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Q1: What is difference between Dialects and Accent ? what role do dialects of a
language play in the existence of that language.

What is Dialect?

A dialect refers to a branch of a language. Within this branch, different terms are used for
different things. Dialects are usually formed around particular regions. However, they may
also be used within certain groups of people.

For example, in The United States, there is a particular dialect in the Southern states. Within
that Southern dialect, however, there may be subgroups who speak yet another dialect. Foods
are the most common terms to change within a dialect. What one dialect might call shrimp;
another might call crawfish or crawdads.

Dialect vs. Accent

Dialect and accent are two different aspects of language. However, there are some overlaps.
An accent is also specific to a region. In English, there might be an American, British, or
Australian accent. An accent is an inflection that occurs with word pronunciation. A dialect is
entirely different words or ways of communicating altogether. Dialect goes beyond mere
pronunciation.

Examples of Accent:

An American might pronounce the word, “hello,” by speaking the “h” sound. A Brit might
pronounce the word, “hello,” without speaking the “h” sound. This is still the same word,
just spoken with a different accent.

Examples of Dialect:

A Northern American might say, “hello.” A Southern American might say, “howdy.”
This is an example of the differences in dialect.

The definition of accents and dialects used most often by people who work with language is
that accents are just one part of a dialect. An accent refers to how people pronounce words,
whereas a dialect is all-encompassing. A dialect includes the pronunciations, grammar and
vocabulary that people use within a group.
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A common mistake is to confuse a dialect with an accent, muddling up the difference

between words people use and the sounds they make, their pronunciation. If vocabulary and
grammar are being considered alongside pronunciation, then „dialect‟ is a reasonable term to
use. But often, when claiming to discuss a dialect, someone will concentrate just on
pronunciations. If what is being spoken about are sounds alone— that is, accent—then the
area of language study is rather pronunciation, or phonology. Accent, or pronunciation, is a
special element of a dialect that needs separate attention to be properly understood. A famous
distinction in pronunciation in England is the socalled „BATH vowel‟, the quality of the „a‟
sound differing between north and south. For example, someone from Leeds, in the north of
England, would typically pronounce „bath‟ with the short „a‟ of „cat‟, whereas someone
from Oxford, in the south of England, would typically pronounce „bath‟ with the long „a‟ of
„father‟. Another distinction, still more significant on the world stage, concerns the issue of
rhoticity, i.e. whether or not a written „r‟ is sounded when it follows a vowel, for example in
the words „car‟ and „butter‟. Whilst most people in England and Wales do not pronounce the
„r‟ (and are therefore non-rhotic), many in South-West England and parts of Lancashire do.
In this they are joined by most Scots and Irish speakers of English, and by the majority of
North Americans.

Dialect is useful to language in many ways. It enhances the vocabulary of the language. It
also adds to the diversity of the language. Dialectology has emerged as a proper discipline
during the few last years. Dialects store the linguistic roots of a social, regional or ethnic
community. It includes a treasure of communal words related to these varieties.

Q.2 How would you explain the terms Social Dialect and Regional Dialect? How do
these two help in understanding the concept of a language variety?

Dialect
Any variety of a language characterized by systematic differences in pronunciation, grammar,
and vocabularyfrom other varieties of the same language is called a dialect. Everyone speaks
a dialect – in fact, many dialects atdifferent levels. The people who speak a certain dialect are
called a speech community.

Some of the larger dialectal divisions in the English speaking world:

1. British English vs. American English vs. Australian

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2. English (along with others). Northern American

3. English, Southern American English, etc.
(1) Brit/American: lay by/rest area, petrol/gasoline lorry/truck, minerals/soft drinks

Social dialects

An important axis of differentiation is that of social strata. In many localities, dialectal

differences are connected withsocial classes, educational levels, or both. More-highly
educated speakers and, often, those belonging to a higher social class tend to use more
features belonging to the standard language, whereas the original dialect of the region is
better preserved in the speech of the lower and less-educated classes. In large urban centers,
innovations unknown in the former dialect of the region frequently develop. Thus, in cities
the social stratification of dialects is especially relevant and far-reaching, whereas in rural
areas, with a conservative way of life, the traditional geographic dialectal differentiation
prevails.

Educational differences between speakers strongly affect the extent of their vocabulary. In
addition, practically every profession has its own expressions, which include the technical
terminology and sometimes also the casual words or idioms peculiar to the group. Slangtoo is
characterized mainly by a specific vocabulary and is much more flexible than an ordinary
dialect, as it is subject to fashion and depends strongly on the speaker’s age group. Slang—
just as a professional dialect—is used mainly by persons who are in a sense bi-dialectal; i.e.,
they speak some other dialect or the standard language, in addition to slang. Dialectal
differences also often run parallel with the religious or racial division of the population.

A regional dialect:

It is a variety of a language spoken by people living in an area. This kind of language

variation is most noticeable. When we travel throughout a wide geographical area where the
same language is spoken, we are sure to notice differences in pronunciation, in the choices
and forms of words, and even in syntax. Such a situation is often referred to as dialect
continuum. Dialectologists may gather data from speakers of different regions and draw a
dialect atlas.

