World Englishes

Preparation work for live session

Earlier this week we watched a talk by the linguist David Crystal, on World Englishes. In today's reading session we're going to continue to explore the topic by reading parts of an introductory textbook. The preparation work focusses mainly on note-taking and understanding new concepts and terminology which you'll then explain and discuss in the live session. Before we start though, it's easier to understand the ideas behind World Englishes if you know a bit about the period of European colonisation.

What is 'Colonisation'?

Between the early 17th century and mid-twentieth century, England developed an empire that spanned parts of Asia, Africa and the Americas. The primary reason for this expansion was to extract wealth from countries that had things England wanted such as tea, spices, sugar and silk. Countries like India, Kenya and various Caribbean islands became known as 'colonies' that were controlled from London. Because of this, English was imposed on these places, and became the official language of law and government. In other words, it became a 'prestige' language, as we learned last term. After the second world war and with the establishment of the United Nations, many European powers including Britain began to release their grip on these territories, and a period of decolonisation took place from the 1960s, and continues to this day. Even though Britain no longer has an empire, many former colonies such as Pakistan and Nigeria are still part of what's known as the Commonwealth, with loose ties to Britain. In the past, the empire was seen as a glorious achievement of British superiority. Today though, the acts committed by Britain and other European powers, the slave trade being the most notorious, are recognised for their brutality, greed and disregard for human life. As such, although English remains as an official language in many Commonwealth countries, its status as a global language is tainted by its past. Whether it is a force for good which facilitates international communication or whether it continues to act to suppress local language and culture is a key question in World Englishes.