14 Mayıs 2013 Salı

English with Italian Accent :)

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTt8XQCiBgY

English with Russian Accent :)

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujxM4ZPsvSI
















Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau in Pink Panther.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8IqZXy1s8

Sympathetic Indian Accent :)

















How to do an Indian accent!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjg2-499sXo

How To Do An Australian Accent (with slang)

















This funny video teaches you how to do an Australian accent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG0v9tZStAk

British Vs. American English

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua7nyAaf3pE

The history of English in 10 minutes

















http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexKqvgPVuA

23 Nisan 2013 Salı

A funny and beneficial video about the English language


The English Language in 30 Accents (Animated).

The three circle model of Kachru


                  The three-circle model






http://jalt-publications.org/old_tlt/files/96/oct/graphics/circle.gif

                  

The Three-circle Model of World Englishes was developed by Kachru in 1985 and it remains one of the most influential models for grouping the varieties of English in the world (Mollin, 2006, p.41). Kachru (1985) described the spread of English in terms of three concentric circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. These circles represent "the type of spread, the patterns of acquisition and the functional domains in which English is used across cultures and languages" (Kachru, 1985, p.12). Although Kachru's three-circle of English is still an important initial stepping stone for the division of Englishes, drawbacks and variations have been identified by several authors, including Kachru himself (Yoneoka, 2002). The Kachru's Three-circle Model will be introduced and evaluated in this paper.
In the Kachru's Three-circle Model, the Inner Circle Kachru's model refers to the traditional bases of English, dominated by the mother-tongue varieties, where English acts as a first language (White, 1997). The countries involved in the Inner Circle include the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The varieties of English used here are said to be 'norm providing'. The Outer Circle consists of the earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native settings, where the language has become part of a country's chief institutions, and plays an important 'second language' role in a multilingual setting (Rajadurai, 2005). Most of the countries included in the Outer Circle are former colonies of the UK or the USA, such as Malaysia, Singapore, India, Ghana, Kenya and others (Rajadurai, 2005). The English used in the outer circle is considered as 'norm-developing'. The Expanding Circle refers to the territories where English is learnt as a foreign language. The territories do not have a history of colonization by members of the Inner Circle and institutional or social role. English is taught asa 'foreign' language as the most useful vehicle of international communication (White, 1997). The countries in the Expanding Circle include China, Japan, Greece and Poland (Crsytal, 1997). The English used in the Expanding Circle is regarded as 'norm dependent'.
The Kachru's model is in a dynamic nature. According to Kachru (1985), dividing English speakers into Inner, Outer and Expanding circles is preferable to the traditional native, ESL and EFL labels which involve the dichotomy between native and nonnative speakers (Rajadurai, 2005). English native speakers are visually not privileged since they are not placed at the top of the Three-circle Model. However, the model is not sufficiently dynamic to reflect the reality of English use in the world. It still prefers the English native speakers in the inner circle. The limitations of the model will be discussed in the following.
According to Patil (2006), the model assumes that the three circles represent linguistic reality perfectly. Kachru (1985) himself has noted that the concentric circles may be oversimplified and fuzzy areas exist. Some special cases like South Africa and Jamaica are difficult to be classified. As Kachru himself has acknowledged, the fact is that the categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive and grey areas exist between the circles (Rajadurai, 2005). Apart from the fuzzy classification between circles, Tripathi (1998) points out that there are no mechanisms to differentiate varieties within a circle. Therefore, Crystal (1997) suggests not defining the boundaries of Kachru's concentric circles in such absolute terms.
Kachru's model describes the Inner Circle, Outer Circle and Expanding Circle as 'norm-providing', norm-developing' and 'norm-dependent'. However, Crystal (1995) comments that the model cannot represent the reality of international English use because the reality is often not so clear-cut. Crystal wonders it is difficult to distinguish whether the Outer Circle looks to Inner Circle norms or it creates its own norms. Norms development is also possible in the Expanding Circle.
The Three-circle Model fails to consider the growth of English in the world. It cannot account for the growing use of English, namely English as a lingua franca between speakers who do not share a first language (Mollin, 2006, p.41-42). English is now overwhelmingly widespread in international settings. It is the language choice in international organizations, companies as well as academic world (Katzner, 2002, p.39). It is also commonly used in the domains of the internet, international mass media and entertainment (Phillipson 1992). Crystal (1997, p.22) states that "the speed with which a global language scenario has arisen is truly remarkable". The so called "Expanding Circle" of foreign language speakers included more than 750 million EFL speakers in 1997, compared to 375 million first language speakers and 375 million second language speakers. It is important to point out that the number of English users is developing at a faster rate as a language of international communication than as a language of intranational communication (Thesis, 2009). International communication has become a common phenomenon between the circles and the increased mobility of people has made personal relationships across language borders (Thesis, 2009). Kachru's concentric circles seem to acknowledge diversity but little commonality across Englishes, describing the English varieties as separate (Burt, 2005). Due to the increasing international communication, the distinction between the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle becomes fuzzy and cannot account for the growing use of English in today's world.