The English language has many regional dialects. British English, American English,
Australian English, Indian English, South African English, etc. are all regional varieties of
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the language. One dialect is distinctive from another phonologically, lexically and
grammatically. Between British English and American English, differences can be easily
found in pronunciation, in spelling, in words and in syntactic structure. The word hot, for
example, is pronounced differently in the two regional dialects. The vowel is a mid-back in
British English, while in American English it is a low back. The same word is spelt
differently, such as labor and labor. The same concept or object is represented by different
lexis (dialectal synonyms, such as flat and apartment). In some sentences, the constituents are
different. The auxiliary do may not be necessary in a yes/no question in British English if the
predicate verb is have. For example “Have you a match?” is equivalent to “Do you have a
match?”

Q no 3 it is said that language is the expression of thoughts, beliefs, aspirations and

general education standard of its users

Language may indeed influence the way that we think, an idea known as linguistic
determinism. One recent demonstration of this phenomenon involved differences in the way
that English and Mandarin Chinese speakers talk and think about time. English speakers tend
to talk about time using terms that describe changes along a horizontal dimension, for
example, saying something like “I’m running behind schedule” or “Don’t get ahead of
yourself.” While Mandarin Chinese speakers also describe time in horizontal terms, it is not
uncommon to also use terms associated with a vertical arrangement. For example, the past
might be described as being “up” and the future as being “down.” It turns out that these
differences in language translate into differences in performance on cognitive tests designed
to measure how quickly an individual can recognize temporal relationships. Specifically,
when given a series of tasks with vertical priming, Mandarin Chinese speakers were faster at
recognizing temporal relationships between months. Indeed, Boroditsky (2001) sees these
results as suggesting that “habits in language encourage habits in thought” (p. 12).

Language does not completely determine our thoughts—our thoughts are far too flexible for
that—but habitual uses of language can influence our habit of thought and action. For
instance, some linguistic practice seems to be associated even with cultural values and social
institution. Pronoun drop is the case in point. Pronouns such as “I” and “you” are used to
represent the speaker and listener of a speech in English. In an English sentence, these
pronouns cannot be dropped if they are used as the subject of a sentence. So, for instance, “I
went to the movie last night” is fine, but “Went to the movie last night” is not in standard
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English. However, in other languages such as Japanese, pronouns can be, and in fact often
are, dropped from sentences. It turned out that people living in those countries where pronoun
drop languages are spoken tend to have more collectivistic values (e.g., employees having
greater loyalty toward their employers) than those who use non–pronoun drop languages such
as English (Kashima & Kashima, 1998). It was argued that the explicit reference to “you”
and “I” may remind speakers the distinction between the self and other, and the
differentiation between individuals. Such a linguistic practice may act as a constant reminder
of the cultural value, which, in turn, may encourage people to perform the linguistic practice.

One group of researchers who wanted to investigate how language influences thought
compared how English speakers and the Dani people of Papua New Guinea think and speak
about color. The Dani have two words for color: one word for light and one word for dark. In
contrast, the English language has 11 color words. Researchers hypothesized that the number
of color terms could limit the ways that the Dani people conceptualized color. However, the
Dani were able to distinguish colors with the same ability as English speakers, despite having
fewer words at their disposal (Berlin & Kay, 1969). A recent review of research aimed at
determining how language might affect something like color perception suggests that
language can influence perceptual phenomena, especially in the left hemisphere of the brain.
You may recall from earlier chapters that the left hemisphere is associated with language for
most people. However, the right (less linguistic hemisphere) of the brain is less affected by
linguistic influences on perception (Regier & Kay, 2009)

Language is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as method of human communication,

consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Schacter, Gilbert and
Wegner (2012) expand on this stating language is a system for communicating with others
using signals that convey meaning and are combined according to the rules of grammar. Not
only human beings use language as a form of communication; many social species employ a
system, verbal or otherwise, that allows the sharing of important information, coordinating
group actions and building social bonds with each other. Karl von Frisch (1974) found that
honey bees convey information regarding the location and distance of a food resource to the
hive by performing a ‘waggle’ dance. Furthermore, Cheney and Seyfarth’s research (1990)
with vervet monkeys discovered the species have three separate warning calls for their three
main predators; leopard, snake and eagle.
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There are three main principles of human language that isolate it from the simpler signalling
systems it originated from (Schacter et al. 2012). Firstly, most humans can express a wide
range of ideas and concepts, showing the complexity of our language structure. Secondly,
humans have developed labels for intangible things, (such as the concept of democracy)
which couldn’t have originated from primal alarm sounds. Schacter’s final principle is that
humans have the ability to name, categorize and describe objects to ourselves whilst we
think. This affects the way information is arranged in our brains – a system that simpler
creatures, like bees, are very unlikely to utilize.

