U214A Book 2: English in the World: history, diversity

U214A
Green Book English
In The World: History,
Diversity, Change
Chapter One
Dr. Magda
English In The World Today
 Chapter one focuses on the nature of the English language in our world today.
 Chapter One addresses this complex question: What it is about the nature of the
language in the world today that leads scholars like Toolan and Karchu to
make such radical suggestions About the need to change the very name of
the language?
 Michael Toolan (1997) argued that the English that is used nowadays is an
international language because it is culturally removed from the traditional national
language of England. Therefore, it should not be called ‘English’.
 According to Toolan ‘English’ , is no longer an appropriate name as it does not
reflect the identity the language has in our modern world.
 Toolan suggested that the language should be renamed, and he proposed the name
‘Global English’ because English is used in various contexts of international
communication.
 Toolan (1997) stated” English is becoming increasingly released from a sense
of rootedness in one or more ethnic homelands (whether that is thought of
as England, or the Anglo-Saxon world, or the Anglo-American world”
English : Multicultural Identities
 Braj Kachru (1992) argued that because ‘English now has
multicultural identities … the term ‘English’ does not capture
the sociolinguistic reality of the language. Instead, he suggests
that the plural form ‘Englishes’ should be used. (p. 357).
 According to Kachru , English is no longer possible to speak of
a single English language.
 Kachru argued that around the world there are now several
different varieties of English being spoken, each of which is
distinct enough to be accorded the status of a separate
language.
 While Kachru does not agree with Toolan regarding the need
for a new name for the English language, he argues that a
fundamental reconceptualization of the language is necessary.
What is English?
 The Chambers Dictionary (11th edition) defines English as follows:
“A Germanic language spoken in the British Isles, USA, most
parts of the Commonwealth, etc.”
 Oxford English Dictionary extends this definition slightly further as
follows:
“ Of or relating to the West Germanic language spoken in England
and also used in many varieties throughout the world”
 Dr. Johnson, In the mid-eighteenth century, defined English in his
dictionary as follows:
“language spoken in England”.
 Modern dictionaries mostly augment Johnson’s definition by adding
something about the global scope of the language. In our today’s
world, English is much more than this; English has spread extensively
in the two and a half centuries since Johnson’s time.
 If we want to study English, its development, its use and its status; its
worth clarifying exactly what it is.
Comments on the Definitions
of The English Language
 All the definitions of the English language concentrate on a
number of key elements which include the following
 The communities with which the language is most associated.
 The history of the English language.
 The way it is now used in various places around the world.
 In other words, all these definitions link the language with the
people who speak it now or who spoke it in the past.
 This means that language doesn’t exist as an abstract entity, it is
something people actually use.
 For this reason any investigation into the language will involve an
investigation into the social and historical context in which the
language flourishes.
Varieties of English
 English is currently spoken by between 1500 and 2000 million
people, in hundreds of countries.
 Such statistics indicate that the language has developed in
such a way that, conceptually, it is now a quite different entity
from its pre-globalised incarnation (manifestation).
 This statement arises a number of questions:
 What do we actually mean when we say that ‘English is spoken
by almost two billion people in the world today?
 What counts as English in this context?
 And who qualifies as having the competence to be a speaker of
it?
 Are there significant differences between the way it is spoken
in different places?
 At what point do we say that they are different varieties of
the language, or that perhaps they are actually different
languages?
Language Is Diverse
 Language is very diverse ( check the three passages on pp. 9-11).
 Language has developed in different communities in such a way
that its form is noticeably different.
 Can we consider these as varieties of English? If so, the question
now is, at what point do we decide to call these varieties a different
language?
 At what point they are no longer English? How does one decide
what counts as the core of the language?
 Is there a central version of the language which we should think as
authentic English? Or are each of these varieties equally valid
systems of linguistic expression which just happen to be different?
 The answers for all these questions will be discussed throughout
the book.
Language, Varieties , Dialects
 Variety refers to any distinct form of a language. It is also
more neutral than the others which can be used to suggest
that one form of a language is more prestigious or legitimate
than another.
 Dialect refers specifically to a language variety in which
aspects of the vocabulary and grammar indicate a person’s
regional or social background. Standard British English is
itself considered a dialect by linguists, indicating a speaker’s
social origin.
 Accent refers specifically to differences in pronunciation. So
a New York accent refers to the distinctive and systematic
pronunciation which is associated with the population of the
city of New York.
English Through History

See activity 1.3 pp. 14-17

English has, over its lifetime, absorbed influences from countless sources – and so just as
English is now a presence in diverse contexts all across the globe, so diverse contexts from
across the globe also have a presence in the language itself.

We can see that the language has changed considerably over the last thousand or so years.
It has changed in terms of its lexis (vocabulary), its orthography (spelling) and its semantics
(meaning). And, it’s also changed in terms of its syntax (word order).

To what extent is modern-day English the same language as that introduced to the British
Isles one and a half millennia ago?

One of the reasons for the change that has happened to English over the centuries is that
English has always been in contact with other languages. The influence from this contact can
be seen most clearly in the way that English is full of what are known as loanwords.

The term loanword, or borrowing, is used to refer to an item of vocabulary from one
language which has been adopted into the vocabulary of another. The process is often the
result of language contact, where two or more languages exist in close geographical or
social proximity (closeness).

