World English

English is a world Language

English became the language of international trade and business. It became the lingua Franca (language of speakers of different languages often used to communicate with each other)

English in the FUTURE

English has the fourth highest no. of native speakers in the world, more people speak it as a second language than any other language and this no. is growing. With so many people speaking english there are various possibilities for how the language will change in future

English is a world Language

English is spoken by a quarter of the worlds population, the number of native speakers is estimated to be between 350 and 400 million. English is the dominant language in 75 countries - its the language used in administrative and legal documents.

English is a world Language

English is widespread due to Britain's colonial past, the British Empire used to cover 25% of world, (america, canada, australia) so english spread to all these countries

International Varieties of English

Some parts of world used to be British colonies who used varieties which differed from SE.

Grammar

- more use of subjunctive e.g. i wish i were taller instead of i wish i was taller -omission of 'on' on days of the week - noun phrases ordered differently, 'a half hour' instead of 'half an hour'

Computers are changing

- spell check programmes mean people do not need to know how to spell unusual words correctly. this is lead to less emphasis being put on teaching spelling at school, because it isn't considered necessary.

Orthography

American British 'meter' 'metre' 'color' 'colour' 'organize' 'organise' 'gray' 'grey'

Lexis

American British 'trash' 'rubbish' 'sidewalk' 'pavement' 'soccer' 'football' 'gas' 'petrol'

English in the future

Differences between world varieties are decreasing, its possible that one day this will lead to the emergence of a world standard english - one that becomes official international language of business and takes place of all other varieties.

AMERICAN ENGLISH

In the 20th century, america developed into a superpower, its political, economic and cultural influence has maintained the importance of english as a world language. It can be accessed all over the world, due to its influence of music, films and TV. Standard american english has few lexical, grammatical, and orthographical differences from SE

English is a world Language

It spread because of academic, scientific and technological advances. Documents regarding important breakthroughs were published in English, so scientists needed good knowledge of the language.

May become more UNIFORM

It's necessary for international trade to have a lingua Franca (language that people from different countries understand) english has taken this role Some countries who werent originally english i.e. Nigeria, have adopted english as their official language, they feel its necessary to have a standardised language that everybody can understand. This shows a trend in uniformity and it suggests that other languages will eventually die out.

Australia

Lexis: Cobber (mate) Grammar: diminutives (shortened nouns) e.g. avro (afternoon)

Jamaica

Lexis: Duppy (ghost) Grammar: verb 'to be' not used as auxiliary e.g. him nice instead of he is nice

India

Lexis: dicky (boot of a car) Grammar: use of present continuous tense e.g. i am wanting this

Canada

Lexis: fire hall (fire station) Grammar: use of am instead of have e.g. i am finished my drink

South Africa

Lexis: takkies (trainers) Grammar: object pronouns or pronouns omitted e.g. i shall have instead of i shall have it

English as a second language

Many immigrants of english speaking countries speak english as a second language, their english contains features of first language People with english as a second language may have learnt english through formal education, but much of language develops naturally through interaction with native english speakers

English as a Foreign Language

Many students in non-english speaking countries learn english at school or through english as a foreign language (EFL) classes Students are taught different varieties of english, students in european countries are taught SE and RP. However their language is often influenced by american TV and music. In other parts of world, i.e. South Africa people are taught standard american english, with american accent. American English has now overtaken British English as the variety used by second language speakers.

American English

May become the global standard (variety spoken by everyone in the world), its already a dominant form, and the no. is increasing. people want to learn american english because its the language of trade and has global prestige and authority.

Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgin is a language which develops so speakers of different languages can communicate. Originally referred to the language that Chinese and English traders used to communicate in the 19th century.

Technology

Technology as already had dramatic impact on english usage. Computer software usually uses american spelling, such as programs this is helping to establish american english as the global standard.

Pidgins and Creoles

There are no native speakers of Pidgin forms of english, because they only develop so speakers of different languages can understand each other

Pidgins and Creoles

When a pidgin is used as a main language it develops into creole. It has native speakers (people who are brought up using it as their first language) the lexis and grammar expand to fit the needs of all speakers

American English

also growing because of films, music and brands. People in less developed countries gaining access to TV and internet, have more exposure to american english, so more likely to use it. As importance of it grows, other varieties might lose status and gradually die out (dialect levelling)

Technology may make English more uniform

english has been established as the language of scientific and technological advancement so its been an important language for scientists and academics to learn Its estimated that 90% computers are connected to the internet in english speaking countries. Due to this around 80% of info stored on computers worldwide is english.

Pidgins and Creoles

features of Pidgin english include: limited Vocab (e.g. few function words) and simplified grammar. e.g. Nigerian Pidgin (spoken in Nigeria) watin dey happen means what is happening - vocab is simplified - the 'ing' inflection isn't used for past participle verb happening.

Creoles

have their own grammatical rules e.g. in jamaican creole - /mi/ is used as first person pronoun rather than SE /i/