world englishes Flashcards
(16 cards)
David Crystal
World english - One which achieves global status through special role in particular country
He distinguishes between making a language an official language in a country so that is is used in formal settings such as government or law courts, or prioritising it in a country’s foreign-language teaching
The reason for English’s popularity is its role as a lingua franca
Jennifer Jenkins
The lingua franca core identifies specific pronunciation features of the English language when teaching English as a lingua franca.
She argues that the use of these features is not so that the user can sound like a native speaker but rather it is intelligible (understandable to all participants)
She later referred to this as communicative competence
David Graddol
Writes about the unprecedented status of English and how it is hard to predict its future status as a global language. Graddol writes that English will instead evolve into a new global form of English which meets the changing needs of society, even if fewer people in total are using it.
Differences emerge in the meaning of individual words and phrases which could underline Graddol’s beliefs about the fragmentation of English
English’s spread across the world
Originated in the british isles
17th century - first diaspora (dispersal or scattering) of language occurred when settlers travelled to Australia, canada, new zealand and the USA
Here, new first language (L1) varieties of english formed meaning that is the first language someone learns.
Some argue that unfair advantages exist for those who use L1 varieties of english. AO2 - Bagele Chilasa - hierarchy of language
Second diaspora - colonisers from Briain brought english to countries where there were already established first language and it was mostly used for trade and the assertion of power. It became a second language (L2)
Braj Kachru
In the inner circle are the L1 varieties - australia, canada
In the outer circle are the countries in which english is an L2 language
The expanding circle reflects where English is learnt as an additional language or used an additional language or used as a lingua franca
Mcarthur’s circle of world english
Monolithic model based on written texts with world standard english at the core of the model. While it is progressive that the model lists varieties of world englishes in second language regions, the model still depicts a hierarchy with a standard variety at its core.
Jean Paul Nerriere
Proposed a list of 1500 english words called globish. Nerriere observed japanese and south korean speakers of english using it as a lingua france before codifying a simplified form of the language
Critics have pointed out that it still holds certain forms of english such as British English or American English as having higher prestige than other modern forms.
Seidlhofer
Certain sounds are particularly english such as the ‘th’ phoneme. These sounds can be difficult for non-native speakers of english to pronounce and might be replaced with f,v,s,d.
He also found that the pluralisation of mass nouns were far more frequent in asian english speakers.
Evolution of world englishes
Languages evolve into new forms - pigeons and creoles
Pidgins evolve from elements of different languages and often act as a lingua franca. They tend to contain basic grammar and a limited vocabulary
Creoles evolve from contact between European language and a local language. Creoles contain more complex grammatical structures and a wider vocabulary
Pidgins evolve into creole eventually
Stress timed vs syllable timed languages
Stress timed - those which give different stresses when spoken
Syllable timed - give each syllable different emphasis
English as stress timed meaning that some users of syllable timed languages such as Cantonese, French, or Spanish struggle with pronunciation of unstressed sounds in english.
Rhotic vs Non-rhotic accents
In rhotic accents, the /r/ consonant is always pronounced
In non-rhotic accents, the /r/ consonant is dropped or not pronounced when it follows another vowel and is followed by a consonant or is at the end of a word.
British English, Australian English, New Zealand English and most African English accents are mostly non-rhotic.
American english, canadian english, irish english, and most asian english accents are mostly rhotic.
The ecology of language
Coined by Einar haugen - it is a metaphor between a language and the environment in which it is found (relating to particular country, culture and society)
Lisa Lim - there is both predictable and unpredictable change to be found in these varieties of english and underlines both the way in which varieties are diverging and all of the unknown factors in whether english will continue to be adopted by more people and become even more powerful.
Mark Pagel
It is inevitable that humanity will end up speaking one language
Language is a social technology which develops cooperation in society
Papua new guinea - There are between 800 and 1000 languages spoken and you can encounter a new language every 2-3 miles
30-50 languages go extinct every day
It is inevitable that we will have one language and he envisages this will be english
Lynne murphy
Not only are there obvious lexical differences but pragmatic differences too between american and british english
Where British people tend to use please and thank you as politeness markers, even when we don’t necessarily mean them, saying please in American English can be considered rude as it can suggest demand.
Extends to greetings such as the british constructions - “how are you? I’m fine, thanks” - Murphy argues that while we may see this quite often in Britain, we don’t necessarily care how the other person is feeling. However, American conversation is more likely to imbue greetings with deliberate meanings.
Hakak, Bosah, Amponsah, Cheung
Focused on social workers who migrated between england and australia and explored their language in relation to politeness.
Found Australian speakers to be more direct when compared to the english and valued social equality in interactions compared to english imposition
Austalians concerned with being welcoming and showing solidarity when speaking with someone for the first time. While the english may be perceived as more polite, this is because they are more reserved and concerned with how they appear.
Researchers at Mcmaster university
analysed 48 million tweets to examine national stereotypes in canada and the USA
While Canadians were far from positive, using lexical items such as thanks and amazing. Americans were more inclined to use negative vocabulary such as hate or mad.
