Showing papers in "World Englishes in 2006"

Emerging South-East Asian Englishes and intelligibility

Abstract: An English lingua franca seems to be emerging in the ten ASEAN countries, and this paper investigates features of the pronunciation of this lingua franca. Twenty speakers, two from each of the ASEAN countries, were recorded while they were conversing in groups of three or four people, all from a different country. The speech that they used is analysed to identify shared features of pronunciation, especially to evaluate the effect that these features have on intelligibility, and it is argued that some of their shared non-standard features actually enhance intelligibility. Finally, some of the misunderstandings that occurred are analysed to determine the extent to which pronunciation played a part, and it is found that only those features of pronunciation not shared by speakers from other ASEAN countries resulted in a break-down in communication.

Integrativeness: untenable for world Englishes learners?

Abstract: : Kachru (1988) and Sridhar and Sridhar (1992) argue that the spread of English as a world language increases the types of context in which English is learnt today The sociolinguistic realities of world Englishes learners today challenge the validity of some second-language acquisition theories One of the theoretical limitations of existing second-language acquisition theories is the dependence upon the notion of integrativeness to explain success in second-language acquisition In this paper, the notion of integrativeness is problematized from an empirical and theoretical perspective The main findings are: (1) second-language acquisition theories that rely on any assumption of integrativeness should not be applied uncritically to sociolinguistic contexts where learners are acquiring a variety of world English today; (2) it seems that the concentric circle description of the sociolinguistic realities of world Englishes speakers needs to be adjusted

Globalization and English in Chinese higher education

Abstract: This paper sets China's education of English majors within the changing global and national context. It examines the impact of accelerating globalisation and the rise of global English, the adjustment of China's English language policy, the growth of the education of English majors and the challenges faced by this sector of education. To adapt to the changes, efforts have been made to change the training models, revise the national curriculum and update textbooks. The introduction of six new training models is significant: “English major plus courses in other specialisms”, “English major plus an orientation towards other disciplines”, “English major plus a minor”, “A major plus English language”, “English language plus another foreign language”, and “Dual degree: BA degree of English language and literature plus another BA degree”. Turning out ‘composite-type’ graduates has become a training objective of the curriculum for English majors, with consequent implications for the future development of this sector of education in China.

Hip‐hop through the world Englishes lens: a response to globalization

Abstract: This paper proposes that global popular culture and, specifically, hip-hop music offers prospective sites for examining interaction between varieties of English in the context of globalization. The data consist of extracts from Nigerian hip-hop song lyrics. Sociolinguistic features of fusion as a social process of globalization include divergence through (deliberate) phonological variation, codeswitching, cross-referencing, nicknaming, colloquialisms, and reinterpretation.

The Influence of Gujarati and Tamil L1s on Indian English: A Preliminary Study.

Abstract: English as spoken as a second language in India has developed distinct sound patterns in terms of both segmental and prosodic characteristics. We investigate the differences between two groups varying in native language (Gujarati, Tamil) to evaluate to what extent Indian English (IE) accents are based on a single target phonological-phonetic system (i.e., General Indian English), and/or vary due to transfer from the native language. Consonants, vowels and intonation patterns from five Gujarati English (GE) and five Tamil English (TE) speakers of IE were transcribed and, in a subset of cases, acoustically analyzed. The results showed transfer effects in GE back vowels, TE rhotics and the proportion of rising versus falling pitch accents in GE intonation. The effect of the General Indian English model was evident in the front vowels of both GE and TE and in the presence of initial voiced stops in TE. Thus, the data reveal both phonetic and phonological influences of IE speakers’ native language on their accent in IE, even in proficient speakers; these influences appear to supersede IE norms and can be found in both the segmental and suprasegmental properties of their speech.

