Kachru's Circles Flashcards
When was this model carried out?
1992
What are the three circles that Kachru uses?
Inner Circle
Outer Circle
Expanding Circle
What countries are included in the Inner Circle?
UK USA Australia New Zealand Canada
What do the countries within the Inner Circle have in common?
They all speak English as a 1st language by the majority of the population
They are all native speakers
How did English spread to these countries in the Inner Circles?
Migration of English speakers to North America and Australia
Why does the language used in the countries other than the UK differ?
Because they had contact with different indigenous (native) languages which enriched each one’s vocabulary
e.g.
America developed rhotic accent and voiced ‘s’
Australia had elements of aboriginal languages
What are the differences known as in the Englishes used in the Inner Circle?
Lexical differences
What countries are included in the Outer Circle?
India Nigeria Pakistan Bangladesh Philippines Ghana.... etc South Africa
What do the countries in the Outer circle have in common?
English is a major, official auxiliary language
What is a contradiction of some of the countries in the Outer Circle?
A lot of the people within some of these countries are in fact native speakers of English
e.g. South Africa you could say is a combination of both Inner and Outer Circle
How did English come to the countries within the Outer Circle?
They were colonised by the UK but not in as larger numbers as they had done with the countries within the Inner Circle
The indigenous population remained the majority
What countries are included in the Expanding Circle?
China USSR Japan Egypt Indonesia Korea Europe
What do the countries in the Expanding Circle have in common?
English is spoken but not as an official dialect. It’s mainly used for international purposes
How did English come to the countries within the Expanding Circle?
They learnt English for its beneficial purposes in business and career
Does the English used differ between each circle?
Yes. As there have been different influences from different contries
What does Kachru call the Englishes used in the Inner Circle?
Norm-providing
They provide the “norm” rules which the other Englishes use as a basis
What does Kachru call the Englishes used in the Outer Circle?
Norm-expanding
They build on the “norm” rules and expand them so they take on a local character
What are the two categories of English that Kachru believes there are?
Standard Varieties
Non-standard Varieties
What are the standard-varieties of English?
They are more educated and are mutually intelligible
What are the non-standard varieties of English?
Pidgins, Creoles, Regional Dialects
What influences do the non-standard varieties have?
Local influence
They diverge away from each other and there are noticable differences
They are not mutually intelligible
Who is another theorist with an idea and diagram similar to Kachru?
McArthur 1987
What was McArthur’s diagram called?
Circle of World Englishes
What is the general idea of the Circle of World Englishes?
Moves outward from the middle; “World Standard English” into eight different sections, the first sections showing the “Standard variations” and latched on the outside of these are “non-standard”, derivative forms
