Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
globalattitudes.notebook
1
April 01, 2020
Topic 4. Attitudes to English and the different Englishes around the world.
a. Read the following attitudes to English as the lingua franca in modern times.
Cushing
A language achieves global status when it develops a ‘special role’ that is widely recognised in a high number of countries in the world.
but there are problems.
But the different varieties of English may be too different that people supposed
to be speaking English may not understand each other. Why?
Jenkins 2005: 'pronunciation is the major contributor to successful spoken communication and how anyone learning a language can expect to be understood with poor pronunciation skills is beyond our comprehension.'
globalattitudes.notebook
2
April 01, 2020
Jenkins essential musts for key pronunciation of English and therefor understandability are:
consonants
pronouncing consonant clusters at the beginning and middle of words
long and short vowel differences need to be learned
tonal emphasis
globalattitudes.notebook
3
April 01, 2020
Re‐thinking language identity
It is notable how each of these three trends ‐ the emergence of a global language, the phenomenon of
language endangerment, and the arrival of the Internet ‐ have had consequences for our developing
notions of linguistic diversity. Global English has given extra purpose to a variety of standard English, in
the way it guarantees a medium of international intelligibility; but it has also fostered the growth of
local varieties as a means of expressing regional identity, and some of these new varieties will, in due
course, evolve into new languages. The Internet has provided us with fresh dimensions of linguistic
and stylistic variation, and provided new ways of focusing on language use. There is even an up‐side to
language endangerment: the manifestation of language death on such a scale has sharpened the
minds of minority language users wonderfully, and fresh initiatives are now everywhere ‐ not least the
one which led to the European Year of Languages in 2001 ‐ to influence public opinion about what
linguistic identity means and how it can be fostered. The potential is present for great things to
happen. But, as always with revolutions, it is up to individuals to capitalise on them. And to do this we
have to rethink several of our long‐established notions about the nature of language. It is not always a
comfortable process.
David Crystal
globalattitudes.notebook
4
April 01, 2020
b. Attitudes to other Englishes in the World1. Jenkins 2001 stated that there is bias against non native forms.
2. the fact that UK English is the 'norm' and is termed Superstratum, whereas the new Englishes are substratum
3. Larry Trask 1994: EFL speakers across world
‘abandon their language in favour of some other language as more prestigious or useful’‐ language shift
4. Sasse 1992 model of language shift‐ English is prefered
globalattitudes.notebook
5
April 01, 2020
globalattitudes.notebook
6
April 01, 2020
c. Is UK English,' the norm' so perfect though?
The problem with English
There are many problems that native English speakers have or create in their interactions with other English users around the world. Native English speakers have their own varieties of English that listeners may be unaware of and there are often quite different from the Standard English that many non‐native speakers have learned.
Firstly though the language is rich, it uses many forms of idioms and slang that are not instantly intelligible to others. A native English speaker worked in Denmark, who were used to working in English with others from the wider international community, but the native speaker found it difficult to communicate in English to their colleagues.
An American Manager in Japan cannot understand why his staff will not give him a ‘ballpark figure’ leading to breakdowns in communication and therefore real disintegrations in workplace relations.
There is also the stereotype of the native English abroad who seem unable to refrain from homeland idiosyncracies, sub text and cultural in jokes that cause resentment and suspicion.
This points to a danger that native English speakers risk missing out on business opportunities due to a lack of understanding to what international English communication entails.
Spencer Hazel 2016
globalattitudes.notebook
7
April 01, 2020
d. So should a different new English be created? If English is to remain dominant it will have to be in a way other speakers can understand itA Lingua Franca
ELF: English as a lingua franca (like the expanding circle, English used to communicate between speakers of different languages)
Jennifer Jenkins (2006) points to five key characteristics of ELF:
1. It is used by speakers of different languages allowing them to communicate with each other.2. It is an alternative to English as a Foreign Language rather than a replacement for it, as learners may learn English to blend in
with native speakers.3. ELF may include innovations that might characterise ‘correct’ English4. Linguistic accommodation and code switching are seen as useful strategies.5. Although users of ELF may have high or low proficiency in English usage, the language of proficient ELF users tend to be used
for description.Therefore ELF is used as a communicative language but there may be variations that reflect their first language. ELF lingua franca is a contact language as no common language elements from many languages but no native speakers e.g. a hybrid.
