Intl Students-world Englishes

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International graduate students and the spread

of

English

VICKI R . M U N R O *

ABSTRACT: Because international graduate stu dents often return to their native countries a s educators,

politicians, and business peop le, they have th e potential

t o

influence the spread of English, both directly

and indirectly. Thus arises the question of wheth er they will be knowledgeable e nough abou t language

issues to make informed language policy decisions. Although the spread of English as an international

language has generate d much research, lit tle has been done to con sider the role these gradu ate studen ts will

play in such future policy making.

or

the role indirectly played by the universities they at tend in forming

these policies. This paper reports a nd interprets the results of an exp loratory survey designed t o discover

how international graduate stude nts think ab out a nd use English. In particular, the following aspects were

considered: the functions and varieties

of

English, the worldwide role of English, and attitudes and c hanges

in attitudes towa rd English. Th e research suggests that stud ents tend to emphasize t he instrumental

role

of

English, to lack an aw areness of issues such as the nativization

of

English, to suppo rt English as a world

language largely because of inertia. and t o hold m ore positive attitudes toward (Am erican) English over

time.

INTRODUCTION

With the sprea d of English as an international language, much conce rn has arisen ov er the

appro priate models and norm s

to

use in teaching it as a second language (see Kachru,

199 2a; Strevens, 1992). T he initial question cen ters on a simple dichotomy: native versus

nativized varieties (e.g., British English (BE) and American English (AE), versus, e.g.,

Indian English and Nigerian English (see Kachru, 19 90 )) . T he native-versus-nativized

question is most compelling in countries with official language policies which specify

particular roles for English, whether as a neutral link language (as in India)

or

as one

language among many (as in the Eur ope an Com munity; see Berns, 19 92 , 1995 ; Gorlac h

and Schroder, 1985). In o ther cases, governmen ts may have n o s tated policy, leaving the

spread and u se of English to the elite who hav e access to such advantag eous knowledge.

In the midst of this discussion, on e crucial factor has

yet

to be ex amined: many of the

future educators, politicians, and business people of countries around the world receive

part of their education in the USA. Although they come ostensibly to gain academic

knowledge and professional skills, living in the USA requires that these international

graduate students (over 19 0,0 00 according to the 1 992 -93 edition of Open Doors,

Zikopoulos et al., 199 3) use English daily. Ev en after returning to their hom e countries,

they may have to continue using English in their professions. Despite th e attitudes toward

English which they may bring to the USA , proximity to the Am erican variety, a desire

or

need to fit in with their co-w orkers in labs and oth er peer group s, and a lack of exposure to

other varieties may lead to reinforcement or transfer of iinguistic allegiances, changes

which may eventually affect the sp rea d of English worldwide.

In the ca ree rs they follow upon returning

to

their native countries, cu rre nt international

gradu ate studen ts in the U SA will presumably influence language policy, either directly or

indirectly. In a governm ent c om mittee,

for

example, they may conside r the question which

variety of English, or even whether to take an official stance o n the issue. In education, their

*Department

of

English, Purdue University,

1356

Heavilon Hall, West Lafayette, IN.

47907-1 356,

USA

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Main Street,

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338 Vicki R. Munro

influence may be m ore subtle: which variety d o they pu rpo rt to teach, and what nor m s do

they require of their students? The ir years as graduate students in the U SA may result in

positive attitudes toward A E an d in inadvertent use and acc eptance of Americanisms, bo th

at the expense of BE and of nativized varieties. Thus international graduate students

currently studying at American universities may play key roles in the spread of English

worldwide and in attitude changes toward its role as a world language.

A survey of

30

international graduate students a t a large midwestern university (with an

international grad uate studen t population

of

1,862)provide s a n initial look at the language

usage and attitudes of such students (see Ta ble 1).T he students were contacted through

their pres ence in classes (e.g., English comp osition) o r lab groups. T he ir lengths of stay in

the USA prior to their participation in the study ranged from six months to eight years.

Sixty-three percent of them planned to re turn to their ho m e countries upo n graduation.

Table

1.

