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WORLD ENGLISHES AND GLOBAL
ENGLISHES:
TWO SIMILAR CONCEPTS
WORLD ENGLISHES is a term to describe emerging localised or indigenous varieties of English in the world, especially in countries influenced or colonised in the past, by the UK or the USA. The study of World Englishes means identifying these varieties around the world and analyzing their features according to their sociolinguistic history, multicultural, social, political background and functions in which English is applied.
Today there are about 75 territories where English is spoken AS A FIRST LANGUAGE (L1) or as an unofficial or institutionalized SECOND LANGUAGE (L2) , in field such as government, law and education. It’s difficult to establish the total number of Englishes in the world because of the costantly development and evolution.
The term GLOBAL ENGLISHES , instead, is used by scholars to indicate the new spread of English due to globalization. It has resulted in an increased use of English AS A LINGUA FRANCA.
CLASSIFICATION OF ENGLISHES
The spread of English around the world is often discussed in terms of 3 distinct groups of users, in which English is used respectively as:
- ENL, ENGLISH AS A NATIVE LANGUAGE , i.e. the first language of the majority of the population of a country, for example USA, UK or AUSTRALIA
- ESL, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE , an additional language for intranational and international communication in communities that are multilingual, such as INDIA, NIGERIA or SINGAPORE. Most of these Englishes developed as a result of imperial expansion.
- EFL, ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE , used for international communication, such as in JAPAN.
But we can also find the use of ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA ( ELF ) or, less often, ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE ( EIL ): it is about speakers from, for example Europe, China and Brazil, who use English more frequently as a contact language rather than with native English speakers.
THE TWO DISPERSALS OF ENGLISH: THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF ENGLISH
The first diaspora (dispersal) led to the creation of new mother tongue varieties of English.
The second diaspora led to the creation of new varieties of English as a second language, that we know as NEW ENGLISHES: regional and national varieties of the English language used in places where English is not the mother tongue of the majority of the population. Those Englishes have some formal features, lexical, phonological, grammatical, that differ from those of British or American standard English. For example Nigerian English or Indian or Singapore ones (similar to their dialects).
The first dispersal: English is transported to the ‘New World’
The first diaspora involved migrations of mother tongue English speakers from England, Scotland and Ireland, especially to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The English dialects travelled with them and developed into the American and the Antipodean English we know today. However, the varieties of English spoken nowadays in North America and Australia are not the same of the early colonisers, because of the changing sociolinguistic context in which the migrants found themselves. For example, a lot of new words became part of the English vocabulary when colonisers came in contact with the indigenous Indian, Aboriginal and Maori populations, for example the Amerindian words papoose , moccasin and igloo.
Although South Africa was discovered and occupied by the Dutch from the 1650s, the British did not arrive until 1820. From 1822, when English was declared the official language, it was also learnt as a second language by black and Afrikaans speakers and, from 1860s, by Indian immigrants to the territory.
The second dispersal: English is transported to Asia and Africa
It was realised in different ways according to each part of the country. WEST AFRICA: keywords: slavetrade and creation of pidgin and creoles languages. English travelled to West Africa but there was no major settlement and English was spoken as a Lingua Franca, among the Indigenous and between the English traders. Then, it become the official language and pidgin and creole languages become second language. EAST AFRICA: was settled after 1850 by many explorers especially D. Livingstone, so its countries become english protectorates or colonies of England(where she played a major role). In 1960 they achieved indipendence but English remained still the official language. English was introduced to SOUTH AFRICA after the 18 th^ century.
British influence in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific began in the late 18 th^ century as a result of the expeditions of James Cook and
others. During the 17 th^ century English traders had already known Asia,
thanks to the British East Indian Company, but the first permanent settlers arrived during the second half of 18 th. English traders conquerd the
military, political, commercial power of the Indian territory. This power increased during the British Raj, from 1765 to 1947. In 1960 thanks to Gandhi, Indian territories achieved their indipendence. The linguistic situation was based on a biliguism: english was the language of the education, and also today, even if the official language is hindi, but also english as associate official language or lingua franca, and Indian English has got its own features. The main territories involved Papua New Guinea, which was also, for a short time, a British protectorate, and provides one of the best examples of an English-based pidgin, Tok Pisin.
From 1750 to 1900, 3 important changes occur in English speaking settlement that were born from the first and second dispersals:
- Increase of overseas population NS(native speakers) that become states with their own government.
- Colonies achieved their indipendence and this renforced the degree of their linguistic differences.
- The increase of possessions of England meant that Indigenous not NS had to learn English to survive and to get job.
MODELS OF THE SPREAD OF ENGLISH
KACHRU’S ‘THREE CIRCLES MODEL OF WORLD ENGLISHES’
The most important and used model of the spread of English is Kachru’s ‘Three-circle model of World Englishes’: Kachru divides World Englishes into three concentric circles, the Inner Circle , the Outer Circle , and the Expanding Circle.
- Phase 1 FOUNDATION : This is the initial stage of the introduction of English in a new territory. During this phase there are 2 processes: The first one is the language contact between English and Indigenous languages, the second one is the contact between different dialects of English of the settlers that eventually results in a new stable dialect, koinè.
- EXONORMATIVE STABILIZATION: at this stage, the settler communities tend to stabilise politically under British rule. English increases in prominence and, though the colloquial English is a colonial koinè, 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 advantage, and a new indigenous elite develops.
- NATIVISATION : according to Schneider, this is the stage in 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.
- 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.
- 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
STREVEN’S WORLD MAP OF ENGLISH
The oldest map of the spread of English is Strevens's World Map of English. His World Map shows that since American English became a separate variety from British English, all subsequent Englishes have had affinities with either one or the other. It anticipates the model of Kachru.
Görlach's CIRCLE MODEL OF ENGLISH AND MCARTHUR’S CIRCLE OF WORLD ENGLISH
Manfred Görlach's and McArthur's models are similar. The model of Gorlach is centrifugal: at the center the International English, unknown variety, from which come new varieties of English, regional ones and not. While the McArthur’s model: at the center World Standard English, so the global map of English looks like a wheel of three concentric circles: the smaller one is at the center and it’s World Standard English, from which come localized varieties «crowded (even riotous) fringe of subvarieties»
MONDIANO’S ENGLISH MODEL
Mondiano’s centripetal circles of international English is composed by:
- (^) at the center Proficient in International English: speakers with high competence in English International contexts, where English is used as a Lingua Franca.
- Native and foreign language proficiency: speakers of L1 or L groups, that speak with native speakers or non-native ones.