English in Japanese popular culture and J-Pop music

Abstract: This study of the role of English within Japanese popular culture, and especially within Japanese popular music, suggests that attitudes toward the Japanese language may be changing. Numerous scholars maintain that the Japanese conflation of race with language establishes patterns of racial discrimination in which Japanese prefer not to use the Japanese language for inter-ethnic communication. Likewise, the Japanese language is rarely treated as a language of broader communication (i.e., global communication) by the Japanese. However, the recent development of the “language entertainment” genre of broadcast television actively challenges these stereotypes of Japanese ethnolinguistic identity. Furthermore, language mixing within Japanese popular music, especially mixing that results in “code ambiguation,” attempts to redefine ethnic identity by obscuring what language is used in pop music. These phenomena are interpreted according to possible ongoing changes of Japanese ethnolinguistic identity.

The extension of the progressive aspect in Black South African English

Abstract: The extension of the progressive aspect to stative verbs has been identified as a characteristic feature of New Varieties of English across the world, including the English of black South Africans (BSAfE). This paper examines the use of the progressive aspect in BSAfE, by doing a comparative analysis of three corpora of argumentative student writing representing BSAfE (an outer circle variety), inner circle English and German Learner English as an example of expanding circle English. A comprehensive discussion of the meaning of the progressive aspect in English leads to the definition of a prototype, alongside various extensions and elaborations of the meaning of the construction. Nine attributes of the progressive are identified, which are used to analyse the data. On the basis of the co-occurrence of the attributes, 17 uses of the progressive construction are identified, most of which are consistent with grammatical descriptions of standardised inner circle varieties, but some not. When the three corpora are compared, the BSAfE data show very different ways of using the progressive construction that are not related to the core senses of the progressive aspect, but instead display a kind of continuous aspect without temporal immediacy. It is suggested that the progressive construction is used in a way consistent with the persistitive aspect of the Bantu languages, a type of imperfective that emphasises mainly the long duration and incompleteness of a stative or durative verb. The expanding circle data, on the other hand, appear very similar to the inner circle data, except for a tendency to put the progressive construction to a slightly more limited range of uses.

Macao students' attitudes toward English: a post‐1999 survey

Abstract: This paper describes a survey that assessed the attitudes toward English among university students in Macao five years after it reunited with the People's Republic of China and ceased to be a Portuguese colony. A group of 144 Macao-born and 197 Mainland-born Chinese students studying in a university in Macao were surveyed using a 22-item questionnaire. The results reveal students' strong motivation to learn English and readiness to use English as a medium of instruction. Mean comparisons using t-tests indicate that the Macao-born students are, compared to their Mainland-born counterparts, less comfortable in speaking English and less certain of whether or not Portuguese is superior to English. These differences might lie partly in the remaining influence of Portuguese as the sole official language of Macao over the past four centuries and partly in the lack of long-term language policy and English learning campaigns in Macao.

A cultural‐conceptual approach and world Englishes: the case of Aboriginal English

Abstract: Studies of world Englishes have traditionally fallen within the scope of sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, English studies, lexicography and critical linguistics. This paper is an attempt to show how these studies can be complemented by an emerging approach that employs the analytic tools and frameworks developed in cognitive and cultural linguistics to explore various features of world Englishes. The fundamental premise in this approach is that world Englishes should not be examined exclusively in terms of their linguistic features but rather as emergent systems that are largely adopted and explored to encode and express the cultural conceptualisations of their speakers. The paper focuses on Aboriginal English and shows how various features of this indigenised dialect of Australia reflect cultural schemas, categories, and metaphors that embody cultural beliefs and experiences of Aboriginal people.

World Englishes and the multilingual history of English

Abstract: Traditional histories of English (e.g., Baugh and Cable, 1993) present a mostly unilinear account of the language that privileges the standard in Britain and to a lesser extent, the US. Most other varieties (e.g., in Australia, Nigeria or India) are treated as appendages to this history, of interest mainly for their lexical innovations. At the same time, studies of New Englishes (e.g., Platt et al., 1984) have also promulgated this separateness in history. This paper attempts to unify the history of Englishes by highlighting a thread that is downplayed in traditional accounts: that the language has always existed amidst a multilingual ethos in which language contact has been ever-present.