globalattitudes.notebook
8
April 01, 2020
A 2006 report by the British Council suggests that the number of people learning English is likely to continue to increase over the next 1015 years, peaking at around 2 billion, after which a decline is predicted. Various attempts have been made to develop a simpler "controlled" English language suitable for international usage (e.g. Basic English, Plain English, Globish, International English, Special English, Essential World English, etc). Increasingly, the longterm future of English as a global language probably lies in the hands of Asia, and especially the huge populations of India and China
globalattitudes.notebook
9
April 01, 2020
David Crystal World Standard Spoken English WSSEIf English is to remain dominant it will have to be in a way other speakers can understand it.
Parashchuk: one of the conditions for successful intercultural communication is a certain basic degree of similarity in different varieties of English
Barabra Seidlhofer ELF grammar and lexis of lingua franca Problems are phrasal verbs and idioms. e.g. this drink is on the house.
But remember the failure of B.A.S.I.C. English?
globalattitudes.notebook
10
April 01, 2020
Task: Read the following report and pick out the arguments.
globalattitudes.notebook
11
April 01, 2020
English can still be used but with different terms.
What are some people's attitudes to different Global English varieties?
globalattitudes.notebook
12
April 01, 2020
Read the following article and comments
globalattitudes.notebook
13
April 01, 2020
globalattitudes.notebook
14
April 01, 2020
Comments
globalattitudes.notebook
15
April 01, 2020
Comments continued
globalattitudes.notebook
16
April 01, 2020
Problems of English Language dominance
around the world.
Negative effects of Global Language
Robert Phillipson (1992) argues that the spread of English as a global language disadvantages other languages causing them to lose prestige or die out
Nettle and Romaine 2000 suggest that 90% of world languages are expected to disappear by 2100.
Larry Trask 1994‘abandon their language in favour of some other language as more prestigious or useful’‐ language shift
globalattitudes.notebook
17
April 01, 2020
David CrystalLanguage deathThe chief external consequences of any language acquiring global status are bound up with the second component of the revolution, a trend I deal with in my Language Death (2000). Although languages have come into existence and died away throughout human history, it is only in the second half of the twentieth century, and in the 1990s in particular, that we have seen the process of endangerment and death emerge into public view so dramatically. Again, the thrust of the facts is easy to summarise, even though people are understandably tentative over the exact figures involved: of the 6,000 or so languages in the world, it seems probable that about half of these will disappear in the course of the present century ‐ an average of one
language dying out every fortnight or so ‐ and that, this rate of loss is significantly greater than at any previous time in recorded history. Professional awareness of the crisis
developed only in the 1990s, following the publication of a series of worldwide surveys, and popular awareness is still very limited, and certainly nowhere near the corresponding
awareness of biological loss that we associate with the environmental movement. Most people have yet to develop a language conscience. But the extent of the ongoing loss in
the world’s linguistic diversity is so cataclysmic that it makes the word ‘revolution’ look like an understatement, when we consider it in this context.
The connection between these first two revolutionary trends needs to be recognised, but not oversimplified. The impact of dominant languages on minority languages is a matter
of universal concern, and the role of English is especially implicated. But it is important to stress that all majority languages are involved: the growth of English as a global
language is not the sole factor in explaining language endangerment. Although it is English that has been the critical factor in the disappearance of languages in such parts of the
world as Australia and North America, this language is of little relevance when we consider the corresponding losses that have taken place in South America or in many parts of
Asia, where such languages as Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese have replaced local languages. Nor, for that matter, is it always the chief factor in colonial Africa,
where inter‐ethnic and inter‐religious rivalries at a local level are often the reason for the endangerment of a particular language. The thrust of the point is a general one: we are
having to deal with the consequences of a globalisation trend in which unprecedented market and cultural forces have been unleashed, steadily eroding the balance of linguistic
power and involving all major languages.
globalattitudes.notebook
18
April 01, 2020
Task: Make notes on attitudes to Global English, UK English 'norm' and the need for
an easier World Wide English. What the concept is, why (contextual factors) and possible language examples to support it. You could create a chart like below.
