World Englishes Flashcards

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1
Q

What is MLE?

A
  • MLE stands for Multicultural London English

- mix of London English, west Indian, west Africa + Bangladeshi influences

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2
Q

What is meant by ‘Basilect’?

A
  • the variety of speech that’s most remote from the prestige variety, esp. in an area where a creole is spoken
  • e.g Jamaican creole is the basilect whereas standard Jamaican English is the acrolect/prestige lang
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3
Q

What was Trudgill’s theory on world Englishes?

A

Trudgill: “Standard English is a dialect”

  • differs from other dialects, has greater prestige
  • doesn’t have an associated accent
  • doesn’t form part of a geographical continuum
  • purely a social dialect
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4
Q

What are the reasons for the international status of English?

A
  • historical
  • internal political
  • external economics
  • practical reasons
  • intellectual
  • entertainment
  • personal advantage/prestige

these are reasons according to Crystal, 1997

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5
Q

What is meant by a ‘Pidgin’?

A
  • it’s a mixture of multiple languages where there’s no shared language or lingua franca
  • e.g Chinese Pidgin English
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6
Q

What is meant by ‘Neosemy’?

A
  • the process by which an existing word develops a new meaning
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7
Q

In what two senses, is English a global language?

A
  • lexicon is derived from languages all over the world

- used by a billion speakers over the world

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8
Q

What is the ‘Random Fluctuation Theory’ - Charles Hockett (1958)?

A
  • language changes owning to its instability, because of random errors + events within the language system, as a response of the ever-changing context of lang use + its users
  • e.g. ‘book’ a synonym for ‘cool’ (predictive texting)
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9
Q

What is a ‘Wave Model’?

A
  • a model of language change in which a new lang feature (innovation) or a new combo of lang features spreads from a central region of origin in continuously weakening concentric circles
  • this is similar to waves created when a stone is thrown into a body of water
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10
Q

What is the theory of Polygenesis?

A
  • pidgins + creoles developed independently but in similar ways
  • formed in similar social + physical conditions
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11
Q

What is the theory of Monogenesis?

A
  • derived from Portuguese pidgin; used in the world’s trade routes during the 15th and 16th century

evidence for theory:
- many linguistic similarities between present-day Portuguese pidgins and creoles

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12
Q

Why do people around the world want to speak English?

A
  • personal advantage
  • communication
  • job opportunities
  • lingua franca
  • more desirable + expensive
  • fashionable
  • making something seem more authoritative
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13
Q

What is meant by ‘Acrolect’?

A
  • the variety of speech that’s closest to a standard prestige lang, esp. in an area in which a creole is spoken
  • e.g standard Jamaican English is the acrolect, where Jamaican creole is spoken
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14
Q

What is the theory of Universal?

A
  • based on similarities between certain pidgins + early speech of children
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15
Q

What is the ‘Nautical jargon’ theory?

A

phonology:
- ‘o’ in ‘go’ is more similar to vowel sound in ‘caught’, pronounced [wa:]

grammar:
- lack of inflections, e.g. ‘bless’ rather than ‘blessed’

vocab:
- ‘like’, ‘yeah’ as fillers, ‘man’ in terms of address

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16
Q

What is a case study of TNCs using English as an official lang?

A

Rakuten is Japan’s largest online marketplace + mandated English as the official lang

  • the CEO stated “English isn’t an advantage, but a requirement”
  • menus were replaced + tested their English skills
  • 50% of employees can adequately communicate in English
  • 26% communicate in English to their partners/coworkers
17
Q

What was Canagarajah’s opinion of the ‘Circle Theory’ + his reasons why?

A

Canagarajah: “The circles are leaking”

reasons:

  • human migration (historical + current)
  • technology connects people (e.g. call centres)
18
Q

What is meant by an ‘Inkhorn term’?

A
  • foreign borrowing (or a word created from existing word roots) into English is deemed to be unnecessary/overly prestigious
  • controversy over inkhorn terms was rife from mid 16th + mid 17th century, during the transition from Middle English to modern
  • also, in the time when English was in a contest w/ Latin as the main lang of science + learning
  • many inkhorn terms are used commonly, eg. comment, capacity, celebrate, dismiss
19
Q

What was Bamgbose (1998) theory on Innovation English?

A
  • demographic factor (speaker)
  • geographical factor (location)
  • authoritative factor (use sanctioned)
  • codification factor (reference book)
  • acceptability factor (attitude)
20
Q

How is there variation across the outer circle?

A

according to Platt, Weber + Ho (1984):

  • developed through education
  • developed in an area where a native variety of English wasn’t spoken lang
  • used for a range of functions
  • became ‘localised’ or ‘natived’ by adopting some lang features of their own
21
Q

What are the 3 groups that speak English respectively classified as?

A

the 3 groups of users:

  • a native speaker = ENL
  • a second lang = ESL
  • a foreign lang = EFL

but, neat classification are becoming increasingly difficult

22
Q

What is Braj Kachru’s Circles theory?

A
  • the 3 circles represent the countries and how they speak English
inner circle (New Zealand, USA):
- native speakers
outer circle (India, Kenya):
- not native speakers but serves as useful lingua franca 
expanding circle (China, South Africa):
- doesn't play a role in their country
23
Q

What is meant by ‘Lingua Franca’?

A

a common lang used to communicate with speakers that don’t speak the same lang

24
Q

What is meant by the ‘Inkhorn Controversy’?

A

the name was generally given to the extended dispute, largely in the late 15th + early 16th century, over whether English should continue to add words from Greek + Latin

25
Q

What is meant by ‘Hegemonic’?

A

influence or authority over others

the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group

26
Q

What is meant by ‘Creole’?

A
  • it’s a language developed from a Pidgin
  • they have a fully complete grammar + lexicon
  • e.g. Jamaican creole
27
Q

What is meant by ‘Relexification?

A
  • it’s the process whereby a word or a group of words in a lang is replaced w/ a corresponding word/group of words from another lang w/o drastically changing the relexified language’s grammar
28
Q

What are the 3 groups of theories?

A
  • monogenesis; single-origin of pidgin
  • polygenesis; independent origins
  • universal; universal strategies
29
Q

What is meant by ‘Pidgin’?

A

a trade lang, usually not the language of either of the speakers