Ling/Asia 122: English as a World Language - 1

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Ling/Asia 122 English as a World Language - 1

• What is a global or world language?
• Why English?

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• What is a global language?
• What are some global languages?
• Why are they considered global languages?

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Why a Global Language?

• Number of people who speak it?
• Aesthetic qualities of beauty, clarity of
  expression?
• Literary tradition and power?
• Religious standing?
• Ease of learning?
• NO!!! POWER!
• Political
• Military
• Economic
• Technological

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Global Languages and Power

• Greek
• Latin
• Arabic
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• French
• English
• Chinese?

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The Dangers of a Global Language

• Linguistic power Will those who speak a global
  language as a mother tongue automatically be in a
  position of power compared to those who have to
  learn it as a second or foreign language?
• Linguistic complacency Will a global language
  eliminate the motivation for adults to learn
  other languages? (Im not good at languages.)
• Language death Will the emergence of a global
  language hasten the disappearance of minority
  languages and cause widespread language death?
  80 of the worlds 6,000 or so living languages
  will die out within the next century.

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The Story of English

1. In what domains had English become a world
   language by 1986? Has anything changes in the
   last 27 years?
2. How did Public School English (Received Standard)
   come to be? What kinds of attitudes do some
   people have toward it? Do similar attitudes exist
   in the U.S. toward other varieties? Other
   languages?
3. Why was English maintained as an official
   language in India after independence? In what
   domains is it used? Do you know of other areas of
   the world where English is an official language
   for the same reason?
4. Why did Creole English establish itself in
   Africa? What is the role of English in Africa?
   Are there situations that you are familiar with
   in which one variety is used for interpersonal
   communication and another is taught in school?
5. When did American English (AE) begin to become
   influential in the world? What are some varieties
   of AE mentioned in the film that have influenced
   world English? Can you think of other examples?
6. Because the movie was made in 1986, there are
   a number of references and images that today seem
   out of date, for example, the Soviet Union, Pan
   Am, the World Trade Center, the Super Sonic
   Transport (SST), the use of typewriters, the
   mention of old slang and the individual
   currencies of the countries of Europe. Did you
   notice any others?
7.  

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Reflective Response Paper

• In these assignments, you will write the
  responses after viewing videos, followed by class
  discussions. You papers should include each of
  the following levels of response
• Descriptive After viewing the video, prepare a
  detailed summary of the highlights of the video.
• Personal/Interpretive What new insights did you
  acquire as a result of the content of the video?
  How did you feel viewing the video? Was it easy?
  Difficult? Fun? Frustrating?
• Critical/Analytical What evidence in the video
  seemed to support or dispute concepts or
  knowledge that you already have?
• Creative/Application What insights did you gain
  which may be applied to your interactions with
  your fellow students, in your future work
  environment, and/or as a citizen of the world?
• Total 5 of final grade See the grading
  criteria on the course web site.

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Course Overview

• Introduction English as a world language
• The history of English
• Your personal linguistic heritage journey
• Standard languages, dialects, accents
• Language and culture
• Language and politeness
• Language and intelligibility
• Native non-native varieties sounds, words,
  sentences
• Conversational interaction
• Bilingualism code switching
• Pidgins creoles
• Language gender

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The History of English

• Abridged version
• Extended version
• (Based on David Crystal, English as a Global
  Language, Chapter 2)

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Origins Old English

• 5th c. CE Old English arrives in England from
  Northern Europe, displaces Celtic languages of
  Wales, Cornwall, Cumbria, Scotland
• Germanic
• Beowulf
• Epic poem, authorship unknown, written in Old
  English in England circa 8th-11th c. C.E., set in
  Scandinavia
• The Lords Prayer
• Written in the 11th c. C.E.

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Origins Middle English

• 1066 C.E. - Norman Invasion
• Middle English 1066-1470
• Considerable borrowing from French
• Nobles from England fled north to Scotland
• 12th c. Anglo-Norman knights sent to Ireland
• 1380s-1400 Chaucers Canterbury Tales
• 1420s-30s Chancery Standard
• 1470 Printing press brought to England

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Here begins the Book of the Tales of Canterbury /
When April with his showers sweet with fruit /
The drought of March has pierced unto the
rootAnd bathed each vein with liquor that has
power / To generate therein and sire the flower
/ When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath, /
Quickened again, in every holt and heath, / The
tender shoots and buds, and the young sun / Into
the Ram one half his course has run, / And many
little birds make melody / That sleep through all
the night with open eye / (So Nature pricks them
on to ramp and rage)- / Then do folk long to go
on pilgrimage, / And palmers to go seeking out
strange strands, / To distant shrines well known
in sundry lands. / And specially from every
shire's end / Of England they to Canterbury wend,
/ The holy blessed martyr there to seek / Who
helped them when they lay so ill and weak /
Befell that, in that season, on a dayIn
Southwark, at the Tabard, as I lay / Ready to
start upon my pilgrimageTo Canterbury, full of
devout homage, / There came at nightfall to that
hostelry / Some nine and twenty in a company / Of
sundry persons who had chanced to fall / In
fellowship, and pilgrims were they all / That
toward Canterbury town would ride. / The rooms
and stables spacious were and wide, / And well we
there were eased, and of the best. / And briefly,
when the sun had gone to rest, / So had I spoken
with them, every one, / That I was of their
fellowship anon, / And made agreement that we'd
early riseTo take the road, as you I will
apprise. / But none the less, whilst I have time
and space, / Before yet farther in this tale I
pace, / It seems to me accordant with reason / To
inform you of the state of every one / Of all of
these, as it appeared to me, / And who they were,
and what was their degree, / And even how arrayed
there at the inn / And with a knight thus will I
first begin. /
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Origins Modern English

