Teaching world Englishes

Should world Englishes be taught in free English courses and schools in a country still in development?

Some teachers believe that it is a positive addition to the students as they are in the process of becoming a world citizen and they can be guided in order to recognize the importance of English throughout the world and be part of it. They also believe that foreign words are not to be considered invasive but part of a natural way of the language development. If the students are able to enter and recognize this world as theirs, there will be no problem for them to increase vocabulary and adapting to the very fast changes of the world nowadays and certainly they will be proud of their acquisition knowing that this will not influence negatively in their culture but it will just be a nice addition to their own.

There are professors, linguists and researchers writing papers in favor of it and working with English as a Lingua Franca subject as well as explaining the difference between the world Englishes spoken nowadays. These people affirm that non-native speakers can communicate effectively using English as a lingua Franca and the linguist and Professor David Crystal tells us that “Today, (…) there are more non-native English speakers than native English speakers making English a world language. It is important that people learn about different varieties or forms of English and the function of each type in its region. This helps to understand people in those regions and improves communication in the world.”

Three important reasons for teachers to start teaching English as a Lingua Franca are: the students’ preparation to face the world as a world citizen, the students’ comprehension of English in different situation and cultures, and the acceptance of the other with no prejudice.

Nevertheless some professors and linguists think that English as a Lingua Franca can be extremely harmful for people living in a developing country because these people do not have their cultural aspects well set and they can be highly influenced by the foreign culture that comes with the foreign language learning. As Rajagopalan says: “(…) If nothing is done to counteract the harmful effects of standardization on a global scale, some cultures may simply disappear from the earth, yielding their place to a monochrome culture (Rajagopalan, 2003a, b: 60), with unpredictable consequences, but certainly not encouraging. Luckily, we must add that more people are becoming aware of the danger posed by the expansion of English language (Rajagopalan,O grande Desafio, 2005. P.39 (...)”

And some other defend that world Englishes can also be very harmful for native speakers who might have to update their English to the world English language in order to communicate to the rest of the world and to do not be isolated in their own standard English.

As an attempt to prove it wrong those important reasons for teachers to start teaching English as a Lingua Franca will be sustained and explained in the following words. “(…) The members of the expanding circle¹ who do use English are an increasingly significant group who operate in an increasingly global economy which has an impact on the economy in all countries . . . [and] the Internet, mobile phones and other technology increasingly establish the potential for use of English which is quite independent of the controls offered by traditional educational systems, publishing outlets and radio/television (Brumfit, 2002, p. 5).(…)” That is why our students need to learn English in a more varied way in order to cope with all the world demands and have the same opportunities all over the world.

To start with, teachers need to prepare students to face the world as a world citizen as well as prepare them to their best performance when out of school. Teaching them to have autonomy when speaking and showing them that they do not need to change their culture or beliefs in order to get into contact with the rest of the world. Showing them that to be a world citizen they need to incorporate other cultures to their own, respecting values and recognizing differences. This is a very good start point to be worked with students. Students must communicate without being afraid of being judged or misunderstood, that’s why it is important as well to teach communicative skills in different tasks, situation or in solving problems for them to know how to act when facing real problems in real life, maybe, in a different country where the English language is their own common language. It is a must, of course, the existence of cooperation and wiliness between the speakers in order to conquer a successful communication and sometimes, according to Jenkins, native-speakers of English pretend do not understand non-native-speakers and that can be a hard obstacle for the non-native-speaker if he or she is not well prepared and aware of this situation, that’s why the autonomy and control of the language is powerful because in cases like this, the non-native-speaker may have other vocabulary choices and structures to recall and make himself/herself understood. As Seidlhofer says: “(…) Misunderstandings are not frequent in ELF interactions; when they do occur, they tend to be resolved either by topic change or, less often, by overt negotiation using communication strategies such as rephrasing and repetition.(…)”

