World Englishes Jennifer Jenkins A resource book for students

Key topics in World Englishes A. Introduction Key topics in World Englishes

A1: The historical, social and political context English as a first language (L1) - 329,140,800 speakers (cf. Crystal 2003a) English as an institutionalised second language (L2) - 430,614,500 speakers (cf. Crystal 2003a) English as a foreign language (EFL) English as a lingua franca (ELF) A1

The two diasporas of English First diaspora Migrations to North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa L1 varieties of English = ‘new Englishes’ Second diaspora Colonialisation of Asia and Africa L2 varieties of English = ‘New Englishes’ A1

A2: The origins of pidgin and creole languages Definition pidgin A pidgin is a language with no native speakers: it is no one’s first language but is a contact language. (Wardhaugh 2006: 61–3) Definition creole In contrast to a pidgin, a creole is often defined as a pidgin that has become the first language of a new generation of speakers. A2

Pidgins Stigmatisation as inferior, ‘bad’ languages European expansion into Africa and Asia during colonial period Contact languages between ‘dominant’ European language speakers and speakers of mutually unintelligible indigenous African and American languages Fulfils restricted communicative needs between people who do not share a common language Little need for grammatical redundancy A2

Creoles Creolisation: development of a pidgin into a creole A: children of pidgin speakers use their parents’ pidgin language as a mother tongue  creole B: pidgin is used as a lingua franca in multilingual areas and develops to be used for an increasing number of functions  creole Vocabulary expands and grammar increases in complexity Decreolisation: through extensive contact with the dominant language develops towards standard dominant language A2

Theories of origins Three groups of theories 1 Monogenesis: pidgins have a single origin 2 Polygenesis: pidgins have an independent origin 3 Universal: pidgins derive from universal strategies A2

Monogenesis The theory of monogenesis and relexification: All European-based pidgins and creoles derive ultimately from one proto-pidgin source, a Portuguese pidgin that was used in the world’s trade routes during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Evidence for this theory: many linguistic similarities between present-day Portuguese pidgins and creoles, and pidgins and creoles related to other European languages A2

Polygenesis The independent parallel development theory: Pidgins and creoles arose and developed independently, but in similar ways because they shared a common linguistic ancestor Pidgins and creoles were formed in similar social and physical conditions A2

Polygenesis The nautical jargon theory: A nautical jargon, i.e. the European sailors’ lingua franca, formed a nucleus for the various pidgins, which were expanded in line with their learners’ mother tongues Evidence for this theory: nautical element in all pidgins and creoles with European lexicons A2

Universal The baby talk theory: Based on similarities between certain pidgins and early speech of children Also because speakers of the dominant language use foreigner talk (simplified speech) with L2 speakers A2

Universal A synthesis: Based on universal patterns of linguistic behaviour in contact situations Inherent universal constraints on language Evidence for this theory: proficient as well as less proficient speakers from different L1s and speech communities simplify their language in very similar ways; children go through the same stages in the mastery of speech A2

A3: Who speaks English today? Three groups of users: Those who speak English respectively as a native language = ENL a second language = ESL a foreign language = EFL  Neat classifications become increasingly difficult A3

Who speaks English today? English as a Native Language (ENL) Language of those born and raised in one of the countries where English is historically the first language to be spoken (i.e. mainly the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) ~ 350 million speakers English as a Second Language (ESL) Language spoken in a large number of territories which were once colonised by the English (e.g., India, Nigeria, Singapore) A3

Who speaks English today? English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Language of those for whom it serves no purposes within their own countries Historically, EFL was learned to use the language with its native speakers in the US and UK ~ 1 billion speakers with ‘reasonable competence’ A3

Difficulties with the three-way categorisation ENL is not a single variety of English Pidgins and creoles do not fit into the categorisation. There are large groups of ENL speakers in ESL territories and vice versa. It is based on the concept of monolingualism, but bi- or multilingualism is the norm. It is based on the basic distinction between native speakers and non-native speakers, with the first group being considered superior regardless of the quality of their language. (cf. McArthur 1998) A3