Thought, described by the Oxford Dictionary as an instance, state or condition of thinking, is

closely associated with language. Levelt (1989) suggested that the procedure of speech
involves three independent processes; Conceptualisation, Formulation and Articulation.
Conceptualisation is the speaker’s planning stage. Clark and Carlson (1981) express that
conceptualisation operates at the ‘thought level’, and reflects the message to be conveyed
within the context of the situation. Planning is based on the people around the speaker, the
necessary points to be said and the immediate situation. Ferreira and Swets (2002) state that if
there isn’t any pressure of time, speakers are able to completely plan their words, however
when time constraints interfere, this isn’t always possible. Formulation is when the speaker
transforms the planned speech into sentences. This stage requires lexicalization; the thoughts
that lie behind the words are transformed into sounds (Schacter et al. 2012). The final process
described by Levelt is articulation; the message is produced. This process occurs in the oral
cavity; the larynx, tongue and mouth physically shape the airflow to produce different
sounds.

There are two main views regarding the relationship between language and thought. First, the
Linguistic Deterministic Hypothesis (LDH), which holds the view that language shapes the
nature of thought. Benjamin Whorf is the driving force behind this theory. Cook (1978) says
Whorf’s own statements referring to his principle of relativity “holds that all observers are
not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their
linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be calibrated”. Cook goes on, stating
that Whorf believes grammar shapes people’s ideas and provides thought materials. Hence,
people who use very different grammar systems will have very different views of the world,
or more simply; the nature of a culture’s language affects the way the people within that
language think (Whorf, 1956). However Whorf’s work as he often was criticised. Pinker
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(1994) criticised Whorf for his anecdotal observations. Harley (2008) proved false Whorf’s
declaration that the English had a limited word range in relation to the Inuit people’s many
words for snow. Rosch (1973) found the Dani (a Western New Guinea tribe) who have only
two terms for colours (and therefore by Whorf’s hypothesis should have difficulty perceiving
and learning different shades of colours) were just as capable of learning them as people with
many colour terms in their first language. Finally Bloom (1981) criticised Whorf for being
unable to properly deal with the question of exactly to what degree a language determines the
shape of thought. Bloom also gave this to be the reason Whorf’s work was so often
interpreted in several different ways.

The second view that must be considered when exploring the relationship between language
and thought is the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis (LRH). This is defined by Lucy (1997) as
the proposal that whichever language we speak, it influences the way we think about reality.
Schacter et al. (2012) goes on to say that not only does language shape the way we think, but
also the way in which we perceive.

There are several studies that support this view. Firstly, Boroditsky (2001) designed an
investigation involving two groups of participants, the first was English speaking and the
second spoke Mandarin. In English, spatial terms are frequently used, (e.g.
looking forward to something or moving a meeting back to fit the schedule). Often, these
spatial terms are horizontal (e.g. taking three steps forward or two steps back). In contrast,
Mandarin speakers usually refer to time in a vertical spatial dimension (e.g. Earlier is up and
later is down). To test the effects of this, Boroditsky showed the participants either a vertical
or horizontal display of objects and then asked to make a judgement involving the time. For
example, if June comes before July. Unsurprisingly, the English speakers were far quicker
when presented with a horizontal display, and Mandarin speakers with a vertical display.
However, once the participants had learned to use the other languages spatial terms, they
became much faster at completing the task. This shows a direct influence of language on
thought.

Secondly, the Roberson et al. (2004) study showed that language had an effect on thought
related to colour processing. English children (who use 11 basic colour terms) were compared
to Namibian children (with just 5 colour terms). The task involved a series of coloured tiles
being shown to each child, who then had to point out the correct coloured tile from a set of 22
options. At first the young children struggled, but as they acquired more names for colours,
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their choices increasingly reflected the colour terms they had learned, with each child making
less mistakes when they were required to match a colour that was in their own language. This
showed that although the language difference was a barrier to the children’s performance at
first, it could be overcome.

The final study to support the LRH is Butterworth et al. (2008) where Australian Aboriginal
children (who spoke Walpiri) were compared to English speaking children in tasks that
required counting. The Australian Aboriginal languages contain a very limited number
system, with only three number types; one, two and more than two. However, when this
comparison was made, very little difference was found between the two groups of children.
Again supporting that language, although has an effect on how people think and perceive, it
does not entirely control and shape the thought processes.

In conclusion, there seems to be very little support for the LDH view on language and
thought. Although language and thought may have a very large influence on each other in
certain situations, it seems unlikely that without language, our thoughts wouldn’t function, as
Whorf would have us believe. Especially bearing in mind that there are rare cases, like Smith
and Tsimpli’s 1995 study of a boy who could pick up and understand the rules of many
different languages, very easily, but failed simple cognitive tests. It is a prime example of a
situation where thought or language capabilities can be severely impaired, leaving the other
relatively spared.. This leaves the LRH, which seems much more plausible, and clearly with a
greater support base. These three studies that I discussed clearly showed the impact that
language had on thought; showing language to be a large influence, not only on the process
by which our own personal thought occurs, but on a much larger scale.

Q. No 4:. How do British English Differ from American English?

There is an old saying that America and Britain are “two nations divided by a common
language.”

No one knows exactly who said this, but it reflects the way many Brits feel about American
English. My British friend still tells me, “You don’t speak English. You speak American.”

But are American and British English really so different?

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Vocabulary

The most noticeable difference between American and British English is vocabulary. There
are hundreds of everyday words that are different. For example, Brits call the front of a car
the bonnet, while Americans call it the hood.

Americans go on vacation, while Brits go on holidays, or hols.

New Yorkers live in apartments; Londoners live in flats.