In the Kachru's model, the Expanding Circle refers to the territories where English is learnt as a foreign language. However, because of the growth of English, the language has become a necessity in today's world; English is not only learnt in the expanding circle, or even mostly, to enable communication with the Inner and Outer Circles (Patil, 2006). The importance of English is keep increasing in the world, especially in the Expanding Circle. As a result, learning English can no longer be seen as learning a foreign language in the traditional sense (Patil, 2006). Graddol (2006) has even argued that knowing English has become a basic skill in the global world. Nunan shares the same feeling with Graddol that knowing English makes more sense than simply "learning English" for EFL or ESL (Robertson, 2005).
The functions of English are highly restricted in the Expanding Circle which can not reflect the actual use of English. Englishes in the Expanding Circle are seen as far removed from the Inner Circle core and marginalized. As the description of the Expanding Circle mentioned in Kachru (1992), "The performance varieties of English have a highly restricted functional range in specific contexts; for example, those of tourism, commerce, and other international transactions". In fact, the range of English use in the Expanding Circle has become much wider due to the increasing growth of English. "There is much more use of English nowadays in some countries of the expanding circle, where it is 'only' a foreign language ..., than in some of the countries where it has traditionally held a special place" (Crystal, 1997, p. 56). For example, although Egyptian English is classified in the Expanding Circle, "there are a number of Egyptian contexts, such as medicine, higher education, the sciences, or in tourism, which extend limbs into the Outer circle as well." (Yoneoka, 2002). The above example shows that the functions of Expanding Circle English today are not as restricted as Karchru mentioned. It can be observed that there is a merging of the Outer and Expanding Circles.
The Three-circle Model implies that the Outer Circle cannot merge into the Inner Circle (Patil, 2006). However, sometimes it is difficult to define which one owns English as the first language and which one knows English as a second language. "There are several countries where population movement, language loss, divergent language attitudes, and massive shifts in language use have made it difficult to answer the question: "What is your first language?"(Crystal, 1995, p. 363). Therefore, not only the classification between the Outer and Expanding Circles, that between Inner Circle and Outer Circles can also be tough.
Some researchers suggest that Kachru's Three-circle Model should not base the classification of English speakers on national identity. "National identity should not be a basis of classification of speakers of an international language. The more English becomes an international language, the more the division of its speakers into 'native' and 'nonnative' becomes inconsistent." (Brutt-Griffler and Samimy, 2001, p.104). Refer to this problem; Rajadurai (2005) has presented a different Three-Circle Model: "While acknowledging the fuzzy distinctions between circles, in principle, the inner circle could comprise all users who are proficient in English and able to instinctively codeswitch between international and national or regional varieties to communicate in the most appropriate way. The second circle could consist of speakers who are proficient only in regional varieties, i.e. native and nonnative speakers with restricted intranational proficiency, while the outer circle could be made up of learners of the language."
Although English native speakers visually do not have higher hierarchy since they are not placed at the top of the Three-circle Model, it still prefers the English native speakers in the inner circle. As Burt (2005) comments, the Inner Circle clearly establishes at the top of the hierarchy. The idea that English is someone's second language implies that it is someone else's first language. It gives the impression that English belongs to the native speaker who owns it as his first language. Kachru has acknowledged that "it is almost unavoidable that anyone would take 'second' as less worthy" (Kachru and Nelson, 1996, p.79). In order to ease the problem, Yano (2001, p.122-123) has suggested that the ENL and ESL circles can merge into a single ENL circle with two sets of varieties: genetic and functional ENL.
To conclude, Kachru Three-Circle model has limitations to reflect the reality of English use. The model is oversimplified and the classification among the three circles is fuzzy. In fact, the three varieties are mutually inclusive and grey areas exist. Due to the rapid growth of English, English status has increased in the Expanding Circle. English is not only learnt but more widely used in different settings. The classification between the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle becomes difficult. Therefore, the Three-circle Model should be modified to a more dynamic one to represent the actual use of English. Instead of categorizing the English speakers based on national identity, the revised model can be classified in terms of the English proficiency in international and regional varieties. More research related to World Englishes should also be conducted in the future to meet the rapid growth of English.


