Global Spread of English

Question 1

Lingua Franca

Answer 1

A language adopted as a common language between speakers who have different first languages.

Question 2

World Language

Answer 2

A language that has developed an international role in communication.`

Question 3

Kachru’s Inner Circle

Answer 3

Countries that are the traditional bases of English, where it is the primary language used in government, schools, and media.

Question 4

Kachru’s Outer Circle

Answer 4

Countries that have been colonised and exploited by colonial forces, where English is a co-official language. First languages still exist and are used as an L1 and in day-to-day life.

Question 5

Kachru’s Expanding Circle

Answer 5

Countries not associated with the colonial history of English, but where the language serves as a lingua franca to aid in international communication.

Question 6

Pidgin

Answer 6

A type of language that emerges between groups who lack a lingua franca. It is a fusion of the dominant and non-dominant languages, and has no native speakers.

Question 7

Creole

Answer 7

A type of language that develops from a pidgin where children learn it as a first language, and when the language can be used across a range of domains.

Question 8

World Englishes

Answer 8

Varieties of English that have developed in different communities across the world, changing English to suit their needs.

Question 9

Dialects

Answer 9

A variety of language that can identify a person’s geographical or social background, featuring distinctive features whilst still being mostly comprehensible to the wider community.

Question 10

Standard Australian English

Answer 10

The variety of spoken and written English in Australia that is codified and holds prestige in the Australian context.

Question 11

Standard English

Answer 11

The variety of English created over history that holds prestige within different communities.

Question 12

Standardisation

Answer 12

The process of a language becoming more consistent in the way it is spoken and written, across all users.

Question 13

Aboriginal Australian Englishes

Answer 13

An umbrella term for the variety of Englishes spoken by First Nations communities.

Question 14

Language Shift

Answer 14

The process when members of a community start to actively speak a different language than that of their ancestors.

Question 15

Language Loss

Answer 15

The process when a language is not actively known or used, often being replaced by a different language.

Question 16

Language Reclamation

Answer 16

The process when a language rebuilds, learns, and teaches its language, often when there are a small number of native speakers.

Question 17

Language Maintenance

Answer 17

The process when there is an active effect to keep a language strong, with the aim of transmitting it fully from generation to generation.

Question 18

Determinism

Question 18

Relativism

Question 19

Prescriptivism

Answer 19

The focus on the correctness of a language with an aim to preserve perceived standards or impose ideas of how a language ‘should’ be.

Question 20

Descriptivism

Answer 20

The focus on actual observed patterns and usage of language that is often more willing to embrace change.

Question 21

Codification

Answer 21

The process of developing and writing down a ‘norm’ for a language, covering elements of spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.