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World Englishes – A Resource Book for Students, di Jennifer Jenkins Lingua e traduzione inglese i (Università degli Studi di Palermo)

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World englishes MODULO A Introduction: In the period between Queen Elisabeth First-Second and 21° Century we can see a very strong increasing of the English Speaker in the whole world. The number passed from few million of people to 2 billion more or less. All started in the middle sixteenth Century with the beginning of the COLONIALISM. In this period the spread of englishes was caused in different ways and different travels. Generally we can define the spread of the various Englishes in two DIASPORAS. After the colonial events the english was differentiated in First Language (L1) or an Official Language-Second Language (institutionalized/L2). The speakers of the second group included all the people that know the english as a secondary language, and in the 1990' became english used as LINGUA FRANCA. We use a Lingua Franca to resolve the issues bound to the different world's languages. Using a Lingua franca we can communicate with other people in different geographic locations. For example the communication between a Japanese and a Chinese is surely impossible without the using of a common learned/known language. So we MUST use a well known language as the English. Nevertheless there are some unresolved problems: People in different location tend to invent new verb and nouns and make words that shouldn't be, in fact we can't discuss about a single English, but about "World Englishes". The diffusion of "World Englishes" We can speak of two Diasporas of English: The first Diaspora involved a lot of people form the UK's islands to North America, Australia and New Zeeland; The second Diaspora was directed to Asia and Africa and caused the born of the World Englishes as non-native speakers. First Diaspora The first expedition was directed in the New World from Releigh 1558, but wasn't a stable settlement becouse fell into a conflict with the Indian Native. The first permanent colonization was in 1607 in Virginia than in 1620. -During the seventeenth century English spread in the Caribbean as a result of the slave trade from south Africa. In this place the slaves was changed with any kind of food and spices. -When the Australia was discovered in 1770, James Cook moved a lot of people in

this place from Britain, Ireland, South-London and Scotland. The birth of the Australian English was the result of the mixing of different UK's accent and dialect. -not at all different was for the New Zeeland where a lot of Scots, Irelands, British and Australian arrived and made a mixture of their dialects to create a New Zeeland English with a little influence of the Maori vocabulary. -In south Africa the British annexed The Cape in 1795 that was settled by a large number of south England people. Second Diaspora: The second Diaspora involved a lot of native people and was the responsible of the birth of the World Englishes. In much of the region the English was used as a common language to communicate with the traders and then was used as a secondary language learned in the schools. - West Africa is linked to the slave trade and the creation of different britain's protectorate: Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana etc. However there weren't large quantity of settler in those places, in fact we can speak of Pidgins and Creole of the natives. -East Africa: the colonists made different protectorate where the language was used as the official of the govern and principal institutions. -In south Africa the company's influence increased to make the English traders the creators of a reign, in which the Indian and the English was considered at the same level. -the diffusion of the English in Asia and Pacific was caused by the large amount of expedition conducted by Cook and Raffles. One of the major British protectorate is Hong Kong or in Malesya. But in recent year the use of the English in places as Malaysia is drastically decreased because the institution of the Bhasa Indonesia as the official language. What are the pidgins and Creole? They diffused during the second Diaspora on the coasts of Africa and Asia. - a pidgin is a non native language used by a generation to communicate with other population, but it's considered as a secondary and less important language -a Creole begin when a pidgin is the subject of a creolization. it starts when the second generation begin to use a parent's pidgin as a first language, becoming a mother tongue of that pidgin and using it as a common and usual language (native language). the Creole become so important becoming a common subjects in the school and the principal state's governments.

N.B. we can have a decreolization when a creole turn into in a pidgin, in this process we can see the increasing of the use of the previous language as an usual language, the Creole in this case become less important to be defined Creole as well, so it become a pidgin. Is the case of the use of Bhasa Indonesia in Malaysia that replaced the new English in recent years. Where pidgins and Creole took first place? We have 5 theories divided between polygenetic, monogenetic and universal: 1) (polygenetic) They developed independently, but in similar ways because they have a single origin from the Indo-European. 2) (polygenetic) It's thought that the different culture sailors used a single language like lingua franca to communicate. During the settlements this language was used by natives. 3) (monogenetic) They derived from a single language , the Portuguese. It was the first European language used by natives and indigenous population. Sub sequently it become to go in disuse. 4)(universal) The pidgins and Creole all derived from the simple baby's speech. 5)(universal) All pidgin and creoles are similar because all the common simplification process are similar. Like the childrens that use a simple vocabulary to speak, independently form the origin of the kid.