Read more: http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/english-language/the-three-circle-model.php#ixzz2QYtfBkqI

http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/english-language/the-three-circle-model.php



World Englishes


World Englishes

Full title: World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching Author: Andy Kirkpatrick Publisher: Cambridge University Press Reviewed by: Eric Roth Do the English in England speak the same English as the Americans, the Jamaicans, the South Africans, the Australians, the Irish, and the Indians? Do they even speak the same English as [...]
Reviewed for Teflnet by Eric Roth

Full title: World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching
Author: Andy Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Reviewed by: Eric Roth

Do the English in England speak the same English as the Americans, the Jamaicans, the South Africans, the Australians, the Irish, and the Indians? Do they even speak the same English as they did 100 years ago before radio, television, and the internet? Should there be a global standard for all English speakers? Linguist Andy Kirkpatrick raises these and many other provocative questions in his exceptionally documented book “World Englishes: Implications for International Communication and English Language Teaching” published by Cambridge University Press. What does it mean if a majority of English speakers are actually English as a second language speakers? Can we actually assert that one version of English is more correct, formal, or proper than other forms? Are native speakers of English really the best English teachers for English language learners in developing countries?
The enclosed audio CD might be the best, brief introduction to the subject as you hear a wide diversity of voices and accents tell stories and read poems in …. English? Or is it Englishes? That’s the essential question that this scholarly primer on sociolinguistics poses. For instance, as an American English teacher, I had little problem understanding the woman from Charlotte, North Carolina who vividly described her childhood picking cotton or the Downeast Maine woman who switches accents and vocabulary depending on her audience. Yet I struggled – really struggled- to comprehend Africans, Caribbean Islanders, and Irish on this CD. If the goal is international communication, than many folks on the CD fail to communicate with English as an International language standard. Yet Kirkpatrick systematically argues that English is spoken in particular contexts to specific audiences. What is proper, Kirkpatrick contends, depends more on circumstances and purposes than arbitrary absolute standards with neo-colonial overtones. As a result Kirkpatrick, who teaches at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, finds notions of “correctness” of pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling, and even grammatical functions quite problematic and limited.
Divided into three parts (Framework, Variation and Varieties, and Implications), World Englishes provides detailed case studies of the spread and use of English in Britain, the United States, Australia, the Caribbean, Africa, and South-East Asia. He also has a fascinating chapter titled “Emerging Englishes: Hong Kong and China” where he speculates on possible future directions of the world’s latest lingua franca. Often surprising, these concise historical overviews highlight the political aspects of speaking English. As a result, Kirkpatrick suggests that English be looked from an “identity-communication continuum.” The author emphatically places greater importance on the right of individuals to speak their own version of English over the communication needs of listeners.
“English operates as a lingua franca at a number of different level, including local, national, regional, and internationally” notes Kirkpatrick. When second language speakers focus on their audiences, the author convincingly demonstrates many speakers often change their register, grammar, and cultural references (code-switching) for international audiences (rather than fellow nationals in English). They speak, the author contends, a different English – and that’s okay. Further, Kirkpatrick examines the evidence that English is a language killer, worries about the prioritizing of English over local languages, and notes that non-native English speakers face additional hurdles to publishing scholarly articles in English. Yet Kirkpatrick eventually concludes that “local demand for English is at least as powerful a cause for its spread any imperial or post-imperial imposition on its unwilling speakers.” (p.183)
What are the classroom applications of this Global Englishes analysis? First, the author notes that the vast majority of English language learners will never actually work or live in an English speaking country. Therefore, he finds the advantages of upholding an “impossible” ideal of standardized English to be limited and a challenge to local, well-trained teachers. Further, he favors the hiring and promotion of local English teachers over native speaking English teachers. “Bilingual students benefit from and respect bilingual teachers” (p.187) to counter the prejudice against local model of World English. International English teachers from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom need not apply!
Was I persuaded that World Englishes is a healthier concept than International English for an emerging 21st global culture? No, not really. But I’m grateful that I had the chance to read this scholarly work, learn about many social environments where English is taught, and reflect on the needs of English teachers working in developing nations.
For better or for worse, World Englishes makes a powerful case for a politically correct, and increasingly influential, perspective. English language teachers, immigration activists, linguistics, and standardized test creators will certainly find the 257-page book fascinating. English teachers fond of grammar exercises, however, might well be offended- perhaps even horrified- by his tolerance for alternative word order. This critically acclaimed book, however, deserves to be widely read and debated by both English teaching professionals and language policy experts.


