World Englishes

Practical Considerations for

Foreign Language Education
Policies
Table of Contents
OVERVIEW OF WORLD
01 ENGLISHES
Definition; Kachru’s “Three Circles” Model;
Levels of Variations
PERCEPTIONS OF WORLD
02 ENGLISHES
The Role of Accents; “Best” Englishes;
Introducing World Englishes to Students
LEARNING WORLD
03 ENGLISHES
Advantages & Disadvantages of Learning
World Englishes
PRACTICAL
04 CONSIDERATIONS
From the perspectives of teachers & policy
makers
 01
OVERVIEW OF WORLD
ENGLISHES
 World Englishes

All varieties of English used

around the world

Braj Kachru
 There have been different models of
classification

How many varieties However, the Three Circles remain the

are there? most influential one.
02
03
01
START
 Inner circle
Countries – English as primary
language
E.g. USA, UK, Australia
Outer circle
Countries – English as second language
E.g. South Africa, Malaysia, Philipines,
Singapore
Expanding
circle
Countries – English as foreign language
E.g. China, Russia, Japan
 How are varieties of
English around the World
different from one another?
 Language variation:

differences in the way a language is

used, caused by a speaker’s
background, social context, or
intention.
 Levels of language variation:

Sound: phonetics & phonology “While without grammar

Words (lexis) very little can be conveyed,
Structures (patterns or rules): without vocabulary
grammar, syntax, language variety nothing can be conveyed”
(Wilkins, 1972)
 02
PERCEPTIONS OF WORLD
ENGLISHES
Do accents matter when
speaking English?

And should we
change ours?
 Exploring Native Speaker and Non-Native
Speaker Accents: The English as a Lingua
Franca Perspective (Kaur P., Raman A.,
2014)
 Accents conform to native standards

‘Foreign’
Preference of
Alienated
Native speaker
English accent
Disposal
 Truth
1 2 3 4

‘Local’ accent ‘Local’ accent Acceptable PRIDE

Evidence of Personal & Intelligibility + Identity

diversity group Comprehensib Existence
le flow Value
identity
 Do you think there are best
Englishes for your students
to learn?

If yes, which are the best three?

Why?

03
01
02
START
 Exploring Native Speaker and Non-Native
Speaker Accents: The English as a Lingua
Franca Perspective (Kaur P., Raman A.,
2014)
 Methodology

PARTICIPANTS ATTITUDES
Malaysian trainee teachers Native English accent &

Non-native English accent

INDICATORS SCALE
Correctness 1: Very acceptable

Acceptability -

Pleasantness 6: Very unacceptable

Familiarity
‘Presumab
ly best’
English
accents
- Native
English
accent -

‘Local’ English
As Malaysians, we should be proud
of Malaysian English….because
our English is intelligible for
others”
Though they do not sound like
English people, they are fluent and
grammatically competent
Intelligibility
Grammatical competence
THOUGHTS
Native English accent
“Both [US and UK English accents]
are easy to understand...can be
listened everyday in movies”
“Native or non-native accents don’t
bother me so much as long as it is
able to convey your message”
Preference depends on
situation
Non-native English
accent - Identity
“We cannot look down on non-native
English accents as it symbolizes the identity
of the speaker...as long as the English that
they use is intelligible.”
“As long as it is understandable,
non-native speakers should not
mind using their own accent.”
Identity
Should we introduce World
Englishes to students?
Why or Why not?

Vote on live.voxvote.com
Enter the following 5 numbers
PIN: 51293
Current Perspectives on Teaching World
Englishes and English as a Lingua France
(Jenkins, J., 2006)
 YES!

GROWING
AGREEMENT REFLECTION
CONSENSUS

Language Teachers & learners Learners

awareness
English – Englishes Sociolinguistic reality
Teachers, trainers,
educators Similarities & Differences Distant native speaker

Three circles Intelligibility

Language & Identity

 03
02
01
START

Which aspects (phonetices,

lexical,…) of WEs should
you introduced to your
students?
 ASPECTS
AWARENESS ACCOMMODATION SKILL
English Adjust their
diversity speech
Less proficient learners
Exposure:
Intelligible
WEs
Intelocutors
varieties
- Wide range of L1 -
More proficient learners
backgrounds
Discussion:
Spread of English varieties
Diverse standards
 03
LEARNING
WORLD ENGLISHES
What benefits and challenges may
we have when introducing WEs in
EFL classes?
 WORLD ENGLISHES FROM A
HOLISTIC VIEW AND
CONSIDERATIONS ON ENGLISH
EDUCATION IN VIETNAM (Tran & Ngo,
2006)
 INTERPRETATION
Asian context Vietnamese context

