VARITIES OF ENGLISH

World Englishes (WE)- refers to the differences in the English language that emerge as it is
used in various contexts across the world. Scholars of World Englishes identify the varieties of
English used in different sociolinguistic contexts, analyzing their history, background, function,
and influence.
The Origin of World Englishes

1965 1984 1992

Linguist Braj Kachru (1932- Kachru formally introduces Larry E. Smith contributes a
2016) publishes his first the term “World Englishes” chapter titled, “Spread of
journal article, entitled “The at the Teachers of English to English and Issues of
Indianness in Indian Speakers of Other Languages Intelligibility” to The Other
English.” In the article, he (TESOL) Conference along Tongue: English Across
lays the theoretical with the global profile of Cultures, edited by Braj B.
groundwork for the idea of English. Later, he proposes Kachru. Smith, in this
World Englishes by the three concentric circles chapter, mentions that since
interpreting how English is model. the global spread of English
nativized in India, delineating has been very rapid by
some of its unique historical standards, not all
sociological and cultural these English varieties will
aspects, and showing that necessarily be intelligible to
“Indian English” is a unique each other. Thus, he argues
variety of English which is that the idea of English’s
neither an American or “intelligibility” should be
British English. thought of as a matter of its
ability to be understood by a
speaker and listener within
the same speech community,
rather than its degree to be
understood solely by native
speakers of English.
He also proposes the
following three terms to
understand the interaction
between speaker and listener:
1)intelligibility
(word/utterance
recognition),
2)comprehensibility
(word/utterance meaning,
or “locutionary force”), and
3) interpretability (meaning
behind word/utterance,
“illocutionary force”).

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VARITIES OF ENGLISH

Three concentric circles in English

1. The inner circle refers to the countries where English is used as the primary language,
such as the USA, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.
2. The outer/middle circle denotes those countries where English usage has some colonial
history. This includes nations such as India, Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Malaysia,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Zambia.
3. The expanding circle includes countries where English is spoken but where it does not
necessarily have a colonial history or primary/official language status. This includes
nations such as China, Japan, South Korea, Egypt, Nepal, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Saudi
Arabia, Taiwan, USSR, and Zimbabwe. Any country where English is regularly spoken
(even in limited contexts—e.g., for international business) that does not fall under the
first two categories is considered to be in the expanding circle.

ACROLECT, MESOLECT AND BASILECT

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VARITIES OF ENGLISH

ACROLECT- refers to the variety of a creole that has no significant difference from
Standard English
 often spoken by the most educated speakers
MESOLECT- has unique grammatical features that distinguish it from Standard English
BASILECT- often spoken by the least educated people of the society, has very significant
grammatical difference.
VARITIES OF ENGLISH AROUND THE WORLD
English is the most widely-spoken language in the world, having the distinct status of being the
official language of multiple countries. While the English language is uniform with major
variations in spelling present between American English and British English, the dialect or
accent is usually the factor that enables one to distinguish the various types of English out there.
Like most languages, there are varieties of English too, however, the difference is not as
prominent as you may see in other languages.
Examples:
1. American English
2. Canadian English
3. British English
4. Indian English
5. Philippine English

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LANGUAGE REGISTERS

Language registers- refers to the formality of language which one speaks.

5 types of language registers
1. Frozen register- language that rarely or never changes
Ex:
 Pledge of Allegiance
 Poetry
 Prayer
2. Formal Register- one-way communication. It is used in formal speaking and writing
situation
Ex:
 Used in businesses, work and school
 Essay
 Academic paper
3. Consultative register- two communication used in conversation
Ex:
 Teachers with students
 Talking with a lawyer or doctor
4. Private voice- Casual or intimate
Ex:
 Conversations with friends
 Using of slangs
5. Intimate register- language shared between couples, close friends. It is also the language
for sexual harassment
Ex:
 Finish each other’s sentences
 Very close relationship
Other concepts of language registers
Academese- is an informal, pejorative term for the specialized language (or jargon) used in some
scholarly writing and speech.
Examples: Abstract, contextualization, commodification
Legalese- the formal and technical language of legal documents that is often hard to understand.
Examples: hereof, thereof, affidavit of loss, sales contract
Textese- is a form of written language that is used in short text messages (SMS) and other digital
communications such as emails, characterized by many abbreviations and typically not following
standard spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and style

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VARITIES OF ENGLISH

Examples of textese
Textese Meaning
Tbt Throwback Thursday
LOL Laughing out loud
L8ur Later
B4 Before
U You
C See
Emojis

Activity 1:
Name: ___________________________________________

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VARITIES OF ENGLISH

Watch news on BBC and CNN international. Compare 2 varieties of English you listened
to. Make a list of vocabulary items that each variety uses and provide counterparts
BBC NEWS (British English) CNN INTERNATIONAL (American
English)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Activity 2: Visit an ethnic restaurant and get exposed to some cultural food. (YOU CAN
USE PAST EXPERIENCES IN A RESTAURANT WITH DIFFERENT CULTURE! YOU
ARE NOT REQUIRED TO VISIT).

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Make a listing of the new cultural terms that you learned. Then write a one paragraph text
describing your first-hand cultural experience.

LIST OF CULTURAL TERMS

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ACTIVITY 3:
Analyze each utterance, its meaning, context and register. Fill the table with your answers.
1. Just a sec, please
2. Could you please hold on for a while? I will just call her.

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VARITIES OF ENGLISH

3. I really apologize for the inconvenience ma’am.

4. So sorry for my mistake.
5. I am not interested in your party.
6. Good morning Mr. Santos! How may I help you?
7. Holla James! Where you at?
8. Our sincerest congratulations on your forthcoming promotion
9. I told you we can do it!
10. Sir, please take a seat. I’ll get your papers ready.
11. Yo! My baby mama just left!
12. What’s up?
13. I can’t make it to the party. I’ll make it up next time
14. Could you hold for 3 minutes sir? I will try to retrieve your file
15. Mrs. Villar I would like to apply for a promotion.
Meaning Context of the situation Register
1. He/she is asking for It could be that he/she has informal
a time something important to do
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

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12.

13.

14.

15.

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