http://edition.tefl.net/reviews/linguistics/world-englishes/

World Languages



http://jeffboulton.ca/BBB%204M1%20Map%20-%20World%20Languages.JPG

22 Nisan 2013 Pazartesi

World Englishes: 30 countries with a million English speakers


A video and song about 30 countries with about a million (or more) speakers of English. In these countries English also has some official status. This is why countries like China which has millions of English learners are not listed. Nor are countries like Antigua which has fewer than a million speakers.

This video shows the vast spread of the British Empire and the legacy of the English language.

The maps come mostly from the CIA, actually, available for download from the Perry-Casteneda Map Library at the University of Texas at Austin.

The source for this is David Crystal's book ENGLISH AS A WORLD LANGUAGE.

David Crystal - Which English?



Which 'English' should we teach our students? Global English with Professor David Crystal.

World Englishes


World Englishes are emerging localised or indigenised varieties of English, especially varieties that have developed in nations colonised by United Kingdom or influenced by the United States. World Englishes consist of varieties of English used in diverse sociolinguistic contexts globally, and how sociolinguistic histories, multicultural backgrounds and contexts of function influence the use of colonial English in different regions of the world.
The issue of World Englishes was first raised in 1978 to examine concepts of regional Englishes globally. Pragmatic factors such as appropriateness, comprehensibility and interpretability justified the use of English as an international and intra-national language. In 1988, at a Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, the International Committee of the Study of World Englishes (ICWE) was formed. In 1992, the ICWE formally launched the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE) at a conference of "World Englishes Today", at the University of Illinois, USA. There is now an academic journal devoted to the study of this topic, titled World Englishes.
Currently, there are approximately 75 territories where English is spoken either as a first language (L1) or as an unofficial or institutionalised second language (L2) in fields such as government, law and education. It is difficult to establish the total number of Englishes in the world, as new varieties of English are constantly being developed and discovered.


