Varieties of English

Variants of English in Different Regions

Indian and Lankan English: /v/ is pronounced as /w/ (e.g. "vata" for water)

Indian, Philippine, and Malaysian English: Initial voiceless plosives are not aspirated

Ghanaian, West Indian, Singaporean, and HK English: Glottalling and non-release of final plosives

Indian, West African, and Papua New Guinean English: Voiceless final plosives instead of voiced ones (e.g. "feed" becomes "feet")

No distinction between clear and dark /l/ (e.g. link and milk)

Consonant Cluster Reduction (e.g. "tes'" for test)

No distinction between short and long vowels (due to lack of length differences in Indian, Lankan, Jamaican, and Singaporean English)

Reduction of complexities

Shift of stress in complex words

Syllable-timed rhythm (Schwa vowels are pronounced with a full vowel sound)

Monophthongization of diphthongs (e.g. "take" becomes "tek")

The distribution of these variants is regional.

Grammar up to twelve years of schooling

Philippino is the only language

Unmarking of plural in nouns ("up India,the subject" - Philippines) lost all my furnitures" - "Do not throw litters on the- Pluralization of mass nouns ("I West Africa,street" - India) eat so much sweets" - "Some few- A tendency to change the form of quantifiers ("Don't Singapore,fishermen may be seen" - West Africa) I first met my husband, she was a- No distinction between the third person pronouns he/she ("Whenstudent" - East Africa) two last year" - Change of word order within the noun phrase ("Dis Papua New Guinea)drink milk" -rd- Omission of inflectional endings (3 person marking,"She Philippines; past tenseMandarin, I learn it privately" -marking, HK)still eat" - Tendency to use aspect rather than tense ("I Malaysia)is knowing her science very well" - Use of progressive constructions

concepts, etc.)termsfrom religion and superstition, semantic shift);- Idioms are closely related to the local culture; meaning cannot be deduced from single units (laziness– –is my largest enemy HK, from Cantonese, I met your absence Ghanian English, Your tongue flies– Caribbean English). They can be a. direct translations from indigenous idioms (to shake legs,Singaporean, Malaysian English), b. variation on native speaker idioms (to eat your cake and have it25– –Malaysian English, in lips and bounce Singaporean English), c. combination of English andput sand in someone’s gari –indigenous forms (to Nigerian English);- Archaisms, retention of dialectal forms that were moribund in the ancestral variety, and weresuccessfully revitalized.Discourse style –- Formal character vocabulary and grammar can be more complex- Usage of could and would where an Inner Circle speaker would use can and will (felt to be more polite)- Influence from indigenous culture (deference,

I am bubbling with zeal and enthusiasm to serve as a research assistant Indian English, but typical of Asian cultures) - Specific expressions for certain pragmatic functions (greetings, Are you all right? East Africa, Have - I'll go and come - you eaten yet? Singapore; leave takings, Walk slowly ho! Singapore, Sri Lanka) Variation in ENL varieties- Different dialectal areas in GB- Emerging varieties (Estuary English, London Jamaican)- Influence of migration flows and extended language contact- Variation in ELF possibly influencing also ENL English in Asia and Europe Europe belongs to the Expanding Circle, Asia to the Outer Circle. They share: - Bi- and multilingual contexts (in different ways) They are "linguistic orphans" (Kachru 1992), meaning that some consider the new varieties born from- the II diaspora as inferior varieties, as non-acceptable. English as an Asian Language There are two ways of categorizing variations: 1. Regional

categorization- South Asian varieties (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka)- Southeast Asian and Pacific varieties (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)- East Asia varieties (China, HK, Japan, Taiwan)

2. Functional categorization (by use)

• Institutionalized varieties Outer Circle (India, Bangladesh, HK, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore)
• Non-institutionalized varieties Expanding Circle (China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand)

East Asia

Is part of the Expanding Circle (EFL). The role of English has been changing dramatically over the few last decades, there is a growth in interest and in number of speakers.

