The marginalized positions of Thai professional writers on the global hegemony of English

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adcharawan Buripakdi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Thai English ◽  
Professional Writers ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Nature Of Teaching

This qualitative study investigated the positions of the Thai professional writers towards Thai English. Data was collected from in-depth interviews of 20 Thai bilingual writers. The findings revealed that most of the writers had different ways to distant themselves from Thai English. The majority of the participants expressed a marginalized view toward their English. Their attitudes were greatly influenced by the hegemonic Standard English. Evidently, Thai perceptions of the English language conformed to a colonial, hierarchical standpoint which privileged the types of English spoken and written within the U.S. and Great Britain and denigrated spoken and written Thai English. The study not only reflected the reality of World Englishes but also addressed political aspect of language use related with identity, power, and hierarchical discourse. It clearly indicated the political nature of teaching English and called for a reconsideration of teaching practices in countries where English is not the native language.

Brendan Behan's Borstal Boy: Politics in the Vernaculars

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernice Schrank
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
English Literature ◽  
Great Variability ◽  
The Political ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
Autobiographical Fiction ◽  
Literature And Language

This essay examines the political uses to which Behan puts language in his autobiographical fiction, Borstal Boy, both as an instrument of domination and a means of liberation. Identifying Standard English language and literature as important components of the British imperial project, Behan creates, as a linguistic alternative, ‘englishes’, a composite language in which differences of geography, class, age, education, and occupation create a demotic speech of great variability and expressive force. In so doing, Behan sabotages the cultural assumptions and justifications for colonial exploitation embedded and validated in Standard English literature and language.

The World System of Englishes

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Mair
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
World System ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The World ◽  
Web Forums ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Globalising World

Contact between and mutual influences among varieties of standard and non-standard English have always been a central concern in research on World Englishes. In a mobile and globalising world such contacts are by no means restricted to diffusion of features in face-to-face interaction, across contiguous territories in space or up and down the sociolinguistic scale. In order to better represent and understand the complex relationships obtaining between varieties of standard and non-standard English in the contemporary “English language complex” (McArthur 2003: 56; Mesthrie and Bhatt 2008: 1–3), the present paper proposes a new theoretical model, based on language systems theory (de Swaan 2002, 2010). While the model is not designed to supersede existing alternatives, such as the Kachruvian (1982) Circles, it will nevertheless complement them in important ways, chiefly because it is better equipped to handle uses of English in domains beyond the post-colonial nation state. The “World System of Englishes” model was developed in the course of the author’s work on the use of pidgins and creoles in web forums serving the post-colonial West African and Caribbean diasporas. The way Nigerian Pidgin figures in the creation of a globalised digital ethnolinguistic repertoire will hence serve as an illustration of its usefulness.

Which English Should We Stand For? Voices from Lecturers in Thai Multicultural Universities

RELC Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003368822110546
Author(s):  
Yusop Boonsuk
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Expanding Circle ◽  
Linguistic Conventions ◽  
Inner Circle ◽  
Thai English ◽  
University Lecturers ◽  
Rapid Transformation

The rapid transformation of English linguistic landscapes has introduced the world to newly emerging English varieties or World Englishes, which are not typically employed in the Inner Circle. To address the defying phenomenon, this qualitative study explored the perceptions of Thai university lecturers on World Englishes, Thai English and the feasibility of implementing World Englishes and Thai English in the classrooms. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 15 English lecturers in 5 universities across the Thai regions. Analyzed by content analysis, findings revealed that the participants demonstrated mixed perceptions. While most of the participants viewed British and American Englishes as representations of standard English varieties and questioned the legitimacy of World Englishes and Thai English, others reportedly recognized and accepted the existence of World Englishes and considered Thai English as a tool to convey Thai identities and cultures. The findings also indicated that most participants outright disapproved of World Englishes and Thai English in teaching practices, and these varieties were substantially marginalized and devalued. However, to prepare learners for realistic use of English and increase their awareness of World Englishes and Thai English, the remaining participants suggested that English language teaching should embrace flexible linguistic conventions that allow spaces for Inner Circle, Outer Circle and Expanding Circle Englishes.