World English versus World Englishes


The notions of World English and World Englishes are far from similar, although the terms are often mistakenly used interchangeably. World English refers to the English language as a lingua franca used in business, trade, diplomacy and other spheres of global activity, while World Englishes refers to the different varieties of English and English-based creoles developed in different regions of the world.


Historical context




History of English


English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought by Germanic invaders into Britain. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. Eventually, one of these dialects, Late West Saxon, came to dominate.
The original Old English language was then influenced by two further waves of invasion: the first by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic language family, who conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries; the second by the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety called Anglo-Norman. For two centuries after the Norman Conquest, French became the language of everyday life among the upper classes in England. Although the language of the masses remained English, the bilingual character of England in this period was thus formed.
During the Middle English period, France and England experienced a process of separation. This period of conflicting interests and feelings of resentment was later termed the Hundred Years’ War. At the beginning of the 14th century, English regained universal use and was the principal tongue of all England.
During the Renaissance, patriotic feelings were felt towards English, recognizing it as the national language. Also, the language was advocated for its suitability for learned and literary use. With the Great Vowel Shift, the language in this period matured to a standard and differed significantly from the Middle English period, becoming recognizably “modern”.
By the 18th century, three main forces were driving the direction of the English language: (1) to reduce the language to rule and effect a standard of correct usage; (2) to refine by removing supposed defects and introducing certain improvements; and (3) to fix it permanently in the desired form. Hence, it was evident that there was a desire for system and regularity, which contrasted with the individualism and spirit of independence characterized by the previous age.
By the 19th century, the expansion of the British Empire led to the spread of English in the world. Concurrently, the rising importance of some of England’s larger colonies and their eventual independence, along with the rapid development of the United States amplified the value of the English varieties spoken in these regions. Consequently, their populations developed the belief that their distinct variety of language should be granted equal standing with the standard of Great Britain.


Global spread of English


The First dispersal: English is transported to the ‘new world’

The first diaspora involved relatively large-scale migrations of around 25,000 mother-tongue English speakers from England, Scotland and Ireland predominantly to North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Over time, their own English dialects developed into modern American, South African and Australasia Englishes. In contrast to the English of Great Britain, the varieties spoken in modern North America, South Africa and Australasia have been modified in response to the changed and changing sociolinguistic contexts of the migrants, for example being in contact with indigenous Indian, Khoisan, Aboriginal or Maori populations in the colonies.

The Second dispersal: English is transported to Asia and Africa

The second diaspora was the result of the colonisation of Asia and Africa, which led to the development of ‘New Englishes’, the second-language varieties of English. In colonial Africa, the history of English is distinct between West and East Africa. English in West Africa began due to the slave trade. English soon gained official status in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, and some of the pidgin and creoles which developed from English contact, including Krio (Sierra Leone) and Cameroon Pidgin, have large numbers of speakers now.
As for East Africa, extensive British settlements were established in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, where English became a crucial language of the government, education and the law. From the early 1960s, the six countries achieved independence in succession; but English remained the official language and had large numbers of second language speakers in Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi (along with Chewa).
English was formally introduced to the sub-continent of South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan) during the second half of the eighteenth century. In India, English was given status through the implementation of Macaulay ‘Minute’ of 1835, which proposed the introduction of an English educational system in India. Over time, the process of ‘Indianisation’ led to the development of a distinctive national character of English in India.
British influence in South-East Asia and the South Pacific began in the late eighteenth century, involving primarily the territories of Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Papua New Guinea, also a British protectorate, exemplified the English-based pidgin - Tok Pisin. Nowadays, English is also learnt in other countries in neighbouring areas, most notably in Taiwan, Japan and Korea, with the latter two having begun to consider the possibility of making English their official second language.


Classification of Englishes


The spread of English around the world is often discussed in terms of three distinct groups of users, where English is used respectively as:
  1. a native language (ENL); the primary language of the majority population of a country, such as in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
  2. a second language (ESL); an additional language for intranational as well as international communication in communities that are multilingual, such as in India, Nigeria, and Singapore.
  3. a foreign language (EFL); used almost exclusively for international communication, such as in Japan and Germany.
Most of these Englishes developed as a result of colonial imposition of the language in various parts of the world.


