Englishes and Interpretations of Language, Culture and Identity Assignment
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Added on 2020-03-16
Englishes and Interpretations of Language, Culture and Identity Assignment
Added on 2020-03-16
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Running head: ENGLISHES1Different Englishes and Interpretations of Language, Culture and IdentityNameInstitution
ENGLISHES 2Different Englishes and Interpretations of Language, Culture and IdentityEnglishes is a term that is used in describing different local varieties of English that people speak across the globe. Different Englishes are often referred to as world or global English and is commonly used as lingua franca among people who do not necessarily speak similar first English. According to Kachru’s model, Englishes are used in three different ways which include inner, outer and expanding Englishes (Kachru, 1986). The countries that are categorized and use inner circle English are those which English is their first language such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand. The countries in the outer ring are those that use Englishas their official language for purposes of education such as Kenya and South Africa. The countries that are categorized in the expanding circle use English as a lingua franca such as China (Bolton, 2002). The states with most people speaking in English are not from the first two categories but the expanding circle category such as Slovenia. This is because these countries have a policy for compulsory English lessons right from childhood. The people who speak different Englishes do not have the same capacity of reasoning and therefore the likelihood of having a fruitful conversation is always a challenge (Bruthiaux, 2003). This problem can also be experienced among speakers from the same circle as a result of verbal and non-verbal elements of communication. Verbal aspects in English is dependent on hearing, vision, word choice and jargon while non-verbal factors include eye contact, facial expression, gestures and distance fromwhere an individual is speaking (Byram, 1997).Another aspect of different Englishes is the accent used in communication. An accent plays a significant role in determining if a speaker form inner, outer or expanding language can
ENGLISHES 3be understood. Accent has the potential to result to miscommunication even amongst speakers ofsimilar English. Accents are not universal and people from a given country can have more than one. In Australia, the English spoken has four unique accents while there are numerous different accents in America (Bolton, Graddol & Meierkord, 2011). More so, the British English has a huge variety of accents such as cockney which is spoken in London, Scouse is spoken among those in Liverpool, Geordie in Newcastle and scots in Scottish. For those whose first language is not English, their mother tongue accent influences the way they speak world Englishes (Canagarajah, 2013). The most common difference among these non-native speakers of English is reproducing certain sounds as they should.There are also different dialects in different Englishes which play a role in influencing mutual intelligence among different speakers across the world. Dialects are of different nature just as accents have a wide range. Different dialects are often found in the same locality such as modern cities across the world (Boyle, 2012). The size of a country does not determine the numbers of dialects as there are big countries such as Australia which has a small number of dialects as compared to America and Britain. Common dialects in Englishes include the use of distinct terms such as Outback and fair dinkum. Also, they use words that are derived from the aboriginal language such as Kangaroo and Billabong. Other dialects include the use of words such as Bazza, Shazza, and Septic tank (Eades, 2004). Another aspect in different Englishes includes the miscommunication where people it occurs quite frequently among those learning English as their second language. The miscommunication influences not only the learners but also native speakers. The miscommunication occurs as a result of mixing verbal, non-verbal and Para-verbal components of communication (Byram, Gribkova & Starkey, 2002).
ENGLISHES 4However, these elements can be significant in overcoming miscommunication. The issuesof standard, non-standard and substandard arise in different Englishes where speakers who have had a long tradition of both written and literature speak of a codified standard (Jenkins, Baker & Dewey, 2018). Further, this can be used in explaining other varieties of Englishes. English speaking language that falls under inner, outer and expanding have a term that is standard in a particular country. Such terms are often used by people in different circumstances and although they might not necessarily be aware of the correct meaning, they have the ability to recognize certain words on communication. There is also the case of vernacular that found in English and determines the language that is spoken naturally amongst individual of a specific geographical area (Chin-Chuan Cheng, 1992).The Polylectal grammars suggest that speakers of various dialects can understand each other. This is because the nature of their communication does not differ which essentially impliesthat for one to understand different dialects, they must have a general understanding of the language. The underlying forms that equate to a general understanding of a language imply that they are not necessarily present among speakers of different Englishes (Crystal, 2015). Categorically, it is eluded that speakers can understand more than one dialect but use a different one when speaking. An individual with different dialects can communicate as a result of receptive competence that is found in native speakers. Various places across the world are faced with the challenge of a geographical dialect continuum. This gives rise to linguistic differences as there is more than one dialect in a specific locality (Byram & Feng, 2004). However, all the dialects that are spoken in a particular setting determine the chain of mutual intelligibility. In such a scenario, the speakers of different dialect can understand each other as a result of living adjacent to them within a locality. This implies that dialect of different
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