Native Varieties Of English Research Articles

The Role of Variety Recognition in Japanese University Students’ Attitudes Towards English Speech Varieties

Language attitude studies have tended to assume that informants who listen to and evaluate speech stimuli are able to identify with consistent accuracy the varieties of English in question. However, misidentification could reduce the validity of any results obtained, particularly when it involves the evaluations of non-native English-speaking informants, who are likely to have had less exposure to varieties of English speech. The present study investigated the perceptions of 558 Japanese university students of six varieties of English speech. The results indicated that whilst evaluations of speakers of UK and US English were particularly positive in terms of status, a Japanese speaker of heavily–accented English was rated most favourably in terms of social attractiveness. The findings from an additional dialect recognition question demonstrated that accurate identification had a significant positive effect upon the perceived status of native varieties of English, suggesting a tendency amongst the informants to look to native speakers to provide ‘notions of correctness’. The results also imply that Japanese learners retain representations of varieties of English speech and draw upon this resource, whether consciously or unconsciously, in order to identify and evaluate (speakers of) these speech varieties.

Listing intonation in Cameroon English speech

ABSTRACT: Compelling evidence from the literature on English intonation suggests that the tone patterns of some sentence types like lists have been grossly underresearched. This undercharacterization of listing intonation in English is inferable from the paucity of literature on this topic. The main thrust of this study is to report the findings from the auditory and acoustic analyses of the intonation of lists in read Cameroon English speech. No previous investigation has been aimed at finding out the tone types which Cameroon English speakers assign to items in lists while reading a text aloud. The analysis of a two‐paragraph passage shown to 83 Cameroon English speakers, both female and male, to read revealed that items in lists read aloud are uttered with four tone types in the following descending order of frequency: the level tone, the rising tone, the falling tone and the falling‐rising tone. These findings, on the one hand, are inconsistent with those documented so far with respect to native English varieties, and, on the other hand, have profound implications for the teaching of intonation to speakers of this non‐native variety of English.

World Englishes: An Introduction (review)

Reviewed by: World Englishes: An introduction by Gunnel Melchers and Philip Shaw Liwei Gao World Englishes: An introduction. By Gunnel Melchers and Philip Shaw. (The English language series.) London: Arnold, 2003. Pp. x, 229. ISBN 0340718889. $24.95. This book presents a description of global variation of English in lexis, grammar, phonology, and pragmatics. It also includes sections on the principles of linguistic variation, the roots of English, the spread of English, and the future of English. The book is intended as a linguistic textbook for readers who are acquainted with basic terminologies in linguistics. The book contains seven chapters. In Ch. 1, ‘The roots of English’, Melchers and Shaw provide a review of the early development of English from around 450 ad to the latter half of the nineteenth century, when the pronunciation of English became standardized. Ch. 2, ‘The spread of English’, discusses the historical spread of English in different countries and regions, which has resulted in English’s reaching almost every corner of the globe. In Ch. 3, ‘Variation in English’, M&S provide a unique framework for the description of varieties of English. In so doing, the authors set up the basis for the detailed analysis of individual varieties in Chs. 4–6. In addition, this chapter discusses the dimensions for the classification of world Englishes. Ch. 4, ‘The inner circle’, discusses native varieties of English in the world. Countries and regions examined include England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Liberia, and the Caribbean. Aside from linguistic descriptions, the authors also present a general overview of each of these countries and regions, its people, and its general linguistic situation. In Ch. 5, ‘The outer circle’, M&S discuss varieties of English in regions that were colonized by English-speaking countries. After an introduction to the social and political issues involved in the use of English and the common features of the ‘New Englishes’ (John T. Platt, Heidi Weber, and Mian Lian Ho, The New Englishes, Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), M&S provide a descriptive account of English in South Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia, and other regions including the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific. Again, this chapter includes not only the linguistic description of English varieties but also a brief introduction to the social history of the countries and regions examined. Ch. 6, ‘The expanding circle’, deals with countries and regions where English is learne primarily as a foreign language. Issues discussed include the rise of English, domains for English, essential features of expanding-circle English, the possible influence of English on other languages, and implications for the choice of a teaching model. In Ch. 7, ‘What’s next’, M&S discuss the future of English. They identify three major forces responsible for the development of English: US power, globalization, and information technology. Following the main text, this book includes two appendices: one is a presentation of the speakers whose speech is included on the accompanying CD, and the other contains reading questions for each chapter. Reference and an index are included at the end. Liwei Gao Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America

