Department of English

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

COURSE OUTLINE

Module code and title: ENGE2600/UGEC2189: World Englishes and Their Cultures
Instructor: Prof. Wilkinson Daniel Wong Gonzales

Course description1

This course offers students an overview of the world Englishes paradigm, focusing on East Asia and the
socio-cultural aspects of world Englishes. Divided into two parts, the course begins by introducing
foundational concepts, debates, and theories relevant to studying world Englishes. It explores diverse
perspectives from linguistics, sociolinguistics, corpus linguistics, postcolonial studies, and language

1
This course outline is inspired by the following syllabi: LING 250 (University of Saskatchewan), ENGL 302 (State University
of New York 2020), WRD 507 Global Englishes (Prof. Schneider 2014), World Englishes (Stockholm University, 2022)
contact, examining how scholars have conceptualized and analyzed ‘English.’ In the second part,
students reinforce their knowledge through selected case studies of world Englishes, analyzing various
geographical varieties in terms of phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syntactic structure. They also
engage in empirical research, collecting data on a specific variety of English and presenting their
findings in a pilot study. Additionally, students compare the world Englishes paradigm with the English
as a Lingua Franca (ELF) paradigm and contemplate the future of the field. By the end of the course,
students will be better prepared to navigate cross-cultural communication situations both within and
beyond the university.
Assessment will be implemented in a “gameful” approach (Fishman and Hayward 2022),
fostering a supportive learning atmosphere. It hopes to empower you to take control of your own
learning and actively contribute to the field of digital humanities. Overall, the course aims to help you
develop a deeper understanding of the course material and your own learning process while also
having the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to the study of Englishes locally and globally.

By the end of the course, you will be able to…

1. engage with basic theoretical discussions related to the world Englishes paradigm.
2. describe the histories and social contexts that have given rise to world Englishes;
3. identify salient linguistic features of selected world Englishes, specifically Asian Englishes
4. apply your newly acquired knowledge by conducting basic data collection and analyses of
English phenomena around the world.
5. critically reflect on the relationship between English varieties and society.
6. identify ways to contribute to society through the digital humanities.

Class format
The main class format (lecture) will vary from session to session but will generally comprise a lecture
and/or a discussion.
• 2 hrs of lecture + 1 hr tutorial based on selected reading materials

Course activities & Assessment

Component Percentage
Concept engagement 20%
- Participation (e.g., In-class activities, mini-reflections)
Collaborative Inquiry 40%
- Activity prompt Response
- Focus Group Discussion
Beyond Knowledge 40%
- Themed essay OR Article Critique OR Mini-research paper
- In-class 2-minute Multimedia reflection
Course grade descriptors

Grade Descriptor
A Excellent Outstanding performance on ALL learning outcomes.
Demonstrates the ability to synthesize and apply the principles or skills learned
in the course in a manner that would surpass the normal expectations at this
level and typical of standards that may be common at higher levels of study.
The ‘A’ grade is reserved for truly excellent work that exceeds the level
expected for the majority of students and are expected to be achieved only by
a small minority.
A- Very Good Generally outstanding performance on ALMOST ALL learning outcomes.
Demonstrates the ability to synthesize and apply the principles or skills learned
in the course in a manner that would fully fulfill the normal expectations.
B+ Good HIGH performance on all learning outcomes, OR HIGH performance on some
(Plus) learning outcomes which compensates WELL for slightly less satisfactory
performance on others, resulting in overall substantial
performance. Demonstrates the ability to apply WELL the principles or skills
learned in the course in a comprehensive manner that would sufficiently fulfill
the normal expectations at this level WELL.
B Good SUBSTANTIAL performance on all learning outcomes, OR SUBSTANTIAL
performance on some learning outcomes which compensates for slightly less
satisfactory performance on others, resulting in overall substantial
performance. Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned
in the course in a MORE COMPREHENSIVE manner that would sufficiently fulfill
the normal expectations at this level.
B- Good GOOD performance on all learning outcomes, OR GOOD performance on some
(Minus) learning outcomes which compensates for slightly less satisfactory
performance on others, resulting in overall substantial performance.
Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned in the course
in a COMPREHENSIVE manner that would sufficiently fulfill the normal
expectations at this level.
C+ Adequate VERY ADEQUATE performance on the majority of learning outcomes.
(Plus) Demonstrates the ability to apply the principles or skills learned in the course
in a SOMEWHAT SUSTAINED manner that would meet the basic requirement
at this level.
C Adequate ADEQUATE performance on the majority of learning outcomes.
Demonstrates the ability to partially apply the principles or skills learned in the
course in a manner that would meet the basic requirement at this level.
C- Adequate SOMEWHAT ADEQUATE performance on A NUMBER OF learning outcomes.
(Minus) Demonstrates the ability to SOMEWHAT apply the principles or skills learned in
the course in a manner that would meet the BARE basic requirement at this
level.
D+ Pass (Plus) BARELY SATISFACTORY performance on A FEW learning outcomes. Addresses
the task inadequately by meeting the basic requirement at this level only in
some areas while responding minimally with possibly tangential content in
others.
D Pass ALMOST BARELY SATISFACTORY performance on VERY FEW learning outcomes.
Addresses the task inadequately by meeting the basic requirement at this level
only in very few areas while responding very minimally with possibly tangential
content in others.
F Failure Unsatisfactory performance on a number of learning outcomes, OR failure to
meet specified assessment requirements. Fails to address the task and likely
does not understand what the task requires. In other words, the work
completely misses the point.
Course topics and potential readings (subject to change)