There are far more examples than we can talk about here. Fortunately, most Americans and
Brits can usually guess the meaning through the context of a sentence.

Collective nouns:

There are a few grammatical differences between the two varieties of English. Let’s start with
collective nouns. We use collective nouns to refer to a group of individuals.

In American English, collective nouns are singular. For example, staff refers to a group of
employees; band refers to a group of musicians; team refers to a group of athletes. Americans
would say, “The band is good.” But in British English, collective nouns can be singular or
plural. You might hear someone from Britain say, “The team are playing tonight” or “The
team is playing tonight.”

Auxiliary verbs

Another grammar difference between American and British English relates to auxiliary verbs.
Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, are verbs that help form a grammatical
function. They “help” the main verb by adding information about time, modality and voice.

Let’s look at the auxiliary verb shall. Brits sometimes use shall to express the future.

For example, “I shall go home now.” Americans know what shall means, but rarely use it in
conversation. It seems very formal. Americans would probably use “I will go home now.”

In question form, a Brit might say, “Shall we go now?” while an American would probably
say, “Should we go now?”
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When Americans want to express a lack of obligation, they use the helping verb do with
negative not followed by need. “You do not need to come to work today.” Brits drop the
helping verb and contract not. “You needn’t come to work today.”

Past tense verbs:.

You will also find some small differences with past forms of irregular verbs. The past tense
of learn in American English is learned. British English has the option of learned or learnt.
The same rule applies to dreamed and dreamt, burned and burnt, leaned and leant. Americans
tend to use the –ed ending; Brits tend to use the -t ending.

In the past participle form, Americans tend to use the –en ending for some irregular verbs.
For example, an American might say, “I have never gotten caught” whereas a Brit would say,
“I have never got caught.” Americans use both got and gotten in the past participle. Brits only
use got.

Don’t worry too much about these small differences in the past forms of irregular verbs.
People in both countries can easily understand both ways, although Brits tend to think of the
American way as incorrect.

Tag questions:.

A tag question is a grammatical form that turns a statement into a question. For example,
“The whole situation is unfortunate, isn’t it?” or, “You don’t like him, do you?”

The tag includes a pronoun and its matching form of the verb be, have or do. Tag questions
encourage people to respond and agree with the speaker. Americans use tag questions, too,
but less often than Brits. You can learn more about tag questions on a previous episode of
Everyday Grammar.

Spelling:.

There are hundreds of minor spelling differences between British and American English. You
can thank American lexicographer Noah Webster for this. You might recognize Webster’s
name from the dictionary that carries his name. Noah Webster, an author, politician, and
teacher, started an effort to reform English spelling in the late 1700s.He was frustrated by the
inconsistencies in English spelling. Webster wanted to spell words the way they sounded.
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Spelling reform was also a way for America to show its independence from England.You can
see Webster’s legacy in the American spelling of words like color (from colour), honor (from
honour), and labor (from labour). Webster dropped the letter u from these words to make the
spelling match the pronunciation. Other Webster ideas failed, like a proposal to spell women
as wimmen. Since Webster’s death in 1843, attempts to change spelling rules in American
English have gone nowhere

While summing up, I may say British and American English have far more similarities than
differences. We think the difference between American and British English is
often exaggerated. If you can understand one style, you should be able to understand the
other style.With the exception of some regional dialects, most Brits and Americans can
understand each other without too much difficulty. They watch each other’s TV shows, sing
each other’s songs, and read each other’s books.

Q.5. Different interpretation of Style and Stylistics, distinction between ‘general

stylistics’ and ‘literary stylistics’.

Style is derived from Latin word stilus which means “the particular way in which something
is done” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: 2011). It holds way of living, personality
of a person, his thought and his way of speaking and writing. In everyday talk we use the
term style for expressing the shape and colour of building, dress, painting, sculpture,
furniture. For example, this house has a unique style. Similarly, when we talk about the
manner of speaking or writing, we say ‘the essays of Bacon have epigrammatic style’. In
literature, style reflects the choice of words, sentence structure and tone of ideas by the writer
in order to “show” the reader what the writer intends.

Prof. Galperin defines INDIVIDUAL STYLE as a unique combination of language units,

expressive means and stylistic peculiar to a given writer, which makes that writer’s works or
even utterances easily recognizable.

Saussure’s disciple Charles Bally modeled his ideas of style on a structural conception of
language and started that branch of general linguistics which is sometimes called
linguostylistics.
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Style has also been defined as the description and analysis of the variability forms of
linguistic items in actual language use. Leech (1969: 14) quotes Aristotle as saying that “the
most effective means of achieving both clarity and diction and a certain dignity is the use of
altered from of words.”

Stylistics, the branch of applied linguistics, deals with the style in which literary text is
studied. Aslam, Aslam, Mukhtar&Sarfaraz (2014) say that in the last quarter of 19th century,
stylistics was only limited to literary texts. But in 20th century, it began to analyse nonliterary
texts stylistically. For example: religion, laws, newspaper, and advertisement. Different
authors define and explain the term stylistics differently. Leech and Short (2007:11) define
that stylistics is the linguistic study of style which does not take it for its own sake but an
exercise in which we describe the different use of language. Crystal (2008:460) states that
stylistics as a branch of language, studies the situational features of the language used by
authors in different contexts distinctly. It establishes principles for exploring the particular
choices of language made by the individual.