The dominant language often absorbs new item of vocabulary, either to cover concepts for
which it has no specific word of its own, or to generate a slightly different function or nuance
for concepts for which it does have existing words.

Some loanwords keep their foreign appearance when they are adopted e.g. je ne sais quoi =
I don’t know. Other loanwords become completely naturalized, until speakers of the
language no longer notice their ‘foreignness’ e.g. bamboo from the Malay, bambu, 1963;
ketchup from the Chinese ketchiap 1711; ghoul from the Arabic ghul, an evil spirit, 1786.
See pp. 18-19 for further examples.
Who speaks English?

See Activity 1.4 pp. 21-23

In this section we will consider the role English plays in the lives of people in various parts of the
world, and look at how the opinions people hold about the language are related to their personal
histories, to the histories of their communities and to their interpretations of the history of the
language.

The attitudes people have towards the language are a part of their own personal history. But this
personal history is always a part of the wider history of the community in which they live. It is
often the case that not only is the language of importance to the individual’s sense of identity, but
that it also plays a part in the cultural identity of a group or nation. It is within this context that
the history of English – and especially the reasons behind its global spread – can be of great
significance for the attitudes people have towards the language.

It is important when we study English not to forget that what we are actually studying is the
language as it is and was used by real people.

The development of the language is influenced by social forces. Decisions about the language
made by situations such as national governments and education systems have an impact on the
form of the language and on the way it is perceived and used.
The Spread of English?
 How do we model the spread of English?
 In this section we will consider how people have modelled the existence of
English around the world, and to do so we should study some key concepts
and terminology which will be used in the rest of the book.
 A first distinction that is mad by between the English that is spoken by
native speakers (NS) and by non-native speakers (NNS). The word native
is derived from the Latin natus meaning to be born, so one’s native
language is the language one acquires from birth.
 An alternative term for this is mother tongue, which again refers to the
language of one’s early childhood environment, in contrast to a non-native
speaker, who will have learnt in later in life. The significance of the
distinction is that people acquire language in a different manner depending
on the age at which they learn it. Learning a second language later in life
may result in speaking it with an accent influenced by one’s native
language.
Mother Tongue
 The concept of the mother tongue or the native speaker (and the
related notion of English as a Native Language (ENL) countries)
is as much to do with the biography of the speaker as with the
nature of the language itself.
 Another long-standing distinction is that between English as a
Second Language and English as a Foreign Language. These are
often abbreviated as ESL and EFL refers to the use of English in
countries where it has some official or legal status, most often as
the result of a colonial history. For example, English is an official
language in India – and is thus used in administrative and
educational contexts – although it is not the mother tongue for
the majority of the population.
 We can also add EIL or English as an International Language as a
further conceptualization of how the language is used in today’s
world. There is a growing perception that English is now the
world’s lingua franca – that it operates as a means of
communication for people across the globe who do not share a
mother tongue and yet, given the globalized society in which we
now live, have the need to interact.
The Three Circles of English
 A number of models for describing the spread of English around the globe have been
put forward over the last few decades, but by far the most influential has been the
one devised by Braj Kachru and known as the Three Circles of English.
 For each circle, Karchu’s model reflects the following three issues:
 How members of particular countries usually come to acquire the language
 The purposes or functions to which the language is put in particular
countries.
 The historical process that has resulted in English occupying its current
position in particular countries.
 The Inner circle of English-speaking countries is composed of those places where
the language is the mother tongue for the vast majority of the population and where
it operates as the default language for almost all domains of society.
 The Outer Circle also comprises countries in which the current status of English is
the result of colonization where English is considered their Second language.
 The Expanding Circle, which refers to the rest of the world. In these countries
English is predominantly viewed and taught as a foreign language.
The Strengths and Limitations
of The Three Circle Model
 According to Kachru (1992, p. 362), the strengths and limitations
of the three circle models can be summarized as follows:
 One of its strengths has been the way it has advocated the need to
see the presence of the language around the globe as consisting of
several world Englishes rather than as a single, massive entity.
 We must … cease to view English within the framework appropriate
for monolingual societies.
 We must recognize the linguistic, cultural, and pragmatic
implications of various types of pluralism; that pluralism has now
become an integral part of the English language and literature
written in English in various parts of the non-Western world.
Videos
 World Englishes: How long does it take to develop varieties of
English? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_q9b9YqGRY
 David Crystal - Will English Always Be the Global Language?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kvs8SxN8mc
 Global English with David Crystal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZI1EjxxXKw
 Varieties of English - The Spread of English
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrsQmIVYrdg
Questions
1. Define the following:
*Accent
*Dialects
*Mother Tongue
2. What is English? What do we mean by ‘varieties of English’?
3. Explain how the English language is diverse. Give examples to support your
discussion.
4. Explain how English has, over its lifetime, absorbed influences from countless
sources. Give examples to support your discussion.
5. Comment on this statement and give examples to support your discussion:” Michael
Toolan (1997) argued that the English that is used nowadays is an international
language because it is culturally removed from the traditional national language of
England. Therefore, it should not be called ‘English’.
6. How do we model the spread of English? Discuss Braj Kachru’s Three Circles of
English.