World Englishes

‘World Englishes’ refers to the many and varied forms of English spoken throughout the world, including varieties developed as an outgrowth of colonization by the British Empire and the U.S., as well as forms that have arisen in non-colonial areas due to English’s widespread use as a language of global communication, or lingua franca.

The term ‘World Englishes’ was coined in 1978, and research into this field was pioneered in the 1980's by Braj Kachru, a Kashmiri linguist and now Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. In Standards, Codification and Sociolinguistic Realism: The English Language in the Outer Circle (1985), he presented the concept of three concentric circles representing the way English has spread throughout the world, the patterns of acquisition for those who are non-native speakers, and patterns of English use in society, government, and commerce.

Kachru's inner circle includes those countries where English is the primary language – the mother tongue. Included in this circle are the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The outer circle includes post-colonial countries in which English plays a significant role in education, government, and popular culture even though it is not the mother tongue. This large group of nations includes India, Pakistan, the Phillipines, Singapore, Nigeria, and more than 50 other nations and territories.

Nations in the expanding circle acknowledge the significance of English as a language of global communication. In these countries, English is taught as a ‘foreign’ language, often for the specific purpose of international business communication. Countries in the expanding circle include Russia, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Iran, among many others.

This video can help you memorize - just for fun - the names of thirty countries from the inner and outer circles with a million or more English speakers, where English has an official status:

Australia -- New Zealand -- Papua New Guinea -- Malaysia --- the Philippines -- Singapore -- Hong Kong -- India -- Sri Lanka -- Pakistan -- Nepal -- Bangladesh -- Nigeria -- Sierra Leone -- Tanzania -- Zambia -- Liberia -- Ghana -- Uganda -- Kenya -- Cameroon -- Zimbabwe -- South Africa -- USA -- Canada -- Jamaica -- Trinidad and Tobago -- Ireland -- U.K.

Kachru's (1985)

'Three Circles' Model

Read the transcript of an interview with Suresh Canagarajah, another leading scholar in the field of World Englishes. He discusses his own language "journey" as a Sri Lankan native who is now an English Professor in the U.S., and the ever-changing role of global English. The interview was broadcast in 2012 on the Australian radio program "Lingua Franca."

A View from Inside the Expanding Circle:

the Case of Singlish

What is Singlish?

the nickname of Colloquial Singaporean English
a combination of language features of English, Malay, Cantonese, Tamil, and other local languages
held in low esteem by many in power in Singapore, who believe that speaking a more widely-used, standard variety of English would help the nation of Singapore to prosper on the world economic stage

In 2000, Singapore’s then-Prime Minister Tong launched the Speak Good English Movement. Its purpose was to encourage Singaporeans to speak a form of English that is universally understood, which in their circumstances – geographically and historically – meant standard British English. The campaign has been onging since 2000; earlier this year, in partnership with the British Council, Singapore roled out new initiatives targeting young working adults and presenting a list of ten tips for learning “good English.” Several large national companies have come on board and are promoting the ten tips in their advertising.

View a Singaporean television report about the new “Speak Good English” initiative.

The "Ten Tips" initiative of the Speak Good English Movement even has a Facebook page.

While many Singaporean citizens support the Speak Good English Movement, there are also those who criticize the campaign, pointing out that it minimizes the richness and complexity of the local language and shows disrespect for the people who use it completely effectively in their daily interactions.

Watch a Youtube video made by individuals in support of the alternative “Save Our Singlish” campaign.

African American Vernacular English