The appeal of English in Mexican commerce

Abstract: This paper deals with the profound influence of the English language in business and commerce in Mexico The use of English and Spanish-English creativity is shown to manifest itself in advertising in both Mexican newspapers and magazines, in shop names as well as in product names Interviews with two top Mexican businessmen reveal the attitude of the Mexican business community toward the language: English sells The appeal of English, the paper shows, is due to both its role as an international language as well as its reflection of modernity and technological superiority The paper also discusses the influence Spanish now has on English in the United States as a result of the recent influx of Spanish speakers While both major languages will continue to be used in the future and Spanish-English bilingualism will increase, English will maintain its present role as the world's lingua franca

The mixing of English in magazine advertisements in Taiwan

Abstract: The current study investigates code-mixing between Chinese and English in magazine advertisements in Taiwan. A total of 226 code-mixed sentences were collected from 64 volumes of 43 different magazines published in Taiwan in 2004. The linguistic analysis reveals that the top ten frequently used English expressions are Spa, e, easy, No. 1, VIP, DIY, M, bye (bye-bye), fun, and ok, and noun phrases account for nearly half of all the English expressions used. It was found that English is often used to add to the colorfulness and attraction of an ad. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to find out people's attitudes toward code-mixing in advertising. The results of the survey indicate that most respondents view the use of English quite positively.

Diglossia and register variation in Singapore English

Abstract: Colloquial Singapore English is an outer-circle variety that exhibits contact-induced lin- guistic change. It has been characterized as the L variant in diglossic opposition to standard English. In this paper, we address two related issues: (1) the extent to which the Singapore English diglossia is supported by corpus data, and (2) the extent to which the diglossia is reducible to register variation. We investigate the usage pattern of two linguistic variables which have acquired novel grammatical meanings, and show that our data support the Singapore English diglossia, but the variation is greater than what is normal in register variation. The diglossia of which one variant is an outer-circle variety does not reduce easily to register variation.

English and emerging advertising in Russia

Abstract: This paper focuses on the role of English in the emerging advertising market in Russia. A brief overview of the advertising industry in Russia is presented, and the current attitudes of the Russian audience and institutions toward advertisements and foreignisms are demonstrated. Multiple language mixing, predominantely of English and Russian, is observed in three types of TV advertisements: social, service, and commercials. In TV commercials code-switching and code-mixing are a dominant feature, as 76 percent use English or an English-Russian mix. A correspondence exists between the type of product, and the language choice for the brand name: names of the Western products are presented totally in English, while Russian goods employ both languages in naming and labeling. Results indicate that there is a preference for using English names and the Roman script for a variety of products, such as electronic appliances, cars, personal care, laundry and household products. Abundance of English usage in the commercials can be explained by utilitarian reasons, as Western firms promote their brand names and logo in English all over the world, and by social reasons, as English signals novelty, prestige, and high quality products.

Mixers lyricing in Hinglish: blending and fusion in Indian pop culture

Abstract: Nativization of English in the Outer and Expanding Circles manifests itself in mixing of English items in artistic expressions of various kinds, including fiction, poetry, and performances. Popular songs present many instances of Hindi–English mixing in India, ranging from alternate verses in the two languages to the two languages mixed at the level of words, phrases, idioms, etc. In East Asian languages, such as Japanese and Korean, English is mixed to achieve specific purposes, e.g., to be “audacious,”“exotic,” and “to reexoticize” their own language (Stanlaw, 2004), or to assert “a new identity” and to represent “a discourse of resistance”(Lee, 2004). In contrast, one salient motivation for mixing English in Hindi popular songs is to have fun with the language, i.e., to create humor and parody Westernized youth, similar to mixing with Sanskrit to create humor and parody the Traditional life style. English is no longer a fresh instrument to be used with a serious intent of asserting identities or resisting the traditional and customary. It is used on par with other Indian languages such as Punjabi, Marathi, and Telugu, testifying to its status as totally and completely nativized in the Indian context.

