated from the British colonisations of the Americas, starting in the 17th century
• Further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries
Uses different
Lexis: Trash > rubbish
Grammar: Half hour > half an hour
Orthography: Color > colour, gray > grey
Colonial varieties of English: American English
English was introduced to India in the 17th century when English businessmen came to the country as traders
Lexical innovations in IE are seen more particularly in compounding, followed by affirmation and to a lesser degree, other processes of word formation
Code-switching is often used as a device to convey a particular nuance of meaning
Colonial varieties of English: Indian English
The product of fives waves of immigration and settlement over a period of more than two centuries
Phonology aligns with American English
Raises the diphthong onsets before voiceless segments
Grammar: have got > have
• Denote possession/obligation
Colonial varieties of English: Canadian English
Roots stretch back to British colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries and the use of West African slaves to work on sugar plantations
In the verb system, different tenses and aspects are shown by additional words or particles to the main verb
EG: English - I talked
Creole - Mi ben taak
Colonial varieties of English: Jamaican Creole
Separates all English varieties into having British/American standards as their root
American English accounted for Canada, the US, Puerto Rico and the Philippines
British English accounted for the rest of the world
Implies America and Britain are superior - restrictive and reductive
It’s historical and momentary - not evolutionary
Strevens’ model (1980)
Based on geography and genetics rather than on the way speakers identify with and use English
Inner circle: USA, UK, Australia
Outer circle: India, Nigeria, Ghana
Expanding circle: China, Egypt, Japan
Often a grey area between the inner and outer circles - dated
Model can’t account for English for special purposes (EG: English for science and technology)
The term ‘inner circle’ implies speakers from ENL countries are central to the effort, whereas their worldwide influence is in-fact declining
Too much diversity within a country to segregate
Kachru’s model
Moves away from central concept of ‘World English’
Instead has eight main regions - each with a main Standard English variety and many non-standard, derivative forms
These many different forms may actually lead to less diversity
• Many are pidginised or creolised forms mixed with other, more local languages
But what is World Standard English? - restrictive?
McArthur’s model
First model is based on how proficient they are in English
Second model focuses on features which may become internationally common or may fall into obscurity
At the centre of both is EIL
Modiano’s model
Adopts an evolutionary perspective emphasising language ecologies
Shows how language evolves as a process of ‘competition and selection’
Differentiates varieties by their stage of development
• Foundation - Language enters a new territory
• Exonormative stabilisation - Language use begins
• Structural nativisation - Old and new language become more closely linked
• Endonormative stabilisation - More independence, own norms and standards are established
• Differentiation - The new variety of language develops its own regional and social differences
The idea of evolution could suggest that some varieties are more evolved/superior
Another negative is that it works on the basis of the colonial experience
Schneider’s dynamic model