Requests in a South African variety of English

Abstract: The main assumption in this article is that the pragmatics of the variety of South African English commonly referred to as black South African English (BSAE) have been shaped, over time, by educated bilinguals, through a transfer of features from African languages. Transfer of syntactic forms, now firmly established in the variety, is evidenced by, among other things, the preferred use of forms dispreferred in requesting formulae in the native varieties of English. To test the hypothesis of transfer of forms into English for the same requesting functions as in Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho), an African language of South Africa, use was made of a contrastive study, using ethnographic notebook data of BSAE and DCT (discourse completion task)‐elicited requests in both languages and acceptability judgements on ‘politeness’ in the African language. The results of a pragmatico‐syntactic analysis, which found a mismatch between knowledge about and use of appropriate speech act formulae in the native form of English, (1) confirm the hypothesis of a transfer of strategies from L1 to L2 over time in the speech of educated bilinguals which shaped BSAE; (2) suggest the influence of ‘cultural rules’(because contact of languages involves contact of cultures) in shaping the pragmatics of BSAE, on the basis of which the ‘Cultural Difference Hypothesis’ is proposed; and (3) concur with the emerging conclusion of the institutionalization of BSAE as an indigenized variety of English.

Perspectives on English as a World Language (review)

Reviewed by: Perspectives on English as a world language ed. by David John Allerton, Paul Skandera, Cornelia Tschichold Richard W. Hallett Perspectives on English as a world language. Ed. by David John Allerton, Paul Skandera, and Cornelia Tschichold. (International Cooper series in English language and literature 6.) Basel: Schwabe AG, 2002. Pp. xiv, 175. ISBN 3796517404. €33.50. With the goal of presenting various case studies of how English is used around the world, the editors of this volume included selected papers from the 1999 meeting of the Joint Advanced Studies Group in Linguistics along with other invited contributions. [End Page 873] The first five chapters of the book concern native varieties of English. In Ch. 1, ‘Scottish English: A hybrid between Scots and Southern British English’ (1–13), Martina Häcker presents a brief history of Scottish English and discusses its phonology, vocabulary, grammar, status, and future. In Ch. 2, ‘RP and general American: A parting of the ways’ (15–29), Patricia Buccellato focuses on the phonological differences between the prestige varieties in the UK and the US. Brigitte Halford offers an overview of the phonology, vocabulary, syntax, and morphology of Canadian English in Ch. 3, ‘Canadian English: Distinct in North America?’ (31–44). Similarly, Sarah Ebner offers insight into Australian phonology, vocabulary, and grammar in Ch. 4, ‘English in Australia’ (45–61). In Ch. 5, ‘English in New Zealand’ (63–78), Marianne Hundt presents the history, phonology, lexicon, and grammar of the variety of English found in New Zealand. The next four chapters constitute the section of the book on nonnative varieties of English. In Ch. 6, ‘English in the Caribbean’ (79–91), Andrea Sand outlines the history of the use of English in Bermuda and Barbados, among other Caribbean nations, and offers Jamaica as a case study in Caribbean English. Paul Skandera provides a three-part classification of English in Africa, with specific references to Liberia, South Africa, and Tanzania, in Ch. 7,‘ A categorization of African Englishes’ (93–103). In Ch. 8, ‘When France refuses English’ (105–14), Albert Hamm outlines the evolution of French language legislation. In Ch. 9, ‘English in Switzerland: From foreign language to lingua franca’ (115–23), Urs Dürmüller offers two models of the status of the English language in Switzerland. The last four chapters make up the section on the functional aspects of English as a world language. In Ch. 10, ‘Learner English’ (125–33), Cornelia Tschichold examines the abilities of contrastive analysis, error analysis, interlanguage, and markedness to explain the difficulties in the acquisition of English by nonnative speakers. Pius ten Hacken raises the question of which standard/which variety of English should be chosen in the creation of a dictionary in Ch. 11, ‘Dictionaries of non-British varieties of English’ (135–47). In Ch. 12, ‘C. K. Ogden’s “Basic English”: A critical assessment’ (149–58), D. J. Allerton criticizes the short-sightedness of the development of Basic English and ends the chapter with a call for a modern, more soundly based Basic English. Finally, in Ch. 13, ‘The continuing spread of English: Anglo-American conspiracy or global grassroots movement?’ (159–69), Christian Mair examines the two predominant theories as to why the English language continued to spread in the twentieth century despite the demise of the British Empire and a momentary US weakness during the Cold War. Though more broad than deep, this book can serve as a supplement to classes on World Englishes and language policy. Richard W. Hallett Northeastern Illinois University Copyright © 2004 Linguistic Society of America