Personal data on student respo nden ts

Average

Average years

Gender Average years studying Return hom e

Country

M F

age in U SA English

Yes N o

China

Germany

Greece

India

Italy

Jordan

Puerto Rico

Sierra Leone

Spain

Sudan

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

Totalsh

9 6

2 0

0 1

2 0

1

1

1 0

1

1 0

1

1

1

0

1

0

22 7

29

28.5

28

24.5

31

24

23

26

24

23

24

3

24

28

2.5

1.5

8.0

2.75

1.5

0.75

0.75

1.5

5.0

0.5

0.5

0.75

2.0

2.4

11

11

19

9

9

13

19

5

11

7

1

11

I

6

2

I

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

20

6

0

0

0

6

On e Chinese respondent left the gender question blank, one left the return hom e question blank and three

wrote in not sure for that questio n

Total averages were figured from the original data, not the co lumns

Th e survey gathered personal da ta, information abo ut the use of English in the stude nts

hom e countries, and information o n the students person al uses of English. T he questions

required choosing from am ong three o r fou r possible answers

or

ranking several choices

according to preference or perceived importance. Four of the questions asked fo r brief

prose answers. The questions relating to personal English use required the students to

consider two different time periods: the first few months after their arrival in the USA

(initially) and the pre sen t (currently).

Th e respondents were allowed to take the survey ho me an d to r eturn it at a later time. T he

investigator explained that the survey was intended to examine their attitudes toward

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English and how tho se attitudes might have changed over time from wh en they first arrived

in the USA until the present. T he information collected was then analyzed in three broad

categories: functions an d varieties of English, the worldwide role

of

English, and attitudes

toward English. Th e first category largely determines th e degree of language versatility that

English spe akers will possess in any given countr y or language context; however, the func-

tions allowed

or

enforced d epen d at least partially on a countrys understa ndin g

of

the role

English plays in the w orld. As students attitudes change, their understanding of this role

may also change, with implications for how an d why English is used aro un d the world.

FUNCT IONS AND VARIETIES OF ENGLISH

In dividing countries into Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circles, Kachrus concentric

circles model for the spread of English takes into account the functional allocation

of

English (Kach ru, 1 99 2b :

356).

Users

of

English in co untries in the Expan ding Circle, such

as China, use English for a m ore limited range

of

functions than d o users in the O ute r Circle

(e.g., M alaysia)

or

Inne r Circle (e.g., Can ada) . Th e range of functions in

a

country affects the

status of English (as second or foreign language), which in turn affects

its

intranational uses

as well as its international usefulness. T he wider the ran ge of functions, the m or e versatile

the language will be in various potential con texts and situations; however, such a widening

of functional range also carries the threat th at English will overpo we r the native languages

entirely (see Phillipson, 19 92 ). Function thus becom es a prominent concern, w hether

implicit or explicit, in language po licies.

One of th e first questions in language policy de cision making is, then: should English play

an instrumental, integrative, o r innovative

role

in the non-native context? T he third option

nnovation can be left aside for the mom ent: until English has attained th e first two func-

tions, any discussion of its innovative function is virtually pointless. Among the inter-

national graduate students surveyed for this study, there seemed t o be

an

overwhelming

preference for an instrumental role for English. In the contexts of the students home

countries, English was reportedly used mainly for education, technology, and business.

Student preferences while in the USA followed this tendency, though every category,

including the integrative function, was rated at a greater d egree

of

preference in the US A

than in the native country, no doubt be cause

of

the students current residence in the U SA .

Perhaps most interesting a re the students rankings of th e relative imp ortance of various

areas of English use. Education received the highest ranking, with technology a close

second and business a distant third. T he integrative functions use of English with family

and friends, an d in religion eceived barely any notice. Such respo nses coincide with th e

foreign-

or

second-language status of English.

As

a tool, English fills certain needs and

performs certain necessary functions (e.g., in travel, international trade, and research-

sharing).

Students such as the survey responden ts may som eday b e in a position

to

mak e conscious

decisions about both functional allocation and norms of English. The ability to make

informed and effective decisions requires some basic level

of

knowledge and awareness

about th e current status of English, about th e repercussions of the cu rrent policy, and abo ut

the possibilities fo r change. Currently, however, it seems that few studen ts pay much atten-

tion to language as such. Among the survey respondents, for example, over a third

(37

percent) had n o idea whether their country had an official language policy, and those w ho

thought that it did tended to cite required English coursework in school curricula as the

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Vicki

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sole exponent of the policy. This lack of aw areness was reflected in oth er questions pertain-

ing to language use. For instance, 7 3 percent of the respon dents claimed that English influ-

enced their first language, yet 8 0 percent reported that English did not threaten, and 50

percent that it did not enrich.

One of the most interesting appa rent con tradictions in the students responses was their

lack of awareness of the ir own and their coun tries use of a (nativized) variety of Eng lish

combined with a self-reported curren t ability to recognize anothe r speakers country of

origin on the basis of accent. Only 23 percent of the respondents stated that people in

their country sp oke a nativized variety of English, yet

57

percent claimed the ability to

recognize an English speakers country of origin based on accent. Further evidence of

unawareness of varieties is the fact that respondents generally claimed they spo ke A E

while their fellow countrymen sp oke BE , the variety they also claimed was taught in their

countrys schools.

