A resource book for students World Englishes Jennifer Jenkins

Strand 8: The future of Englishes in the world 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

English language Complex (ELC) Mesthrie and Bhatt (2008) – Metropolitan standards – Colonial standards – Regional and social dialects – Pidgin Englishes and Creole Englishes – English as a second language (ESL) – English as a foreign language (EFL) – Immigrant Englishes – Language-shift Englishes – Jargon Englishes – Hybrid Englishes B8

Convergence or divergence? Crystal (1997, 2002): – Increased diversification, but – World Standard Spoken English (WSSE) Trudgill (1998): – Increasing convergence in lexis (American influence) – Unclear situation in grammar – Diversification in phonology – Mainly refers to Inner Circle Englishes B8

English as killer language Global spread of English as a cause for language death Some positions/beliefs associated with why languages become endangered: – Primitive technology equals primitive linguistic means – Linguistic survival of the fittest (social Darwinism) – Immigrants are encouraged to abandon their language – Linguistic capital – promise of economic advantages make a language worthy of acquisition – Western school curricula in developing countries  devaluation of traditional knowledge and culture C8

English-knowing bilingualism Important role in prevention of language death The de facto norm apart from monolingual Inner Circle English speakers Would be crucial for predominantly monolingual ENL societies to embrace this concept – Becoming multilinguals – Development of intercultural competence – Acceptance of immigrant minorities Reversing the traditional hierarchy of Englishes C8