English Variety for the Public Domain in Kenya: Speakers' Attitudes and Views

The study sought to establish the attitudes of Kenyan speakers (n = 210) towards three varieties of English: (1) ethnically marked Kenyan English, (2) standard Kenyan English and (3) native speaker English (British, American, Australian, etc). Of the three varieties, the most preferred by both rural and urban respondents for use in the media and education was standard Kenyan English. Most of the respondents also considered this as the variety used by successful professionals like lawyers, doctors, engineers and successful business people. Contrary to expectation, intelligence, ambition, expertness and confidence are attributed to speakers not when they use native varieties of English but when they use the non-ethnic-marked variety of Kenyan English. The study suggests that further research should be less concerned about the deviation of Kenyan English from native speaker norms and concentrate more on the formal description of the variety of English that Kenyan speakers overwhelmingly prefer.

Towards a phonology of Hong Kong English

Whether or not Hong Kong English (HKE) has acquired the status of a ‘new variety of English’, there is no doubt that there exists an identifiable ‘HKE accent’, and therefore a HKE phonology. The paper embodies the author's findings in the first part of his research project on HKE phonology, which covered segmental phonology—in particular the underlying phonemic system of HKE speakers, and the phonetic realisations of its phonemes in different phonological environments. The subjects comprised 15 undergraduates at the Hong Kong Baptist University. The initial batch of data consisted of a number of key words designed to capture all potential vowel and consonant contrasts in a variety of phonological environments. With the help of spectrographic analysis, it was found that the typical HKE speaker operates with a considerably smaller set of vowel and consonant contrasts than in native varieties of English. In particular, there is no length/tenseness contrast in vowels, and no voicing contrast in fricatives. HKE also exhibits a number of interesting and possibly unique phonological properties. An underlying phonemic system is postulated for HKE, and a number of allophonic variations are described.

The emergence of systematicity in the English pronunciations of two Cantonese-speaking adults in Hong Kong

This paper describes and analyses the phenomenon of consonant cluster simplification in the English of two native Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong. We show that this process is systematic in that it targets the alveolar plosives and removes them when they are members of a coda consonant cluster in spite of the fact that the details of the simplification may vary from subject to subject. We compare this process to a seemingly similar cluster simplification in native varieties of English and show that they differ in two key respects. Our study provides evidence of a systematic morphophonemic alternation in the English of L1 Cantonese speakers, confirming the observation in a number of sociolinguistic studies that this process is a linguistic feature of the English of L1 Cantonese speakers.

Varieties of Today’s English

Today’s English refers to a state or states of the English language as used by its speakers. There are many varieties of English spoken throughout the world. Today’s English is a term that does not describe a single regional or national variety of English, but a language that extends beyond the national borders of native speakers to include second and foreign language speakers. Recent research focuses on the state of the language, the diversity of its users, the contexts of its use, and the effects on the communities using it. It has been the practice of those in authority in the Ministries of Education and universities in the Arab World in general and the Arabian Gulf in particular to hire many native speakers of English to teach English in schools and universities. The assumption was that natives with native speakers’ accent are more effective teachers than teachers of English whose native language is Arabic. Why should an Arab student learn, for instance RP and not any other variety? The writer advocates the practice of hiring a greater percentage of Arabic speaking teachers to teach English in Arab schools and universities. Hiring a particular native speaker of English to teach English to Arab students forces those students to listen and be exposed to a particular variety instead of an international variety that is intelligible and international enough to be accepted by every one. Besides, listening and speaking to a Britisher more an American are not of great importance to Arab students. What is more important are the two skills of reading and writing since they are the only two channels through which western science and technology could be transferred to Arabs. Because of the nature of Arab students’ motivation, the writer advocates the use of more suitable cultural materials.

Crossing cultural bridges: A model for mapping the extent of bicultural awareness

Abstract Learning a new language enables us to contact another community and another culture. Learning English enables us to communicate with several communities and several cultures. English mirrors the culture of not only the native speaker in USA, Britain, Canada or Australia but also the culture of the non‐native speaker in several countries of South‐east Asia and Africa. With the present spread of the English Language it may no longer be tenable to refer to it as culture specific. To uphold native varieties of English as models and at once to advance the view of English as the language across cultures seems self‐defeating. To insist on drawing distinctions between English for international and intranational purposes is a compromise (Smith, 1983). Ultimately what needs to be faced is the larger issue of establishing appropriate models for teaching English for international purposes. Therefore to advocate the teaching of English for international purposes alone would perhaps be more pragmatic. To consi...