• 16th-17th c. C.E. Early Modern English
• Great English Vowel Shift
• Shakespeare King James Bible
• Shakespeares Sonnet No. 18 (published 1609)

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The First Diaspora The U.S.

• 17th c. the first settlements
• 1607 Jamestown (VA) settlement
• 1620 Plymouth (MA) settlement
• 18th c. immigration from northern Ireland, but
  also
• Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Africa
• 19th c.- massive increase in immigration
• Irish (famine of 1840)
• Germans, Italians (failed 1848 revolutions)
• Central European Jews (1880 Pogroms)
• 2000 Over 80 of Americans speak only English
  at home

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The First Diaspora - Canada

• 1497 John Cabot to Newfoundland
• 1520 J. Cartier to Nova Scotia, Quebec
• 18th c. French defeated
• Queen Annes War (1702-13)
• French Indian war (1754-63)
• 1750s French expelled from Nova Scotia
• Louisiana Cajun Creole, Cajun food
• 1776 U.S. Independence
• British loyalists flee to Canada
• 21st c. French a co-official language

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The First Diaspora - Caribbean

• 1517 Spanish bring first African slaves to the
  West Indies
• 17th c. start of the Atlantic triangle of
  slave trade
• 1619 first 20 slaves brought to Virginia
• 1776 half million slaves in N.A.
• 1865 4 million slaves in N.A.
• Rise of pidgins
• Gave rise to creole English, but also
• Creole French, Spanish, Portuguese

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The First Diaspora

• Australia
• 1770 James Cook to Australia
• By 1838 130,000 prisoners sent to Australia
• By 1850 400,000 free settlers in Australia
• 2002 Australian population at 19 million
• New Zealand
• 1769-70 Cook explores N.Z.
• 1840 Official colony established in N.Z.
• 2002 N.Z. population at 3.8 million
• South Africa
• 1652 Dutch colonists to South Africa
• 1820 First British settlement
• 1822 English made the official language
• 1993 English, Afrikaans, 9 indigenous languages
  are official
• English spoken by less that 10 of pop.
• Afrikaans seen as language of
  repression

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The First Diaspora South Africa

• 1652 Dutch colonists to South Africa
• 1820 First British settlement
• 1822 English made the official language
• 1993 English, Afrikaans, 9 indigenous languages
  named as official
• English spoken by less that 10 of pop.
• Afrikaans seen as language of repression

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The Second Diaspora South Asia

• India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
  Bhutan
• 1612 First trading station at Surat, India
• 1765-1947 the Raj (period of British
  sovereignty)
• 1835 English education system in India
• 1857 Universities of Bombay, Calcutta, Madras
• 1960s Three language formula
• English an associate official language
• 21st c. 200 million speakers of English(?)
• Pakistan English an associate official
  language

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The Second Diaspora Africa

• 18th c. only Dutch had a permanent settlement
  in Africa
• By 1914, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal,
  Italy, Belgium had colonized almost all of
  Africa.
• After WWII realignment of colonial powers in
  Africa
• 1960s most gain independence
• West vs. East Africa

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The Second Diaspora West Africa

• The rise of English-based creoles - Krio
• Sierra Leone
• Ghana (formerly Gold Coast)
• Gambia
• Nigeria
• Cameroon
• Liberia
• Founded in 1822 as homeland of former slaves
• Republic since 1847

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The Second Diaspora East Africa

• From 1880s European powers vie for influence/
  colonies in East Africa
• English as a Language of International
  Communication in
• Botswana
• Kenya
• Lesotho
• Malawi
• Namibia
• Tanzania (formerly Zanzibar Tanganyika)
• Uganda
• Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia)
• Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia)

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The Second Diaspora SEAsia the South Pacific

• Spanish-American War
• Guam, Northern Marianas, (Puerto Rico)
• The Philippines
• Hawaii
• 1940s- Trust Territories of the Pacific
• Palau, the Marshall Islands, Federated States of
  Micronesia
• Malay Peninsula
• Malaysia, Singapore
• Hong Kong
• Papua New Guinea
• Other Pacific former colonies
• Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, The
  Solomon Islands
• American Samoa

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English A World View

• World status of English is due to
• Expansion of British colonial power, beginning in
  the 17th century and peaking at the end of the
  19th century
• Emergence of U.S. as leading economic military
  power in the late 20th century
• The spread of English as three concentric circles
• Inner circle
• Outer / extended circle
• Expanding circle

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The Three Circles of English