According to Nørgaard, Montoro and Busse (2010:01), stylistics takes theories, models and
frameworks as an analytical tool for explaining and describing why and how text on page
works. It tells us the way we come from the words on page to their meanings. The analysis
focuses on different features of the text such as semantic, grammatical, lexical, phonological,
discoursal or pragmatic features. Some Stylisticians give importance to the author and
analyse the text from the author point of view. While other stylistic approaches give
importance to the text itself. They say that we need text on page, instead of author for the
analysis. There are other who claim that it is all about readers to construct meaning while
analyzing a text. They consider the readers’ role in analysis.

Stylistics is a field of study where the methods of selecting and implementing linguistic,
extra-linguistic or artistic expressive means and devices in the process of communication are
studied. It is, generally, of two types: GENERAL STYLISTICS and LITERARY
STYLISTICS. In such a sense, stylistics is a branch of linguistics, which deals with the study
of varieties of language, its properties, principles behind choice, dialogue, accent, register, etc
(Crystal, 2003a: 440). Similarly, stylistics can also be seen as a distinctive term which may be
used to determine the connections between the forms and effects within a particular variety of
language. It looks at what is ‘going on’ within the language, what the linguistic associations
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are that the style of language reveals. On this account the goal of most stylistic studies is to
relate the literary effects to linguistic causes.

In general stylistics, we examined some linguistic features that have stylistic effects. We
argued that linguistic stylistics is primarily concerned with the description of language used
in a text, while literary stylistics is principally interested in interpreting the message of a
work of art; making a personal message of an artist gain communal significance. However,
in practice, there is no justification for bifurcating stylistics into linguistic stylistics and
literary stylistic.

Q No 6. What are the parameters of using non-native literature in the language-

teaching syllabus? Discuss.

The Place of Non-native English Literature

You may recall that in our introduction to Literary Stylistics we stressed that by English
literature we meant literature written through the medium of English. Although the two main
sources of such literature are American and British (especially for study purposes), novels,
plays, biographies and poems are produced and to a lesser extent) published in many other
countries. However, all too often, we think of these countries as areas where English, or a
dialect of it (e.g. West Indian), is the native language. What about English literature that is
produced in Africa and Asia? That is, what should our attitude be towards the use of non-
native literature in the language classroom?

We took advantage of the cloze exercise to introduce the question. Our excerpt was taken
from the beginning of a lovely short story by the Indian author, R. K. Narayan. The story is
both humorous and sad: the motorist is an American who throughout the story is referred to
as 'the red-faced man'. He speaks English to the old man who replies to him only in Tamil.
After being at cross purposes for most of the time, a degree of understanding is achieved and
both characters end up supremely satisfied -the villager happy in the belief that he has had an
astonishingly good price for his goats, and the red-faced man smugly convinced that he has
bought the coveted horse! In the next reading text, BrajKachru discusses some of the
advantages of using home-produced material.
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NON- NATIVE LITERATURES, IN ENGLISH AS A RESOURCE FOR LANGUAGE

TEACHING

Kachru has written extensively on the issue of non-native varieties of English. In particular,
he has been interested in the use and special development of English in South Asia. We
believe that you will thoroughly enjoy reading his very thought-provoking paper with its
examples of beautifully written English prose. For this paper, we shall again make use of a
brief glossary.

In his recent years language teachers have shown increasing awareness about teaching
language as a 'meaning system' related to various societal functions. The dichotomy between
form and function is less emphasized in the curriculum and classroom teaching. A welcome
outcome of this awareness has been the growing body of theoretical and methodological
research relevant to the classroom in the areas of, for example, ethnography of
communication, language pragmatics, and the sociology of language. It seems to me that a
natural consequence of such a change of attitude is to reconsider the role of literature in the
language classroom. A discussion of this topic, therefore, is both timely and of significance to
language-teachers.

I will not deal with the earlier controversy, which resulted in what is known as the
language/literature dichotomy, or its implications for language teaching. There is a large body
of literature on this, topic written by linguists, literary scholars, and those who stayed on the
fence. Since I do not believe in this dichotomy, I will presuppose that contextually
appropriate and linguistically graded literary texts have an important job to do in the
classroom. Therefore, in what follows I will take the next step and discuss the
appropriateness of using in the language classroom a, rather specialized body of English
literature, which is written by non-native users of English. A non-native user is one who has
acquired an institutionalized variety of English as a second language (L2). (For a detailed
discussion, see Kashrus 1985 and Smith 1981.)