What kind of English can we speak? There are three groups of English: -native language (ENL) is the language known since the birth of a person. -second language (ESL) is the language considered second to the native language, for example in Singapore, Nigeria or India. -Foreign Language (EFL) is an unusual language in the own country, but used to speak with the UK's and America's population. N.B. -ENL is not one, but there is a large variety of it that differs from place to place. -Some ENL speakers can live in ESL places as a result of colonization (India,

Singapore, Hong Kong) -Some ESL speakers can live in ENL as the result of migration, particularly in UK and America. -it's possible to make a simple difference between LEARNT ENGLISH and NATIVE ENGLISH. -sometime the difference between ESL and bilingual population is very fine, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and India. Classification of the English spread. 1)McArthur's circle: We have a circle where we can se a central World standard English that now it is extinct. Outwards we find regional varieties of standard Englishes from which derived the different world englishes. Example: World standard English-->East Asian Standard English-->Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Japanese and Chinese Englishes. 2)Kachru's three circles: It's the most useful and known model about the spread of English in the world. The author divides this model in three circles: the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and Expanding Circle. -The Inner Circle includes all the English spreaded during the FIRST DIASPORA. -The Outer Circle Includes all the English spreaded during the SECOND DIASPORA. -The Expanding Circle includes all the people that know the English as a EFL. But there are some issues: -All is based geographically and historically. -There is confusion between Outer and Inner circle because there are some Outer circle people that use the English as common language not only in law, education or government, but also at home. -There are a lot of bilingual or multilingual people. -Not always an Inner Circle person has a better proficiency of English then an Outer or Expanding circle. To resolve these problems some scholars as Modiano modified this model basing it on the proficiency the speakers: In this model we have some centripetal circles. 1) The central circle includes all the people that have a great ability in speaking English. So used as an International English. 2)The middle circle includes all the people that speak English as a first or secondary language. 3)The outer circle includes all the people that have a worst knowledge of the

English. One of the most important problem of this model is that the middle circle includes ALL the native speaker that have the some proficiency of the non native speakers or secondary language. To resolve that Graddol made a single circle based on the proficiency of the people in English. The center consists in a very high attitude, the external consists a very low attitude. Why we have new Englishes? The principal cause of the formation of New Englishes depend principally from the place and the culture in which it develops. Sometimes it's bound to the first language spoken in a State. The principal difference between englishes are based on: Pronunciation, grammar, idioms, discourse style. Do we use a standard language? Theorically the standard language is a term used to distinguish a language from the different dialects. The English standard is used in particular situation and it is considered neutral, it derives from the high prestige speakers and can be used in formal contests. To use a standard language is necessary to have some language standards that are the rules to follow in a correct speech. In formal contests we can't use Jamaican, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian englishes but we MUST use the Standard Language. The standard language is a creation of the society and do not confuse with the dialects and normal englishes. The intervent of the society in that artificial language is evident on four stages: 1)THE SELECTION: it is the way with a language is chosen then another language, and will be developed as a standard language. 2)THE CODIFICATION: one selected a dialect of English as standard, it must to be fixed in the vocabulary and grammar. 3)ELABORATION OF FUNCTION: in this stage any gaps is filled with new words in order to it'll be used in different contexts as literature, science, education, law, institutions and government. 4) ACCEPTANCE: it is the formalization of the language in order to create a sort of independence from other states, or a marker of the difference between its own and other.

What is the standard English? To define the standard English is very difficult because it is spoken in the whole world, at difference of an evident standard Italian or French. To define a standard english we must follow these definitions: -it is the dialect of the educated people in the British Isles. This dialect is normally used in writing, it's a form of teach in school and university, heard in radio and television. -normally it is the language that ESL/EFL learn as a secondary/foreign language in schools. -it's the type of English used by native people, including idioms, colloquial and slang vocabulary. -it is the English spoken by high prestige people. -it sets its importance on a good grammar and large vocabulary. What Standard English isn't? -It's not a language, it's a variety of language. -It's not an accent. -It's not a register. -it's not only a group of grammatical rules. What are the non Standard Englishes? All the Outer Circles are under a standardization process, but they are not Standard English. At difference of the Inner circle, considered all standardized. English like Singaporean, African, Chinese are under a process of a standardization, but they haven't the same prestige that have the Britain, America and Australia englishes. The outer circle englishes so are fossilized on the standard English of the Inner Circle, in other words the target of the new englishes are the inner circle englishes. The spread of English as a LINGUA FRANCA. One of the principal issues during the colonial events was the difficulty to communicate between different population. It was necessary to make a lingua franca to resolve the problem. Because the English was well placed in the whole world, it become an international or secondary language to communicate. The reasons of this choice is bound to 2 factors: The already explained colonial past; the economic power of USA. This dominance creates a principal problem: Considering the English as a Lingua Franca we can think that all other languages are less important or inferior,

causing different conflict between the states. On the other hand there are some positive aspects: having a common language to communicate helps us to see ourselves as humans who live on the some planet, under the some sky. What problems? If the English is used as a common language, it's inevitable that the range of differences of englishes increases because the speakers are too much, particularly in spoken language. Not always a ESL tend to imitate a ENL's accent. So we have different accents that change from place to place. It depends from the culture ore the identity of a population. In fact they wish to preserve their mother tongue accent in their L2 English. For example the Thailand’s English which has a particular high accent derived from the first Thai language. Asian Varieties of English We can divide the Asian varieties of English in two ways: By region: South Asian, South East Asian, East Asian varieties. By use: Institutionalized or Non-Institutionalized Varieties.

