Language revolution behind the cultural curtain

Abstract

This paper focuses on the innovative, revolutionary features of the World Englishes paradigm that shook the education world in the late 20th century. I speak about key concepts that are salient to the paradigm, such as pluricentricity, diversity, functionality, and equality as articulated by Kachru, such as inclusivity and variability, as well as the controversies emerging in and related to education, for example, the struggle between prescriptive and descriptive approaches, and norms and usage. With reference to Expanding Circle contexts such as China and Russia, I emphasize the cultural underpinnings that create the greatest challenge for intervarietal communicators, as measured in terms of Smith's (1982; 1992) notion of interpretability. Such challenges help explain the significant role assigned to intercultural communication studies in tertiary education curricula in these countries. Revealing cultural identity when speaking in English as a communicative mediating tool is not an easy task for individuals and requires a special training. No easier is the listening and negotiating of other cultural meanings, all of which sets new perspectives for researchers and educators, while also encouraging cooperation between them.