Varieties Of English Research Articles

Critical Literature Review of Contemporary Research on Attitudes Towards World Englishes

Locally and globally, the position of English is uncontested, making it the most sought-after languages to be learnt today. While there is little disagreement about the need to learn English, language teaching and learning efforts are often beset by questions of which variety of English is most suitable for the classroom. This is complicated by attitudes towards varieties of English. This paper is a literature review to inform a study of attitudes towards World Englishes among Sri Lankan English teachers. It presents a critical review of existing literature that combines elements of a systematic review. Based on 50 recent studies, the paper first presents key findings in an overview of the main trends in contemporary research on attitudes towards World Englishes (AWE). It next presents a selection of findings based on a critical analysis of these studies. These findings include the proliferation of AWE studies in countries that formerly considered English a foreign language, a preference for survey methods and AWE studies in pedagogical contexts, recurring findings across studies from different parts of the world, and the researchers' engagement with the concept of attitudes. The critical analysis of the studies uncovered conceptual and methodological shortcomings that also reflect the limitations previously identified in WEs research and language attitudes research. This paper concludes with the recommendation to consider moving beyond positivist, quantitative approaches such as surveys in the study of AWEs that consider language attitudes to be fixed and measurable in order to produce generalisations. Instead, this paper advocates more inductive, qualitative approaches that focus on the individual and the subjective and consider language attitudes as unfixed, volatile, and evolving in context, which might provide new insights into the field.

L1 novice writing as a missing piece in the Learner Corpus Research puzzle

Abstract This paper investigates the possible benefits of integrating an L1 novice corpus into the study of learner writing, through a study on hedging adverbials and complement clauses. A more traditional tripartite comparison is first drawn between French EFL learner writing, L1 English novice writing, and English expert writing. Then, a comparison is made between L1 French novice writing and French EFL learner writing. The study uses data from the following corpora: the Varieties of English for Specific Purposes dAtabase (VESPA; Paquot et al., 2022) (French EFL learner writing), the British Academic Written English (BAWE; Heuboeck et al., 2008) corpus and the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers (MICUSP; Ädel & Römer, 2012) (both L1 English novice writing), the Kulturell Identitet i Akademisk Prosa: nasjonal versus disiplinavhengig (KIAP‑EN; Fløttum et al., 2006) corpus (English expert writing), and the The French Academic wRiting (FAR) corpus (L1 French novice writing). The results speak to the importance of including a L1 novice component to the current methodologies employed in Learner Corpus Research (LCR), since such inclusion helps to provide a better and more nuanced interpretation of the findings obtained by means of a more traditional tripartite approach.

A multivariate analysis of the structural variability of existential noun phrases

The literature on there-existential construction (e.g. ‘there are no graves, son’) is extensive, especially those showing the complexity involved in its internal structure, meaning and interpretation. Whereas very little is known about its internal structure variability, and how that might provide important contributions to the question of complexity. The present study takes on this task by providing a corpus-based structural variability account of the internal structure of English there-existential construction, showing that the complexity involved in the processing of meaning of there-existential construction is related to the variability of its internal structure. Drawing on empirical evidence from a lesser known variety of English representing Indian variety of English, the study shows that the complexity underlying the meaning and interpretation of there-existential is related to its internal structure. With a focus on the varying degree of its noun phrase (NP), the study finds that the structural complexity of the NP is related to the semantic complexity of the overall clause structure. Also, it is shown that quite a number of linguistic factors interact in influencing the internal structure and meaning of there-existential construction.

