WORLD ENGLISHES

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WORLD ENGLISHES

• IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
• AND
• ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
• Andy Kirkpatrick
• 2007

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Englishes

• Native varieties traditional varieties of
  British, American, and Australian English
• Nativised varieties newer varieties influenced
  by local languages and cultures in places where
  English was not originally spoken (accultured,
  and indigenised)
• Lingua franca common language used by people of
  different language backgrounds to communicate
  with each other

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Native Variety Criteria

• Existing longer than nativised varieties
• Influential to younger varieties
• Spoken by white (prejudice)
• Superior to nativised varieties (prejudice)
• Note By these definitions and criteria, a
  nativised, accultured, and indigenised variety of
  English spoken by an identifiable community is
  nativised.

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Native vs Non-native Speakers

• It no longer makes any sense to differentiate
  between native and non-native speakers
• The linguistic ability of the near-native speaker
  is indistinguishable from the linguistic ability
  of the native speaker.
• A native-speaking speaker of English from England
  may lack communicative competence in Australia a
  native speaker of English who has lived in the
  south of England may lack communicative
  competence in the North of England An English
  speaker brought up in London will not know the
  linguistic rules of the Australian variety of
  English.
• Many varieties of considered nativised Englishes
  may be mutually unintelligible, especially if the
  motivation of the speaker is to highlight his or
  her identity.

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(continuation)

• The terms should be avoided
• Use L1 in terms of the language that is spoken
  best, not the language that is first learned.
• Use expert user (Rampton, 1990), but it should
  be assigned to different categories because an
  expert speaker may not be an expert writer.
• Use successful L2 learners (Cook, 1999) rather
  than native speakers for models for the L2
  learner.

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Linguistic Prejudice Preference

• People who speak with RP are more intelligent or
  competent than those who speak in different,
  regional accents.
• Other speakers, who speak with accents similar to
  their own, no matter whether these are urban or
  rural speakers, are considered warmer and more
  honest.
• Some prefer British English, some prefer American
  English.
• NOTE If we think that one accent somehow sounds
  more or less intelligent than others, we are
  linguistically prejudiced.

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Key Linguistic Terms

• Phonology and pronunciation
• Different pronunciation in vowel, insertion of
  schwa sound in consonant cluster, and deletion of
  consonant sounds at the end of clusters poor,
  main, mine, bath, skyscrapers, film, known,
  worked, books
• Stress-timed vs syllable-timed pronunciation
  speakers of syllable-timed languages will develop
  Englishes that are characterized by syllable
  timing.
• Word stress photographer

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(continuation)

• Vocabulary
• A word in one variety of English may have a
  different meaning in another variety bush,
  alphabet, pollie (politician), journo
  (journalist), reffo (refugee)
• Different varieties may have words unique to
  them kangaroo, boomerang, sarong, laksa, kiasu,
  kimono, karaoke, sake
• Morphology and syntax
• The use of tenses across varieties Have you
  bought the car yet? (British) vs Did you buy the
  car yet? (American) Im knowing very well
  (Indian) vs I know very well (British)

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(continuation)

• Cultural Conventions and schemas
• Differences in cultural conventions that may
  cause a sense of discomfort or pragmatic
  dissonance (Li, 2002)
• BrE How are you? Fine, thanks.
• AmE How are you doing? Great (thanks).
• AusE How are you going? Good, thanks. / (By
  bus.)
• AsE Where are you going? (Greeting?)
• Have you eaten? (Greeting?)
• The use of first name in AusE academic context
  vs. the use of title and family name in AmE.
• Differences in cultural conventions may cause
  misunderstanding
• Ch PC My mother is not well, sir. Could I take
  a day off please?
• Br Expat PO So? Why?
• Ch PC She has to go into hospital. My mother is
  not well
• Br Expat PO Well?
• Ch PC On Thursday, sir.
• Englishes are influenced by their speakers
  cultural and linguistic backgrounds and reflect
  the speakers cultural conventions and norms that
  are mirrored in the schemas they use.

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Models of World Englishes

• Classifications
• ENL, English as a Native Language English is the
  primary language of the great majority of the
  population (Aus, Can, NZ, the UK, the USA).
• ESL, English as a Second Language English is an
  important and usually official language, but not
  the main language of the country, which typically
  ex-colony of the UK or the USA (Nigeria, India,
  Malaysia, the Philippines).
• EFL, English as a Foreign Language English is
  not actually used or spoken very much in the
  normal course of daily life, but is learned at
  school (China, Indonesia, Japan, countries in the
  Middle East).

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(continuation)

• Shortcomings
• ENL is innately superior to ESL and EFL varieties
  and so it represents a good model of English for
  those in ESL and EFL countries to follow. In
  fact, in ENL countries, not all of the people
  speak the same standard model, and there are
  many different varieties of English.
• Using ENL as the model ignores the fact that
  such a model might be inappropriate in ESL
  countries where the local variety would be a more
  acceptable model as there are more fluent
  speakers and expert users of the variety.