Language, identity, and education of Caribbean English speakers

Abstract: The large-scale ongoing migration of Anglophone Caribbean natives to North America, particularly to New York City, in the last two decades, has brought an influx of Caribbean English (CE)-speaking students into US and Canadian schools and colleges. This article discusses the extent to which such students, who publicly identify themselves as native speakers of English but whose variety of English is often misunderstood by North American teachers, challenge the latter to examine their tacit assumptions about the English language, ownership of English, and linguistic identity. The author provides examples of commonly used features of CE that are likely to create misunderstanding in American classrooms. She argues that teachers of Caribbean English speakers will need to explore new paradigms for language placement, assessment and development, and finally proposes an agenda for responding to the linguistic and broader educational needs of CE-speaking students.

Requests in a South African variety of English

Abstract: The main assumption in this article is that the pragmatics of the variety of South African English commonly referred to as black South African English (BSAE) have been shaped, over time, by educated bilinguals, through a transfer of features from African languages. Transfer of syntactic forms, now firmly established in the variety, is evidenced by, among other things, the preferred use of forms dispreferred in requesting formulae in the native varieties of English. To test the hypothesis of transfer of forms into English for the same requesting functions as in Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho), an African language of South Africa, use was made of a contrastive study, using ethnographic notebook data of BSAE and DCT (discourse completion task)-elicited requests in both languages and acceptability judgements on ‘politeness’ in the African language. The results of a pragmatico-syntactic analysis, which found a mismatch between knowledge about and use of appropriate speech act formulae in the native form of English, (1) confirm the hypothesis of a transfer of strategies from L1 to L2 over time in the speech of educated bilinguals which shaped BSAE; (2) suggest the influence of ‘cultural rules’(because contact of languages involves contact of cultures) in shaping the pragmatics of BSAE, on the basis of which the ‘Cultural Difference Hypothesis’ is proposed; and (3) concur with the emerging conclusion of the institutionalization of BSAE as an indigenized variety of English.

Language contact and convergence in computer-mediated communication

Abstract: With the rapid development of internet communication in Mainland China, there has emerged a new variety of Chinese online, which is generally referred to as China's internet language (Yu et al., 2001a, among others). In this paper, I examine samples of Chinese internet language, represented on the lexical, sentential, and discursive levels. I present evidence of the impact of English upon Mandarin Chinese. Based on the analysis, I contend that, with the ever increasing use of computer-mediated communication in Mainland China, the influence of English upon Chinese may become more robust, which may in turn have implications for change in the Chinese language. In this sense, internet communication serves as a mechanism to facilitate the evolution of the Chinese language in the digital age.

Nativization strategies: Nigerianisms at the intersection of ideology and gender in Achebe's fiction

Abstract: The present paper employs the semiotic distinction between underdetermined and overdetermined language use to probe the nativization of English in Achebe's fiction. Language use is underdetermined when it subverts the hegemony of English through the strategy of nativization of linguistic forms that are altered to have different cultural overtones when used by African and other non-native English speakers and writers. Conversely, an overdetermined language use relates to heteroglossic social discourses arising from conflicts of race, class, gender, and ethnicity, especially in the postcolonial literary context. The study points out that although Achebe has done more than any other African writer in indigenizing the English language in the African literary context, his failure to interrogate the patriarchal linguistic structures of his world makes his rhetoric complicit with the English language's devaluation and semantic pejoration of the female Other in the Nigerian context. However, given the power of English to consolidate male dominance and give men representational prominence, more studies are needed on how non-verbal communication and certain linguistic devices and discursive formations mask the ingrained patriarchal prejudices not only in Achebe's writing but also in postcolonial English literatures in general.

Crossing and crossers in East Asian pop music: Korea and Japan

Abstract: This paper examines crossing and crossers between Korea and Japan in the domain of pop music. Crossing of semiotic products such as music between the two countries, in both a “linguistic” and “physical” sense, presents a sociolinguistic case in which renegotiation of positions of ex-colonizer (Japan) and ex-colonizee (Korea) is promising. The turbulent cultural and linguistic dynamics between the two countries have undergone stages of oppression, contestation, and collaboration over the years. Pop culture, including music and TV shows, is a sociolinguistic venue that has recently experienced a noticeable change in the power dynamics between Korea and Japan.