Those of us who have taught English as a second language know that it is a complex
undertaking. We also know that no broad generalizations, which apply to all linguistically
and culturally pluralistic countries, are possible. Therefore, at present we have to resist the
temptation of universalistic models, methods, and approaches (Kashrus 1982). A distinction
has to be made between various language teaching situations in, for example, Africa, South
Asia, South East Asia, and the Philippines.
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However, I shall focus on the non-native English literature of South Asia. A number of 7th
Asian English writers use English as the only language of creativity, though there are some
who are creative both in their mother tongue and in English. In discussing such creative
writers, the first question posed by the antagonists of English and the curious is: "why do
such writers choose English as the language of their en question is asked both innocently, and
often with suspicion about the nationalistic, linguistic, and cultural roots writers. There are
also some who have doubted the appropriateness of a non-native age for recreating typically
Indian or Asian) social, cultural, or emotional contexts; the doubts being about the
authenticity' of a non-native medium of such creativity. The responses to such questions and
criticisms are as is the number of such writers. This debate was captured in an anthology
(Lal1969), for which he asked 132 'practicing poets' (in English) two significant questions,
among others. The answers to these questions are revealing and apply to most of the non-
native English literatures, for example, those of Africa, South East Asia, and the Philippines-
First, 'what are the circumstances that led to your using the English language for the purpose
of re the poetry?' Second,' do you think English is one of the Indian language?' The responses
by the poets obviously vary in their seriousness and detail. Kamala Das considers it a 'Silly’
question, since in her view, ‘English being the most familiar, we use it. That is all.’ Das
makes an appropriate observation: The language one employs is not important- What is
important is important is the thought contained in the words' (Lal 1969: 102-3).

Kamala Das has presented the same feelings succinctly in the following poem:

I am Indian, very brown, born in

Malabar, I speak three languages, write in

Two, dream in one. Don't write in English, they said,

English is not your mother tongue. Why not leave

Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins,

Every one of you? Why not let me speak in

Any language I like? The language I speak

Becomes mine, its distortions, its queer nesses

All mine, mine alone. It is half English; half

 16

Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,

It is as human as I am human, don't

You see? It voices my joys, my longings, my

Hopes, and it is as useful tome as cawing

Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it

Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is

Here and not there; a mind that sees and hears and

Is aware...

The body of such writing is fast increasing in various genres, styles, registers. It is the only
pan-South Asian or pan-African literature available to the world readership with what may be
termed Nigerian, Indian, or Kenyan sensibility, This is, of course, notarized English, since the
cultural context and the functional context are 'non-English'. Therefore, the proposal that the
notion of English literature should be broadened and termed 'literatures in English' (as
suggested by the distinguish Indian critic C. D. Narasimhaiah) is very relevant and
meaningful.

The attitude towards such non-native English writers has gone through various phases, both
in their own countries and in other. parts of the English-speaking world. However, one must
mention that in the writers' own countries they were - and to some extent continue to be -
suspect; otherwise we would not be asking the above questions. And for a long time the
native user' of English did not consider the non-native writers of English as part of the
English literary tradition. Such writers were regarded as contextually and linguistically
esoteric. But the sheer persistence and the range and quality of their writing gained slow but
well-deserved recognition. Even in. Smith Asia it took at least several decades, and the
constant effort of scholars and academic administrators such as V.K. Gokak, C. D,
Narastmhaiah, K. R. lyengar, and Kamesh Mohan to win a rightful place for Commonwealth
literature (or South Asian English literature) in the curriculum. The resistance came mainly
from the Indian professors of English whose attitude towards such writing was to some'
degree based on the attitude of their British teachers. In turn the British attitude was not as
 17

indifferent as that of American scholars. But then, at different periods, the attitudes are
manifested in different ways. After all, till recently; the British attitude towards American
English was not much different from the British attitude towards, for example, Indian English
or African. English, However, there is one satisfaction: that 'linguistic hurts tend to heal
faster, and generally are not remembered for too long other than in works preserved for
posterity, such as H.L. Mencken's American Language, In Mencken's title, note the use of
'language' instead of 'English'.

This was done deliberately to demonstrate both linguistic emancipation and resentment
(Kachru 1981). The non-native varieties of English had their Menckens too, but I will not go
into that here. This much about the preliminaries.

In pedagogical terms, then, what does the use of such literary texts by non-native writers
entail? It is essential that some research be done to grade such texts linguistically and in terms
of their content. This is necessary to determine the appropriateness of such texts for the
learner, especially in terms of lexis, syntax' and cultural content. Consider, for example, Raja
Rio's The Serpent and the Rope and R.K, Narayan's The Bachelor of Arts. There is no doubt
that Rio's novel (if it is a novel) is more complex both in terms of the formal devices which
Rae uses, and the cultural content. The style is strongly influenced by Sanskrit and Kannada.
The complex underlying linguistic influences on its style give it a distinct Indian ness. And
there is no doubt that Rio makes a conscious effort to preserve such Indian identity.

CULTURE AND TEACHING OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE FOR

PAKISTANI STUDENTS

Dr.SabihaMansoor, a famous linguist says “Learning English for Pakistani students is a

complex phenomenon. As second language learners, the learning and teaching of English has
different implications for native and foreign language learners. English is used widely in
Pakistan in official, business and academic circles, not only to meet the needs of Pakistan as a
developing country for the purposes of modernization and technology but also because of
linguistic, political and social considerations. Pakistani student needs for learning English are
primarily for instrumental reasons like travelling abroad, reading advanced technical
literature, coping with university classes, access to international books and journals, getting
 18

good jobs, and as the working language of their future careers. Students also need it for social
purposes.”