Kachru's Three Circles of English
Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English
Braj Kachru's Three Circles of English.

The most influential model of the spread of English is Braj Kachru's model of World Englishes. In this model the diffusion of English is captured in terms of three Concentric Circles of the language: The Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the Expanding Circle.
The Inner Circle refers to English as it originally took shape and was spread across the world in the first diaspora. In this transplantation of English, speakers from England carried the language to Australia, New Zealand and North America. The Inner Circle thus represents the traditional historical and sociolinguistic bases of English in regions where it is now used as a primary language: the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, anglophone Canada and South Africa, and some of Caribbean territories. English is the native language or mother tongue of most people in these countries. The total number of English speakers in the inner circle is as high as 380 million, of whom some 120 million are outside the United States.
The Outer Circle of English was produced by the second diaspora of English, which spread the language through the colonization by Great Britain in Asia and Africa. In these regions, English is not the native tongue, but serves as a useful lingua franca between ethnic and language groups. Higher education, the legislature and judiciary, national commerce and so on may all be carried out predominantly in English. This circle includes India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-Anglophone South Africa, the Philippines (colonized by the US) and others. The total number of English speakers in the outer circle is estimated to range from 150 million to 300 million.
Finally, the Expanding Circle encompasses countries where English plays no historical or governmental role, but where it is nevertheless widely used as a medium of international communication. This includes much of the rest of the world's population not categorised above: China, Russia, Japan, most of Europe, Korea, Egypt, Indonesia, etc. The total in this expanding circle is the most difficult to estimate, especially because English may be employed for specific, limited purposes, usually business English. The estimates of these users range from 100 million to one billion.
The inner circle (UK, US etc.) is 'norm-providing'; that means that English language norms are developed in these countries. The outer circle (mainly New Commonwealth countries) is 'norm-developing'. The expanding circle (which includes much of the rest of the world) is 'norm-dependent', because it relies on the standards set by native speakers in the inner circle.



Schneider's Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes


Edgar Werner Schneider tries to avoid a purely geographical and historical approach evident in the 'circles' models and incorporates sociolinguistic concepts pertaining to acts of identity. He outlines five characteristic stages in the spread of English:
Phase 1 - Foundation: This is the initial stage of the introduction of English to a new territory over an extended period of time. Two linguistic processes are operative at this stage: (a) language contact between English and indigenous languages; (b) contact between different dialects of English of the settlers which eventually results in a new stable dialect (see koiné). At this stage, bilingualism is marginal. A few members of the local populace may play an important role as interpreters, translators and guides. Borrowings are limited to lexical items; with local place names and terms for local fauna and flora being adopted by the English.
Phase 2 - Exonormative stabilization: At this stage, the settler communities tend to stabilize politically under British rule. English increases in prominence and though the colloquial English is a colonial koiné, the speakers look to England for their formal norms. Local vocabulary continues to be adopted. Bilingualism increases amongst the indigenous population through education and increased contacts with English settlers. Knowledge of English becomes an asset, and a new indigenous elite develops.
Phase 3 - Nativisation: According to Schneider, this is the stage at which a transition occurs as the English settler population starts to accept a new identity based on present and local realities, rather than sole allegiance to their 'mother country'. By this time, the indigenous strand has also stabilized an L2 system that is a synthesis of substrate effects, interlanguage processes and features adopted from the settlers' koiné English. Neologisms stabilize as English is made to adapt to local sociopolitical and cultural practices.
Phase 4 - Endonormative stabilization: This stage is characterized by the gradual acceptance of local norms, supported by a new locally rooted linguistic self-confidence. By this time political events have made it clear that the settler and indigenous strands are inextricably bound in a sense of nationhood independent of Britain. Acceptance of local English(es) expresses this new identity. National dictionaries are enthusiastically supported, at least for new lexis (and not always for localized grammar). Literary creativity in local English begins to flourish.
Phase 5 - Differentiation: At this stage there is a change in the dynamics of identity as the young nation sees itself as less defined by its differences from the former colonial power as a composite of subgroups defined on regional, social and ethnic lines. Coupled with the simple effects of time in effecting language change (with the aid of social differentiation) the new English koiné starts to show greater differentiation.



