Preface 1. Why a global language? 2. Why English? The historical context 3. Why English? The cultural foundation 4. Why English? The cultural legacy 5. The future of global English References Index List of tables.

English as a Global Language

A grammar of spoken Chinese = 中國話的文法

‘English is the global language.’ A headline of this kind must have appeared in a thousand news-papers and magazines in recent years. ‘English Rules’ is an actual example, presenting to the world an uncomplicated scenario suggesting the universality of the language's spread and the likelihood of its continuation. A statement prominently displayed in the body of the associated article, memorable chiefly for its alliterative ingenuity, reinforces the initial impression: ‘The British Empire may be in full retreat with the handover of Hong Kong. But from Bengal to Belize and Las Vegas to Lahore, the language of the sceptred isle is rapidly becoming the first global lingua franca.’ Millennial retrospectives and prognostications continued in the same vein, with several major newspapers and magazines finding in the subject of the English language an apt symbol for the themes of globalization, diversification, progress and identity addressed in their special editions. Television programmes and series, too, addressed the issue, and achieved world-wide audiences. Certainly, by the turn of the century, the topic must have made contact with millions of popular intuitions at a level which had simply not existed a decade before. These are the kinds of statement which seem so obvious that most people would give them hardly a second thought. Of course English is a global language, they would say. You hear it on television spoken by politicians from all over the world. Wherever you travel, you see English signs and advertisements.

English as a global language: Why a global language?

The purpose of this article is to explore recent research into World Englishes (henceforth WEs) and English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), focusing on its implications for TESOL, and the extent to which it is being taken into account by English language teachers, linguists, and second language acquisition researchers. After a brief introduction comparing the current situation with that of 15 years ago, I look more closely at definitions of WEs and ELF. Then follows an overview of relevant developments in WEs and ELF research during the past 15 years, along with a more detailed discussion of some key research projects and any controversies they have aroused. I then address the implications of WEs/ELF research for TESOL vis-a-vis English language standards and standard English, and the longstanding native versus nonnative teacher debate. Finally, I assess the consensus on WEs and ELF that is emerging both among researchers and between researchers and language teaching professionals. The article concludes by raising a number of questions that remain to be investigated in future research.

Current Perspectives on Teaching World Englishes and English as a Lingua Franca

We begin by considering how the recent phenomenon of English as a Lingua Franca (henceforth ELF) fits in with the older notion of lingua francas in general as well as with older versions of ELF. We then explore the beginnings of ELF in its modern manifestation, including the earliest ELF research, and tackle the thorny issue of defining ELF. After discussing the main locations and domains in which ELF research has been carried out to date, we move on to examining research into three linguistic levels, lexicogrammar, phonology and pragmatics, concluding with a discussion of very recent findings revealing ELF's linguistic fluidity. Next, we discuss research into two domains where ELF has proved especially prevalent: business English and academic English. This is followed by a consideration of ELF as a globalized and globalizing practice. We end the article by exploring the implications of ELF research for ELF-oriented English teaching and the role that attitudes are likely to play in this. We conclude that while the relaxed attitudes towards ELF of younger people are promising, strong resistance is still felt by many others, and that the major challenge remains in convincing the examination boards that they should take account of ELF.

/pdf/review-of-developments-in-research-into-english-as-a-lingua-4hf2yn0q4y.pdf

Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca

The formants of the eleven monophthong vowels of Standard Southern British (SSB) pronunciation of English were measured for five male and five female BBC broadcasters whose speech was included in the MARSEC database. The measurements were made using linear-prediction-based formant tracks overlaid on digital spectrograms for an average of ten instances of each vowel for each speakers, These measurements were taken from connected speech, allowing comparison with previous formant values measured from citation words. I was found that the male vowels were significantly less peripheral in the measurements from connected speech than in measurements from citation words.

https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/14152/1/JIPA-27-47.pdf

The Formants of Monophthong Vowels in Standard Southern British English Pronunciation

An English lingua franca seems to be emerging in the ten ASEAN countries, and this paper investigates features of the pronunciation of this lingua franca. Twenty speakers, two from each of the ASEAN countries, were recorded while they were conversing in groups of three or four people, all from a different country. The speech that they used is analysed to identify shared features of pronunciation, especially to evaluate the effect that these features have on intelligibility, and it is argued that some of their shared non-standard features actually enhance intelligibility. Finally, some of the misunderstandings that occurred are analysed to determine the extent to which pronunciation played a part, and it is found that only those features of pronunciation not shared by speakers from other ASEAN countries resulted in a break-down in communication.

Emerging South-East Asian Englishes and intelligibility

The measurement of rhythm: a comparison of Singapore and British English

Despite the large number of speakers of English in China, little previous work has been done to describe their pronunciation. Thirteen young speakers from north-east, east and central China were recorded reading a passage and participating in a short interview, and their pronunciation is analyzed. The most salient features of their speech include the use of an epenthetic vowel after word-final plosives especially before another word beginning with a consonant, avoidance of reduced vowels especially in function words, heavy nasalization of vowels preceding a final nasal consonant, substitution of [s] for /θ/ and [z] or [d] for /ð/, use of [x] for /h/, and emphasis on sentence-final pronouns. It is suggested that some of these features may become established as part of a unique variety of English that is emerging in China.

The pronunciation of English by speakers from China

This paper provides a detailed description of the pronunciation of English by fifteen fourth-year undergraduates at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. First, the occurrence of American features of pronunciation is considered. Then there is an analysis of the pronunciation of initial TH, initial and final consonant clusters, L-vocalisation, conflation between initial [n] and [l], monophthong vowels, the vowels in FACE and GOAT, vowel reduction, rhythm and sentence stress. Finally, the status of Hong Kong English is considered, particularly the extent of its continuing alignment with an exonormative standard.

/pdf/the-pronunciation-of-hong-kong-english-ghcb85e80t.pdf

David Deterding

Papers

The Formants of Monophthong Vowels in Standard Southern British English Pronunciation

Emerging South-East Asian Englishes and intelligibility

The measurement of rhythm: a comparison of Singapore and British English

The pronunciation of English by speakers from China

The pronunciation of Hong Kong English