To prepare students to use English, the teaching of English should therefore have the
following objectives:

 For academic purposes,

 For inter-active purposes,
 For communication in target areas of work.
 For travel and study abroad and meeting native speakers as well as speakers from ESL
I EFL countries.

The first three objectives point to the need for students to learn English within their own local
contexts and the fourth to learn English for inter-cultural communication. The
teaching/learning of English in Pakistan must therefore prepare students to use English both
as a second language in Pakistan and as an international language.

The implications in terms of language and culture are manifold. It involves:

a) An awareness and understanding of the students own ethnicity i.e. his local culture.
b) An awareness of Pakistani culture, and
c) An awareness of the target culture (not only British and American culture but sensitization
to global culture).

Incorporating the student’s own culture as well as foreign culture would enable Pakistani
students, as second language learners of the outer circle, to communicate effectively not only
with English speakers of their own country, but also English speakers from other countries
whichever circle (inner or expanded) that they may belong to.
A critical look at the materials available for the teaching of English at both Board and
University levels reveal that most of them are imported or books of English writers which are
meant to be used for student whose native language is English. The lack of local materials for
academic purposes and for the teaching of Functional English has led to the teaching and
learning of English being regarded with suspicion. It is felt by some pressure groups that this
leads to undue influence of western culture on our students and an alienation of their own
 19

culture. As a result, despite highly positive attitudes and high motivational intensity to learn-
teach English by learners and teachers the position and status of English in our educational
set-up remains controversial. Inclusion of local culture in the curriculum, methodology, and
teaching materials of TESL would make learning easier and more meaningful for Pakistani
students. The most obvious influence of language and culture on thought is that of
vocabulary. As Boas points out, words are suited to the environment in which they are used.

What is the basic argument Dr. SabihaMansoor is trying to give? Well the argument is that
Pakistani students should be exposed to their own culture. “The lack of local materials for
academic purposes and for the teaching of Functional English has led to the teaching and
learning of English being regarded with suspicion. It is felt by some pressure groups that this
leads to undue influence of western culture on our students and an alienation of their own
culture. As a result, despite highly positive attitudes and high motivational intensity to learn-
teach English by learners and teachers the position and status of English in our educational
set-up remains controversial. Inclusion of local culture in the curriculum, methodology, and
teaching materials of TESL would make learning easier and more meaningful for Pakistani
students”.
Q7: How can a literature be integrated in a language learning class room explain?

ANSWER: There are many good reasons for using literature in the classroom. Here are a
few:

 Literature is authentic material. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified

language in the classroom because they skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or
unknown language can be used outside the class.
 Literature encourages interaction. Literary texts are often rich is multiple layers of meaning,
and can be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions.
 Literature expands language awareness. Asking learners to examine sophisticated or non
standard examples of language (which can occur in literary texts) makes them more aware of
the norms of language use (Widdowson, 1975 quoted by Lazar 1993).
 Literature educates the whole person. By examining values in literary texts, teachers
encourage learners to develop attitudes towards them. These values and attitudes relate to the
world outside the classroom.
 20

 Literature is motivating. Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For this
reason, students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly
respected literature. Also, literature is often more interesting than the texts found in
coursebooks.
Different models of teaching literature in class

There have been different models suggested on the teaching of literature to ESL/EFL students
(Carter & Long, Lazar). How the teacher will use a literary text depends on the model they
choose.

The cultural model views a literary text as a product. This means that it is treated as a source
of information about the target culture. It is the most traditional approach, often used in
university courses on literature. The cultural model will examine the social, political and
historical background to a text, literary movements and genres. There is no specific language
work done on a text. This approach tends to be quite teacher-centred.

The language model aims to be more learner-centred. As learners proceed through a text, they
pay attention to the way language is used. They come to grips with the meaning and increase
their general awareness of English. Within this model of studying literature, the teacher can
choose to focus on general grammar and vocabulary (in the same way that these are presented
in coursebooks for example) or use stylistic analysis. Stylistic analysis involves the close
study of the linguistic features of the text to enable students to make meaningful
interpretations of the text – it aims to help learners read and study literature more
competently.

The personal growth model is also a process-based approach and tries to be more learner-
centred. This model encourages learners to draw on their own opinions, feelings and personal
experiences. It aims for interaction between the text and the reader in English, helping make
the language more memorable. Learners are encouraged to “make the text their own”. This
model recognises the immense power that literature can have to move people and attempts to
use that in the classroom.

Attached below are two lessons which draw on a combination of the language approach and
the personal growth approach. Both are based on short texts: either extracts or poems.
 21

Using literature over a longer period of time – the set novel or reader

The above lesson plans are all based on short extracts or poems and can therefore easily be
used over one class period. However, there are very good reasons for encouraging learners to
read books. Extensive reading is an excellent way of improving English, and it can be very
motivating to finish an entire book in another language. In addition, many international
exams have certain optional questions on them that pertain to set novels each year. One
option that is now available to language teachers is the wide range of simplified and
inexpensive versions of literary texts, called readers (see Onestop Shop for a list of readers
for different levels). Setting up a class library of novels and readers, if you have the
resources, is an excellent idea. Tim Bowen and Jonathan Marks, in their book Inside
Teaching, recommend the following ideas for extensive reading of literature:

 Hold brief classroom discussions on what learners have been reading (progress reports).
 Ask learners to describe a book they like in such a way to make others want to read it.
 Select a short novel which has been recently made into a film or TV series with which your
learners are familiar.
In addition, there is a list of general questions about novels or readers attached at the bottom
of the page that could be given for students to answer in written form (they are based on
questions from the Cambridge First Certificate Exam).

