Looking under Kachru's (1982, 1985) three circles model of World Englishes: the hidden reality and current challenges

Abstract

This paper examines the pioneering model of World Englishes formulated by Kachru in the early 1980s that allocates the presence of English into three concentric circles: first of all, the inner circle (Great Britain, the USA) where the language functions as an L1 (or native language); secondly, the outer circle (India, Nigeria) where the language was forced upon the subjugated people by Britain; thirdly, the expanding circle (China, Brazil) where English is studied as a foreign language. Researchers in the area of language studies tend to put too much store in Kachru's model expecting it to expose the different circles: (i) the proficiency level of the speakers, (ii) the variation that exists in the different dialects of the language, and (iii) how the many users appropriate the language to perform their daily routine. Pung (2009) suggests "going beyond" the three circle model with his proposal of a Conical Model of English (CME), while Park and Wee (2009, p.402) state that models have no "magical efficacy in challenging dominant ideologies of English" and that change in the world is not brought about by models but my people. Based on Park and Lee's caution with regard to models, and in lieu of Pung's "going beyond" the well-known Kachruvian model, the thrust of this article is to look specifically under the inner circle, that is, the supposed "native speaker domain". It will be argued in this paper that the circles function as a palimpsest erasing and ignoring what happened in the past linguistically, historically and culturally before the appearance of English in the spaces that the language occupies at the present time in the inner, outer, and expanding circles. An examination of days gone-by, with a focus on Kachru's inner circle, can present a mirror to examine: (i) bilingual (multilingual) biases, (ii) migration of peoples and treatment of immigrants, (iii) respect (or lack of) for the linguistic and cultural rights of minorities, and (iv) the hegemony of English in relation to other languages - issues that concern us today and will continue to do so in the coming years.

A Study of Thai University Students’ Attitudes towards Pronunciation Models in English as a Lingua Franca

“…The three concentric circles consist of the inner circle, the outer circle, and the expanding circle. Hence, English is used in various ways among speakers of English from three different circles based on the circumstances in which English is used [2].…”

Foreign Language Deadly Boulevard: The Tentative Hypothesis of Novel Corona Virus Policy Manifestation to the English as a Foreign Language

“…The total number of English speakers is estimated to range from (150) million to (300) million (Lee & Jun, 2016). Figure 18: The Circles of English Language In generous the "inner" circle pride of place stresses the position of the "native speaker" and the mystique that surrounds the native as being an authority on her language speaking a supposedly "pure" form linked with genes or blood and place of birth (Schmitz, 2014). In language development, a language can be defined as ultimately, "rules" for combining words cannot be rules about particular words but must be rules about classes of words such as nouns, verbs or prepositions.…”

A Plurilingual Approach to ELT in Primary School: Towards an Ecological Perspective

“…There is now a dichotomy between English as a language for communication and a language for identification, and while English asserts its status as a language of prestige (Phillipson & Skutnabb-Kangas, 1997), the internet has facilitated the revitalisation of some minority languages (Ferre-Pavia, Zabaleta, Gutierrez, Fernandez-Astobiza, & Xamardo, 2018). With the advancement of technology and the constant contact between languages, not only geographically but virtually, multilingualism has become more evident as our current reality and monolinguals have become the exception (De Bot, 2019;Schmitz, 2014). In the words of Julianne House (2003, p. 561) "the very spread of ELF may stimulate members of minority languages to insist on their own local language for emotional binding to their own culture, history and traditions".…”