From Old English to World Englishes

Abstract

This chapter discusses the incorporation of World Englishes into a History of the English Language (HEL) course, addressing questions about how to grapple with the geographical and geopolitical planes along which World Englishes have grown. Other questions considered here include diachronic formation, cultural contexts, relationships with other languages, and effects of globalization on forms of English that are both related to and yet quite distinct from the model of Standard English that frequently orients the HEL course. Two possible strategies for incorporating World Englishes into an HEL course are suggested. One strategy consists of focused lectures on the external history, social and cultural influences, linguistic features, and so on, of just one or two World English varieties, which can be combined with a second strategy that involves handing the research and even some of the teaching over to the students.

A Global View towards Understanding of Standard and Non-Standard Varieties of English

“…In this final section, we might now pause to consider the implications of such approaches for applied linguistics. Elsewhere, English acquisition especially in the expanding circle, but also in the outer circle becomes associated with global opportunities, bringing with it a perception of prestige and new possibilities for cross-cultural communication (Saltzman, 2017). There is no doubt that the required language in the academic setting is formal form of language.…”

“…According to Saltzman (2017), the history of World Englishes is bound up with a history of colonialism and imperialism, oppression and hegemony. We cannot ignore the fact that, where English has arisen as a second or official language in the so-called outer circle, it has arisen often in direct connection to periods of colonial rule.…”