english language=GLOBAL ENGLISH

• 1.5 billion globally speak English
• Links to America gives English a powerful status
• English has a standard that people can learn it and can adapt and change, e.g. Singlish
• IT/social media spreads English
• Global English

  The idea of English as a worldwide language
• There is a difference between the number of native speakers and the total number of speakers of English
• There are more speakers of Mandarin Chinese and Spanish than there are of English
• English is the second/third most popular mother tongue in the world
• There are 350-400 million native speakers of English and 1.5 billion speakers of English globally
• There are 195 countries in the world, 67 nations have English as the primary language of 'official status'
• There are 27 countries where English is spoken as a secondary 'official' language
• Dispersed


  People have been spread the language of English throughout the world
• 'The British Empire'


  • Migrating and conquering for centuries
• Two categories of English dispersal


  • FIRST DISPERSAL - spread to the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand where English people settled in large numbers
  • SECOND DISPERSAL - smaller groups settling in areas such as South Africa, South Asia and parts of Africa, adopted English as a second language
• The adoption of English either as L1 or L2 relates to politics and power
• Nicholas Ostler talks about English


  -With no challenger comparable to it, it seems almost untouchable …’
• 5th century – 13th century

  -English began life as Anglo-Saxon -reflecting some of its roots in the languages of the Anges and the Saxons, both European tribes who settled in the British Isles during this period. -It took a long time to become established – generally it was looked down upon and languages

  -Latin and French preferred.
• 14th – 17th Centuries

  -English began to grow in power and status due to the English bible

  -writers such as Shakespeare using English --18th century, it was so well established, people began to argue about its ‘correct’ usage. -However, people back home were keenly trying to control the language while English was travelling round the world and is changing constantly
• JENKINS= diaspora


  -first diaspora involved large-scale migrations of mother-tongue English speakers from England, Scotland and Ireland to North America, Australia and New Zealand.’ -In these countries English became established as the mother tongue variety.
• Late 20th – 21st Century


  -As English grows rapidly around the world, more countries see it is important and encourage the education of English for instrumental purposes such as business.

  This is usually referred to as ‘English as a Foreign Language’ (EFL) as it is taught more formally - It can be used to communicate with native and non native

  -This is called a ‘lingua franca’ as English is not either speaker’s first language.
• Schneider's Dynamic Model


  A model describing the stages of English language development in a non-English speaking territory
• Phase One: Foundation


  English first appears in a non-English speaking territory
• Phase Two: Exonormative Stabilisation


  English begins to be used. Norms are taken from 'outside' i.e. native English speakers
• Phase Three: Nativisation


  English becomes more normalised with some influences from within
• Phase Four: Endonormative Stabilisation


  The country gains independence and the English being spoken there developed its own sense of standards and norms
• Phase Five: Differentiation


  The new variety develops its own regional and social variations
• AO3 of schneiders model

  -Schneider’s model is based on the idea that language changes - English in another country will go through a process, a

  bit like growing up. -Depending upon the status of English and the countries circumstances, different countries will progress through the stages at different rates - some will remain at a phase for an indefinite amount of time.
• Kachru

  “Knowing English is like possessing the fabled Aladdin’s lamp, which

  permits one to open, as it were, the linguistic gates to international business, technology, science and travel. In short, English provides linguistic power.”
• Kachru= 3 circle model

  -The inner circle (L1-spoken as a first language e.g. UK, USA, Aus),

  -outer circle (L2 – used as a second language and est. as an everyday

  language e.g. Singapore, India, Ghana),

  -expanding circle (parts of the world where English is recognised and used as an international language but does not have a colonial history)
• AO3 of kachru 3 circle

  -not all varieties will fit neatly into one of the circles; doesn’t show the diversity

  -the labels ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ suggest value judgements about ‘better’

  usage. --considered elitist: model suggests a kind of ‘in group’ privilege in being part of the inner circle with those in the expanding circle not being the ‘real thing’.
• KACHRU IMPORTANCE

  -world englishes developed a 'us' and 'them' -US=prestigious, standard english with RP accent -THEM=incorrect grammar, slang, lazy pronunciation
• evolution of kachru explaining us and them

  -INNER CIRCLE=privileged group who speak the real thing -OUTER CIRCLE=outsiders who aren't quite in the 'in crowd' -EXPANDING CIRCLE=furthers away from the real thing
• Lingua franca

  A language two people with different native languages use to communicate
• English as a Lingua Franca (ELF)


  • Provides mutually intelligible language, used by speakers of different languages allowing them to communicate with one another
  • An alternative to English as a Foreign Language, rather than a replacement – it serves a communicative purpose rather than being associated with education
  • Just as likely to include elements of Standard English as well as linguistic features reflective of more local forms
  • Accommodation and code-switching are common practice during lingua franca communication
  • Language proficiency in speakers may be high or low
• JENKINS (2006): 'Lists 5 common characteristics of English as a lingua franca'
• ELF

  English as a Lingua Franca - cannot be classed as a specific variety as the people using it will influence what non-standard forms are used
• Seidlhofer (2004) has identified some common characteristics of ELF
• Characteristics of ELF

  • Pluralisation of mass nouns e.g. 'informations', 'staffs'
  • Use of tag questions such as 'isn't it?' and 'no?'
  • English begins to used widely as a unstandardized lingua franca, the idea of a standardised global variety of English is talked about
• ELF

  Useful as it's flexible & can be adapted to needs, hard to control
• business

  -English is frequently used around the world in business and political interactions. -Western world is increasingly contracting out work to developing countries eg. Asia. -many workers in these countries are using English to communicate. .