Language ideologies and self-Orientalism: representing English in China Daily travelogues

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxiao Chen
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Incorrect Usage ◽  
China Daily ◽  
East West

Abstract While there is plenty of scholarship on the spread and study of English in China, scarce attention has been paid to representations of English in tourism discourses about China. This article aims to explore language ideologies undergirding representations of English language use in 253 travelogues from China Daily published since 2000. Findings show that most prominently in China Daily “standard” English was represented as a lingua franca for travel in China, a language of prestige, and a means of Othering. Some places are demarcated from others due to the lack of English-language services. Chinese people’s way of using English was reduced to Chinglish, a pejorative term indicating inappropriate or incorrect usage of English. Chinese use of English was thus ridiculed as an inferior Other. This critical discourse analysis of tourism discourses about China emanating from within the country demonstrates one facet of Orientalism – self-orientalism. CD’s self-orientalist strategies were embedded in oppositional East-West ideologies that set an inferior China against a superior West.

scholarly journals The examination of the test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL): Evident disparities between world Englishes and standard English

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-23
Author(s):  
Caroline Kim
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language Learners ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Linguistic Barriers ◽  
The World

While many English Language Learners (ELLs) embark on a path towards higher education in universities centered around Standardized English, they must undergo rigorous training to prepare for these demanding TOEFL exams. Students that have been exposed to World Englishes, or lingua francas, for communicative purposes are now asked to abandon these English varieties to assume the elevated importance of the Standardized form of English implemented across universities around the world. This paper analyzes the juxtaposition and negotiation of these languages as learners are often encumbered with not only linguistic barriers but cultural hindrances that contribute to identity displacement. As language is deeply entrenched in one’s cultural background, it is necessary to reflect on how these English proficiency exams negate the learner’s L1 along with the unique qualities that they strongly identify with.

Examining authenticity from an ELF perspective: the development of listening test papers in Hong Kong (1986–2018)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-165
Author(s):  
Jim Yee Him Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Strategies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Hong Kong English

Abstract The present study examined the degree of situational and interactional authenticity in Hong Kong’s listening examination papers throughout the history of colonisation and globalisation (1986–2018) with reference to world Englishes and particularly English as a lingua franca (ELF) research. By means of a detailed content analysis, the evaluation of situational authenticity was based on the context of language use (e.g., speech event type, nature of interaction, identity and accent of interlocutor) in the audio samples, while the evaluation of interactional authenticity centred on the speaker’s use of communicative strategies. Our findings suggest that the speech samples generally reflected the changing situations of language use over time by increasingly adopting dialogue (rather than monologue) and locally/globally relevant language use contexts, but only included native-speaker and (from 2012) Hong Kong English accents as speech models. Despite the lack of non-standardness and speakers of different cultures in the speech samples, there were numerous instances of explicitness strategies relevant to ELF interactions throughout the sample, probably owing to the intent of the listening examination to highlight key information for the candidates. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of these trends in listening paper design for the future development of English language teaching from an ELF perspective.

Workplace perceptions and attitudes toward standard English use

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Yeok-Hwa Ngeow ◽  
Keng-Soon Soo ◽  
Avon Crismore
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Likert Scale ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Perceptions And Attitudes ◽  
Civil Sector ◽  
Insight Into

This study investigated the perceptions and attitudes of Malaysian civil sector and private sector workers toward the use and acceptance of Malaysian English, a variety of nonstandard English. A survey using a 20-item Likert Scale questionnaire highlighted some language issues: current perceptions and attitudes about and use of standard English, international intelligibility, public models of language use, and behavioral intentions of civil sector and private sector Malaysians toward standard English. The major findings for the combined sectors were 1) a recognition of the importance of attaining international intelligibility of English in their interactions with foreigners and 2) mixed reactions toward the use of standard English language within their Malaysian society. Differences were found for some items between the civil sector and private sector workers as well as for the factors of age, gender and ethnicity. Studies like this one can be used as a model for replication to find out more about language perceptions and attitudes in other countries and are significant for raising the language awareness needed by educators to better help their students succeed in finding employment, by employers to gain insight into employees’ perceptions and attitudes toward and use of English in order to enhance communication. In addition, the study raises important questions and issues such as about the growth and acceptance of non-native varieties of English in Malaysia and other countries.

