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The other in the mirror: Who has a foreign accent? - Coggle Diagram
The other in the mirror: Who has a foreign accent?
The price of admission
Who has a foreign accent?
Millions of US residents are not native speakers of English
Where no accent exists,
stereotype and discrimination
can manufacture one
in the mind of the listener
"some prominence are affronted and stereotypes confounded"
"We would never hire a president with a foreign accent."
you do not have to be a foreigner to be discriminated against
Accents are usually linked to
skin that isn't white, or which signals a third-world homeland
Swedish, Dutch or Gaelic speakers are not likely to be discriminated
British English?
speakers are not stigmatized
the differences are noted with great interest
Any individual learning a 2nd or 3rd language as an adult is likely to have an accent
This accent
does not correlate with: to education, intelligence or motivation
It is not only America that promotes the creation of a homogeneous, standard language!
Immigrants come to America (of their own free will - in chains)
"The supremacy of the English language is under attack."
the creation of new exclusionary/discriminatory laws against immigrants
"Which language?" ➔ "Which English?" ➔ "Which dialect?"
BUT: Language cannot be legislated
Getting ahead with Eng.: the tension between elitism and grassroots spread
Elitism
Standard English
symbol of wealth and social segregation
Eg. politicians also promote standard varieties
instrumental value on a global scale
the leading strata of society
= using the perfect version of English.
dangers of it:
perfection becomes impossible, people will not want to learn English
Eng. as a sign of affectation
resentment on Eng.
socially exclusive
Grassroots spread
English means social mobility
trade, tourism
= the natural (if) informal acquisition or rapid, uncontrolled spread of Eng
. in many countries. (Eg. India, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa)
it can happen in schooling contexts as well (little funding, limited quality)
Kenya: New Primary Approach
English into elementary schools
But: even people from slums claim some proficiency in English
India: semi-fluent, broken English
people do not speak Eng. but listen, read and write
learning Eng. ➔ getting a driving licence ➔ getting a job as a driver
Smattering of English all over the world
Eng. as an opportunity
"Killer language" or denial of access?
Is it a killer L.?
...ambivalence
Yes,
English is a primary tool
Language shift made by settlers
on the side of indigenous peope (Scottish, Irish Gaelic, N-American Native Indian, Australian Aboriginal L.-s, New Zealand's Maori)
= language endangerment, comparable to the loss of biodiversity, loss of historical and culural roots
No,
English is a powerful tool
It was not the colonists who forced it, but
the inhabitants of the territories
they conquered who
wanted to learn English
English was actually withheld from the masses
In some countries Eng. is the
L. of liberty and liberalization
eg. Kenya, South Africa
Eng. is the L. of
equality
eg. Nigeria
= Eng. was nobody's ethnic tongue, so all ethnic gorups were treated equally
eg. India's Three Language Formula, Singapore's bilingual L. policy
In a broader perspective...
In all the countries under discussion here lan- guage policy is a major public issue
"Deciding on which language or language variety should be chosen, promoted or tolerated for any given purpose involves
identity issues,
the consideration of
power relationships between the groups in a society,
and, typically, an immediate connection with
the process of nation building
"
Language policy must consider
the sociolinguistic realities
which it builds on at a given point in time
goals and modes
of implementing the decisions taken
a feedback control system
to check after a while whether measures have been successful, or what should be changed
The
education system and language teaching issues
play a major role in the implementation of such political decisions.
"International English"
A non-regional, common-core form of language for use in transnational communication
The issue of intelligibility
Direct connection between
The promotion of "standard" English as the target of education
The denigration of indegenous verieties
The tradition of deploring "falling standards" of competence in the interest of upholding international business connections
Flow diagram of phrases and factors of language policy
In practice...
Differences between national varieties of English are relatively unnoticeable --> subtle usage preferences
There are "centripetal forces" in English promoting supranational homogeneity
Leaders in international interaction resort to the lexical and grammatical common core of the language and to near-standard pronunciation norms
There is no textbook or authoritative description of "International English"
An example in China
Second-language and learner varieties tend to be more intelligible and communicatively successful than sophisticated native-like forms.
English as a "Lingue Franca" or ELF
In these intercultural encounters
avoidance of complex words and structures, the substitution of difficult sounds, and omission of morphological endings
occur.
Should
"Euro English"
( a non-British, continental European way of using English) be desirable?
No!
Whose norms?
For certain purposes (school teaching) some sort of a target, a set of norms is required. Which form of English is accepted as "correct"?
Endonormative orientations
(the acceptance of educated local forms of English)
To accept norms or modified rules requires
consensus.
--> How should a distinction be made between an "error" and an acceptable new feature of English?
There is no answer for that yet.
To successfully implement such a policy,
codification
is required ( the systematic and empirical analysis and description of indigenous forms of English in dictionaries). /eg: Australia/
New Englishes lack official recognition.
/eg: Singlish/
Whose language?
The reason why differences between New Englishes and "standard" English are interpreted as a deviance of a norm is the assumption that perfect knowledge comes from the status of being a native speaker.
There are speakers who, despite having grown up for the first few years of their lives with an indigenous mother tongue, use mostly or only English -->
"dominant" or "first" language speakers
"Functional nativeness" vs "genetic nativeness"
--> Functional natives are entitled to claim ownership of the language.
In Africa and Asia, many speakers acquire English as their "first" language -->
growing trend, English as a family language.
The notion of
"mother tongue"
complex
Language mixing and cultural hybridity
One of the strongest trends observed in Outer Circle countries are the mixed language varieties
English is not replacing indigenous languages, it is simply added on to persistent local language habits. -->
contributes to the growth of cultural hybridity
Mixed language is frequently used in multilingual settings, mixed codes are deliberately chosen as appropriate expressions of the speakers multicultural background
Pedagogical strategies and considerations
New Englishes are mostly second languages
, so learning and teaching are important issues.
World Englishes
is an
Applied linguistics discipline
, especially in Asia and Africa
Receptive and passive language skills tend to be given priority over productive language usage.
Writing, reading, vocabulary learning and grammar receive more attention than speaking and achieving "communicative competence".
Exonormative orientation
(favoring native-speaker and "standard" English) is supported.
Endonormative teaching
seems to be much more realistic to achieve.