Contextualizing aunty in Singaporean English

Abstract: Presumably, in any culture, people who are perceived to be different from some ‘mainstream’ majority are categorized in some way and assigned a label. Such ‘cultural’ categories can be complimentary or, usually, pejorative and are therefore good indicators of cultural attitudes and values. We can learn a lot about a culture through the semantic study of its cultural categories. In Singapore English, the social honorifics aunty and uncle are used by extension as cultural categories to refer, somewhat unflatteringly, to a distinct kind of people. Yet, ironically, the use of these terms also reflects deference for age and thus indicates the speakers' mixed feelings towards the objects of their reference. In this paper, the meaning of the word aunty is described in the form of a reductive paraphrase using natural semantic metalanguage. On the basis of meaning, the contrastive cultural attitudes reflected by the use of the word are explored.

On nativizing the Indian English poetic medium

Abstract: English is a language of intellectual and creative activity in India. After independence and particularly from the 1950s onwards, English began to acquire a distinct Indian voice through greater innovations and creativity. In the domain of poetry, since the themes and substances are Indian, most creative writers in English in India emphasize that English is at home in India and India at home with the English language, so much so that if English is to be called a foreign language it is the native English, i.e., the British English, that is becoming more foreign in India. Most poets like Kamala Das, R. Parthasarathy, etc. are conscious of their multilingual situation. The poetry emanating from a bilingual sensitivity shows unique characteristics of the kind that Braj Kachru (1996a: xiii) had recognized as the nativized variety of English in India which he terms IE (Indian English) or on the larger canvas SAE (South Asian Englishes) which function not only as an ‘additional linguistic arm’ in the culture of creativity (1996b: 17), but also as a marker of identity in local contexts (2005: 220). The present paper is an attempt at viewing the result of the productive linguistic innovations which are determined by the localized functions of a second language variety, which also implicate new communicative strategies or the ones that get transferred from local languages. The paper highlights some strategies utilized by some poets at the phonological, lexical, syntactic and figurative levels. In terms of discourse, larger configurations of historical and functional styles are also formed. Since the user of the non-native variety is bilingual, creativity is also manifested in different kinds of ‘mixing’, ‘switching’, ‘alteration’ and ‘transcreation’ of codes. The nativized variety reveals the use of native similes, metaphors, transforming of personalized rhetorical devices, transcreation of idiomatic expressions, use of culturally dependent speech styles, etc. The paper intends to show that as an end product what we get is the cultural semiotics of English as developing in India in a localized way, a form that is gradually moving away from the cultural semiotics of the standard British English.

The politics of code‐switching: English vs. Nigerian languages

Abstract: The present study explores the politics of code-switching with reference to the novels of two prominent Nigerian authors, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. In addition to drawing a theoretical distinction between overt and covert modes of code alternation, the study points out that at the primary degree of delicacy, code-switching not only reveals the tensions and conflicts in the Nigerian social structure, but this linguistic phenomenon is also used to mark identity, solidarity, exclusion from an in-group membership, status manipulation, and social and communicative distance. At the secondary degree of delicacy, the politics of code-switching reveal that in the sociolinguistic balance of power, English dominates the local languages identified in the study. The sociolinguistic situation described in the study is thus symptomatic of the linguistic situation in Nigeria generally where the local languages are in a subtractive polyglossic relationship with English. Subtractive polyglossia, in turn, results in the Nigerian English users’ subtractive bilingualism and linguistic schizophrenia. And unless urgent steps are taken to redress the geolinguistic imbalance between English and Nigeria's minority languages in the hierarchy of code functions, Nigeria's local dialects – except Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba – face continuous decline and degeneration, if not possible death.

The Core and Periphery of World Englishes: A corpus-based exploration

Abstract: This paper is concerned with the ‘common core’ of world Englishes. This is defined as the set of features and characteristics which all varieties have in common. It is also concerned with the ‘periphery’, that is, those features which are unique to individual varieties, and are not shared with any other variety. The study is based on comparisons of wordlists from electronic corpora of six varieties, and it attempts to examine the core and periphery of these in both quantitative and qualitative terms. It offers a measure of the relative sizes of the core and periphery, and goes on to compare the core and periphery in terms of their grammar and morphology. The core is found to be grammatically conditioned to a much greater degree than the periphery, which in turn results in very striking morphological differences between the two.

