English as a world language

• international varieties of English = English has spread due to migration + travel
• American english

  • lexical difference - fall vs autumn
  • grammatical difference - 't' can be added instead of 'ed' for past tense 'learned' vs 'learnt'
  • orthographical difference - 'er' instead of 're' color vs colour
• Webster 


  blue black speller - codifying the American English added to dictionary

  • aim to make American orthographically simpler by controlling the way things are spelt
  • they are spelt the way they sound
• Engel

  • hates American English = ruining British English
  • due to so many branches of British English
• Murphy 


  there is enough difference between American + British English and no one is in control
• Australian English


  lexical difference - digger = solider

  grammatical difference - collective nouns treated as singular
• crystal 


  English spread = powerful language

  suits need of the user and is a lingua franca
• Gradol 


  English may lose popularity due to bilingual, Spanish, Chinese
• problem with McArthur's world English

  • second circle too small.
  • pidgins + creoles do not mix
  • spread and migration of English is too big to be defined
  • there are many english branches that are missing
• McArthur's circle of world English

  • states that the ideal English can be deemed as written interactional English
  • the next circle is made of regional standards or new standards
  • the outer layer consist of localized varieties which may have similarities with reginal standards
• Scheider's dynamic model

  • travel + sociolinguistics not purely geographical + historical
  • four components - political history of country, colony to independent, identity + rewritings + indigenous settlers
• Kachru model of world 


  inner circle

  • refers to English in its original form and how it was spread across the world
  • English was spread England was then carried the language to Australia, New Zealand and North America
• Kachru model of world English 


  outer circle

  • second movement of English this is spread through imperial expansion by great Britain in Asia and Africa
  • English is not the native tongue but it serves as a lingua franca between ethnic groups
  • this is used for legislature and judiciary system, national commerce
• Kachru model of world English 


  expanding circle

  • countries where English plays no historical or governmental role but is used as a medium for international communication
• Purpose of the inner circle 


  norm-providing this means the basis and fundamental 'norms' and foundations of English
• purpose of the outer circle

  (mainly commonwealth countries) is 'norm-developing'
• purpose of the expanding circle

  (this includes much of the rest of the world) 'norm dependent' because it relies on the standards set by native speakers in the inner circle
• Phase 1 


  foundation

  • language contact between English and indigenous languages
  • contact between different dialects of English of the settlers which eventually results in a new stable dialect
• phase 2


  exonormative stabilization

  • the settlers stabilise under British rule
  • English becomes more prominent
  • bilingualism increases through indigenous
  • creates an elite group of indigenous people
• Phase 3 


  Nativisation

  • new population start to accept new identity bases on present and local languages
• Phase 4 


  endonormative stabilisation

  • local english brings new lexis and literacy
  • new identities
• Phase 5 


  Differentiation

  • subgroups are now defined through region, social and ethnic lines = the new English is a common language
• lingua franca 


  English being used as a common language in which two non-same speaking individuals can communicate. This makes english a world language
• features of a lingua franca

  • simplistic vocabulary
  • animal names
  • simplistic spelling forms
  • simple conjunctions (and)
• Ostler 


  suggest technology has a major influence on the power of English as a world language. English will begin losing its dominance as translation software will become more relied upon
• Beneke 


  80% of all interactions in English are between non-native speakers
• Algeo


  American English is expanding British English this is good thing for the English language as a world language
• Mario saraceni 


  "English needs to cut the umbilical cord between language and England" as "ownership" of the language is not helpful to its spread