Wk Topic(s) Readings and resources

1 Introduction (Jenkins 2015) A1
The historical, social, and political context & the
legacy of colonialism (pt 1)
2 The historical, social, and political context & the (Jenkins 2015) B1, C1
legacy of colonialism (pt 2)
3 English Today (Jenkins 2015) A2, B2, C2

4 Englishes and ‘standardness’ (Jenkins 2015) A3, B3, C3

5 World Englishes and corpora (Hundt 2019)
(Davies and Fuchs 2015)
6 Variation and legitimacy of variants (Jenkins 2015) A4, B4, C4
7 Data Analysis in World Englishes (Starr and Balasubramaniam 2019)
(Gonzales 2023)
8 Interactions of English with other languages (Jenkins 2015) A5, B5, C5
(Gonzales et al. 2022)
9 Social dimensions of English: Identity, attitudes, (Hansen Edwards 2015)
ideology (Clothier 2019)

10 English in Hong Kong and wider East Asia (Fuchs 2020)

(Hansen Edwards 2018)
(Hiramoto 2015)
(Hsu 2019)
11 Focus Group Discussion: Englishes in Media around
the World
12 Focus Group Discussion: Englishes in Media around
the World
13 English as a Lingua Franca and World Englishes (Jenkins 2015) A6, B6, C6
14 Connecting the dots

References

Clothier, Josh. 2019. A sociophonetic analysis of /l/ darkness and Lebanese Australian ethnic identity in
Australian English. Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences.1888–
1892. doi:https://assta.org/proceedings/ICPhS2019/papers/ICPhS_1937.pdf.
Davies, Mark.; and Robert Fuchs. 2015. Expanding horizons in the study of World Englishes with the 1.9
billion word Global Web-based English Corpus (GloWbE). English World-Wide. A Journal of
Varieties of English 36.1–28. doi:10.1075/eww.36.1.01dav.
Fishman, Barry.; and Caitlin Hayward. 2022. Gameful Learning: Leveraging the Learning Sciences to
Improve the “Game of Learning.” Rapid Community Report Series. Digital Promise and the
International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/7663.
Fuchs, Robert. 2020. Hong Kong English: Structural features and future prospects. Multilingual Global
Cities: Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, ed. by Peter Siemund and Jakob R.E. Leimgruber, 285–
302. 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2020. |: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780429463860.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429873911.
Gonzales, Wilkinson Daniel Wong. 2023. Broadening horizons in the diachronic and sociolinguistic
study of Philippine English with the Twitter Corpus of Philippine Englishes (TCOPE). English
World-Wide. A Journal of Varieties of English. doi:10.1075/eww.22047.gon. http://www.jbe-
platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/eww.22047.gon.
Gonzales, Wilkinson Daniel Wong.; Mie Hiramoto.; Jakob R. E. Leimgruber.; and Jun Jie Lim. 2022. Is it
in Colloquial Singapore English: What variation can tell us about its conventions and
development. English Today.1–14. doi:10.1017/S0266078422000141.
Hansen Edwards, Jette G. 2015. Hong Kong English: attitudes, identity, and use. Asian Englishes
17.184–208. doi:10.1080/13488678.2015.1049840.
Hansen Edwards, Jette G. 2018. TH variation in Hong Kong English. English Language and Linguistics
23.439–468. doi:10.1017/S1360674318000035.
Hiramoto, Mie. 2015. Sentence-final adverbs in Singapore English and Hong Kong English. World
Englishes 34.636–653. doi:10.1111/weng.12157.
Holman, Caitlin. 2018. Building a Better Game: A Theory of Gameful Learning & the Construction of
Student Personas with Agency. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan ph.d. dissertation.
Hsu, Jia-Ling. 2019. The nativization of English in Taiwanese magazine advertisements. World Englishes
38.463–485. doi:10.1111/weng.12423.
Hundt, Marianne. 2019. Corpus-Based Approaches to World Englishes. The Cambridge Handbook of
World Englishes, ed. by Daniel Schreier, Marianne Hundt, and Edgar W. Schneider, 506–533.
1st ed. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108349406.022.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108349406%23CN-bp-
22/type/book_part.
Jenkins, Jennifer. 2015. Global Englishes: a resource book for students. Third Edition. Routledge English
language Introductions. London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Starr, Rebecca Lurie.; and Brinda Balasubramaniam. 2019. Variation and change in English /r/ among
Tamil Indian Singaporeans. World Englishes 38.630–643. doi:10.1111/weng.12357.