HOW READY ‘INDONESIAN ENGLISH’ IS TO LAUNCH: AN EMIC PERSPECTIVE

This is a qualitative study investigating the strength of the proposition of Indonesian English (Indolish) as a potentially emerging English variety from the outer/expanding circle from an emic perspective. This proposed variety does not yet exist even as a de facto English variety spoken in Indonesia or elsewhere. Nonetheless, the growing spread of English used by Indonesians has frequently prompted the idea of promoting the establishment of Indolish as a new English variety in the World Englishes areas for Indonesians. To clarify this early signal, an exploratory study was conducted to investigate the perspective of Indonesian postgraduate students who pursued their higher degrees in some Australian universities and whose overseas learning and language contact experience should bring them into a direct contact with a wide range of English varieties and thereby allowing them to better reflect on the significance of creating a special type of English for Indonesians. Seven participants responded to the three open-questioned survey questionnaire sent to two mailing list groups of Indonesian Postgraduate students. Two participants prefer to have Indolish while five others disagree with the idea. Majority of the participants show a strong nationalistic identity indicating a stagnant foundation process in Schneider’s Dynamic Model in Indonesian context. Nevertheless, the participants demonstrate a strong dependence on English NS norms which confirm Kachru’s proposition and indicate their rejection of Norton’s notion of ownership of English language. In conclusion, these participants view that Indonesian English does not seem ready to launch yet.

Characterizing Legal Stylistics with a TXM textometric tool

Textometry tools can be used to characterize specialized varieties of English, such as Legal English. Our goal is to use the TXM textometry tool (Heiden et al., 2010) on Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) to show agreements are drafted following a rigid structure, either in their form and shape (macrostructure) or their content (microstructure). We assume that the choice of words (Weisberg, 2014), and the construction of sentences or paragraphs [in agreements] shape how agreements are written and comprise the deal, that is, what is being sold. We hypothesize that there exists legal stylistics based on structural features. We built a corpus comprising Sales and Purchase Agreements of different sizes and topics to which the TXM tool was applied: parts of speech tagging help single out structure, linking words, word variety, frequencies, and writing routines. All descriptive details resulting from our implementation build legal stylistics that thus helps legal professionals, translators, teachers or clients better understand and draft agreements.

Türk ÖAİ Öğrencilerinde ODİ Farkındalığı

The study, which was based on quantitative data, sought to shed light on how much ELF influences language learning goals for ESP learners, how they relate to the new ELF phenomena, and how far they are aware of the changing role of English, which was one of the least researched area in the literature. The findings indicated that the Turkish ESP students showed great awareness about the issue that today English is considered as a primary lingua franca that enables them to communicate and interact with others around the world. It was also revealed that besides that they did not place only native varieties of English or only native speakers in their English learning process, communicating with non-native speakers of English had more importance than native speakers of English in their purpose of ESP learning. They did not see the role of accuracy in English as an ultimate goal as long as intelligibility was achieved in communication. This article calls for more future research and effort devoted to enhancing ELF awareness in Turkish ESP programmes.

Role of English Language as a Global and Economical Language Around the Globe: A Case of Kachru's Model

This paper attempts to examine 'World Englishes' (WE) with connectivity to English as an International Language (EIL), Applied Linguistics and socio-linguistics. In the light of Kachru's model of English Language in the late 20th century. This model has three circles, inner circle, where English is used as native language, Outer Circle, mostly former colonies of British Empire, such as Singapore, India, Kenya, Ghana, Malaysia, Pakistan and others, and 3rd is Expanding Circle, include countries in which English is known as Foreign Language in schools and universities, mostly for communication and business or economic purposes as well with Inner and Outer circles. The term "English language" refers to various interesting and notable features, patterns, or aspects of the English language. These phenomena can encompass a wide range of linguistic phenomena, including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, syntax, idioms, and more. English holds significant importance around the world because English is the most widely spoken language globally. It serves as a common language of communication among people from different linguistic backgrounds. Proficiency in English enables individuals to connect with a broader range of people, both in personal and professional contexts. English is the language of international business and economics as well. It facilitates global trade, negotiations, and collaboration between companies and individuals from different countries. Proficiency in English enhances employability and career opportunities, particularly in multinational corporations and industries with international reach. It recognizes the importance of both native and non-native varieties of English and acknowledges that each circle has its own linguistic norms, purposes, and language development. The study informs us that Kachru was an original thinker not in the field of English Language including applied linguistics, multilingualism, bilingualism, language policy, language creativity, code mixing, code switching, cross-cultural communication, sociolinguistics but also in the domain of politics of language and so many other issues including cross-cultural awareness.