Direction towards a World Standard Language?

Japan

Has a huge economic success (technology, trade). English is the vehicle for internationalization/westernization and globalization since the 1980s.

Puts emphasis on teaching and learning English, which is the only FL option; methodology based on CLT.

It is also one of the largest commercial markets for ELT, together with China.

–Impact on the Japanese language: 12% of European borrowings, 4/5 of these are English (Biiru beer, nyuusu– –news, basu bus).

2000 year of the proposal to make English the official second language, but there is also will to preserve Japanese cultural identity and national sovereignty.

China

China can be considered as having the largest group of English learners in the world (about 350 million), and possibly Chinese English may develop as an English variety in the future.

In the past, trading exchanges along the South China coast produced a Chinese Pidgin English (18 century), which supposedly died out, though there is some continuity with broken forms of English.

Growing acceptance of the language among the Chinese, and growing importance: it is likely to become the most common variety of English in Asia, due to the high number of speakers and the increasing number of people learning it. English, in fact, has been introduced in the public-school system in the 1970s, is

Mandatory for University entrance, and its impact has grown since the 2008 Olympic Games.

Success of the “Crazy English” enterprise: late 1990s Li Yang, a charismatic teacher, has carried out a mass education campaign that builds upon the method of having large crowds repeating a chanting phrases and slogans loudly, integrating also patriotic messages and a strong self-development component.

Many people learn English also by picking up the language in natural context, frequently in contact with international visitors.

Taiwan “English villages”, recreations of England for full immersion courses in the native English environment, and situational classrooms.

In the early 21st century there was a proposal to make English the official second language, and in 2006 80% of the population responded positively in a public opinion survey.

Thailand English is widely used for business and tourism.

South Korea Great expansion of teaching and learning English.

privately and in universities. Characteristics of these "varieties" Phonology • China: less distinction between long and short vowels (heat and hit) • Japan and Korea: /r/ and /l/ • China and Japan: /θ/ and /ð/ often replaced by s and z. Syllable timed. • China and Taiwan: final consonant often omitted • Korea and Japan: added vowels (stop > sutopu) • Variety-specific compounds: Japan: haburashi (ha [tooth] + brush) • Acronyms: Japan: OL (office lady) • Phrases/Idioms: barefoot doctor (China, rural untrained doctor), eye shopping (Korea, windowshopping) Grammar • Countable and uncountable nouns (staffs); article omission Pragmatics • Compliments; yes/no; honorific suffixes IVE Indigenized Varieties of English settings differ from SLA concepts Even though these varieties are at the beginning of a possible evolution in proper varieties, what can be said for ESL varieties ofEnglish in terms of analogies of attitudes applies also for them. The codification of indigenized varieties has been strongly affected by SLA concepts, particularly the concept of Interlanguage (Selinker), the stage of developing language towards proficiency in the TL. This concept has been applied to Varieties as well: indigenized varieties (IVEs) were regarded as "interlanguages", so fossilized states, mistakes. L1 is seen as an interference for the acquisition of native-like competence, extensive code-switching with, and influence of, local languages. Motivation for language learning is integration in the NS community (admiration, desire to become member of the culture). Criticism: is it possible to apply these paradigms to this context? Can we talk about "fossilization" or "interference" for an entire population (Indian English)? Importance of codification (grammars, dictionaries), in terms of leading to acceptance, prestige, classroom model: these

Nativized varieties in their particular contexts may constitute a model of education for the country. This has changed also the SLA perspective:

• Target may not be the NS, but other NNSs
• The input in ESL context is the local variety (not NS)
• English does not serve all functions; the local languages have an important identity function together with the local varieties (multilingual settings, diglossic situations)
• Motivation for learning is instrumental, not integrative

Challenges in codifying Asian Englishes:

• Choice of a standard (acrolectal/basilectal level)
• Local needs VS International intelligibility (intranational functions, acceptance of local innovations, code switching and code mixing as part of bilingual competence)