• Few countries recognize • Preference: standard

importance of Englishes English in educational
varieties. field
• Especially in English • WEs is quite new to
teaching & learning. teachers & students
• Prediction: Change of • Tertiary level: greater
societal attitudes towards awareness for WEs
WEs in Asian countries.
 BENEFITS
Preparation:
real-life encounters with Successful Changed students’ focus:
English varieties communication Accuracy
To
Learners: “expose and get Fluency &Effectiveness of
familiar with different varieties communication
of English that are used
currently in communication 01 02 03 Increased learners’ confidence:
outside classroom” their own English
Increased learners’ awareness:
English varieties in real life Promotion:
Confidence & awareness
Avoid shock attitudes

03
01
02
04
05
START
 Teaching materials CHALLENGES
Lack of proper Teacher’s
teaching materials constraint 03
01 Choices: English
varieties & their
04
05
02
01
03
START
Teachers don’t know
well about English
priorities varieties

Conservative, not be
Time & effort
open with local
consuming
varieties

Insufficient time to Students’ confusion & resistance

introduce WE
02
They don’t understand the term WE
04
They prefer imitating BE or AmE
Scheme on foreign language teaching and
learning in the national education system
in the 2008-2020 period
 Issues related to the scheme

LEVEL OF
ENGLISH 10-YEAR PROGRAM PROFICIENCY
Subject a school level English is taught from Benchmarking CEFR
Medium of instruction grade 3 Teacher quality
Students’ proficiency

EVALUATION TEACHING & LEARNING TEACHING

POLICY FACILITIES RESOURCES METHOD
 Problems of the scheme
https://giaoduc.net.vn/giao-duc-24h/chinh-sach-ve-day-tie
ng-anh-o-viet-nam-duoc-xay-dung-tu-dau-post177895.gd

Teacher’s constraint
Benchmarking CEFR is beyond teacher’s abilities (esp. in rural
areas)
Lack of proper teaching materials

IT IS NECESSARY TO CHANGE
Different THE
regions – different textbooks applied in schools

POLICY Teaching methods

Adult-oriented, form-focused

Evaluation
Excessively focused on gauging students’ competence on
vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing skills; neglect of speaking
& listening skills
 04
PRACTICAL
CONSIDERATIONS
 DISCUSSION 13
05
14
15
12
08
03
10
06
01
09
07
04
02
11
START

How to introduce World Englishes to students

effectively?
● From the perspective of teachers?
● From the perspective of policy makers?
Discuss in groups (15 minutes) and
prepare a 5-minute presentation to share your ideas!
 SUGGESTIONS
Teachers Policy Makers

• Provide courses for World

• Raise learners’ awareness,
Englishes
understanding, tolerance
• Improve teachers’
• Teach accents &
knowledge & awareness
phonological variations through training &
• Use task-based approach, workshops
engaging activities, • Recruit teachers of
authentic listening different Englishes
materials
• Invest in overseas training
• Promote learners’
autonomy • Develop suitable materials
& assessment tools
- G1: raise sts’ awareness of different cultures and identities
- G2: yes, to have an understanding of accent diversities + real-life
communications + identities
- G3: yes, but consider context and level
- G4: help st train themselves and increase exposure to different English accents
 PROS CONS

- Parents’ objections
- Expanding vocabulary range
- Students’ feeling of
- Preparation for real-life
discouragement due to
encounters with English
being teased by others
varieties
- Lack of native teachers as
- Successful communication
models
- Promotion of confidence &
- Teaching materials
awareness
- Time & effort consuming
- Teacher’s constraint
- Students’ confusion &
resistance
In Essence…
World Englishes
All varieties of English used
around the world
Classification & Levels of
Variation
Kachru’s “Three Circles”
Model; Phonological,
Lexical, and Syntactic
Variations
Practical Considerations
Awareness, Understanding, Tolerance
How much exposure to different
accents would be sufficient in the
classroom?
How to distinguish/draw the
boundaries between errors as
defined in Second Language
Acquisition and the varietal
features of World Englishes?
 Thanks!
Do you have any questions?
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