Academic Language Development and Linguistic Discrimination

Language use within Canadian postsecondary institutions reflects ongoing neocolonialism and the privileging of European and North American English varieties. This article shares student perspectives of interactions with faculty on themes of language development and linguistic discrimination, discovered in qualitative interviews using Appreciative Inquiry methodology. Participants’ stories reveal both appreciation for supportive practices that facilitate the development of academic language skills and frustration with linguistic discrimination. Practices valued by participants include using simple and clear language, creating a comfortable environment for non-native English speakers, honouring multilingualism, and providing supportive instruction in discipline-specific language. Students also identified experiences of linguistic discrimination that resulted in academic and personal harm. In students’ stories, a tension between encouraging academic language development while avoiding discriminatory practices emerges. Paths forward in navigating this tension while challenging colonial language hierarchies may include integrating pedagogies using an academic literacies framework while also creating space for translingual practices in classrooms and institutions.

Invariant Question Tags in Asian and African Varieties of English

Invariant Question Tags in Asian and African Varieties of English

She, He or It? Is it a Matter of Gender or Something Else? A Look into Children and Teens’ Literature

In the last couple of decades, there have been numerous studies on gender renewal (Unterbeck et al. 2000; Fernández Ordoñez 2009; Fanego et al. 2011; Aikhenvald 2016; Samuel, Cole, and Eacott 2019), all of them stressing the relevance of conceptual categories, such as animacy and individuation, in the transition towards (more) semantic systems. These studies mainly focus on the emergence of new gender system and on pronominal agreement strategies. The phenomenon of gender variation concerns the change of gender assignment and also co-exists within fully-grammaticalised and/or standardised gender system[s]. This paper deals with gender assignment variation in English children’s literature, where the factors ruling gender assignment apparently diverge from those claimed in traditional grammar. Examining a more marginal phenomenon, i.e. multi-gender nouns (Corbett 1991; Vezzosi 2008; Semplicini and Vezzosi 2017) in the history of English, I propose to show how gender is not too different from other nominal categories, and its assignment is a matter of semantic-pragmatic agreement. Accordingly, individuation still plays a major role in the gender systems of English varieties and informal register.

Perceptions of Pre-service Teachers on Code-switching in Bahasa Indonesia to English or Cebuano to English

This paper explores the perceptions of Filipino and Indonesian pre-service teachers on code-switching between Cebuano or Bahasa Indonesia, respectively, and English. Attributed to Canagarajah's Global English, among other theories, this quantitative research described the languages used and the perceptions on code-switching. The study compared the results of the Filipino and Indonesian pre-service teachers' perception on codeswitching and identified the preference for language use in both groups. It was found that the respondents are bilingual teachers. Also, both groups agree that teaching in one language only is not beneficial, teaching in both languages is desirable and easier to understand, mixing both languages does not weaken each other, and codeswitching assists in higher grades. Almost all respondents prefer the teaching of English through code-switching. Therefore, an empowered use of the local language and an established teaching of a World English variety unique to the Philippines and Indonesia can help pre-service teachers in their future teaching endeavors.

A Pragmatic Study of Digital Communication among Students at Federal University. Wukari, Nigeria

The new media, also known as social media, among other benefits, promotes communication among students as well as language development in linguistically diverse contexts in Nigeria. On the university campus, students who have been experiencing difficulties in contributing to interactions in classrooms and other formal settings on the campus, appear to find voice in these electronically mediated spaces. Communication in digital spaces accommodates linguistic and paralinguistic cues. Thus, it is characterized by innovations, which include an admixture of languages and varieties of Nigerian English, graphics, memes, and emojis, among others. This study examines some posts by students as well as comments on the posts on a Federal University Wukari students’ Facebook forum. Information from the analysis of data reflects the linguistic practices of the students, the kind of information and knowledge they share as well as their communicative procedure. Findings from the study also reflect on the sociolinguistics and implications of social media communications on the University community as well as in the society in general.

