Introduction To World Englishes
Introduction To World Englishes
Chapter – 01
Introduction of English and World Englishes
20 – BS ENGLISH (Linguistics)
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, SBA
Introduction
• English is one of the most popular languages in the
world.
• There are many peoples who use and get benefit using
English in their daily life such as to communicate to
other and to convey the information.
• Normans were warriors, fought on horseback with heavy battle axes. They had strong
political unity, organization, power, good in architecture and love of luxury. The
Normans did not impose French, but William’s court used French language and even
trade language was French.
• In the fourteenth century English was the language of the country, but this was a
very different kind of English from the English that was in reign of the Norman
Conquest.
• French words adopted in English are such as (legal and govern themselves are
French) lexical domains such as crime, criminal, criminality, regal, regental, judge,
plea, royal, sue, defend, defendant and common words such as joy, face, cap, force,
war, chase, paint, pay.
Between 1450 and 1750 there is the This period of time saw the effects of
change from Middle English to Early the Renaissance in art and literature
Modern English or the Great Vowel with its strong influence on language
Shift. growth.
David Graddol’s (1998) argues in his book “The Future of English” that
English is certainly stoppable and he suggests that current global status
English may be lost in future.
Tom McArthur (1998) on the other hand his is book “The English
Languages” that English was undergoing a process of fundamental
change which would result different varieties of language as a
family of languages.
• English is used as an official language in about 70 countries
such as Ghana, Nigeria, India, Singapore and Pakistan while
English is taught as a foreign language in over 100
countries such as such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain,
Egypt and Brazil.
• In 1996 English replaced French as the chief foreign
language in schools in Algeria that was a former French
colony.
• David Crystal (1997) mentions that about a quarter of the
world’s population is already fluent or competent in English
that means around 1.5/1.35 billion people. No other
language can match this growth while speaker of Chinese
are about 1.1 billion.
There is the closest relation between
Language has no independent existence
language dominance and economic,
and it has some sort of mystical status.
technological, Military and cultural power.
Language exists only in the brains,
Without a strong power-base no language
mouths, ears, hands, eyes of its users.
can make progress as an international
medium of communication.
Features Make
Language
Global
Why English is widely spoken and written At some point in the history of human
though it has less grammar than other Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Arabic and
languages’, it doesn’t have a lot of endings on French are among those languages
its words, nor do we have to remember the which were international in the past as
difference between masculine, feminine, and well.
neuter gender.
Why English is widely spoken and written
It means the language does not become a
though it has less grammar than other
global language o n t h e b a s i s o f its
languages’, it doesn’t have a lot of endings on
intrinsic structural properties, the size of its
its words, nor do we have to remember the
difference between masculine, feminine, and vocabulary, a great literature in the past and a
neuter gender. great culture or religion.
Features Make
Language Global
Latin was an international language throughout the Roman Empire, but this was not because
the Romans were more numerous than the peoples they subjugated. They were simply more
powerful. After, when Roman military power declined, Latin remained for a millennium as the
international language of education.
• A language becomes an international language on the basis of the power of its
people especially political and military power.
• Its explanation and proofs we find throughout history for instance why did
Greek become a language of international communication in the Middle East
over 2,000 years ago? Not because of the intellects of Plato and Aristotle but
the answer lies in the swords and spears used by the armies of Alexander the
Great.
• Why did Latin become known throughout Europe?
• Why did Arabic come to be spoken so widely across northern Africa and the
Middle East?
TRENDS IN WORLD ENGLISHES
SPECIFICALLY IN ESL SITUATION
• English has become global language since the 17th century due
to the worldwide influence of the British Empire and the
United States of America.
• Different factors affect English spoken within a country and they can be
regional (geographical), ethnic (national and racial), and social (class,
age, gender, socioeconomic status and education).
• English is a major language because Great Britain and the United States have been
powerful militarily, politically, and economically for the past two centuries.
• Different varieties of English are used throughout the world and Kachru
(1985/92/95) identified three concentric circles such as the Inner Circle, the Outer
Circle, the Expanding Circle and here we discuss briefly his three circle model:
Country Numbers of Spoken English
United States 245.800.000
United Kingdom 57.006.000 Country Numbers of Spoken English
Canada 25.880.000 India 810.806.000
Australia 16.475.000 Pakistan 109.434.000
New Zealand 3.336.000 Bangladesh 107.756.000
1. Inner Circle: Philippines 58.434.000
English as Native Language (ENL) Tanzania 23.996.000
Kenya 22.919.000
Malaysia 16.965.000
2. Outer Circle: Sri Lanka 16.606.000
English as Second Language (ESL) Ghana 13.750.000
Zambia 7.384.000
Singapore 2.641.000