Who Owns A Language:

Overview on Works Related To

It’s taken as a fact of life that English is a language that exists all around the world. (Graddol, 1997; Rao,
2019)

It is a trade language, it is a business language, it is an interconnected language, it is the most used

World Languages are languages that are geographically widespread and used by everyone in places
that supersedes commonly used First Language Acquisitions. (Rao, 2019)

World Languages are created via the idea of trade, migration, colonization, and imperialism. (O’Reagan,
2021)

Though the primacy is in English as the World Language, others exists in other part of the world. Such
as Arabic, Spanish, Chinese. (Mufwene, 2010)
The Three Circles of English

Kachru (1990) developed the idea of World English living in three separate circles.

Inner Circle: This includes countries where English is the native language/earliest
adopters.

Outer Circle: This includes countries where English is used in a social context and
often governmental works. (Al-Mutairi, 2020; Kachru & Smith, 2019)

Expanding Circle: This includes countries where English is learned as a foreign

Language has become an essential human role in communication that it is not only a means of
communication (Prastiyono et al., 2021).

The relationship between language and societies (speakers) is that both phenomena including structure,
culture and history are extremely complicated hence incredibly fascinating. In simple terms, people are
influenced by languages and vice versa. (Jovanovska, 2020.)

Pidgins and Creoles exists as the result of the intertwined relationship. (Holmes, 2022; Rajprasit, 2023)
Problems from Pedagogy, Policy, and Moral
Standpoints Throughout Time
Three Very Pertinent Issues:
1. Language Imperialism
2. The Native Speaker
3. The Indonesian Problem
Language Imperialism

Linguistic imperialism interlocks with a structure of imperialism in culture, education, the media
communication, the economy, politics, and military (Philipson, 1992)

The structure is enforced by the language itself which then propagates in ways that harms those who
do not speak the language properly from developmental, economical, psychological, to other negative
impacts. (Dovchin, 2020; Roche, 2020)

Language Imperialism can happen to other languages, not limited to English. (Badan Pengembangan dan
Pembinaan Bahasa, 2024; Phyak, 2021; Roche, 2019)
Native-Speakerisms
The idea that the best (and sometimes) only good way to teach English is via an L1 English Speaker, preferably born in the
inner circle.

The biggest debate occurs in the past than the present, with the contention that the only good teacher is a native speaker,
with the opposing side winning the day by saying otherwise. (Mesthrie & Bhatt, 2008.)

The problem persists in the modern era with discriminations against ESL teachers that are not from the Inner Circle.
(Gerald, 2020; Maganaka, 2023; Waddington, 2022; Widodo et al., 2020)

Internalized discrimination also occurs, where the teachers and instructors themselves aren’t confident in teaching their
form of English. (Kusumaningputri et al, 2022; Lim & Park, 2024; Santoso et al., 2023; Siquera, 2021)
The Indonesian Problem

Until the advent of Independent Curriculum in the wake of Covid-19, the inclusion of ESL is not made mandatory
from primary school level, an anomaly when compared to other ASEAN countries. (Diyanti & Madya, 2021;
Sulistyo et al., 2019)

Emergency Curriculum has proven itself in mitigating the loss of knowledge retention caused by the lockdown
and Independent Curriculum sought to improve it further. (Pusat Penelitian Kebijakan, 2021)

Though Independent Curriculum is made mandatory only after 2025/2026 School Year, it becomes an open
question how will English Teachers prepare themselves accordingly in the next 3 years. (Kemendikbudristek,
2024)
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