Exploring Indonesian Learners’ Attitudes and Beliefs toward English Accents: A Case Study in an Indonesian University

<em>This study reported the attitudes of 67 Indonesian English language learners toward British, American, and their own English accents and explored the underlying reasons motivating these attitudes. The participants’ English proficiency ranged from intermediate to advanced proficiency and confirmed either or both direct and indirect exposures to intercultural communication with speakers of English of other nationalities. The participants were required to listen to three audio samples, Received Pronunciation (RP), General American (GA), and Indonesian accented English (IAE), and to rate the accents on ‘standard’, ‘intelligent’, ‘polite’, and ‘pleasant’ traits. To seek the significant overall mean scores and the meaningful scores across the groups, ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey test were used. The results of the interview, additionally, were analyzed using content analysis techniques to find meaningful categories to clarify such emerging perceptions. The results show an overall positive attitude toward all three accents with the Indonesian accent perceived significantly more positively compared to the other two on the ‘intelligent’, ‘polite’, and ‘pleasant’ traits. The more positive evaluation of their own accent was driven by the realization that mutual intelligibility is more important than prestige, and there is a need for cultural value projections, that is, to use their own accent to channel politeness. These results call for the reinforcement of mutual intelligibility as the core of assessment and acceptance of local accents in classrooms. This can be channeled through the active promotion of audio samples demonstrating different varieties of English in the class instead of focusing exclusively on RP and GA; and through teachers’ acceptance of students’ intelligible local accents.</em>

Engaging students in research and self-discovery: An integrative and student-centered approach to History of the English Language

Abstract: This article illustrates how a student-centered, culturally responsive pedagogical approach to teaching History of the English Language (HEL) to community college students from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds promotes self-knowledge and academic confidence. I outline how several areas—including language theory, etymology of names, language policy, varieties of English, and language identity—can be effectively taught at an introductory HEL level through ethnographic research and multiple-draft writing assignments. Throughout the article, excerpts of student writing demonstrate their engagement in ethnographic research with a focus on their own communities, revealing their experience-based knowledge and their viewpoints on language-equality issues.

Nigerian English Varieties; The Sociolinguistic Perspective

Nigeria, which is a multi-ethnic society with different languages and cultures, has none of these indigenous languages accepted as the national languages among other reasons: one of which is
 The fear of domination of one ethnic group over the other. As a result of this, English language was accepted as the official language and given the pride of place over all other indigenous languages consequently, each of these ethnic groups uses the English language in a way to depict their culture and world- view, hence, English language tends to go through notarization, indigenization, etc, leading to different varieties (Nigeria English), this study discussed the varieties of Nigerian English from the sociolinguistic perspective. The first chapter introduced the study, the second reviewed the opinion of linguists on Nigeria English varieties (nev) the third showed the method of data collection, the fourth analyzed the findings while the fifth concluded the study and suggestions made for further studies.

The Standardization of English in Gower’s Confessio Amantis

Objectives: This paper aims at showing how the metrical regularity of Gower’s Confessio Amantis contributes to the standardization of Middle English language, which is known for its irregularity and lack of authority compared to French and Latin. Methods: The paper analyzes the metrical structure of the Confessio in an attempt to provide several textual pieces of evidence showing how the poem’s deceptive regularity and monotonous repetitiveness reflect the poet’s definition of his own poem as "A bok for Engelondes sake". Results: The paper confirms that the poem is a novel project at the service of England through its contribution to the standardization of lewd Middle English. Also, it finds that Gower uses the techniques of rich rhyme, sight rhyme, rhyme repetition, and sentence inversion to regularize the varieties of Middle English and pave the way for its standardization. Conclusion: Against the conventional viewpoint concerning the overt regularity of Gower’s Confessio Amantis, the paper concludes that Gower deploys several linguistic and stylistic devices to incorporate the several variations of Middle English into one harmonious linguistic system, which explains why the poem is identified by its own poet as "A bok for Engelondes sake".

A Multidimensional Analysis of English-L2 Rhythm Development

This work aims to discuss the development of L2 English rhythm by Brazilian learners (L2ers) through rhythmic metrics and acoustic parameters. Five L2ers were recorded reading a text in English at the beginning of their college studies in English Language and Literature, and again, four semesters later, after having taken two English phonology courses. They were also recorded reading a Portuguese version of the same text. As for the control group, five native speakers of a North American variety of English were recorded reading the text in English. Data were manually segmented in PRAAT, and the indexes were automatically extracted. As for English-L2, different developmental paths were captured as function of the rhythm dimension, with L1 influencing more L2ers’ rhythm in the f0 and intensity dimensions. Crucially, L2 rhythm patterns converged to the target language in all dimensions, suggesting positive effects of explicit pronunciation teaching. Keywords: phonological acquisition; prosody; rhythmic metrics; acoustic parameters; explicit instruction.

