Readings in World Englishes: The Discourses of Postcolonialism

1
World EnglishesLesson 2

• Readings in World Englishes The Discourses of
  Postcolonialism

2
Our marvellous tongue

• According to Alastair Pennycook (English and the
  Discourses of Colonialism, Routledge, 1998),
  colonialism still permeates both British
  discourses and those of the postcolonial
  territories. The same celebratory and
  triumphalistic tone of the days of the Empire can
  be found in more recent discourses on the spread
  of English, albeit in more neutral language.

3
Rolleston (1911)

• The British flag waves over more than a fifth
  of the habitable globe, one fourth of the human
  race acknowledges the sway of the British
  Monarch, more than one hundred princes render him
  allegiance. The English language is spoken by
  more people than that of any other race, it bids
  fair to become the speech of the globe, and about
  one-half of the worlds ocean trade is yet in
  British hands.

4
Crystal (1987)

• English is either dominant or well established
  in all six continents. It is the main language of
  books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic
  control, international business and academic
  conferences. science, technology, diplomacy,
  sports, music.Over two-thirds of the world
  scientists write in English. Of all the
  information in the worlds electronic retrieval
  systems, 80 per cent is stored in English.

5
Linguistic deprivation

• According to Simon Jenkins (1995), English has
  triumphed over all other languages. Those who
  do not speak it are at a universal disadvantage
  against those who do. Those who deny this
  supremacy merely seek to keep the disadvantaged
  deprived.

6
Destiny

• Recent descriptions of the global spread of
  English are reminiscent of Victorian prose with
  their talk of destiny and of the inevitable
  spread of English being like a mighty river
  flowing towards the sea an editorial in The
  Sunday Times (1994), responding to attempts in
  France to limit the use of English in society,
  claimed that to oppose English is pointless, as
  English fulfils its own destiny as Churchills
  ever-conquering language.

7
Universal language in a shrinking world

• The spread of English seen as inevitable
  English marches on. If you need it, you
  learn it. Its growth is ineluctable,
  inexorable, inevitable. (US News World Report,
  1985)
• Political colonialism seems to have been replaced
  by economic colonialism.

8
In praise of English

• Nineteenth century discourse claimed that the
  superiority of the English language was the
  reflection of a people and a culture of superior
  quality and vice versa. English was a noble
  language, a highly accomplished language, used
  by a highly civilized race.

9
The superior qualities of English

• A key argument in the demonstration of the
  superiority of the English language was in the
  breadth of its vocabulary (still considered
  relevant today).
• English is an extremely flexible language, an
  infinitely adaptable language, a language that
  has achieved its hegemony thanks to its
  propensity for acquiring new identities
  (Kachru).

10
The superior qualities of English

• The richness of English puts into play other
  images of English that are very important the
  notion of English as a pure Anglo-Saxon language,
  the idea that English and English speakers have
  always been open, flexible, democratic and
  integrationist, and the belief that because of
  their vast vocabulary, speakers of English are
  the ablest thinkers.

11
Colonial evidence

• The notion of English as a great borrowing
  language also seems to suggest a view of the
  British intermingling and interacting with the
  people they colonized, which is not true
  according to Pennycook. This cultural construct
  is in direct conflict with British aloofness and
  snobbery towards the Other .

12
Flexibility and adaptability

• Pennycook is critical of the notion that the
  English language and its speakers are
  particularly flexible and adaptable. What is your
  opinion? Do you have any evidence of this
  flexibility and adaptability or the lack of it?

13
Do you agree or disagree?

• English is not merely a great language but the
  greatest.
• If you are a speaker of English, you are better
  equipped than speakers of other languages to
  think about the world.
• English is a window on the world.
• English has the right word for every concept and
  idea under the sun.

14
English as a filter

• Pennycook is also critical of the view that when
  people speak English as an L2 they dissect the
  world through the filter of the English language.
  Do you believe that your view of the world and
  perhaps your identity change according to the
  language you are speaking?