Other relevant reason to teach world Englishes relies on the students’ comprehension of English in different situation and cultures. It must be considered as a key point for any student to succeed for themselves in a different country, without giving up on their dreams or being afraid of not understanding Indian accents for instance and getting confusing and end up failing in their own business outside the country. There is no need for them to learn a Standard English, or a real English if in the real world they will face many different English to deal with and they must understand that their English is one of these varieties. So they can go for any country bringing their own ideas and influences and be respected for that and get a clear path to claim business, for instance the same way as any other world citizen would have claimed. Teachers would start a great job with their students if they worked with world material in the class instead of just focusing in American or British resources. By doing that, the students would be exposed to a certain variety that they will certainly face when interacting and will not get shocked when they listen to different Englishes. The comprehension part of the varieties of English is as considerable as the oral skills in order to have an effective communication.

At last, it is significant to consider a broader view of your world and accept the differences between people and culture without prejudice, so the students cannot just become a secure non-native speaker as well as an easygoing person for every kind of relation when using the foreign language, expressing themselves fully and smartly. The importance of knowing more than just your own culture will be confirmed in many of the English as lingua Franca interactions, because people would have to be open-minded, share their culture and also accept other points of view. In a conversation using world Englishes speakers bring many cultural aspects, that’s why it is vital to be aware of the many possibilities to be expected and to know with what type of people you are dealing with, doing business with or having a talk. The students need to be aware of their position in all kind of situations and use English as they need as a powerful tool to get them fulfilling their needs. Pölzl (2003) says, “(…) speakers’ cultural identity can be asserted, negotiated or expanded in lingua franca contact situations”. So, having clear in mind who they are and who they are dealing with it is essential for any interaction when using English to communicate with ‘different’ people. The surroundings must say a lot and the importance of English teacher comes by being a guide for the students preparing them for these situation and exposing them to as many varieties as possible of English as well as discussing with them cultural differences between their own country and some other countries, considering that it is very hard to know much about many countries, but some specific ones can be studied as references of cultural awareness.

Thus, preparing the English learners to face the world with autonomy, recognizing all the different cultures that exist in the world and making them see the importance of their own culture as well as respecting the other cultures, help teachers to build world citizens and confident students. Consequently, the students will be well prepared to succeed in business or in personal relations. They will act with assurance and when trying out the English they have learned, students will not face any disagreeable surprise of misunderstanding an accent or a situation.

Knowing the other point of view changes non-native speakers to more comprehensive and easygoing speakers of a foreign language and make them conscious of all its different usages throughout the world.

After all the considerations we can notice that learning English as a Lingua Franca or world Englishes is an addition to the culture of people from a developing country (the expanding circle countries) because they can get to the same levels of proficiency and power, having their own voice, if prejudice is left out of the contexts and it is also a preparation for them to better fit the world as equals and fight for a better future in a fair world.

¹ This is a concept by Braj Kachru which says that:

Inner Circle countries are= Countries in which English language is the mother tongue. E.g. USA.

Outer Circle countries are= Countries in which English language is a second language. E.g. India.

Expanding Circle countries are= Countries in which English Language is a foreign language and are still in development. E.g. Brazil.

References:

Seidlhofer, Barbara, RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES ON TEACHING ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Cambridge University Press (2004)

RAJAGOPALAN, K. O grande desafio: aprender a dominar a língua inglesa sem ser dominado/a por ela. In: GIMENEZ, T.; JORDÃO, C. M.; ANDREOTI, V. (orgs.), Perspectivas educacionais e o ensino de inglês

na escola pública.

Crystal, David, A Revolução da linguagem. O Futuro do “ingleses”. Tradução: Ricardo Quintana; consultoria, Yonne Leite – Rio de janeiro: Jorge Zahar Ed., 2005

Norton, Bonny, Language, Identity, and the Ownership of English TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 3, Language and Identity. (1997)

Jenkins, J. World Englishes: A resource book for students (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. (2009).

Jenkins, J. English as a lingua franca: Attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2007).

Jenkins, J. The phonology of English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (2000).

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