Showing papers in "World Englishes in 2021"
19 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the tension between English and Arabic, the use of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in relation to local forms of Arabic, and the prominence of English in specific sectors of society (education, economy, tourism), the increasing use of English as a home language, as well as the presumed emergence of a new variety of English that may tentatively be called "Gulf English".
Abstract: A former British protectorate, the UAE has witnessed unprecedented economic and cultural development since its foundation in 1971. Foreign labor and investment play a central role in this development, yielding a sharp imbalance between the local Arab and the foreign population. A share of no less than 85% of highly transient foreigners strongly impacts the local linguistic texture, with many languages competing in the public sphere, creating a highly multilingual landscape. English occupies a special and highly prominent role in this texture, as it is used as a foreign language, a second language, and as a lingua franca. Moreover, it occurs in its standardized varieties (British or American English), but crucially also in several non-standard forms, as foreign labor is recruited from places formerly under British or American influence (India, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya, etc.). The UAE thus offers a unique linguistic laboratory in which the interaction and competition of Arabic and English can be studied, in addition to the blending and perhaps levelling of English non-standard varieties. In the present contribution, we present evidence from the ongoing research project Language Attitudes and Repertoires in the Emirates (LARES), exploring the tension between English and Arabic, the use of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in relation to local forms of Arabic, the prominence of English in specific sectors of society (education, economy, tourism), the increasing use of English as a home language, as well as the presumed emergence of a new variety of English that may tentatively be called ‘Gulf English’. We conclude by comparing the situation in the UAE with the similarly high-contact urban areas of Singapore and Hong Kong, city-states that differ in their histories and their local use of English in several ways. Specifically, we argue that while Hong Kong, and Singapore to a lesser degree, remain firmly situated within Kachru’s outer circle, the UAE shows signs of moving from the expanding circle inwards towards the outer circle. Moreover, due to the high influx of foreign labor from former British and American colonies (India, Philippines, etc.), the UAE has developed into a melting pot of different varieties of English that we endearingly refer to as ‘Milton Keynes II’.
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9 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed participants' attitudes towards English and their perceptions of the roles of English in Kazakhstan, where participants had mixed utilitarian, human development and patriotic attitudes toward English, and they referred to these dimensions in this article as metafunctions.
Abstract: Roles and attitudes towards English in Kazakhstan can be seen through four strands of local and international heritages of education and cultures of language learning. Seen together with national policies, educational reforms, and linguistic contexts this comprises the English language learning environment. This is the contextual background against which we report findings regarding the professional and personal characteristics of ‘good’ English teachers in Kazakhstan. ‘Model’ teachers were portrayed with an expected traditional cognitive dimension of knowledge of English but this was complemented by social, affective, moral, and aesthetic dimensions. We refer to these dimensions in this article as ‘metafunctions’. Through interviews with 100 undergraduate students and 43 university English teachers, we analyzed participants’ attitudes towards English and their perceptions of the roles of English in Kazakhstan, where participants had mixed utilitarian, human development and patriotic attitudes toward English.
9 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the role of English in higher education institutions in three Central Asian republics (Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) was explored.
Abstract: In Central Asia, English is not only considered a language of intercultural communication, but it is also by far the most studied foreign language at schools and universities. The globalization and internationalization of education resulted in English becoming a medium of instruction in all levels of schooling. English functions as the language of research and academia. This article focuses on comparative research conducted on the role(s) of English in higher education institutions (HEIs) in three Central Asian republics – the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The main objective of this study was to explore the role(s) of English at HEIs to have a better evidence-based understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of English medium instruction (EMI) in these countries.
8 citations
8 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide a knowledge synthesis of studies related to the sociolinguistic dynamics and realities of English(es) in one of the most underexplored WE contexts in the Middle East and North Africa.
Abstract: This study presents the first scoping review (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005; Levac, Colquhoun, & O'Brien, 2010) of world Englishes (WE) research in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – providing a knowledge synthesis of studies related to the sociolinguistic dynamics and realities of English(es) in one of the most underexplored WE contexts. Although the burgeoning research on English in the region focuses on macro sociolinguistic issues, language policy and planning, and language teaching and learning, there is a pressing need for a systematic investigation of scholarship with an exclusive WE perspective (Mahboob, 2013). On this premise, we map the body of WE literature pertinent to this region during the last two decades (2000–2019). We provide an overview of the state of the research activity, helping to identify the knowledge gaps and determine a fruitful research agenda for scholars interested in the diverse issues of WE in the MENA region.
8 citations
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TL;DR: This paper revisited existing models of WEs with a view to their predictive power and reviewed recent corpus-based studies with respect to the ways that these have tried to operationalise predictions of theoretical models.
Abstract: World Englishes (WE) research has been invested in getting to grips with the diversity of different Englishes and in making sense of their structural properties. The first research strand led to a proliferation of theoretical models, the second to comparative research relying increasingly on sophisticated statistical modelling. The connection between these research strands is not always as clear as we might wish, and occasionally even rather tenuous. This paper revisits existing models of WEs with a view to their predictive ‘power’ and reviews recent corpus-based studies with respect to the ways that these have tried to operationalise predictions of theoretical models. It uses a mental model to understand exactly why it is apparently so difficult to bring intricate, quantitative modelling of usage data to bear on theoretical modelling.
TL;DR: In this paper, a list of contemporary research publications that provide the details of books, research articles, as well as other research outputs that were published between 1994 and 2020 is presented.
Abstract: The bibliography presented here is a list of contemporary research publications that provide the details of books, research articles, as well as other research outputs that were published between 1994 and 2020. The main aim of this bibliography is to provide scholars interested in researching South African Englishes with sources of major works published internationally as well as in core journals from South Africa. Despite the problems concerning representativeness of research bibliographies, we hope that this list of references will complement existing sources in the field. We also hope that this bibliography will serve as a useful guide for those researchers and graduate students interested in contemporary issues in the study of South African Englishes.
TL;DR: The authors investigated whether grammatical change in South African English (SAfE) leads to convergence or divergence in the different varieties within SAfE, and found that higher degrees of contact between speakers result in closer convergence, especially as far as constructional semantics are concerned, but convergent frequency changes seem to be possible without the same closeness of contact.
Abstract: This article investigates whether grammatical change in South African English (SAfE) leads to convergence or divergence in the different varieties within SAfE. Contact between speakers of English and other languages potentially leads to divergence from varieties beyond SAfE, and to convergence within SAfE. Modal auxiliaries show convergence between White SAfE (WSAfE) and Afrikaans, but not between WSAfE and Black SAfE (BSAfE). No convergence is observed between the innovative use of the progressive in BSAfE and WSAfE, except for similar long-term frequency increases. The omission of the complementiser that shows similar long-term frequency changes between WSAfE, Afrikaans and BSAfE. The findings indicate that higher degrees of contact between speakers result in closer convergence, especially as far as constructional semantics are concerned, but convergent frequency changes seem to be possible without the same closeness of contact.