Other Models of Classification


Strevens's World Map of English


The oldest map of the spread of English is Strevens's world map of English. His world map, even predating that of Kachru's three circles, showed that since American English became a separate variety from British English, all subsequent Englishes have had affinities with either one or the other.


McArthur's Circle of World English

McArthur's 'wheel model' has an idealized central variety called 'World Standard English', which is best represented by 'written international English'. The next circle is made of regional standards or standards that are emerging. Finally, the outer layer consists of localized varieties which may have similarities with the regional standards or emerging standards.
Although the model is neat, it raises several problems. Firstly, the three different types of English - ENL, ESL and EFL, are conflated in the second circle. Secondly, the multitude of Englishes in Europe are also missing in this layer. Finally, the outside layer includes pidgins, creoles and L2 Englishes. Most scholars would argue that English pidgins and creoles do not belong to one family: rather they have overlapping multiple memberships.


Görlach's Circle model of English


Manfred Görlach's and McArthur's models are reasonably similar. Both exclude English varieties in Europe. As Görlach does not include EFLs at all, his model is more consistent, though less comprehensive. Outside the circle are mixed varieties (pidgins, creoles and mixed languages involving English), which are better categorized as having partial membership.


Modiano's model of English


In Modiano's model of English, the center consists of users of English as an International Language, with a core set of features which are comprehensible to the majority of native and competent non-native speakers of English. The second circle consists of features which may become internationally common or may fall into obscurity. Finally, the outer area consists of five groups (American English, British English, other major varieties, local varieties, foreign varieties) each with features peculiar to their own speech community and which are unlikely to be understood by most members of the other four groups.




Variations and Varieties



The World Englishes paradigm is not static, and neither are rapidly changing realities of language use worldwide. The use of English in the Outer and Expanding Circle societies (refer to Kachru's Three Circles of English) continues its rapid spread, while at the same time new patterns of language contact and variety differentiation emerge. The different varieties range from English in the Inner circle societies such as the USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, to the Outer circle post-colonial societies of Asia and Africa. The World Englishes initiative, in recognizing and describing the New Englishes of the Caribbean, Africa and Asia, has been partly motivated by a consideration of the local linguistic factors and partly by a consideration of the wider cultural and political contexts of language acquisition and use. This, in turn, has involved the creative rewriting of discourses towards a recognition of pluralism and multiple possibilities for scholarship. The notion of varieties in this context is similarly dynamic, as new contexts, new realities, new discourses, and new varieties continue to emerge.
The terms language and dialect are not easily defined concepts. It is often suggested that languages are autonomous, while dialects are heteronomous. It is also said that dialects, in contrast with languages, are mutually intelligible, though this is not always the case. Dialects are characteristically spoken, do not have a codified form and are used only in certain domains. In order to avoid the difficult dialect-language distinction, linguists tend to prefer a more neutral term, variety, which covers both concepts and is not clouded by popular usage. This term is generally used when discussing World Englishes.




The Future of World Englishes



Two scenarios have been advanced about English's future status as the major world language: it will ultimately fragment into a large number of mutually unintelligible varieties (in effect, languages), or it will converge so that differences across groups of speakers are largely eliminated.


