English as a lingua franca in Southeast Asia’s Expanding Circle

Abstract

Abstract The distinction Kachru made between countries of the Outer and Expanding Circles was that Outer Circle countries had been colonies of English-speaking empires where English played institutional roles and where local varieties of English had developed. In Expanding Circle countries, by contrast, English played no societal role and was restricted to being a school subject. In the ensuing years, however, English has begun to play an increasing number of roles both within Expanding Circle countries themselves and as a lingua franca between people from Expanding Circle countries and elsewhere. In this chapter, the increasing roles of English within Expanding Circle countries and between these and Outer and Inner Circle countries will be described and illustrated. The contemporary relevance of Kachru’s ‘circles’ classification will be discussed and the possibility of developing a model to account for the development of English in Expanding Circle countries questioned.