On models and modelling

Abstract

World Englishes (WE) research has been invested in getting to grips with the diversity of different Englishes and in making sense of their structural properties. The first research strand led to a proliferation of theoretical models, the second to comparative research relying increasingly on sophisticated statistical modelling. The connection between these research strands is not always as clear as we might wish, and occasionally even rather tenuous. This paper revisits existing models of WEs with a view to their predictive power and reviews recent corpus‐based studies with respect to the ways that these have tried to operationalise predictions of theoretical models. It uses a mental model to understand exactly why it is apparently so difficult to bring intricate, quantitative modelling of usage data to bear on theoretical modelling.

Comment markers in world Englishes

“…Another putative deficiency of GloWbE, the reliability of its text provenance, has been vigorously debated. Hundt (2020, pp. 8–9) is strongly critical, citing anecdotal evidence that GloWbE contains language produced by people who are not users of the local variety (whom Hundt refers to as ‘globally mobile EFL‐using individuals’).…”

“…One difference between the models, which needs to be borne in mind in testing predictions derived from them, is that Schneider's model is diachronic while the other two are synchronic. Given that most of the available corpora that are commonly used in world Englishes research – including ICE and GloWbE – are synchronic, there are questions over the legitimacy of their use to test Schneider's model (see Gries, Bernaisch, & Heller, 2018, p. 249; Hundt, 2020, pp. 12–13).…”

“…11The overview of issues presented here is informed by the insightful recent discussion in Hundt (2020). …”

N-isFocalizers as Semi-fixed Constructions: Modeling Variation across World Englishes

“…Unlike Hoffmann's (2014Hoffmann's ( , 2020 research, the present case study does not provide evidence of a straightforward correlation between constructional variation and the developmental stage at which the different WEs are in Schneider's (2007) dynamic model on the evolution of WEs, or indeed any other model of WEs. The reasons why statistical modeling and conceptual modeling of WEs research are difficult to map onto each other are discussed at great length in Hundt (2021).…”

“…With respect to N-is focalizers, speakers of Post-Colonial Englishes might favor dropping the article (and thus be economical) while at the same time preferring to keep the overt subordination (thus avoiding ambiguity). It is important to bear in mind that structural nativization does not necessarily result in statistically significant patterns of usage (see Hundt 2021). Low-frequency idiosyncrasies can nevertheless be highly salient.…”