English as the language of ‘others’

If English is, numerically speaking, the language of ‘others’, then the centre of gravity of the language is almost certain to shift in the direction of the ‘others’. In the words of Widdowson, there is likely to be a paradigm shift from one of language distribution to one of language spread:
"When we talk about the spread of English, then, it is not that the conventionally coded forms and meanings are transmitted into different environments and different surroundings, and taken up and used by different groups of people. It is not a matter of the actual language being distributed but of the virtual language being spread and in the process being variously actualized. The distribution of the actual language implies adoption and conformity. The spread of virtual language implies adaptation and nonconformity. The two processes are quite different."
In this new paradigm, English spreads and adapts according to the linguistic and cultural preferences of its users in the Outer and Expanding circles (refer to Kachru's Three Circles of English). However, if English is genuinely to become the language of ‘others’, then the ‘others’ have to be accorded – or perhaps more likely, accord themselves – at least the same English language rights as those claimed by mother-tongue speakers. However, it remains to be seen whether such a paradigm shift will take place.


Another world language?

The other potential shift in the linguistic centre of gravity is that English could lose its international role altogether, or, at best, come to share it with a number of equals. Although this would not happen mainly as a result of native-speaker resistance to the spread of non-native speaker Englishes and the consequent abandoning of English by large numbers of non-native speakers, the latter could undoubtedly play a part.
As evidence that English may eventually give way to another language (or languages) as the world’s lingua franca, David Crystal cites Internet data:
"When the internet started it was of course 100 percent English because of where it came from, but since the 1980s that status has started to fall away. By 1995, it was down to about 80 per cent present of English on the internet, and the current figures for 2001 are that it is hovering somewhere between 60 percent and 70 percent, with a significant drop likely over the next four or five years."
On the other hand, there are at least 1500 languages present on the internet now and that figure is likely to increase. Nevertheless Crystal predicts that English will remain the dominant presence.


References


  1. ^ International Association of World Englishes [1], Retrieved on 18 November 2010.
  2. ^ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-971X World Englishes journal website
  3. ^ Crystal, D. (2007). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  4. a b c d e Baugh,A.C. and Cable. T. (1993). A History of the English Language. Routledge.
  5. ^ Stockwell, R. (2002). "How much shifting actually occurred in the historical English vowel shift?". In Donka Minkova; Stockwell, Robert. Studies in the History of the English Language: A Millennial Perspective. Mouton de Gruyter.
  6. a b c d e Jenkins, Jennifer. (2003). World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. London and New York: Routledge.
  7. ^ Frances Pritchett. "Minute on Education (1835) by Thomas Babington Macaulay". Columbia.edu. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
  8. ^ Kachru, B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English across cultures. University of Illinois Press.
  9. ^ Kachru, Y. (2006). World Englishes in Asian Contexts. (Larry E. Smith Eds.) Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press
  10. ^ Kachru, B. (1992). World Englishes: approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching, 25: 1-14. Cambridge UP.
  11. ^ Le Page, R.B. and Tabouret-Keller, A. (1985). Acts of identity: Creole-based approaches to language and ethnicity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  12. a b c Schneider, E.W. (2007).Postcolonial English: Varieties around the world. Cambridge University Press.
  13. a b Mesthrie, Rajend and Bhatt, Rakesh M. (2008). World Englishes: The Study of New Linguistic Varieties. Cambridge University Press.
  14. ^ Strevens, P. (1980). Teaching English as an International Language. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
  15. ^ McArthur, A. (1987). The English Languages? English Today: 11:9-13.
  16. ^ Görlach, M. (1990).Studies in the History of the English Language. Heidlberg: Carl Winter.
  17. ^ Modiano, M. (1999). Standard English(es) and educational practices for the world's lingua franca. English Today: 15/4: 3-13.
  18. ^ Kachru, B.B., Kachru, Y. and Nelson, C. (2009). The Handbook of World Englishes. Wiley-Blackwell.
  19. ^ Melchers, G and Shaw , P. (2003) World Englishes. The English Language Series. Department of English, Stockholm University, Sweden
  20. ^ Widdowson, H. G. (1997). EIL, ESL, EFL: Global Issues and Local Interests. World Englishes, 16: 135–146.
  21. ^ Crystal, D. (2001) Language and the Internet. Cambridge UP.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Englishes