Models of the spread of English Strevens (1980): World map of English Kachru (1985/1988): Three-circle model of World Englishes McArthur (1987): Circle of World English Görlach (1988): Circle model of English Modiano (1999): The centripetal circles of international English A3

Three circle model of World Englishes Kachru (1992: 356) Most useful and influential model World Englishes divided into three concentric circles: 1 Inner Circle: ~ ENL countries, ‘norm-providing’ 2 Outer Circle: ~ ESL countries, ‘norm-developing’ 3 Expanding Circle: ~EFL countries, ‘norm-dependent’ A3

Limitations with Kachru’s model Based on geography and history, rather than the speakers’ use of English. Grey area between Inner and Outer Circles as well as Outer and Expanding Circles. The world’s bilingual or multilingual speakers are not taken into account. Difficulty of using the model to define speakers in terms of their proficiency in English. Does not account for the linguistic diversity within and between countries of a particular circle. The term Inner Circle implies that speakers from ENL countries are central, and may thus be interpreted as superior. A3

A4: Variation across Outer Circle Englishes New Englishes Four defining criteria by Platt, Weber and Ho (1984) It has developed through the education system. It has developed in an area where a native variety of English was not the language spoken by most of the population. It is used for a range of functions among those who speak or write it in the region where it is used. It has become ‘localised’ or ‘nativised’ by adopting some language features of its own (e.g., sounds, intonation patterns, sentence structures, words, expressions). A4

Innovation in English Five internal factors to decide the status of an innovation (Bamgbose 1998): 1 Demographic factor (how many speakers use it?) 2 Geographical factor (how widely dispersed is it?) 3 Authoritative factor (where is its use sanctioned?) 4 Codification (does it appear in reference books?) 5 Acceptability factor (what is the attitude towards it?) A4

Levels of variation Main levels of variation: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary/idiom, discourse style Pronunciation Consonant sounds, e.g., dental fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ Vowel sounds: vary across the New Englishes in terms of both quality and quantity A4

Levels of variation Grammar a tendency not to mark nouns for plural a tendency to use a specific/non-specific system for nouns rather than a definite/indefinite system, or to use the two systems side by side a tendency to change the form of quantifiers a tendency not to make a distinction between the third person pronouns he and she a tendency to change the word order within the noun phrase (cf. Platt, Weber and Ho 1984) A4

Levels of variation Grammar limited marking of the third person singular present tense form limited marking of verbs for the past tense a tendency to use an aspect system (which shows whether an action is finished or still going on) rather than tense system (which shows the time an action takes place) a tendency to extend the use of be + verb + ing constructions to stative verbs the formation of different phrasal and prepositional verb constructions (cf. Platt, Weber and Ho 1984) A4

Levels of variation Vocabulary/Idiom Locally coined words/expressions Prefixation (e.g., enstool, destool) Suffixation (e.g., teacheress, spacy) Compounding (e.g., key-bunch, high hat) Borrowings from indigenous languages Idioms Direct translations from indigenous idioms (e.g., to shake legs) Variation on native speaker idioms (e.g., to eat your cake and have it) Combination of English and indigenous forms (e.g., to put sand in someone’s gari) A4

Levels of variation Discourse style Formal character Complex vocabulary and grammatical structure Specific expressions of thanks, deferential vocabulary and the use of blessings Greeting and leave-taking A4

A5: Standard language ideology in the Inner Circle Term used for that variety of a language which is considered to be the norm. Prestige variety: spoken by a minority of those occupying positions of power within a society Yardstick against which other varieties of the language are measured Held up as optimum for educational purposes A5

Standard language and language standards Prescriptive language rules which constitute the standard to which all members of a language community are exposed and urged to conform during education. Reverse side of the standard language coin Because natural languages are dynamic, these rules are subject to change over time. During earlier and transitional stages, language change is regarded as error by promoters of standard language ideology. A5

Standard language and language standards ‘[…] standard languages are the result of a direct and deliberate intervention by society’ (Hudson 1996: 32) Four stages of this process of intervention 1 Selection 2 Codification 3 Elaboration of function 4 Acceptance A5

