A Review

1
World EnglishesFinal Lesson

• A Review

2
The historical, social and political context

• Consider your own country of origin and describe
  the role of English in it. Can your country be
  classified according to the categories mentioned
  during the course? If yes, which category does it
  belong to? If not, why not?
• We considered how, in numerous territories,
  English is used as an official, i.e.
  institutionalised, second language. What do you
  think are the main domains of institutionalised
  language use in these territories?
• As we saw during the course, it has become
  increasingly common since the mid-1990s to find
  alongside English as a foreign language (EFL) the
  use of English as a lingua franca (ELF). Try to
  define the term English as a lingua franca in
  your own words. Can you think of situations from
  your own experience where English is used as a
  lingua franca? Describe them.

3
The historical, social and political context

• How closely is language and culture linked in
  your own personal experience? Try to find
  examples of cultural concepts which are unique
  to/typical for your own culture. If you were
  forced to abandon your first language, how would
  you explain these cultural concepts in English?
• In the concluding comments to his edited volume,
  Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity, Fishman
  (1999 4489) quotes a number of scholars who
  argue that those who feel more secure about their
  own identity are more tolerant of other ethnic
  groups and, at the same time, better placed to be
  an effective member of a cosmopolitan grouping.
  He finishes his discussion by quoting Haarman
  (1997) on European identity as followsEuropean
  identity includes cosmopolitan elements, but
  cosmopolitanism cannot serve as a simplistic
  substitute for traditional national identity . .
  . The recipe for a member of a national community
  to become a self-confident European lies not in
  the denial or neglect of his national collective
  identity . . . Somebody who considers him- or
  herself to be a cosmopolitan at the cost of
  national identity will hardly be in a position to
  appreciate the national components in other
  peoples identity, and this can only weaken
  cooperation among Europeans.(Haarman 1997 286)
  Do you agree that it is essential to retain ones
  own national identity in order to become a
  self-confident member of a larger grouping such
  as Europe?

4
Who speaks English today?

• What is your stance towards Kachrus three-circle
  model of the spread of English? Discuss the pros
  and cons of the model and explain what your own
  position is.
• What is your response to these comments made by
  Bamgbose and de Klerk?The main question with
  innovations is the need to decide when an
  observed feature of language use is indeed an
  innovation and when it is simply an error. An
  innovation is seen as an acceptable variant,
  while an error is simply a mistake, or uneducated
  usage. If innovations are seen as errors, a
  non-native variety can never receive any
  recognition. (Bamgbose 1998 22)When does a
  substratal indigenous feature assert itself
  sufficiently to overcome the fear that if
  deviations are allowed, the rules will be
  abandoned and chaos will ensue? Is it when
  speakers use it often enough to silence or
  exhaust the prescriptors?"(de Klerk 1999 315)

5
Standard language ideology

• Do you speak/have you been taught standard
  English or non-standard English? Where would you
  locate your own variety on a scale of standard to
  non-standard? Which attitudes do you have towards
  your own variety? How do you think your variety
  is perceived by others in terms of prestige?
  Which varieties do you consider
  prestigious/non-prestigious?
• Consider the similarities and differences across
  the Englishes designated standard. What is it
  that makes them similar/different? On which
  levels?
• Why is it that the lexical level turns out to be
  the most noticeable level of divergence between
  the different standard varieties?
• While standardness seems to be an issue of class
  in Britain, it is an issue of race in the US. Can
  you think of reasons for this difference?

6
The spread of English as an international
lingua franca

• David Crystal says that English has repeatedly
  found itself in the right place at the right
  time. What does he refer to in this quote? Do
  you think that there is more to the spread of
  English than pure coincidence? If so, what is it?
• Look at the following quote from an autobiography
  of a Vietnamese mother-tongue speaker living in
  the US and discuss how it relates to the
  distinction between a language for
  communication and a language for
  identification
• As for English I do speak the language but I
  dont think Ill ever talk it. English flows from
  the mind to the tongue and then to the pages of
  books ... I only talk Vietnamese. I talk it
  with all my senses. Vietnamese does not stop on
  my tongue, but flows with the warm, soothing
  lotus tea down my throat like a river giving life
  to the landscape in her path. It rises to my mind
  along the vivid images of my grandmothers house
  and my grandmother ....

7
The nature of English as a Lingua Franca

• What is your own attitude towards ELF?
• In which situations have you experienced ELF
  yourself? Do you consider yourself an ELF
  speaker? What characterises ELF interactions in
  your own personal experience?
• Is linguistic proficiency in the sense of EFL
  goals of imitating NS usage always an advantage
  in ELF contexts? Can you think of examples where
  NS-like proficiency can be a disadvantage?
  Building on the arguments you collect, try to
  redefine the term proficiency for an ELF
  context?
• What is your response to the following claim?
• There really is no justification for
  doggedly persisting in referring to an item as
  an error if the vast majority of the worlds L2
  English speakers produce and understand it.
  Instead, it is for L1 speakers to move their own
  receptive goal posts and adjust their own
  expectations as far as international (but not
  intranational) uses of English are concerned.
• (Jenkins 2000 160)