DIY literature lesson plan

In our first Methodology article on Using Literature, there were two sample lesson plans
based on an excerpt or a short story. Both followed a similar lesson plan format, outlined
below. This sort of lesson plan works well for extracts from stories, poems or extracts from
plays.

Stage one: warmer

There are two different possible routes you can take for this stage:
 22

 Devise a warmer that gets students thinking about the topic of the extract or poem. This could
take several forms: a short discussion that students do in pairs, a whole class discussion, a
guessing game between you and the class or a brainstorming of vocabulary around that topic.
 Devise a warmer that looks at the source of the literature that will be studied. Find out what
the students already know about the author or the times he/she was writing in. Give the
students some background information to read (be careful not to make this too long or it will
detract from the rest of the lesson; avoid text overload!). Explain in what way this piece of
literature is well-known (maybe it is often quoted in modern films or by politicians). This sort
of warmer fits more into the cultural model of teaching literature (see Literature in the
Classroom 1)
Stage two: before reading

This stage could be optional, or it may be a part of the warmer. Preparing to read activities
include:

 Pre-teaching very difficult words (note: pre-teaching vocabulary should be approached with
caution. Often teachers “kill” a text by spending too much time on the pre-teaching stage.
Limit the amount of words you cover in this stage. If you have to teach more than seven or
eight there is a good chance the text will be too difficult.)
 Predicting. Give students some words from the extract and ask them to predict what happens
next. If it is a play, give them a couple of lines of dialogue and ask them to make predictions
about the play.
 Giving students a “taste”. Read the first bit of the extract (with their books closed, or papers
turned over) at normal speed, even quickly. Ask students to compare what they have
understood in pairs. Then ask them to report back to you. Repeat the first bit again. Then ask
them to open the book (or turn over the page) and read it for themselves.
Stage three: understanding the text, general comprehension

Often with extracts or poems, I like to read the whole thing to my students so that they can
get more of a “feel” for the text. With very evocative pieces of literature or poetry this can be
quite powerful. Then I let students read it to themselves. It is important to let students
approach a piece of literature the first time without giving them any specific task other than to
simply read it. One of the aims of teaching literature is to evoke interest and pleasure from
 23

the language. If students have to do a task at every stage of a literature lesson, the pleasure
can be lost.

Once students have read it once, you can set comprehension questions or ask them to explain
the significance of certain key words of the text. Another way of checking comprehension is
to ask students to explain to each other (in pairs) what they have understood. This could be
followed up by more subjective questions (e.g.. Why do you think X said this? How do you
think the woman feels? What made him do this?)

Stage four: understanding the language

At this stage get to grips with the more difficult words in the text. See how many of the
unfamiliar words students can get from context. Give them clues.

You could also look at certain elements of style that the author has used. Remember that
there is some use in looking at non-standard forms of language to understand the standard.

If appropriate to the text, look at the connotation of words which the author has chosen. For
example, if the text says “She had long skinny arms,” what does that say about the author’s
impression of the woman? Would it be different if the author had written “She had long
slender arms”?

Stage five: follow up activities

Once you have read and worked with your piece of literature it might naturally lead on to one
or more follow up activities. Here are some ideas:

Using poems

 have students read each other the poem aloud at the same time, checking for each other’s
pronunciation and rhythm. Do a whole class choral reading at the end.
 Ask students to rewrite the poem, changing the meaning but not the structure.
 Ask students to write or discuss the possible story behind the poem. Who was it for? What
led to the writing of this poem?
 24

 Have a discussion on issues the poem raised and how they relate to the students’ lives.
Using extracts from stories or short stories

 Ask students to write what they think will happen next, or what they think happened just
before.
 Ask students to write a background character description of one of the characters which
explains why they are the way they are.
 Ask students to imagine they are working for a big Hollywood studio who wants to make a
movie from the book. They must decide the location and casting of the movie.
 Ask students to personalise the text by talking about if anything similar has happened to
them.
 Ask students to improvise a role play between two characters in the book.
Using extracts from plays

Most of the ideas from stories (above) could be applied here, but obviously, this medium
gives plenty of opportunity for students to do some drama in the classroom. Here are some
possibilities:

 Ask students to act out a part of the scene in groups.

 Ask students to make a radio play recording of the scene. They must record this onto cassette.
Listen to the different recordings in the last five minutes of future classes. Who’s was the
best?
 Ask students to read out the dialogue but to give the characters special accents (very
“foreign” or very “American” or “British”). This works on different aspects of pronunciation
(individual sounds and sentence rhythm).
 Ask students to write stage directions, including how to deliver lines (e.g. angrily,
breathlessly etc) next to each character’s line of dialogue. Then they read it out loud.
 Ask students to re-write the scene. They could either modernise it (this has been often done
with Shakespeare), or imagine that it is set in a completely different location .