What is Standard English? 1 The dialect of educated people throughout the British Isles. It is the dialect normally used in writing, for teaching in schools and universities, and heard on radio and television (Hughes and Trudgill 1979, repeated in the 2nd ed., 1996) 2 The variety of the English language which is normally employed in writing and normally spoken by ‘educated’ speakers of the language. It is also, of course, the variety of the language that students of English as a Foreign or Second Language (EFL/ESL) are taught when receiving formal instruction. The term Standard English refers to grammar and vocabulary (dialect) but not to pronunciation (accent). (Trudgill and Hannah 1982, and repeated in the 4th ed., 2002). A5

What is Standard English? 3 Standard English can be characterized by saying that it is that set of grammatical and lexical forms which is typically used in speech and writing by educated native speakers. It … includes the use of colloquial and slang vocabulary as well as swear-words and taboo expressions (Trudgill 1984). 4 (The term) ‘Standard English’ is potentially misleading for at least two reasons. First, in order to be self-explanatory, it really ought to be called ‘the grammar and the core vocabulary of educated usage in English’. That would make plain the fact that it is not the whole of English, and above all, it is not pronunciation that can in any way be labelled ‘Standard’, but only one part of English: its grammar and vocabulary (Strevens 1985). A5

What is Standard English? 5 Since the 1980s, the notion of ‘standard’ has come to the fore in public debate about the English language … We may define the Standard English of an English-speaking country as a minority variety (identified chiefly by its vocabulary, grammar and orthography) which carries most prestige and is most widely understood. (Crystal 1995, repeated in the 2nd ed., 2003). 6 Traditionally the medium of the upper and (especially professional) middle class, and by and large of education […] Although not limited to one accent (most notably in recent decades), it has been associated since at least the 19th century with the accent that, since the 1920s, has been called Received Pronunciation (RP), and with the phrases the Queen’s English, the King’s English, Oxford English, and BBC English (McArthur 2002). A5

Standard English: what it isn’t It is not a language: it is only one variety of a given English. It is not an accent: in Britain it is spoken by 12–15% of the population, of whom 9–12% speak it with a regional accent. It is not a style: it can be spoken in formal, neutral and informal styles, respectively. It is not a register: given that a register is largely a matter of lexis in relation to subject matter (e.g. the register of medicine, of cricket, or of knitting), there is no necessary connection between register and Standard English It is not a set of prescriptive rules: it can tolerate certain features which, because many of their rules are grounded in Latin, prescriptive grammarians do not allow. (cf. Trudgill 1999) A5

Standard English A dialect That differs from other dialects in that it has greater prestige That does not have an associated accent That does not form part of a geographical continuum. It is a purely social dialect. (Trudgill 1999) A5

Non-standard Englishes Non-standard native English varieties New Englishes: standard and non-standard varieties  Implicit belief that New Englishes are result of fossilisation A5

A6: The spread of English as an international lingua franca Ambivalent attitude towards English as an international lingua franca Reasons for the international status of English: Historical reasons Internal political reasons External economic reasons Practical reasons Intellectual reasons Entertainment reasons Personal advantage/prestige (Crystal 1997) A6

Mutual intelligibility and group identity Intelligibility and identity: two opposing forces Mutual intelligibility: accent differences decrease Identity: accent differences increase A6

A7: The roles of English in Asia and Europe Europe Asia Expanding Circle Outer Circle Emerging Euro-English Asian Englishes Bi- and multilingual contexts ‘Linguistic orphans’ (Kachru 1992) A7

English as an Asian language Regional categorisation South Asian varieties Southeast Asian and Pacific varieties East Asian varieties Functional categorisation Institutionalised varieties (Outer Circle) Non-institutionalised varieties (Expanding Circle) A7

English in Europe European Union (EU): 23 official languages 3 dominant languages: English, French, German English = the de facto European lingua franca Emerging features (Seidlhofer, Breiteneder, Pitzl 2006) Nativisation processes A7

A8: The future of World Englishes Language distribution vs. language spread (Widdowson 1997) Difficulties inherent in the English language: Orthographic Phonological Grammatical Spanish as the principal world language: Increasing influence in the EU and America Simpler pronunciation, spelling and verb system A8