Articulatory Insights into the L2 Acquisition of English-/l/ Allophony.

In many English varieties, /l/ is produced differently in onsets and codas. Compared with "light" syllable-initial realizations, "dark" syllable-final variants involve reduced tongue tip-alveolar ridge contact and a raised/retracted tongue dorsum. We investigate whether native French and Spanish speakers whose L1 lacks such positionally conditioned variation can acquire English-/l/ allophony, testing the hypotheses that (1) the allophonic pattern will be acquired by both groups but (2) learners will differ from native speakers in their phonetic implementation, particularly in codas; and (3) French-speaking learners will outperform their Spanish-speaking counterparts. The production of syllable-initial and -final /l/ (singletons and clusters) in words read in isolation and a carrier sentence by 4 French- and 3 Spanish-speaking learners as well as three native English speakers was analyzed via electropalatography and acoustic analysis. While some learners produced distinct onset and coda variants and all learners had moved away to some extent from their L1 production, they differed from the native speakers in certain ways. Moreover, between- and within-group variability was observed including greater target-like anterior and posterior contact reduction in codas in the L1 French versus L1 Spanish group and generally higher F2 values in both learner groups compared with their native speaker peers. A comparison of the learners' L1 and L2 production revealed L1-based patterns of positional reduction of the tongue tip and dorsum gestures. We conclude by addressing the contributions of EPG to our understanding of L2 speech and highlight avenues for future research including the study of both linguistic and speaker variables.

Eh Across Englishes: A Corpus-Pragmatic Analysis of the Corpus of Global Web-Based English

This paper presents an analysis of the pragmatic marker eh, which is typical of spoken discourse, in written online discourse from nine varieties of English using the Corpus of Global Web-based English. The analysis focuses on sentence-final eh and considers variation in terms of variety, punctuation, text type, and function. This paper also includes a variationist analysis of eh in contrast to huh. Although there are cross-variety differences, eh is used across all nine varieties in similar ways. Eh is mostly combined with a question mark, it is more frequent in blogs than in general websites, and emphatic functions dominate over narrative and interrogative uses. A qualitative analysis of the indexicalities demonstrates that eh mainly signals orality and informality in online writing but also has specific local meanings. The variationist analysis shows that eh is preferred over huh in the Canadian and New Zealand components. This preference is even more pronounced for the British and Philippine components. In contrast, huh dominates in the US component. These results show that eh is well integrated into online writing and can be characterized as a translocal pragmatic marker as it is used globally but has developed local characteristics.

Incorporating World Englishes into Middle and High Schools in Korea: Teachers’ Awareness and Attitudes

The worldwide utility and status of English have given it enormous cachet in Korea. English education has been heavily emphasized in Korean middle and high schools as a means to foster a globally-oriented, linguistic diversity-aware citizenry. Yet the predominant model for language learners in Korea remains an idealized speaker of British or American English – the so-called ‘native speaker’ model. A World Englishes (WE)-informed model of English language teaching would be more in line with the Ministry of Education's stated vision, but uptake of this paradigm has been slow in Korean schools. We therefore investigate the perceptions and attitudes of Korean middle and high school English language teachers about the place of WE in Korea's English education system. Specifically: (a) What are Korean English teachers’ perceptions towards WE?; and (b) What challenges and barriers do they perceive in integrating WE into Korea's English education system? Survey data from 106 Korean middle and high school English teachers, supported by a subset of eight interviews, show that the sample view English as a global mode of communication among all its users, though they often view the ‘native’ varieties of English as more prestigious than those from other countries. They acknowledge the desirability of incorporating a WE-informed paradigm into Korea's English education system, but the varieties which they advocate are all from Anglophone countries. They also identify numerous challenges to implementing WE in Korea's classrooms. One is the need for teachers to prepare their students for high-stakes examinations which are uniformly constructed around British and American English. Another is the perceived community pressure to emphasize American English in their teaching. Finally, the absence of any WE-informed teacher education resources limit their knowledge about WE and how to teach it to students.