Several possible reasons exist for the respondents claims that they speak

a

native variety

of

English. In general, dialects are looked on unfavorably; native sp eake rs (NS) accept a

standard English as correct and believe they speak it. Non-native users of English follow

this trend, especially when, as students, they are continually told that they are learning BE

or AE (Kachru touches o n this schizophrenia between th e perceived model and actual

linguistic behavior in his Fallacy

3

(Kachru, 1992b:

358)). A

NS model in the classroom

often implies that the non-native variety is a sub-standard dialect rather than a legitimate

version of English (see Nelson, 1992, for a discussion

of

attitude and the legitimacy of

varieties). This belief is further encouraged by the p repon derance of A E and B E products

books, movies, textbooks, music which subtly proclaim this is cor rect English.

Besides the lack of non-native speaker (NN S) models in the classroom, som e students

also may lack any awareness of varieties of Eng lish, simply believing, for exam ple, that they

speak

AE

because they currently reside in the USA, o r that they speak BE because it was

taught in their schools. This lack of understanding combines with the educational system

which encourages NS m odels and norms a nd with the view that English is best used for

instrumental functions to produce English speakers who know

little

about their own

language use, and w ho a re thus not well prepared to form realistic language policies.

The NS norm and m odel myth is likely to be perpetuated as current students return home

to positions of governm ental or educational influence. Two significant changes, however,

may occur: if a large number of such studen ts attend US institutions, then A E is likely to be

reinforced or to replace BE as the preferred model, given that m ost of the studen ts believed

they spoke

AE

and that their attitudes toward English inclined more favorably toward A E

than BE; and the respondents interactions with fellow students will most likely nudge their

use of English at least slightly beyond th e instrumental. If they someday help the ir children

learn English by speaking it with them and by sending them t o English-medium schools and

to universities in English-speaking countries, they subtly encourage the integrative func-

tions of English. Though international graduate studen ts arrive in the

USA

with preconcep-

tions abou t the ro le of English in their lives and in their countries, living in the USA may

broaden their beliefs. They return home, then, with a wider concep t of English than they

possessed when they left. Of course, this does no t imply a sudden and com plete change

from instrumental to integrative functions or a quick move from Expanding t o Ou ter Circle

status. It does, how ever, suggest that over time, given the numbers of studen ts studying

overseas, the ro le of English will change worldwide.

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International graduate students an d the sp read of English

34 1

THE WORLDWIDE ROLE OF ENGLISH

Choice of bo th function and model dep end to a large degree on the worldwide role

assigned to English by policymakers and individuals. The belief that another language

would b e better suited to the role would tend to limit the place English holds in any given

country to t he small necessary sphe re

of

international communication, thus limiting its

intranational functions, as well as specifying its norm s.

Few

of

the international students surveyed expressed a belief that som e other language

would make a better world language than English. Despite the variety of native countries

represented, English received the most votes: 44 percent initially,

48

percent currently.

Am ong the survey responden ts, only two oth er languages Chinese

20

percent) and

Italian 3 perc ent) were offered as best choice fo r a world language. T h e high ranking

received by Eng lish may not, however, indic ate the overwhelmingly positive attitud e it may

appear to support.

Th e respondents attitudes toward t he role

of

English as a world language may best be

characterized as a sort of inertia. Th os e wh o felt English ma de the best world language con -

sidered it easy and cited its existing status a s world language. Similarly, the stude nts g ener-

ally considered it important that people learn English a nd that co untries have a language

policy: 47 percent of the students either asserted that current policy was good or that it was

a step in the right direction and should be carried further. Even those w ho cho se a different

best world language than English tended to consider it

very 57

percent

of

the 14 who

chose a different language) to somewhat 43 percent) impo rtant that peo ple learn English.

Of the 14 students who considered English th e best world language, 64 percent felt it was

very important and 36 perce nt felt it was somewhat important f or people to learn English.

This emphasis on learning English sup po rts the notion of inertia: regardless

of

personal

linguistic preference, r espo nde nts would encou rage learning English becau se it is currently

a world language. A 39-year-old Chinese female, for example, wrote: No on e is the suitable

world language. En glish. . .may be the on e which can be used in the range of the world since

they can be und erstoo d by most of people.

