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English in The World

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34 views6 pages

English in The World

Uploaded by

samaira nasta
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Status of English

English is now a lingua franca (previous was Latin)

Historical development of English as a global language:


Process:
1. Origins = Anglo-Saxon tribes from Germany settled in Britain after 400AD
2. Under threat from Viking invasions between 800-1000AD who gained power (spoke Old
Norse)
3. Victory by Alfred the Great in 878AD saved Anglo-Saxon (Old English) again
4. After Norman invasion, disappeared again for 200 years 1066, battle of Hastings
5. Re-emerged as mix of English + French
6. Battle between Church to change language from Latin to English, English won and became
dominant in England
7. British Empire = major spread of English, colonialism
8. Gained control over US, NZ, India Australia
9. Settlers took language + culture to colonies
10. British Empire declined during 20th century but spread of English continued through
economic, political and military influence of N. America – spelling change
11. English also dominated entertainment + media industries, which were becoming more
important in people’s lives
12. Now, with English as the language of the internet, it continues to be at the forefront of
global developments
Status of English as a global language

Criteria used to assess the status of a language:

 Number of first language speakers is high (English spoken by 375 million 1st + 750 million
as 2nd language)
 Speakers must be spread over wide geographical area (English in 5 continents)
 Political + economic affairs must be stable (English = language of trade, scientific research,
international affairs…)

Could status of English change?

 In 2006 British Council said English would rise over next 10-15 yrs peaking at 2 billion
speakers, after which it would decline
◦ (May be premature though)
 Has also been predicted that economic growth in next 50 yrs will come from non-English
speaking countries in Asia, S. America and Pacific
 In education, other languages are competing with English (multilingualism)
The spread of English
Kachru’s Circles
Inner Circle
 English = native language
 380 million speakers
 Administrative + social purposes
E.g: UK, USA, Australia, NZ…

Outer Circle
 English = second language
 Colonial legacy
 Higher education, legal processes, commerce in English
E.g: India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa

Expanding Circle
 English = medium of international communication
E.g: China, Russia, Europe

Kachru’s circles reflects the English language norms in following ways:


 Inner circle = norm-providing (they develop in these countries)
 Outer circle = norm-developing (adopt + develop own norms)
 Expanding circle = norm-dependant (relies on standards set by inner circle)

Limitations of Kachru’s circles:


 Grey areas between circles
 Problems with multilingualism
 Only defined in terms of geography
 Possible that a non-native speaker could understand the lang better than a native speaker
Varieties of English
Standard and non-standard English:
Form of English which has been accepted as the norm + the variety with which other forms are
compared
Originated in UK
Follows accepted constructions of English
Most often learned by non-native speakers
Attitudes to non-standard English:
 H.C. Wylde: dialects are “of little importance” + “quaint and eccentric”
Accents of English:
 Standard English accent = received pronunciation (RP)
 Indicator of status
 Neutral (free from regional associations)

Varieties of English

Creolisation
 When two or more distinct languages merge to form a new variety with its own native
speakers
◦ e.g: Spanglish

Case study: South Africa


 South African English (SAE) = dialect
 Afrikaans = developed from Dutch settlers
 Power struggle between English-speaking settlers + Dutch settlers = Boer War
 Afrikaans replaced English, now language of government, police, armed forces…
◦ (associated with apartheid system)
 People rebelled when they tried to make Afrikaans the teaching language in schools
Language dominance and language death
Language imperialism
 Imposing one language (usually one associated with power + control) upon the speakers
of another language

Push of English encouraged by TESOL programmes


TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger lets people upload their lang through
interactive tech

Language endangerment
Language becomes endangered when number of people who speak it as mother tongue becomes
very small

Language death
 A situation in which there are no remaining native speakers of a language/dialect

 Can be sudden + violent


◦ (200 languages spoken by Aborigines, 50-70 disappeared as result of their killing)
 Can be gradual
◦ (result of colonial expansion)

Statistics
 6% of world’s languages are spoken by 94% of world’s population
 Languages vanishing at fast rate (since 1500s, 15%)
 In last few decades, dozens of Native American languages have died

UNESCO’s 5 stages of language endangerment


• Vulnerable
• Definitely endangered
• Severely endangered
• Critically endangered
• Extinct
Can language death be prevented?
When language dies, so does its culture
Language revitalisation. Efforts by governmental agencies to ensure a language is spoken by a
new generation of kids who’ll take the language forward
E.g: Scottish Gaelic
 Gaelic Language Act gave official recognition to language in 2005
 School teaching only in Gaelic opened in 2006
 BBC Gaelic language broadcasting services

Language shift
 The process whereby the speakers of one community change/shift over time to speaking a
different language

 Language death more likely to happen if language of one group seen as less important than
more dominant language in region
◦ e.g: Breton language in Brittany seen as inferior to French;
▪ kids who spoke it in class forced to wear clog around neck to show their “lack of
education” as punishment

English as an imperialist language

Killer language
 A dominant language which causes the extinction of other, lesser used languages

TESOL = important medium of transmitting English


Programmes should take account of national concerns

Is English under threat?


The changing economic status of non-native English-speaking countries may cause change to
status of English in the world

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