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(continuation)

• Classifications by Kachru (1985), using
  concentric circle
• Inner Circle refers to the traditional cultural
  and linguistic bases of English
• Outer Circle represents the institutional
  non-native varieties in the regions that have
  passed through extended periods of colonisation
• Expanding Circle refers to the English varieties
  in essentially EFL contexts
• Conclusion
• One English has become many Englishes.
• The spread of English has resulted in the
  development of many Englishes, not the
  transplanting of one model to other countries.
• The type of colony a nation was influenced the
  way English developed there (Mufwane, 2001)
• ? trade colonies European and local traders
  used non-standard English that led to the
  development of pidgins.
• ? exploitation colonies (India, malaysia,
  Burma) To ensure administrative and political
  control, the colonisers imported administrators
  from other colonies (India for Burmese) and
  trained locals. This training necessitated the
  establishment of schools where English was used
  as an instructional medium. Varieties developed
  within this type of contexts through the contact
  with local and other languages and through
  contact with non-standard and school varieties
  of English.
• ? settlement colonies (Aus NE) the
  settlers themselves became the administrators, so
  the local languages, which provided a range of
  culturally and geographically specific vocabulary
  items, had relatively small influence on the
  Englishes of the settlers.
• The Kachrus model underestimated the roles that
  English would come to play in EC countries
  although the term EC suggests development. For
  example the role of English in Chinathe number
  of people learning English there (some schools
  and universities use English as the instructional
  medium) is now greater than the combined
  populations of the inner circle countries. In
  addition, English is becoming the lingua franca
  of business and trade, as well as in computer
  mediated communication in China.

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More terms

• Exonormative model the model originates from
  outside the place where it is spoken
• Transported/ imported variety a variety spoken
  by the settlers
• Nativised/ indiginised/ accultured variety a
  variety spoken by the locals
• Endonormative model a locally grown variety
• Nativisation/ indigenisation / a combination of
  deculturation (the loosing of its original
  cultural roots) and acculturation (the developing
  of new cultural roots) the process through
  which an imported variety goes on its way to
  becoming a local variety

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The developmental phases of non-native varieties

• By Kachru (1992)
• Non-recognition of the local variety. Its
  speakers are prejudiced against it and believe
  that some imported native speaker variety is
  superior and should be the model for language
  learning in schools.
• The co-existence of local and imported varieties.
  The local variety is used in a wide number of
  situations and a wide range of purposes but still
  considered inferior to the imported model.
• Recognition of the local variety. It is
  recognized as the norm and socially accepted,
  becoming the model for language learning in
  schools. Local people continuing to speak the
  imported variety can be seen as outsiders or
  behaving unnaturally in some way.

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(continuation)

• By Moag (1992)
• Transportation the phase when English arrives in
  the place where it has not been spoken and
  remains to stay
• Indigenization the long period during which the
  new variety starts to reflect the local culture
  and becomes different from the transported one
• Expansion in use the phase in which the new
  variety is used in an increasing number of
  situations and for more and more purposes
• Institutionalisation the process marked by the
  use of the local variety as a language learning
  model in school, by the writing of local
  literature in the new variety, and by the
  appearance of the internal or local variations
• Decline in use the stage in which the increased
  official promotion of the local language (Tagalog
  in the Philippines and Malay in Malaysia) results
  in a decline in the use of the local variety of
  Englishthough no evidence of the death of the
  local variety

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(continuation)

• By Schneider ((2003)
• Foundation, when English begins to be used in a
  country where it was not spoken because of the
  settlers
• Exonormative stabilization, when the variety
  spoken is modeled on the variety spoken by the
  settlers
• Nativisation, the most important and dynamic
  phase, when a new identity is established
• Endonormative stabilization, when the new variety
  becomes gradually accepted as the local norm or
  model
• Differentiation, when the new variety has
  emerged, reflecting local identity and culture
  and when more local varieties develop as markers
  of ethnic identity

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The debate continues

• English as an International Language or World
  Englishes?
• The spread of English centers Is it due to
  imperialism / linguistic imperialism / linguicism
  (Philipsons, 1992) or is it due to genuine desire
  of people to learn English because it has become
  so useful and because it can be adapted to suit
  the cultural norms of the people who speak it?

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(continuation)

• Imperialism as the cause
• British, to a greater extent, American English,
  that is being spread across the world. It brings
  with them the Anglo-cultural norms.
• The British govt sees great advantage in the
  spread of English (through British Councels,
  which have established language schools to give
  access to British culture), esp. in
  post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and in
  countries such as China.
• Certain varieties are considered superior in a
  range of international context. Academic
  publications in the US and UK favor articles
  written in Anglo varieties and follow Anglo
  rhetorical style.
• People need to learn English as it is the
  international language.

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(continuation)

• Sought actively by people throughout the world
• The development of English varieties show that
  English can be adapted by its speakers to reflect
  their cultural norms and ways of thinking.
• Many non-Anglo or non-Western ways of thinking
  have received international attention through
  English (Chinese culture, traditional medicine,
  the art of war by Sun Zi, and the tenets of
  Confucianism).

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IMPLICATIONS for ELTChoosing an exonormative
native speaker model

• The choice which have been made by the most OC
  and probably all EC countries because
• The model has prestige and legitimacy. It has
  been codified (having available grammars and
  dictionaries, learning can be tested and
  evaluated against codified norms and standards).
• The learning materials are readily available.
• Ministries of Education are keen to be providing
  the best for their people, claiming to be
  upholding standards.

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IMPLICATIONS for ELTChoosing an exonormative
native speaker model

• Advantages