This acceptance of the way things are seem s related t o the po sition w hich the stu den ts

ar e in. They a lready know English themselves,

so

there is little incentive to sup po rt so m e

other language as a world language. Their cu rren t situation studying overseas einforces

the instrumental function

of

the language. In addition, on ce they ret urn ho me, their native

language will m ost likely take p reced ence ove r En glish, so the q uestion

of

which language

should be a world language may seem irrelevant to them. A s on e student w rote:

Each region in Earth has

a

set

of

characteristics, different from the rest of the world. An y

attem pt to estab lish a world language wou ld en d in multiple variations

of

that language all over

the world. These variations would cause the birth of new languages. We would end where we

started. 23-year-old Pue rto Rican male)

If any world language will result in new languages, individuals need not worry about the

issue. Instead, the resp ondents were w illing to accept English for world comm unication,

perhaps secure in the knowledge that they need only worry about their own immediate

future.

This laissez-faire acceptance of English as a world language has implications for the

spread of English. If the responden ts a re ever in a position t o d o so, they may very well

support in their country an official language policy which encourages the inclusion

of

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342 Vicki R. Munro

English (and specifically

AE),

whether a s a second o r preferred foreign language. In any

case, assuming that they consider their education in US universities to have been valuable,

many may wish their children to learn Eng lish, continu ing the itsa world language already

attitude.

ATTITUDES AND ATTITUDE CHANGE

Because English enables its speakers in many parts of the world to attain economic

success, and because of the inertia described above, it is not surprising to find p rofessed

positive attitudes 90 percent) toward the language. Perhaps m ore surprising is the fact that

respondents consistently marked A E higher than B E in terms of understandability, accept-

ability, and preferability as a model for their native countries (see Table 2).

Table

2.

Com parison of British English and A merican English

Easiest

to

Understands

Most Should

understand you most

acceptable be taught

Then Now Then Now

Then Now Then Now

BE

33/10 13/4

23/7 10/3

27/8 20/6 40/12 27/8

A E

53/16 70/21

43/13 53/16 50/15

57/17 40/12

57/17

Other 7/2

3/

1

10/3

10/3 3/ 1

7/2 13/4

13/4

In Tables

2

and

3,

the first num ber is the percentage; the second is the numbe r

of

respondents.

In

both Tables

the percentages were calculated from a total of

30

respondents

This emphasis on AE at the expense of B E may again be d ue to th e curren t residence of

the respondents in the USA . Respond ing to a survey about English administered by an A E

speaker in the USA , some students may not have wished to offend o r to create conflict. A

more likely explanation, however, is the prominence of the USA in the world scene

politically, economically, and technologically. As long as the US A enjoys political and

econom ic ascendancy, A E gains prestige, importance, an d popularity. Attitude toward

English thus seems to be a function of som e prescription for success.

An other factor which may affect attitude is the respondents perceived levels of profi-

ciency in the language. Greater proficiency would presumably lead to a more positive

attitude, following the adage you like what you are good at. In self-rating their English abi-

lities in speaking, listening, reading, and writing, the responden ts reported overall improve-

ment over time to varying degrees. Thus, rega rdless of actual objective improvem ent, the

students believed they w ere improving, and could even specify the agencies causing the

improvem ent he media and American friends (choices at od ds with the stated preference

for an instrumental role for English) receiving the highest rankings (see Table 3). While

none of the choices received an overwhelming majority even the media received only 30

percent for improvem ent in ability and

27

percent for change in feelings

t

is significant to

note that English classes received a very low score (7 percent). While this may cause d is-

comfort for educators, the finding may be due to th e high language proficiency required to

study in the USA.

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Table 3. Fac tors causing change in ability and attitud e

Improvement Change in

in ability feelings

Department course work 13/4 17/5

English classes

7/2 7/2

American friends

20/6 23/7

International friends

7/2 0

Media

30/9

27 / 8

Daily routine

13/4 7/2

Other

10/3 10/3

In contrast to the sample as a whole, the Chinese stud ents tended

to

self-report their

English abilities toward the negative en d of the scale; a smaller num ber of Chinese students

conside red their English abilities good or

rather

good.O n e possible explanation for this is

the relatively large num ber of Chinese s pea ker s at this university

380

from the Peoples

Republic of China and 256 from Taiwan): any Chinese student is likely to have fellow

Chinese stud ents in classes o r in lab groups,

so

that a Chinese-speaking s up po rt netwo rk is

in place academ ically as well as socially, thus encouraging m or e use of Chin ese a nd less use

of English even in classes and labs. The move toward integrative functions may thus be

hindere d for at least this language group.

