Attitudes to World English

• • English as a language no longer ‘belongs’ to native English speakers - its international counterparts continue to develop and exist.

  ‘’The English have as much control over English as Italians have over pizza and Italians have over chicken korma’’

  ’’How English develops in the world is no business of native speakers of England, or the United States, or anywhere else. They have no say in the matter, no right to intervene or pass judgement. They are irrelevant‘’
• David Crystal (1997, 2003)


  • The momentum of English’s growth has become so great that there is nothing likely to stop its continued spread as a lingua franca.
  • People feel pride in their respective variations of English, varying their language to define change even more.
  • This argument is strong as English is important internationally - its use in commerce between ethnic groups, and in institutions has led to variation which has been embraced.
  • But the spread of English could just as easily be down to colonialism - natives are left with no choice but to use English, resulting in variation.
• David Graddol (1996)


  • ‘The current global wave of English may lose momentum’
  • In his book ‘The Future of English?’ He proposed that native English speakers would soon be outnumbered by those who speak English as a second or third language.
  • He also proposed that the ‘native speaker’ was on the decline, meaning less people are looking to native English speakers for language norms, and rather relying on on their own developing forms of English and cultures.
  • Therefore, whilst World Englishes continue to develop, they are branching into their own languages and dialects.
• Tom McArthur (1998)


  • English is going through such radical change around the world that it is fragmenting into a ‘family of languages’.
  • The existence of World Englishes proves this - there are countless global variations of English, with varying levels of intelligibility to native speakers.
  • However, as these forms originate from Standard English, it can be argued that they are not that different and merely different dialects.
• Nicholas Olster (2010)


  • English will decline as other powerful languages have in the past, as British and American influence declines, so will English.
  • Instead of another language taking its place, technology will erase the need for learning languages, and anybody will be able to speak to anyone.
  • The decline of English alongside its powers is a sensical argument, as seen previously with other languages - ‘’There is only one way up from an ascendancy,’’
  • However, as English continues to spread globally, the need for advanced translation technology as suggested by Olster may be unnecessary
• Mario Saraceni (1998)


  • English hasn’t ‘spread’, rather relocated to the wider world.
  • The idea of ‘spread’ implies a ‘centre-periphery’ relationship between the inner and expanding circles, which Saraceni sees as problematic.
  • By ‘de-Anglicizing‘ English, the ‘psychological umbilical cord’ between England and global English is cut, meaning users can use the language as they please.
  • Whilst it is true that international speakers have taken liberty with English variations, the principle of English is nevertheless the same, just adapted and reworked into other cultures.
• Jennifer Jenkins

  • Studies mispronunciations in non-native English to identify communication problems.
  • Whilst these need to be corrected, she believed that English teachers will soon not fix those that cause no communication problems.
  • Therefore, some sounds may drop from English as it is used as a lingua franca.
  • For instance, she finds that ‘th’ sounds are often replaced with ‘z’, ‘t’, or ‘d’ sounds.
  • These may be promoted by when teachers realise that students will not be communicating with native speakers.
• Suzette Haden Elgin


  • Linguist and Sci-fi author.
  • Idea of ‘Panglish’ - a single English which will have dialects but remain consistent with grammar principles.
  • Aleo proposed the idea of global Englishes developing into mutually unintelligible languages
  • Whilst Elgin is unsure where English will develop, she suggests change will be made apparent in less than 100 years.
• Barbara Seidlhofer


  • Linguist at the University of Austria who studies interactions between non-native English speakers.
  • She found a lack of distinction between mass nouns (e.g ‘information’ and ‘future’) and countable nouns (e.g balls, onions)
  • Therefore, it may be common to pluralise these words - e.g ‘futures’ and ‘informations’ - in the future.
  • This way of speaking is becoming increasingly common in global English communities.
• Braj Kachru


  • Scholar of World Englishes.
  • Variations of English are beginning to become less intelligible to one another.
  • Fragmentation as such happens in all languages, as different mutually unintelligible dialects exist in Chinese, Arabic and Hindi.
  • This could possibly happen in English.
• Paul Bruthiaux


  • Professor at the Asian University in Thailand.
  • Argues that even highly articulate Kenyan, Singaporean and Indian speakers addressing international media are difficult to understand, due to how their English is stressed.
  • A strength of English is that it lacks a central body of standards, like Academie Francaise in French. The norms of English native speakers are becoming less significant to the development of the language.