The political economy of code choice in a “revolutionary society”: Tamil-English bilingualism in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Suresh Canagarajah
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
English Language ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
The Political ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Switching Activity ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Code Choice

ABSTRACTThis article explores the persistence of Tamil-English bilingualism in the Marxist/Nationalist de-facto separate state of Jaffna (Sri Lanka) through an integrated macro- and micro-sociolinguistic analysis of code choice in the community. While Tamil is dominant at present, the international hegemony of English is nevertheless subtly felt. There are now few L2 dominant or balanced bilinguals; grammatical competence in “standard English” is declining; Tamil has taken over many conventionally English domains; extensive use of unmixed English is reduced to a few formal contexts; and political pressure proscribes English. However, through code-switching activity, English continues to be used in a more pervasive form than ever before, in conventional and unconventional contexts, with complex communicative competence. Code-switching helps reconcile the socio-psychological conflicts of the community and assures the continuity of bilingualism (defying prophecies of English death), with the possibility of an Englishized Tamil becoming an independent code. (Bilingualism, code-switching, English, language choice)

Gentrifiers and attitudes towards agency: A new typology. Evidence from Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 1243-1259
Author(s):  
Merav Kaddar
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Political Aspect ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
Sense Of Efficacy ◽  
Attitudes And Perceptions ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article offers a new typology (and therefore understanding) of gentrifiers, dividing them into four ideal types: Shruggers, Agonisers, Upgraders and Activists. Based on 32 in-depth interviews and focusing on the political aspect of gentrifiers’ behaviour, namely their agency, the article suggests that gentrifiers’ attitudes towards agency are affected by two main factors: their sense of efficacy, and their interest in remedying the allegedly negative political and urban outcomes of gentrification. These two factors yield the above-mentioned four ideal types of agency among gentrifiers. In addition, I find that the duration of their residence in the neighbourhood moderates gentrifiers’ attitudes and perceptions, thus affecting their behaviour.

scholarly journals Saudi Students’ Attitude towards World Englishes

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 238
Author(s):  
Afnan Almegren
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
English Language ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Female Adult ◽  
British English ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Saudi Students

In order to create and adopt better educational and pedagogic policies, it is important to understand students’ attitude towards the varieties of English. This study aims to investigate young Saudi EFL learners’ attitude towards the concept of World Englishes. It also explores Saudi learners’ preference of one English variety over the others. This study is significant since few studies have been done on the awareness of World Englishes among Saudi EFL learners and the present research is designed to fill this gap. The present study will help apply the concept of World Englishes to the teaching of English language in a sample Saudi educational environment. In addition, it will help develop a positive attitude towards cultural understanding and cultural diversity in Saudi Arabia. This study has three objectives: to examine and understand how EFL learners see World Englishes, and varieties of English as a second language in particular, in the Saudi Arabian context; to find out how Saudi EFL learners view the apparent domination of one variety of English over others; and to investigate the reasons why one variety of English is preferred to others. The study uses both direct and indirect techniques of measuring the attitude through interviews and a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained both open-ended and close-ended questions, one of which was a verbal guise test. The samples were obtained from the two largest public educational institutes in Saudi Arabia with both male and female adult students.The findings indicate that Saudi students are aware of some varieties of the English language, though they seem to have varied attitudes towards the diverse varieties of World Englishes. Students generally viewed American and British English as the standard English varieties and did not accept other varieties of World Englishes as standard. The results also showed that in spite of the fact that most of the students generally considered a ‘native’ teacher’s English as superior, they principally favored a Saudi teacher to teach them.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document