Statian Creole English: an English-derived language emerges in the Dutch Antilles

Abstract: This paper examines data gathered via fieldwork from St Eustatius, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. This English variety displays a handful of correspondences with other Englishes spoken in geographically proximate areas, but what is most noteworthy about this restructured English is that so much of its grammar is significantly different from many of those same nearby varieties. Historical, linguistic, and ethnographic data are interwoven to make the case that Statian English sounds different from most other Englishes of the Caribbean basin because the colonizing and settlement patterns of the island differed from plantation societies focusing on the production of cash crops. St Eustatius was a commercial center instead, offering an entrepot for goods (and, at times, slaves) for sale to customers from the eastern rim of the Americas. In this import-export context, English as a lingua franca of trade emerged with its own distinctive cluster of features.

Super‐heroes to super languages: American popular culture through South Asian language comics

Abstract: Although under immense pressure from television, movies, and video games, comics are a very effective and non-intrusive means of introducing American popular culture in South Asia in the age of globalization. The introduction of American comic books in South Asian languages, although a recent phenomenon, has already stimulated the South Asian/Indian appetite for American super-heroes and comics and has added various new cognitive and (psycho) linguistic dimensions to traditional Indian comics. The paper attempts to account for the creative linguistic strategies employed in the representation of super-heroes through super languages (Sanskrit and English) in South Asian language comics and to explain the highly diverse appeal and positive perception of comics in South Asia.

Developing an International Corpus of Creative English.

Abstract: This paper proposes an International Corpus of Creative English [ICCE] as a worldwide corpus particularly suitable for easy implementation in countries which have tertiary institutions with well-defined populations of students possessing similar cultural and/or linguistic backgrounds. The ICCE is contextualized as a World Englishes corpus with reference to the International Corpus of English (ICE) and the International Corpus of Learner English (ICLE). Centred round the Extremely Short Story Competition [ESSC], introduced at the 2nd Asia TEFL Conference in Korea (2004), the ICCE will provide potential in terms of intercultural/interlinguistic research and also practical exploitation in the wider community for both educational and commercial purposes. Specifics of the Extremely Short Story Competition [ESSC] are provided in order to introduce a tightly structured contest which has proved to be an extremely efficient instrument for the generation of texts both inside and outside the (language teaching) classroom. A progress report, is presented which outlines two pilot projects undertaken at Zayed University [ZU] in the United Arab Emirates [UAE] (2004) and at the British Council in Seoul, Republic of Korea [ROK] (2005). This is illustrated with the prize-winning ESSC stories in both locations. In addition, an account describes the compilation of the first component of the ICCE corpus which is currently being undertaken in the UAE (2005) using the ZU website specifically designed to operationalize the ESSC in twenty federal tertiary institutions throughout the country. Discussion is provided of the benefits of the ICCE for language learning and teaching, applied linguistics and the community. The paper calls for academics in other nations to contribute to the ICCE and offers the ZU ESSC website and support to other countries wishing to participate in the project.

Cultural rhetoric in coming‐out narratives: Witi Ihimaera's The Uncle's Story

Abstract: The novel The Uncle's Story by New Zealand Maori Witi Ihimaera tells a story within a story, recounting the coming out narratives of two Maori gay men who lived 25 years apart in the same family. The novel is examined in light of Bacon's (1998) discussion of the possibility of a cultural rhetoric of the queer movement for liberation. Representations of self in the two Maori gay men's stories both challenge and sustain essential notions of sexual identity and contemporary theories of rhetorical practice. Ihimaera's fictional representations of coming out capture the complexity and nuance of coming-out experiences in a way that expressivist accounts of actual coming-out stories may obliterate or obscure. In this novel Ihimaera extends the artistic representation of gay culture he presented in Nights in the Gardens of Spain in a way that does not fall apart under close scrutiny because it does not oversimplify what happens in the same way that truth-telling often does.