That the Chinese subgro up was not completely represen tative

of

the en tire sample leads

to

the co nclusion that ot he r factors besides the classification non-native may affect atti-

tude change. Thirty-one percent of the Ch inese respondents were female (compared

to

2 3

percent of the entire sample). Fifty percent of the Chinese respondents (compared to 27

percent

of

the entire sample) were either

not

returning

to

their home country or were

unsure whether they would. Both of these factors may affect attitudes towar d E nglish an d,

in particular, tow ard A E , since students planning

to

remain in the US A can expect to use

English more consistently over a longer period of time. While this look at the Chinese

students as a subgroup within the larger sample is cursory at best, i t does raise some

interesting issues for future study. If nationality affects both attitude toward and self-

reported ability in English, then g rouping all international stud ents u nd er the label interna-

tional seem s uninform ative.

Fo r the survey respondents, attitude and attitude change can be considered the result of a

cluster of factors: desire for econ omic success, curre nt location, and perceived level of

proficiency. International graduate students, by virtue

of

attending school in the USA,

stand a good chance of possessing the chara cteristics which would lead t o the positive atti-

tude the respond ents professed to have. Although indications of attitude change must not

automatically b e p resumed

to

be tru e changes

of

preference due , in so m e cases, merely

to

location an d thus not necessarily perm anen t t seem s likely that positive attitudes toward

A E would increase over time as the students form friendships with Americans an d gain

proficiency an d familiarity with the language. This c ha nc e to gain a n inside look a t

AE

and

American culture may cause students to supp ort a change of m odel in their hom e coun tries

(from BE to A E), should the issue arise. T h e friendships international students form with

Am erican students also may enco urage th e integrative function of English, thus potentially

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344

Vicki

R. Munro

influencing how the survey respondents will view the place of English in their home

countries once they return.

CONCLUSION

The results of this research suggest two things. First, current international graduate

students tend towards the status quo in ma tters of language usage. They prefer, not surpris-

ingly, an instrum ental role for E nglish, a language that they are willing to tole rate as part of

the necessary evil of needing to study abroad and of learning a language in which to do it.

They show little knowledge of p rocesses of linguistic nativization and little awareness of

language issues, such as official language policies, Second, this inertia does not

tell

the

whole story about the respondents language use. Th ese sam e studen ts acknowledged that

their time in the USA affected their language use and their attitudes toward English.

Although the students repo rted comparatively little attitudinal change, it is significant that

most of that reported change was from positive to more positive and from BE to AE,

responses which signal potential change in the world situation

of

English.

In moving beyond the exp loratory stage of this research, several adjustments could prove

beneficial. First, the curren t survey does not take into account the students real level

of

English vis-a-vis som e objective measure. Second, giving the survey in a sit-down setting

would enable the students to ask questions and might also encourage them to take the

survey more seriously, insuring that all the questions are answered fully. Th ird, the survey

itself should be condensed, and should include two measurem ent times, rather than asking

for recall of attitudes. Lastly, a large sam ple size would allow more variables (e.g., gend er,

continent of origin, number of years in the USA) to b e considered. T he fact that many inter-

national students are attending

US

universities creates great potential for an impact upon

the spread of English via influences upon the gradu ate students themelves. Futu re research

might cons ider the question of the universitys role in the sp read of E nglish.

NOTES

1. I would like

to

thank M argie Berns for her suggestions on revising the ques tionnaire and her several helpful

reviews of drafts of the paper itself. I also wish to thank the international graduate students in the English,

Chemistry, and Engineering departments at Pur due University who served as willing survey respondents.

2. A copy of the survey is available from th e author upon request.

REFERENCES

Berns, Margie

(1

992) Sociolinguistics and the teaching of English in Europe beyond the 1990s.

World Englishes,

11.3-14.

Berns, Margie (1995) English in Europe: whose language, which culture?

International Journal of Applied

Linguist ics 5,21-31.

Gorlach. Manfred and Schroder, Konrad 1 985) Good usagein an EFL context. In

The English Language Toda y:

Public A ttitudes Toward the English Language.

Edited by

S.

Greenbaum. Oxford: Pergamon Press. pp. 227-

233.

Kachru, Braj B. (1990) The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions, and Mod els of Non-native Englishes.

Urbana,

IL:

University

of

Illinois Press.

Kachru, Braj

B.

(1992a) Models for non-native Englishes. In

The Oth er Tongue: English acro ss Cultur es.

2nd

edition. Edited by B. Kachru. Urb ana, IL : University

of

Illinois Press. pp. 48-74.

Kachru, Braj B. (199 2b) Teaching world Englishes. In

The Other Tongue: English across C ulrures.

2nd edition.

Edited by B. Kachru. Urbana, IL: University

of

Illinois Press. pp. 3 56-365.

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