MODULO B What are the consequences of the Colonialism? The principal effects of the colonialism are: The denigrating of the colonized people and their loss of identity. -About the denigrating: One of the worst effects of the two diasporas is a sort of assumption of inferiority complex by the indigenous people, considering their language and culture; alongside the superiority of the Colonizers in language and culture. This inferiority complex is certified by the large quantity of literature manifestation, in which we can see a sort of superiority of colonizer people, using words about the colonized like "primitive, slaves, barbarians, savages, the others"; the places are described like "strange, savage"; people considered "not able to communicate, ignorant”. The situation of the non-native englishes formed in places as Asia and Africa hasn't developed until the recent years. In fact we can find a sort of Native's task to standardize the non native englishes and make them correct. That's happened

only in recent years and there is a lot of work to do about it because it's only the beginning of the complex task of standardization. -About the loss of identity: A second major effect of the colonialism is the total destruction of the colonized culture and language, replaced by the actual US and UK's customs. But that situation is not at all hopeless. We have more or less 175 indigenous languages still spoken in US, 25 of them are transmitted to the childrens, the rest is only known by a mere quantity of old people. The best way to maintain in life these indigenous language is using the writing, in other words the literature. But the sense of identity is also given by the places and landscapes that are gradually vanishing because the modern age. Characteristics of pidgins and Creole: Lexis: Pidgins lexis derive from a dominant language as English and Portuguese (Lexifier Language). A pidgin lexis has some rules of use and are very simple: -All the concepts are explained in long ways( Example: "bilong" means"of"--> papa bilong mi means "my father" -There is an extensive use of reduplication as an intensifier of the meaning (Example: "tok" means "talk"--> "toktok" means "chatter". Pronunciation: Sound are very few than those of corresponding standard language, even at Creole stages. In consonants we have the simplifications of the clusters (Example "friend" becomes "fred"). The result of this is the high presence of Homophones (two word pronounced identically). Grammar: -They have some inflections, for example nouns are not marked in gender or number, and verbs haven't tense markers. Pronouns have not case. -Negations are formed with the simple noun "no" for English, "pa" for French based. -Pidgins are very simple in sentences, in fact they have not any relative clauses. When a pidgin becomes a Creole, we have some variations: -people begin to speak faster so we have some abbreviation of the nouns: man bilong mi becomes mamblomi in TIK PISIN. -The vocabulary expands: some longer expression die out and are replaced by smaller nouns.

-The Creole begins to use tense markers. -The Creole begins to use relative expressions. N.B. The creoles and pidgins have more the low function bound to communication, but they have social function bound to literature, writing, education, mass media, also in the bible. They are capable of express all the needs of the speakers. The English debate With the continuous increasing of the English speaker, that's not a surprise if we have a lot of diversification of this language, so we can speak of "world englishes". The local conditions, including the influence of other languages, are inevitably affecting the development of the English in different contexts and ways. Even within the inner circle we can see substantial difference, especially in accents and vocabulary. Although these differences all the Inner Circle's englishes are considered "standard". The situation have some controversies about the outer and expanding circle, because these languages are as valid as the inner circle English, and so valid in teaching local models. On the other hand, many others consider that the difference from UK and US englishes are simply errors and it's impossible to teach in local schools. Quirk accords to the second theory, that outer and expanding circle englishes are incorrect then the inner circle's. For different reasons: -The difference on native and non native consists in different institutions about a language. For example they differ in their judgments about grammatical correctness of the sentences. it means that for natives and non natives the point of view about the language is different. - He thinks that English come to non native's minds in wrong ways. They have to learn a good English that derive from the original, in order to have a major possibility to get a job. -in order to learn the English it's necessary to have a good native teacher or a non native teacher in continuous contact with a native speaker. Karchu criticizes these theories for 2 reasons: -it's impossible for a teacher to stay in continuous contact with a native speaker because there is a lack of resources to do that. -The English has to be conformed to the local laws and rules because the use is for interaction and external communications. - the use of English is different for outer and expanding circle because it's used only to communicate with native. -English in this places is learnt to understand the cultural values of UK and US.

-the varieties are considered "interlenguages" to look like "native-like" He so concludes that the Quirk's so called "deficit" is an inevitable difference between the populations that depend from their culture an their external contact. How a variety can be defined legitimate or not? Mufwene attacks all the people that consider the legitimate of the English depending from the British or American offspring. In other words the English of inner circle that have a British offspring are considered legitimate and correctly used, in spite of the outer and expanding that are illegitimate because they are pidgins and Creole and haven't a non native offspring. According to this theory we can consider a formation of a variety without any other contact, creating a sort of pure offspring. But mufwene argues that's wrong, because all languages have the common influence of foreign and external contact. for example the legitimate Scotland and Ireland's English was influenced by the contact w...