ENGLISH OR ENGLISHES?

Understanding Global Dialects

6 October 2015

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES

4 billion people (roughly half the worlds population) speak

English

Between 70-90% of academic publications aimed at an

international audience are written in English

No language in history has had the geographical spread of

English

Native speakers lost their majority in the 1970s; nonnative

speakers outnumber native speakers 3:1

Only 20% of English speakers live in the US

Who owns the English language?

WHAT IS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE?

Global language v. lingua franca

Not related to number of speakersits about who those

speakers are

Crystal: language must take on a special role in every country

First or native language for most speakers,

Used for official purposes, the media, and/or education, or
Priority foreign language in education system

CIRCLES OF ENGLISH
BRAJ KACHRU

DAVID GRADDOL

AN ALTERNATIVE: MARKO MODIANO

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE: SCHNEIDERS

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES

Foundation: the area is colonized by English-speaking people,

English comes to be used regularly

Exonormative stabilization: English (as it is used in the

colonizers home country) becomes the language of
administration and education

Nativization: indigenous languages show more influence in the

English spoken in the region

Endonormative stabilization: a local variety of English develops

(Singaporean English, Australian English, etc.)

Differentiation: the new variety is stable enough to support

regional and/or social variation (Southern American English,
African American Vernacular English, etc.)

WHY ENGLISH?

British colonialism

American economic power

English in the media

English in advertising

English on the internet

BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF A

GLOBAL LANGUAGE

Benefits

Facilitates communication
Increased opportunity
Cuts down on translation cost for international organizations

Drawbacks

Language and dialect death

Loss of identity and culture
Disadvantages non-English speakers

LOOKING AHEAD

How do World Englishes differ from American English in terms of

pronunciation, vocabulary, and sentence structure?

How and why do World Englishes develop?

How is dialect tied to identity?

How will English develop in the future?